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This dissertation describes a qualitative research study that grows our understanding of the career development experiences, supports, and barriers of social entrepreneurs who are gifted adults (SEGA) so that we may nurture the career development of future SEGA. Research questions for this study probed the career development experiences, supports, and barriers of SEGA and the shared social value they create. The conceptual frameworks for this study are the ecological model for human development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979); the theory of positive disintegration (Dabrowski, 1964/2016); social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent et al., 1994); the perceived instructional arc (Uhrmacher et al., 2017); and my curricular career spiral of social entrepreneurs. The methodological frameworks for this study are a collective case study of the quintain of SEGA (Creswell & Poth, 2018; Stake, 2006) and my collaborative connoisseurship and critique (CC&C), which incorporates methodologies from educational connoisseurship and criticism (C&C; Eisner, 2017; Uhrmacher et al., 2017). A systematic review of qualitative literature explores themes of social entrepreneur education in the United States. A recruitment survey consisting of the Ksiazak Adult Giftedness Scale (KAGS; Ksiazak, 2010) and the Social Entrepreneurship Orientation Scale (SEOS; Dwivedi & Weerawardena, 2018) supported intensive purposeful sampling of five participants. Each SEGA participated in interviews, artifact collection, an observation, and a focus group that fostered CC&C. Collective case study descriptions are reported and incorporate opening and closing vignettes (Creswell & Poth, 2018; Uhrmacher et al., 2017). Key findings included that learning about gifted neurodivergence positively develops self-awareness; self-awareness and curiosity impact self-education, which influences self-efficacy; frustration with work experiences spurs positive disintegration of career paths; intellectual knowledge and creativity help SEGA innovate a career for social good; a strong value system and career supports help SEGA develop a career ideal; business acumen or partnerships are necessary to build a sustainable enterprise; a collaborative network provides inspiration, encouragement, and guidance; investments by others help form, grow, and sustain social enterprises; and feedback helps social entrepreneurs understand their impact and refine their work. This study illuminates a gap in the literature by creating an academic understanding of the educational and career development experiences of gifted adults who are social entrepreneurs in the United States, how they achieve secondary integration (Dabrowski, 1964/2016) of a career ideal, and the shared social value they create. This study informs gifted people, education, business, and psychology through CC&C of collective cases to nurture the career development of both social entrepreneurs and the gifted. [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 field of Linguistics has long been interested in the verb meanings of intransitive verbs and their argument structure, specifically the breakdown of intransitive verbs into unaccusative and unergative verb types. Despite extensive research, a universally applicable explanation for this breakdown remains elusive due in part to the variability observed across languages. The diverse categories and exceptional outcomes from various paradigms across multiple languages have further complicated attempts to find a definitive understanding of unaccusativity. This dissertation seeks to contribute new insights into this longstanding problem, approaching it from the perspective of language acquisition. In this dissertation, I regard the unaccusativity of verbs as a continued learning outcome and frame the investigation of its determinants as a language acquisition problem. Through a series of computational and behavioral experiments, I have discovered several semantic and constructional factors that can lead to differential learning outcomes during children's acquisition of unaccusativity. Subsequently, I propose a statistical and probabilistic framework that integrates these factors, as well as their interaction, which collectively contribute to the process of categorizing intransitive verbs. The results of this categorization form a dynamic and multicategorical system. By introducing these influencing factors and regarding their relationship as probabilistic and statistical, this dissertation aims to shed light on the nature of unaccusativity and the ongoing debates surrounding it. [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.]

Over half of college campuses in the United States can expect their president to step down in the next five years (American Council on Education, 2023). The new leaders who assume these vacant roles will be expected to lead institutions through difficult and unexpected crisis situations. Campus crises can arise from political or financial pressures, enrollment trends, or local and global emergencies; crises rarely have a template for leaders to follow and often ask a leader to use multi-frame thinking in their response. The impending leadership turnover combined with the inevitable crises facing college campuses will require the next generation of leaders to be particularly well prepared to lead during times of crisis. Additionally, at least some evidence that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic suggests women might be particularly well-suited to lead through crisis situations (McKayle, 2021; Soares & Sidun, 2021). For these reasons, it is critical for researchers to learn more about the crisis leadership experiences of women in senior-level leadership roles. This study asked the question: How do women in higher education administration describe their experiences of leading during times of crisis? The study examines the leadership experiences of these women through Bolman and Deal's (2021) four-frame model. Interviews were conducted with 11 women who work at large, public universities and who currently serve on the president's executive leadership team. Data show participants identify developing strong interpersonal relationships in advance of crisis, learning how to outwardly demonstrate confidence, and developing a deep sense of self-awareness as critical pieces of crisis leadership. Additionally, participants described using all four of Bolman and Deal's frames in their crisis leadership, with a particularly strong focus on the political frame. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of implications for practice and recommendations for future 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.]

Block-based programming environments have become increasingly commonplace in computer science education. Despite a rapidly expanding ecosystem of block-based programming environments, text-based languages remain the dominant programming paradigm outside of educational contexts, motivating the transition from block-based to text-based programming. Supporting students in transitioning from block-based to text-based programming is an important and open design question. This dissertation presents the design and evaluation of a novel hybrid programming environment, Switch mode, to scaffold learners from block-based to text-based programming. Switch mode blocks allow learners to write text-based commands inside of blocks within a conventional block-based programming environment. Switch mode blocks can be added by either directly drag-and-dropping them into a program or by right clicking a block and converting it into a Switch mode block. This scaffolded approach can support learners in transitioning from block-based programming to text-based programming. This dissertation understands students' perception and how they author in Switch mode. Findings from coding activities presents an analysis of the eight distinct strategies that learners developed to compose programs using Switch mode blocks. This categorization of programming strategies contributes to our understanding of how we can design environments that support students of varying levels of prior experience and confidence in transitioning from introductory (block-based) to more powerful (text-based) programming modalities. Findings from the classroom study shows how novices were able to smoothly move from block-based to text-based programming with the help of Switch mode blocks. The case study on the differing experiences of two students with differing prior programming experiences shows how Switch mode supported both students and helped them find their level of comfort with programming. This dissertation demonstrates the potential of hybrid programming environments that can support learners in developing distinct programming approaches suited to their confidence, preference, and previous experiences. Collectively this work contributes to our understanding of the hybrid programming environment and can be used to inform the tools that will scaffold the next generation of learners. This work will help prepare learners to excel in a computationally driving world. [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 presents an innovative approach to examining the keying method, wording method, and construct validity on psychometric instruments. By employing a mixed methods explanatory sequential design, the effects of keying and wording in two psychometric assessments were examined and validated. Those two self-report psychometric assessments were the Effortful Control assessment (Ellis & Rothbart, 2001) and the Grit assessment (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009). Moreover, the quantitative phase utilized structural equation modeling to analyze 2,104 students' responses and assess the construct of keying and wording. Various hypothetical models were investigated and evaluated. The reliability of each construct in each method was analyzed using several omega coefficients. Simultaneously, construct validity was discussed through model performance and parameter estimates. Following the quantitative phase, six one-on-one interviews were conducted in the qualitative phase. The purpose of the second phase was to gather participants' opinions and gain insights to further interpret and understand the results obtained in the first quantitative phase. By integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches, this study aims to enhance the validity and meaningfulness of its conclusions. The overarching purpose of this study was to assess the keying structure and method effects of keying and wording through a mixed methods explanatory sequential study. To achieve this goal, the study investigated different method factors that impacted the construct validity of psychometric assessments among adolescents. Findings from the first quantitative strand revealed the detection of the keying, although the structure of keying displayed inconsistent probability of variance associated with the reliability across different instruments. Additionally, method effects of keying and wording were identified, and problematic item questions were further examined in the qualitative phase. Results from the qualitative strand led to the conclusion that three factors influenced adolescents' understanding of assessment questions. These were complex item questions, student's characteristics, and school course plan. This study therefore addressed research gaps regarding the effects of keying and wording in psychometric instruments and contributed to understanding their impact on construct validity. The findings draw attention to the keying and wording methods in self-report psychometric instruments. This also impacted the accuracy of assessing the construct of interest and the further parameter estimates. Based on these findings, suggestions for future research were discussed and summarized. [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.]

Surface Electromyography (sEMG) is a physiological signal to record the electrical activity of muscles by electrodes applied to the skin. In the context of Muscle Computer Interaction (MCI), systems are controlled by transforming myoelectric signals into interaction commands that convey the intent of user movement, mostly for rehabilitation purposes. Taking the myoeletric hand prosthetic control as an example, using sEMG recorded from the remaining muscles of the stump can be considered as the most natural way for amputees who lose their limbs to perform activities of daily living with the aid of prostheses. Although the earliest myoelectric control research can date back to the 1950s, there still exist considerable challenges to address the significant gap between academic research and industrial applications. Most recently, pattern recognition-based control is being developed rapidly to improve the dexterity of myoelectric prosthetic devices due to the recent development of machine learning and deep learning techniques. It is clear that the performance of Hand Gesture Recognition (HGR) plays an essential role in pattern recognition-based control systems. However, in reality, the tremendous success in achieving very high sEMG-based HGR accuracy (≥ 90%) reported in scientific articles produced only limited clinical or commercial impact. As many have reported, its real-time performance tends to degrade significantly as a result of many confounding factors, such as electrode shift, sweating, fatigue, and day-to-day variation. The main interest of the present thesis is, therefore, to improve the robustness of sEMG-based HGR by taking advantage of the most recent advanced deep learning techniques to address several practical concerns. Furthermore, the challenge of this research problem has been reinforced by only considering using raw sparse multichannel sEMG signals as input. Firstly, a framework for designing an uncertainty-aware sEMG-based hand gesture classifier is proposed. Applying it allows us to quickly build a model with the ability to make its inference along with explainable quantified multidimensional uncertainties. This addresses the black-box concern of the HGR process directly. Secondly, to fill the gap of lacking consensus on the definition of model reliability in this field, a proper definition of model reliability is proposed. Based on it, reliability analysis can be performed as a new dimension of evaluation to help select the best model without relying only on classification accuracy. Our extensive experimental results have shown the efficiency of the proposed reliability analysis, which encourages researchers to use it as a supplementary tool for model evaluation. Next, an uncertainty-aware model is designed based on the proposed framework to address the low robustness of hand grasp recognition. This offers an opportunity to investigate whether reliable models can achieve robust performance. The results show that the proposed model can improve the long-term robustness of hand grasp recognition by rejecting highly uncertain predictions. Finally, a simple but effective normalisation approach is proposed to improve the robustness of inter-subject HGR, thus addressing the clinical challenge of having only a limited amount of data from any individual. The comparison results show that better performance can be obtained by it compared to a state-of-the-art (SoA) transfer learning method when only one training cycle is available. In summary, this study presents promising methods to pursue an accurate, robust, and reliable classifier, which is the overarching goal for sEMG-based HGR. The direction for future work would be the inclusion of these in real-time myoelectric control applications.

Museums have undergone a tremendous digital transformation, and as they enter their post-digital era, more comprehensive use of digital technology by museums can be expected. An approach to evaluating digital project development on a strategic and sustainable level must therefore be explored. In the meantime, the reconceptualization of the relationship between museums and the public provides a turning point for museums to rethink and adjust their visitor research in order to develop digital technology initiatives for one of their target audiences - school groups - in collaboration with schools to better achieve museums' educational missions. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of how museums design and develop digital technologies for educational purposes, a systematic evaluation of museum digital technology is proposed. This study focuses on the national science and technology museums in Taiwan, with the aim of exploring the user experience of three museum digital technologies among secondary school students. A user experience questionnaire survey was conducted among 178 students to obtain their feedback on three digital technologies. Additionally, five semi-structured interviews were conducted with museum digital technology developers to identify their design process and potential challenges in digital technology development and evaluation. Lastly, this research employed a Delphi survey, involving a panel of 23 museum staff and 24 schoolteachers, to identify 56 variables and 5 dimensions for evaluating museum digital technology. By utilizing this methodology, this study aimed to provide a comprehensive evaluation of museum digital technology that can inform future design and development efforts. The research proposes a conceptual tool that integrates a series of experiencerelated, content-related, and design-related elements that are located at three levels subjective, strategic, and sustainable - of developing museum digital technology for school groups. The 3S Museum Digital Technology Evaluation Model incorporates the perspectives of students, schoolteachers, museum employees, and museum digital technology developers with diverse requirements, skills, and prior knowledge, which can play an important role in enabling the development of museum digital technology with a higher quality user experience for school groups.

This thesis examines two types of perspectival attitudes and assertions: those about oneself, such as "I am in Martyrs Kirk Library" or "my house is on fire", and those about matters of personal tastes, such as "Super Mario is a fun game" or "century eggs are disgusting". The aim of this thesis is to challenge some published arguments in favour of the relativist, centred-worlds framework for these attitudes and assertions and to offer novel explanations for relevant phenomena including the inferior status of testimony about taste matters, the acquaintance inference of taste assertions, the connection between de se attitudes and actions, and the non-reducibility of de se attitudes to non-de se attitudes. I argue that the centred-worlds framework is not a well-motivated framework for these two types of attitudes and assertions. In addition, I propose that taste assertions are governed by a special knowledge-why norm, and de se attitudes have impossible-worlds contents.

Infectious diseases have been a major cause of mortality and morbidity throughout human history. The dramatic advances in technology, especially in genome sequencing, have opened a new avenue to study infectious diseases and changed the landscape of public health and medical science. Compared to non-communicable human diseases where human genetics is the sole focus of genetic studies, infectious diseases add another layer of complexity due to the host-pathogen dynamic. Since infection can be seen as the result of the complex interplay of host and pathogen and the environment, a comprehensive understanding requires the incorporation of all these factors. In this thesis, I explore the different applications of genetic data in studying infectious diseases through the lens of host-pathogen dynamics and their clinical or public health implication. I first used virus whole genome data to rebuild the epidemiological history of Hepatitis C virus subtype 3a (HCV-3a). I showed how World War II had likely led to the spread of HCV-3a from South Asia and becoming a global epidemic. Notably, I also incorporated host genetic data into the analysis and showed how it helped us identify and address the confounding factor of human migration when conducting an evolutionary analysis on HCV-3a. I then integrated previously published methods to investigate protein residue covariation to investigate the signals co-evolution within the Hepatitis B virus (HBV). I built a co-evolution profile for HBV and link them to previous studies to demonstrate how drug resistance is one of the major driving forces of protein residue co-evolution in HBV. Lastly, I explored the potential of integration of national-scale databases that collect pathogen (Second Generation Surveillance System) and host data (UK Biobank) respectively and conducted multiple genome-wide association studies (GWASs) and lay out how such integration can help improve our understanding of human genetic risk factors for infectious diseases. To conclude, I discuss the importance of host-pathogen data integration as well as the need for developing statistical models that can account for both the data volume as well as complexity resulted from such integration.

To live and thrive in arid environments places enormous evolutionary pressure on processes of water conservation. These are epitomised by the numerous adaptations manifested in those mammals, such as the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius), that thrive in the scorching heat of the Arabian deserts. At the level of the kidney, the dromedary produces low volumes of highly concentrated urine, more so when water is scarce, to conserve body water. Two hormones, arginine vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OXT), both produced in the supraoptic nucleus (SON), the core hypothalamic osmoregulatory control centre, are vital for this adaptive process. Studies on rats have shown that the rat SON transcriptome undergoes dramatic function-related plasticity during water deprivation, but the mechanisms that enable the camel SON to cope with osmotic stress remained unknown. Thus, to investigate the central control of water homeostasis in the camel, RNAseq transcriptome studies were performed on the SON under control (water ad libitum, n=5), dehydrated (DH: dehydration for 20 days, n=5) and rehydrated (RH: dehydration followed by water ad libitum for three days, n=5) conditions. The multiplex fluorescence in situ hybridization (RNAscope) was first used to build three dimensional models of the camel SON based on the expression of the AVP and OXT mRNAs in order to facilitate sampling. The transcriptomes of the SON under control and DH conditions were then compared and identified genes that change in expression due to hyperosmotic stress. The expression of these genes were quantified by qRT-PCR under control, DH and RH conditions. By comparing the camel and rat datasets, common elements of the DH transcriptomic response network have been identified, as well as elements that appear to be unique to the dromedary camel and that may be essential for adaptations necessary for life in the desert.

This thesis reports studies of systems containing actinide (An) and noble gas (Ng) elements, in both the nuclear materials and coordination chemistry fields. Among nuclear fuel fission products, noble gases (especially Kr and Xe) have low solubility and may release to the fuel-clad gap, which will lead to fuel swelling and thermal conductivity degradation. For the safe and efficient use of nuclear fuel, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of fission gas release behaviours. However, the fission gas release model in actinide nitrides, promising candidates for use as a fuel in Generation IV reactors, is rudimentary. Chapter 3 studies the effect of non-stoichiometry of UN on point defect formation energy and Ng solution energy. The most stable defect types and the preferred trap sites of Ng under different stoichiometric conditions are reported. Chapter 4 investigates the diffusion of Ng in UN, and finds that the Ng diffusion is governed by the U vacancy-assisted mechanism. The calculated diffusion coefficients are in good agreement with the experiments. Chapter 5 extends the binary UN work to ternary (U, Pu)N. Actinide vacancy formation energy and Ng incorporation energy are found to be highly dependent on the chemical environment around the defects (i.e., the number of U atoms in the first (NU(1NN)) and second (NU(2NN)) nearest-neighbour shell), which increase as NU(1NN) increases while decrease as NU(2NN) increases. In coordination chemistry, An-Ng (especially He) complexes are candidate molecules for achieving high coordination numbers. Chapter 6 investigates the geometries, electronic structures, and bond properties of early An-Ng complexes, reporting 18-coordinate Th3+-He and Th4+-He systems for the first time. The covalency of the An-He bond in the group valent AnHe17q+ (An = Ac-U) species increases from AcHe173+ to UHe176+, while Ac-Ng bond covalency in AcNg123+ increases as the Ng gets heavier.

This thesis concerns on-demand workers' struggles and resistance in China and the question, in particular, of how the workers' choices are structured by the particular legal, social and economic contexts within which they live and work. As a novel form of employment, on-demand work has gained popularity and has attracted a large workforce; however, the regulation of on-demand work is still in its early stages, leaving many workers without adequate labour protections. Many on-demand workers have expressed their grievances and discontent through a variety of individual and collective actions. What remains unclear is why they feel discontent and what factors influence their choice of different forms of struggle and resistance. These factors also give some indication as to how labour laws could be amended to provide effective protection of on-demand workers' rights and interests. Advocating an 'economic sociology of law' approach to the study of labour law, Dukes (2019) suggests that contracting for work ought to be conceived of as social behaviour that is likely economically motivated and, at the same time, influenced by actors' perceptions of the applicable rules, social norms, and shared understandings of what is standard or fair or reasonable practice in the specific context. Here, this approach is used to analyse and explain how Chinese delivery riders, as the targeted participants in the qualitative research, think of their work and make decisions that are influenced by their economic interests and their perceptions of labour laws, social norms, and shared understandings. The research illustrates that delivery riders have a multifaceted perception of their work. On the one hand, they experience precarious working conditions, disrespect, and discrimination under the bureaucratic and algorithmic control of platforms, worsened by the presence of a duopoly market. Compared to more stable factory jobs, on the other hand, on-demand work provides better opportunities for making money and enjoying flexibility and freedom within the confines of existing labour laws and social and economic circumstances. Individual riders have attempted to improve their working conditions through both formal and informal channels. Due to a number of factors, however, ii including the use of outsourcing by the platforms, the limitations of litigation, the unregulated nature of the platform labour market, unequal bargaining power, the lack of anti-retaliation laws and unreliable labour security administration, there is very little room for riders to voice their concerns. Riders have also attempted to 'game' the algorithms and to use social media and mainstream news-reporting but these strategies are not always effective. When there is no good alternative, radical forms of resistance may occur, including self-harm and suicide. On-demand riders have formed occupational communities and have used these to address the challenges collectively, however, the success of their protests can be inhibited by the weak trade union system and non-supportive laws and government attitudes towards collective action. Platforms may try to undermine riders' solidarity by using various repressive strategies. Moreover, the deteriorating employment environment also hinders collective mobilisation. The current legal, social, and economic context constrains the individual and collective struggles of riders in a wide variety of ways. While they may have a basic awareness of their legal rights, on-demand riders show a strong tendency to prioritise the right to subsistence or the economic conditions necessary for subsistence when attempting to express their discontent. Prioritisation of the right to subsistence or the economic conditions necessary for subsistence is also reflected in policy documents issued by the government in China to regulate on-demand work. To truly improve the working conditions of on-demand workers, it would be necessary to grant them the right to strike with the support of strong trade unions and to improve their rights to social security.

In the grand scheme of Industry 4.0, the employment of modern intelligent digital technology has been utilised to facilitate industrial production, leveraging automation to elevate production efficiency. Building upon this, Industry 5.0 takes a step forward, accentuating the concept of human-machine symbiosis. It directs its focus on augmenting human performance within the industry, mitigating errors made by workers, and honing the overarching performance of human-machine systems. Across various manufacturing domains, an escalating demand for this level of automation has been noticed. One such area is the speciality steel industry, whose tasks are the primary consideration of this dissertation. Speciality steel rolling forms the backbone of industrial sectors as diverse as aerospace and oil and gas. The key to the sustained survival of steel plants hinges on the digitalisation of the rolling process. Despite this, a significant number of steel rolling plants in the present day continue to place a heavy reliance on human operators to oversee and regulate the manufacturing process. With a view to securing the safety of workers in high-risk factory environments and optimising the control of steel production, this dissertation puts forth machine vision approaches. These are aimed at supervising the direction of hot steel sections and remotely gauging their dimensions, both conducted in real-time. This dissertation further contributes a novel image registration approach founded on extrinsic features. This approach is then amalgamated with frequency domain image fusion of optical images. The resultant fused image is designated to evaluate the size of high-quality hot steel sections from a remote standpoint. With the integration of the remote imaging sizing module, operators can stay abreast of the section dimensions in real time. Concurrently, the mill stands can be pre-adjusted to facilitate quality assurance. The efficacy of the developed approaches has been tested over real data, delivering an accuracy rate exceeding 95%. This suggests that the approach not only ensures worker safety but also contributes significantly to the enhancement of production control and efficiency in the speciality steel industry.

The Associate Degree (AD) was introduced to Hong Kong in 2000 in order to develop a more diversified higher education system and provide more higher education opportunities to students. In quantitative terms, the AD policy was largely successful - within five years, the participating rate of post-secondary education had increased to 66%, compared to 33% before. However, widespread concern has emerged regarding its quality and continuity. Whereas a predominance of studies showed that the AD programmes were clouded with complaints, the large and continuing enrolments to date seem to have refuted those negative claims. The overall benefits and worthiness for students pursuing ADs are not clearly known. This study examined the valuation of ADs from those who have enrolled (namely, AD students and graduates; known as the insiders) and those who have not enrolled, but may involve in decision making related to enrolment (namely, school students and their parents and teachers; known as the outsiders). Questionnaires were used to seek the insider and outsider evaluation around the six concerning aspects of ADs, assess their knowledge levels on ADs and measure their overall valuation of ADs in terms of their self-stated intention to support enrolment in ADs under a given scenario. A total of 591 insiders and 533 outsiders participated in this study. The regression models revealed that the overall valuation of ADs was dependent on the respondents' group membership (specifically, a lower valuation if the respondent belongs to the outsider group; a higher valuation if the respondent belongs to the insider group), knowledge level on ADs (a lower valuation with the respondent's increase in misinformation and ignorance about ADs; and vice versa) and several attribute-specific evaluations of ADs (a lower valuation with a fall in respondents' performance ratings of articulation opportunities, social recognition and teaching quality; and vice versa). This study identified the presence of an information asymmetry, which accounted for the "valuation gap" between insiders and outsiders. This study also affirmed an idiosyncratic value of ADs in offering students a gateway to higher education, rather than an end in itself. Yet, the sub-degree system in Hong Kong signalled a sense of sub-standard quality and qualifications, lowering the perceived value of ADs to the potential students. Several recommendations were proposed to improve the value of ADs.

This thesis reports a toughening concept for carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites using continuous thermoplastic nanocomposite fibres in which dissolvable phenoxy was used as a toughener for the epoxy matrix and at the same time as a carrier to deliver graphite nanoplatelets (GNP) into desired positions of composites. Nanocomposites containing different GNP contents were prepared via masterbatch dilution method, and these were melt spun and drawn into fibres at varying take-up speeds. Structural characterisation revealed that the dispersion of GNP worsened with both increasing GNP content and take-up speed, especially in the fibre core region. Moreover, due to the strong shear stress exerted by the spinneret wall, GNP in the outer layer of the fibre showed a tangential orientation, which was absent in the fibre centre. As a consequence, the Young's modulus, which is a low-strain property, increased with both GNP content and take-up speed, while the tensile strength remained relatively unchanged because it was more sensitive to the GNP agglomeration. Theoretical analysis with simple rule of mixtures and shear-lag theory suggested the enhanced Young's modulus originated from the increased orientation degree (η₀) of GNP at high take-up speeds, which was not attainable from SEM/TEM characterisation. Moreover, the η₀ was found to be in good agreement with the normalised areal ratio (ratio of the area of the imaginary fibre sheath layer to the whole cross-sectional area) of fibres at each take-up speed, which could indicate the variation in the reinforcing efficiency of GNP in the fibre core and sheath layer due to the different dispersion qualities of GNP in these two regions. The electrical percolation threshold was 8.0 wt% for compression moulded plates, which was relatively lower than the rheological one (8.8 wt%) due to the fact that less GNP was required to form a conductive network that can be detected by the static electrical measurements. Conversely, fibres with the same GNP content were not conductive because of the orientation, separation and aggregation of GNP upon drawing. The dissolution behaviour of pure phenoxy and GNP/phenoxy fibres was studied in model systems using optical microscopy. Results showed that GNP/phenoxy nanocomposite fibres took longer than pure phenoxy fibres to completely dissolve, probably because the tangentially oriented GNP in the outer layer of the fibre hindered the interdiffusion of phenoxy chains and RTM6-2 precursors. The dissolution study also suggested that too high a dissolution temperature could lead to a premature gelation of the epoxy resin and that thinner fibres were preferred for use in composites. As a proof of concept, GNP/phenoxy fibres were 3D braided with carbon fibre (CF) to produce hybrid strands, followed by resin infusion to prepare composite laminates. Both phenoxy and GNP improved the Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness (GIc) of composites although phenoxy exhibited a more pronounced toughening effect. This was attributed mainly to the significantly intensified CF breakage and pullout in regions where pure phenoxy or GNP/phenoxy fibres initially located, as evidenced by the SEM observation on the fracture surfaces of composites. Crack deflection induced by the phase-inverted RTM6-2 nodules in the presence of relatively high local concentration of phenoxy, crack pinning caused by GNP and GNP pullout/separation were also proposed as the toughening mechanisms.

Liquid crystalline elastomers (LCE) are a class of loosely cross-linked rubbers that combine native liquid crystal phases (e.g., orientational order) and conventional elastomeric properties (e.g., rubber elasticity). Due to their ability to undergo spontaneous and reversible shape change when subjected to external stimuli, there is a continuously growing interest in the scientific community to construct soft mechanical actuators from these materials. However, the development of LCE actuators is currently limited within the academic community and it lacks interest from the industry. Despite being studied for the past 30 years, LCEs have not yet been used in any real-world applications, which can be attributed to several problems: First, the external stimuli to trigger LCE actuation is demanding (i.e., stimuli can be difficult to deliver). Second, less desirable properties of the LCE limit their deployment (i.e., diminishing mechanical properties during their actuation). Third, industries simply need to take time to absorb the exotic features of LCE material. This thesis aims to solve these three major hurdles. Regarding the first problem, this thesis attempted to use light actuation in LCE with the assistance of upconverting nanoparticles and azobenzene dyes. However, due to time and resource limitations, they yielded no successful discovery in the end. Nevertheless, some experimental plans were made in order to inspire the reader to join the further discussion. The second problem is caused by the decline of rubber modulus in LCE (at high temperatures), which causes reduced mechanical properties thus limiting their potential as soft actuators. To solve this, the thesis discussed different strategies to improve the mechanical properties of LCEs during their actuation. Various modification solutions to the material were explored, and the best procedures were selected to construct LCEs that are resistant to temperature change. Moreover, a new type of vitrimer-enabling mesogen and their corresponding LCEs were discovered and synthesised, which added to the existing library of LCE modification and offered extra functionality in LCE reprocessing. For the third problem, this thesis aims to accelerate the technical development of LCEs by discussing various LCE fabrication techniques using the existing methods from industries. The thesis successfully used the known direct-ink-writing technique (widely used in 3D printing) to fabricate LCE with sophisticated actuation patterns. The thesis introduced a scalable fiber spinning process that can cross-link the material on the fly to achieve a massive rate of production. The thesis also demonstrated how the spun LCE fibers are suitable to be made into smart fabrics using a common weaving machine. Finally, the thesis discussed some additional experiments that can be conducted in the future to fill the oversights in this PhD work and to complete our understanding of LCE material. On the sideline, a new project was also proposed to package those failed experiments in this thesis and to explore the exciting unknown territory.

Worry is frequently experienced by people in everyday life. While worry may be a normal part of life, it becomes problematic when it is excessive and uncontrollable. Past research has found that high levels of worry are associated with the tendency to interpret ambiguous information in a negative (threatening) manner. Although cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I) has been shown to be effective in promoting a more positive (benign) interpretation bias (near transfer) which also transfers to reductions in worry (far transfer), there are individual differences in intervention outcome. To identify potential predictors of CBM-I outcome, the current thesis examined the cross-sectional associations between different cognitive mechanisms (i.e., attentional control, cognitive flexibility, sensitivity to reward, and imagery ability) in relation to interpretation bias and worry in worry-prone young adults. Then, we examined whether the outcome of CBM-I could be predicted by the cognitive mechanisms that are associated with interpretation bias and worry. Overall, the findings suggest that reduced levels of attentional control, cognitive flexibility, sensitivity to reward, and imagery ability are associated with greater worry and a more negative/less positive interpretation bias. In addition, individual differences in these cognitive mechanisms significantly explained 18-38% of the variability in change in interpretation bias and worry at the end of single/multi-session CBM-I training. Interestingly, the same set of predictors did not predict change in worry symptoms in the longer term following CBM-I training. Furthermore, differences in some of the predictors of outcome were observed in single-session and multi-session CBM-I training. All in all, the findings have implications for identifying predictors of outcome in other mechanism-focused interventions. In addition, the current research lays the groundwork for future research to tailor and augment CBM-I training to better suit individual differences.

The importance of self-complexity on leadership has been discussed by several theoretical studies. The present research draws upon Linville's (1985, 1987) social cognitive perspective of self-complexity, which is defined as a function of two things: the number of aspects that one uses to cognitively organize knowledge about the self, and the degree of relatedness of these aspects" (Linville, 1985, p. 97), to serve as one of the limited empirical studies that examine its associations with leadership behaviors. To assess self-complexity, I develop a measurement that focuses on capturing the structure of the self at the role level and adopt the pairwise comparison method to enrich our understanding of self-complexity. In addition, I also draw upon self-control and goal shielding theories to examine the psychological factors such as time and centrality in self-complexity. Regarding leadership behaviors, I studied two often-seen leadership behaviors in the current research. For positive leadership behavior, I study servant leadership, which refers to "an (1) other-oriented approach to leadership (2) manifested through one-on-one prioritizing of follower individual needs and interests, (3) and outward reorienting of their concern for self towards concern for others within the organization and larger community" (Eva, Robin, Sendjaya, Van Dierendonck, & Liden, 2019, p.114). For the negative leadership behavior, I study abusive supervision, which is defined as "subordinates' perceptions of the extent to which supervisors engage in the sustained display of hostile verbal and nonverbal behaviors, excluding physical contact" (Tepper, 2000, p.178). To study the associations between self-complexity and leadership behaviors, I employ two different perspectives: Self-control and cognitive theories. From the self-control perspective, I adopt self-control and conservation of resource theories to examine the indirect associations between self-complexity and leadership behaviors via ego depletion, which is defined as "a state in which the self does not have all the resources it has normally" (Baumeister & Vohs, 2007, p.116). From the cognitive perspective, I employ cognitive theories to examine the indirect associations between self-complexity and leadership behaviors via cognitive flexibility, which is defined as "the ability of individuals to restructure knowledge in multiple different ways depending on changing situational demands" (Gino & Ariely, 2012, p.446). Four studies were conducted in the current research. The results in Study 1 (U.K. sample, N = 179) showed that the number of self-aspects and the degree of overlap among self-aspects were negatively associated with ego depletion and were positively associated with cognitive flexibility. Moreover, ego-depleted leaders were found to be more likely to behave abusively toward their followers, whereas cognitively flexible leaders were found to be less likely to abuse their followers. Regarding the psychological factors, results in Study 1 showed that the relationship between the interaction of a high number of self-aspects and a high degree of overlap among self-aspects and ego depletion was weaker when the time was short rather than high. The results in Study 2 (Taiwan sample, N = 332) also showed that the degree of overlap among self-aspects was negatively associated with ego depletion and positively associated with cognitive flexibility. Nevertheless, the number of self-aspects was not found to be negatively associated with ego depletion nor positively associated with cognitive flexibility. Study 2 also showed similar findings regarding leadership behaviors; ego depletion was positively associated with abusive supervision, and cognitive flexibility was negatively associated with abusive supervision. Study 3 specifically focused on testing the differences between the traditional pen and paper trait sorting task (N = 98) and the newly introduced method of measuring self-complexity (N = 110) and on examining the positive leadership behavior (i.e., servant leadership) in the current research model. The results in Study 3 showed that both methods had similar findings to Studies 1 and 2. However, the newly introduced method that measures the structure of the self at the role level seems to be a better approach than Linville's free-response format in predicting ego depletion and cognitive flexibility. In addition, ego-depleted leaders were not found to be less likely to display servant leadership in the workplace, and cognitively flexible leaders were found to be more likely to display servant leadership behaviors in the workplace. The results in Study 4 (N = 144 leaders and N = 450 followers) showed that the number of self-aspects and the degree of overlap among self-aspects were negatively associated with ego depletion and were positively associated with cognitive flexibility. Moreover, ego-depleted leaders were more likely to be perceived as abusive supervisors, and cognitively flexible leaders were less likely to be perceived as abusive supervisors and more likely to be perceived as servant leadership by their followers.

This dissertation examines portfolio selection under systemic risk using performance measures. In the first chapter, we propose a novel performance measure to construct optimal portfolios that explicitly incorporate the occurrence of systemic event. Investors maximize an ex-ante modified Sharpe ratio that is conditional on some systemic event, with the latter interpreted as a low market return environment. We solve the portfolio optimization problem analytically under the absence of short-selling constraint and numerically when short-selling constraint is imposed. The approach is made operational by embedding it in a multivariate dynamic setting via dynamic conditional correlation and copula models. In the second chapter, we further enhance the portfolio selection approach proposed in the first chapter by using machine learning techniques. Specifically, the optimal portfolio is solved through a three-step supervised learning model. First, the smooth pinball neural network is employed to predict conditional marginal return distribution. Secondly, we use copula to model dependence between portfolio assets and the market, based on which we generate return scenarios. Lastly, we maximize the ex-ante conditional Sharpe ratio based on simulated returns. Unlike the previous chapter, where we use statistical models to forecast return distributions, in this chapter we take advantage of a distributional machine learning model along with a set of predictors that includes more than 1,000 predictive signals. In the last chapter, following the similar idea of conditional Sharpe ratio, we propose another systemic risk-based performance measure namely the conditional Rachev ratio. This measure inherits the advantage of unconditional Rachev ratio in the sense that it can account for asymmetric information of portfolio return distribution. Moreover, we build a link between our new measure and the well-know CoVaR measure in the finance literature. In each chapter, we construct a comparative analysis using data on the US stock market. Overall speaking, all the backtesting results demonstrate the superiority of our proposed approaches against popular benchmark strategies in terms of profitability and systemic risk, where the outperformance is robust to the inclusion of transaction costs.

Climate change urgently calls for fundamental changes in the way we generate electricity. As the world's largest electricity generator and the biggest greenhouse gas emitter, China has pledged to decarbonise its power system. The success or failure of its efforts to rapidly accelerate the deployment of renewables will have immense implications for the global green transition. How might China meet its energy needs using green energies? This is the question this thesis takes up. This thesis uses mixed methods to address change through time as means to understand where China is now in terms of energy and where it might go next. This thesis begins by applying Hughes's system approach to investigate the evolution of China's power system from its origins in the 1880s to the current green transition. The findings show that the Chinese power system originated in wars, was built by the Western-educated elites, embedded with the socialist-style gained from Soviet assistance, and directed by the central state's political and economic principles. As a late developer, the case of China indicates the importance of human capital and that political, economic and educational openness are necessary conditions for late development. The thesis then focuses on the subnational political economy of the power system's green transition through an in-depth case study. The findings of a neo-Gramscian analysis demonstrate the dynamic processes and evolving power relations of the local electricity industry's green transition. The results point out that the rivalling coalitions of distinct economic interests - the established coalfired power historical bloc and the young renewable energy firms - were particularly central to the process. The final themed chapter examines whether it paid to adopt renewable energies in Chinese electricity generation firms from 2005 to 2017. The quantitative results show that adopting renewable energy positively impacts corporate profitability. Profitability is more stable and increases faster in firms with a higher share of renewable energies. Qualitative investigations reveal that the state-owned generators now strive for profits rather than scale, and private generators prioritise innovation and political prestige over profitability.

This dissertation experimentally examines how the decision-making under risk of individuals' is influenced by choice procedures, decision context, frames and exogenous information. The first study investigates a sequential procedure (to ease the choice overload problem) by presenting the products in sequential pages and requesting the decision-maker to select an item from each page, entering them into a wish list from which the final choice will be made. This study experimentally investigates how the final decision is affected by the number of items on each page and, hence, by the number of items in a wish list. The parameters of a stochastic model are estimated to 'explain' the data, in particular, examining the noisiness of the choices at each stage. The results show that procedure matters and that the trade-off between an increased number of options per page and an increased number of pages is indeed influential. The second study proposes an Asymmetric Risk Averse Quantal Response Equilibrium (QRE) extension of a cheap-talk model in lemon market. This extension better explains the observed deviations in Siegenthaler (2017)'s experiment from theoretical predictions. The third study experimentally investigates how the composition of choices and menus influences the decision-making in a two-stage context - one in which the decision-maker must first choose a menu from a set of menus, and secondly must choose an item from the chosen menu. Several choices of menu theories have been applied to identify how different types of decision-makers are influenced by different menu frames. The fourth study experimentally examine how social information, personal experience and professional suggestions interactively influence subjects' decisions under risk. This study found an important factor: information congruence between information sources significantly affects the evolution of the decisions in a group.

This thesis consists of four independent chapters that focus on two increasingly popular models in the field of econometrics, namely Mixed Data Sampling (MIDAS) models and spatial econometric models. Chapter 1 introduces the MIDAS approach to a panel data model. It presents the asymptotic distributions of the nonlinear least squares (NLS) estimator for the panel-MIDAS model and the least squares (LS) estimator for the standard LS model based on predetermined weights. The utility of the panel-MIDAS model is demonstrated by a Monte Carlo simulation and an empirical application. Chapter 2 presents an application of the MIDAS model to study the economic policy uncertainty (EPU) effect on mortality in the US. The results indicate a significant negative correlation between EPU and mortality. The accompanying analysis reveals that changes in risky health behaviors are consistent with fluctuations in mortality. Chapter 3 proposes a spatial quasi-limited information maximum likelihood (SQLIML) estimation for a cross-sectional spatial lag model (SLM) with additional endogenous variables X. It derives the asymptotic properties of the SQLIML estimator and compares them with the spatial two-stage least squares (S2SLS) estimator. It also introduces a test of the null that X is exogenous in the SLM model. The above theoretical aspects are explored via a Monte Carlo study and an empirical application. Chapter 4 presents an application of the spatial econometric model to study the minimum wage effect on the gender wage gap across income levels in the US. The results reveal that minimum wage increases in a given state narrow the 10th-60th percentile gender wage gap in its own state and its neighboring states. However, there is no evidence that the gender wage gap in the upper tail of the wage distribution is associated with minimum wages.

This thesis has opened a dialogue towards understanding how disability is constructed, perceived and experienced in a specific Chinese context. It contributes to raising awareness of disability and providing practical suggestions for creating a m ore inclusive working environment and society. This PhD adopted a case study design to investigate the following research question: What are the perceptions of disability and attitudes towards employment and supported employment of young people with learning and developmental disabilities, their parents, and job coaches in supported employment in Guangzhou, China? There are two dimensions to the construction of this work. First, adopting Studies in Ableism (SiA) as a theoretical orientation focused on ableist thinking and practice systems that formulate a notion of able-bodiedness and able-mindedness in a specific context and with different populations, including disabled people. Second, SiA provided a lens to explore and discuss the notion of peopleship and the ideal of the people, and its construction of disability in China's political, economic and cultural context. Understanding how disability is constructed at the national level provided a foundation for this study to explore how disability is perceive d and experienced at the individual level. The participants (n=32) included young people with learning and developmental disabilities (n=13), their parents (n=13) who had various experiences of supported employment, and job coaches (n=6) working in supported employment. Key findings and discussions from the data analysis highlight the variation in how disability is perceived, experienced, and approached, and this is understood through the following three findings: 1) young people have different ways of perceiving disability: internalising and adapting to ableism, and having a counter ableist understanding of disability; 2) parents use the family as a protective shelter in young people's lives and work: having different ways of dealing with young people's employment, which is affected by their face concern; 3) grassroots disabled people's organisations play an important role in challenging the construction and practice of disability at the national level: at the risk of conducting ableist thinking and practices in the context of China. As perceptions and experiences of disability are always conflicting, more studies using different theoretical perspectives and methodologies in exploring disability in various contexts of China would further contribute to understanding disability in China.

Current research has shown the importance and benefits of early science education for children's learning and development, particularly informal science learning. In informal learning spaces such as museums, parents can play an important role in facilitating and supporting children's science learning. However, existing studies often fail to consider the role of parents' attitudes toward, facilitation of, and perception of children's interest in science learning on parent-child interactions and young children's science learning. Therefore, my study plans to address this limitation by investigating parent-child interactions in the context of a children's museum and parents' attitudes toward, facilitation of, and perceptions of children's interest in early science learning, as well as how they affect young children's science learning. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory attempts to understand children's learning during their interactions with parents and emphasizes the important role of parents as knowledgeable and competent helpers and supporters. This study employs a Vygotskian lens to study how children learn and develop through their interactions with parents in the museum. A mixed-method design is employed to construct a more comprehensive understanding of my research questions which could not be reached by either method alone. While a qualitative research method is necessary to analyze the process of parent-child interactions, both qualitative and quantitative methods are required to measure parents' attitudes toward, facilitation of, perception of children's interest in science learning and their moderation effect on young children's science learning. Findings showed that compared with Parent Leading and Child Leading approaches, Parent-child Collaboration demonstrates its advantages and can help children choose better exploration approaches, increase their inference/explanation levels, and provide better responses to anomalous data. The results of quantitative and qualitative analyses showed a significant impact of parents' attitudes toward, facilitation of, and perception of children's interest in science learning on early science learning and its moderation effect on the relationship between parent-child interactions and young children's science learning. The findings presented in this study offer new avenues for researchers, parents, as well as museum educators to consider for improving early science learning. Based on these results, researchers may consider investigating possible interventions to support parents' use of a Parent-child Collaboration approach based on the influential factors explored in this study. The findings may also encourage parents to provide more science enrichment activities for young children and engage in more collaboration and interaction with their children. Last, they may also guide museum educators towards pairing exhibits with booklets or flyers including background information, question prompts, and activity tips. [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 investigated how three fifth-grade students' understanding of fraction and decimal magnitude evolved over the course of a five-week teaching experiment. Students participated in teaching and learning sessions focused on developing concepts of fraction and decimal magnitude. The following questions guided this study: (1) How do fifth grade students reason about the magnitude of fractions and decimals? (2) What are the shifts in mathematical thinking that occur with students' evolving understanding as they progress towards generalization of fraction and decimal magnitude? (3) What are the characteristics of instructional experiences that lead to shifts in students' mathematical understanding of fraction and decimal magnitude? A teaching experiment methodology was used to investigate these questions. In keeping with the essential elements of a teaching experiment, the study included several iterations of teaching, student thinking, reflection, and analysis, and then teaching again. Data was analyzed both during the teaching experiment and retrospectively following the conclusion of the teaching and learning sessions. Primary data included recordings and transcripts from the teaching sessions as well as students' written work. Retrospective analysis generated three major themes as most prominent in the students' reasoning. First, experiences physically partitioning fraction strips and number lines emerged as critical to students' developing reasoning. The students drew upon the foundations they established when engaging in their own partitioning work as they worked with questions of size, equivalency, and density. Second, critical relationships such as the relationship between the numerator and denominator and between fractions to other fractions and decimals were essential, but also complex and challenging for the students. In particular, students appeared to anchor much of their work in relationships of fractions and decimals to the benchmarks of 1/2 and one whole. Distance reasoning (i.e., considering the distance of a fraction to a benchmark) appeared to become a preferred reasoning strategy for the students. Lastly, the number line appeared more complicated and challenging than initially anticipated but powerful in illuminating misconceptions. Pushing the students to place "both" decimals and fractions on the same number line appeared especially critical in supporting the students in integrating their developing understanding of both of these notations and expanding and deepening their mental number lines. [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.]

Two dissertation recitals and a piano pedagogy workshop were given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctoral of Musical Arts in Piano Pedagogy and Performance at the University of Michigan. The first dissertation lecture recital, "Afro-Cuban and Brazilian Dances," was presented in McIntosh Theatre on Wednesday, November 30, 2022. The program included "Six Afro-Cuban Dances" and "Mazurka Glissando" by Ernesto Lecuona; "Eponina Waltz," "Julietta Waltz," "Tango Habanera," and "Odeon" by Ernesto Nazareth. The presentation highlighted musical and historical Afro-Cuban and Brazilian influences within the pieces. The second dissertation solo recital was given in McIntosh Theatre on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. This recital was intended to feature a range of compositions that touch on the theme of grief and nostalgia, with elements of improvisation. The program consisted of Sonata in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven; and Sonata in A minor, K. 310 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Transcendental Etude No. 9 in A-flat major, "Ricordanza" by Franz Liszt; "Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin; a transcription of "When I Fall in Love" by Bill Evans; and a transcription of "Over the Rainbow" by Oscar Peterson. The pedagogy workshop, "Building an Online Piano Studio," was presented on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 in Watkins Lecture Hall. This workshop showcases an overview of advantages, disadvantages, experiences, and tools that may be applied to navigating teaching piano virtually. This workshop featured interviews with a range of piano pedagogues: from piano teachers who solely teach online, to pre-college piano professors, or collegiate piano professors. [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 present dissertation reports two experiments that investigate the processing of English wh-dependencies by including language-specific (experiment I) and domain-general (experiment II) factors. We looked into both event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and time-frequency representations (TFRs) of the EEG signal so as to obtain a more thorough understanding of the processing of English wh-dependencies, as ERPs and TFRs can complement each other in the EEG signals they capture. Experiment I revisited the processing of English wh-dependencies by manipulating the wh-dependency relation (whether vs. who) and distance (short vs. long) between the wh-word and its argument assigner. The examination of the processing difference in the wh-dependency relation is important as it served as a confirmatory follow-up of previous studies and aimed to ensure that the present manipulations worked in the same way as previous studies. Investigating the distance manipulation in ERPs and TFRs is theoretically important as it provides further evidence to support the memory/resources-based account of processing English wh-dependencies. In addition, it contributes to the literature as to whether dependency distance plays a role, which has not reached a consensus yet. Experiment II expanded the scope of processing English wh-dependencies by including the domain-general proactive control in the design. Including domain-general proactive control can be theoretically important, as it contributes to the question of whether language-specific processing functions independently of other domain-general systems or whether it dynamically interacts with them as a function of contextual demands. Results of Experiment I revealed an unexpected main effect of distance (independent of the wh-dependency relation), suggesting that distance needs to be carefully controlled in future studies. Besides, we observed an unexpected P600 effect at the determiner of the embedded subject, which suggests participants' tendency of being proactive during parsing. Results of Experiment II revealed a modulatory effect of proactive control on the processing of English wh-dependencies, suggesting a dynamic interaction between domain-general cognitive control and language-specific processing. Results also support the memory/resources-based approach of processing wh-dependencies. Taken together, results from this dissertation supports an interactive view of language processing in which domain-general proactive control can dynamically interact with language-specific processing. [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 investigates Chinese audience perceptions and reactions to American advanced learners of Chinese delivering domain presentations. Drawing on video recordings of the Chinese Flagship students' Master's thesis defenses, the research focuses on the question-and-answer (Q&A) sessions, where Chinese audience members ask questions and provide feedback, and students respond accordingly. Utilizing discourse analysis, the interactions between students and Chinese audience members are examined to identify common themes across multiple defenses. Observations and conclusions are intended to inform design of a program that trains students to deliver domain presentations to a Chinese audience. This study underscores the need for learners and educator of CFL to be aware of their target audience's expectations and preferences by emphasizing the role of the audience's interpretation in determining the end product of a communication event and pointing out the lack of consideration of audience in current CFL education. The analysis of this study provides a thick description of how such a cross-cultural communication event takes place, detailing the background information, time, place, roles of participants and how these elements affect behaviors and perceptions of participants. The analysis also gives abundant examples of audience feedback to American students giving domain presentations in Chinese on China-related topics, as well as examples of how American students use culturally appropriate strategies and language to respond to feedback from the Chinese audiences. Informed by observations from analysis of the Flagship Master's thesis defense events and the researcher's practice as a Chinese teacher, suggestions and guidelines for designing a program that trains Chinese learners to give domain presentations are proposed. The guidelines state the program goal, discuss key issues in curriculum design, propose a working curriculum enlightened by the design of the Flagship program, and specify the instructor's roles. [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.]

China, classified as a middle-income country by the World Bank, faces a scarcity of resources in providing autism interventions, despite a comparable autism prevalence in the Western world. Most autism interventions in China are imported from high-income countries, highlighting the need to examine whether the focus of the interventions from mixed sources aligns with caregivers' preferences for children with autism in China. This study aimed to understand caregiver preferences for intervention goals and explore potential variations based on child and caregiver characteristics. Additionally, it compared these preferences to goals addressed through interventions. Caregivers living in mainland China and having a 3-8-year-old child with autism enrolled in autism interventions responded to a Qualtrics survey that collected child and caregiver characteristics, and intervention goals pursued. Caregivers' preferences for intervention goals were assessed by choice tasks designed using the Best-Worst (BW) Scaling method. Frequency count and mean BW scores ranked and compared goals pursued and caregivers' preferred goals. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) examined the differences in caregivers' preferences based on child and caregiver characteristics. Caregivers (N = 117) reported diverse intervention goals pursued and indicated varied preferences. Social communication was consistently frequently reported and top-ranked, while repetitive behaviors and improved sleep were least emphasized. Notable discrepancies existed in sensory issues, flexibility with routines, and anxiety. MANOVA revealed significant differences in caregivers' preferences based on these child characteristics: level of expressive language, autism severity, intervention duration, time since diagnosis, having sensory issues, intellectual disabilities, or medical conditions, and use of Relationship-based and Individualized Comprehensive (RICE) approach, musical therapy, or Play-and-living Culture Intervention (PCI). Caregivers' employment status had a slight influence. The finding of social communication as a frequently reported and top-ranked goal aligns with existing literature. The discrepancy underscored children's diverse and complex needs. The use of two local strategies (RICE and PCI) demonstrated the role of cultural relevance in influencing caregivers' preferences. The study context with limited autism resources provides insights for contextually relevant interventions in similar settings. Professionals should prioritize caregivers' preferences for maximum treatment fit. Policy innovations should incentivize value-based autism interventions to achieve the best outcomes. [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 qualitative single case study examined how teacher training on social and emotional learning could better prepare teachers to support student's social and emotional needs in the classroom. The problem addressed in this study was the inconsistent quality of social and emotional training provided to teachers, resulting in ill-equipped teachers to manage students' social and emotional needs in the classroom. The purpose of the qualitative single case study was to explore teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of social and emotional teacher training through their personal experiences. The conceptual framework used as the foundation of this study was the concept of social and emotional learning, which was established by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning and is grounded in prevention science and developmental research. Data were collected by using in-person, one-on-one interviews and classroom observations. There were nine teacher participants, and their interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and reviewed by participants before thematic analysis was conducted. This study concluded that social and emotional teacher training must be created to give teachers more consistent training that includes real-world experiences, smaller groups, guidelines, and ways to support their own social and emotional needs. The findings also showed that the implementation of social and emotional programs should be done school-wide and be supported by all levels of administration. The recommendations for practice include increasing the amount of social and emotional training provided to teachers, incorporating real-world scenarios, supporting teachers' social and emotional needs, and school-wide implementation. Additionally, future research should study a larger group of participants from various schools throughout a larger district to validate the findings and provide a better understanding of the research results. [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 meniscus is cartilage that not only prevents the bones in knee joints to grind together but acts as a joint stabiliser. Many athletes and older people suffer from meniscus tears and degeneration. Meniscal tear treatments have been through meniscal suture or by partial meniscectomy (removal). These treatments may cause changes in loading or decreased contact area and increased contact stress. Consequently, the ultimate result is a total meniscectomy that potentially leads to osteoarthritis (OA). These current surgical strategies have lower success rates in younger patients. There are no successful artificial meniscus replacement devices for young patients, therefore, new materials for meniscus replacement are required. Here, the aim was to develop a novel biomimetic meniscus device made of a silica/polytetrahydrofuran (SiO2/polyTHF) inorganic/organic hybrid material. The device is biomimetic in terms of its structural design, mechanical properties, and integration with the host tissue. The device should delay onset of OA. The hybrid has unique properties in that is a bouncy material which has comparable mechanical properties to knee cartilage. Two pot hybrid synthesis was used to synthesise the SiO2/polyTHF hybrid and casting mould was developed based on the shrinkage factor of the hybrid. The hybrid synthesis modifications were conducted by controlling compositions and drying processes. Biological fixation of the hybrid meniscus was achieved by titanium anchors with gyroid porous architecture which can provide initial mechanical fixation and secondary biological fixation on the tibia. The architecture was designed using Solidworks and Rhinoceros software and printed by the Additive Manufacturing technique of selective laser melting (SLM). Mechanical testing of the device included compression, cyclic loading, shear strength and long-term 90 days in-vitro mechanical testing, tribology against living bovine 2 cartilage, and cell studies. The results suggest that combination of hybrid and Ti gyroid has potential to be meniscus implant due to comparable mechanical properties, low friction coefficient, and non-cytotoxicity.

Integrating deep generative models into urban form generation is an innovative and promising approach to support the urban design process. However, most urban form generation approaches assisted by deep generative models consider image-based representations of urban form, neglecting the overall topological information among streets, blocks, and buildings. This research aims to support urban design in the early stages through deep generative models based on topology. The developed framework can provide multiple design solutions for urban designers in the early stage of urban design and support the urban design process. There are seven parts to this research. Firstly, the introduction of the research is presented. Secondly, this research reviews urban form generation, from artificial intelligence (AI) to deep generative models, and state of the art. Thirdly, the research methodology is presented. Fourthly, a survey is conducted to understand the user acceptance and visions of professionals, academics, and students in the field of architecture and urban design towards the application of deep generative models in architectural and urban form generation. Fifthly, the topology-based urban form generation framework aided by deep generative models is proposed. Sixthly, the street network generation based on topology using deep generative models is developed and validated. Seventhly, the building configuration generation based on topology using deep generative models is developed and validated. Eighthly, the research results are discussed, and the conclusion of the research is presented.

The ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) has gained tremendous attention worldwide in electrocatalysis and fuel cells. Ethanol as a fuel has superiority in sustainability, renewability, low toxicity, and high theoretical energy den-sity compared with hydrogen and methanol. The electrooxidation of ethanol is hard to be achieved without the help of platinum (Pt)-group catalysts. How-ever, the scarcity of Pt has led to its high price, which significantly limits industrial production. Much effort has been devoted to palladium (Pd), an-other Pt-group metal with a larger reserve than Pt. A great many experimental works have been conducted to search for high-performance Pd-based cata-lysts. However, theoretical research is still lacking, including the mechanistic investigation and the rational design of electrocatalysts. Therefore, the first-principle calculations within the density functional theory (DFT) framework, which are powerful tools for theoretical studies, explore the heterogeneous catalytic reaction in direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC). The ethanol electrooxi-dation reaction on Pd and Pd-based systems is studied, mainly on the activity and selectivity, respectively.

Representation learning aims to distill useful knowledge from raw data and apply this knowledge to a wide range of applications. This ability to extract information that is useful not only for selected tasks but also generalizes to new settings is a key step towards artificial intelligence. In this thesis, we focus on representations derived through a specific type of generative model, i.e. variational autoencoders (VAEs). VAEs have several desirable properties. Thanks to the use of variational inference and the convenient model assumptions of Gaussian posteriors and a simple prior, VAEs are often easy to train and exhibit fast convergence. The probabilistic modelling formulation allows VAEs to derive a smooth latent representation of the raw data (i.e. semantically similar data samples are likely to be projected to nearby regions in the latent space). VAEs compress the raw data to a much lower dimension latent space. Working with the low-dimensional representations rather than the raw data can significantly reduces costs in memory and computation. With these advantages, VAEs have been widely applied to many applications, including robotics, drug discovery and digital content creation. Despite the widespread application of VAEs, improving the generative modelling of VAEs further remains an active research topic. In this thesis, we focus on two challenges in the VAE training: 1) over-regularized posterior distributions are often encountered in VAEs with Gaussian decoders and simple prior models; 2) the auto-encoding function may cause severe information drift and alter the information in the raw data in successive encodings. We propose solutions to both phenomena. Specifically, we optimize a variance parameter in the Gaussian decoder to balance competing loss terms in the ELBO objective. We adopt a flexible prior model that is implemented as a VAE in the latent space to mitigate the over-regularization effects. To reduce the information drift, we propose to modify the ELBO objective with a consistency loss that penalizes such drift. We show that these proposals can effectively address the challenges identified previously and improve the likelihood score of the VAEs. In addition to the contributions related to improving VAEs, we also demonstrate the power of VAEs' representation learning in two important machine learning applications. Firstly, we show that a VAE's ability to compress complicated, high-dimensional data is key to achieving good performance in anomaly detection. We design a VAE-LSTM anomaly detection system that can accurately identify anomalous effects in a time serious. Secondly, we show that a classifier which incorporates a VAE module can give better calibrated predictions. This is the result of a VAEs' capability of expressing the uncertainty between similar data samples in the spread of the posterior distribution and of identifying out-of-distribution samples.

The high prevalence of obesity worldwide has fuelled research to discover new treatments that tackle obesity safely and effectively. Over the last decades, we and others have considered that developing strategies focused on increasing organismal energy expenditure may help fight obesity and its associated comorbidities. For this purpose, our research focused on a gene called Thada. THADA encodes a 220 kDa protein that has been recently reported in Drosophila melanogaster to uncouple the heat dissipation of SERCA from its Ca2+ pumping action. We anticipated that this mechanism could contribute significantly to the energy metabolism in endotherms, such as mammals. We envisaged THADA could contribute to the muscle non-shivering thermogenesis-in addition to sarcolipin, another uncoupler of SERCA. Our working hypothesis was reinforced by the fact that mutations in THADA have been positively selected during the last 45-30K years in the Arctic populations, which the authors of the research and we interpret as a potential adaption to the extreme cold. In this thesis, I have performed in vitro and in vivo approaches and confirmed that the ablation of THADA caused increased ATP hydrolysis and Ca2+ transport efficiency of SERCA and affected cellular bioenergetics in primary skeletal muscle cells. Interestingly, phenotypic characterisation of the Thada KO mice has revealed that the genetic ablation of Thada causes an impairment in the maintenance of core body temperature in response to cold exposure. This effect can only be revealed under specific environmental conditions when the brown adipose tissue (BAT) is cancelled/neutralised. Our physiological data are supported by a robust transcriptomic signature where skeletal muscle, BAT and inguinal subcutaneous white adipose tissue of the Thada KO mice presented primary and compensatory fingerprints associated with the environmental temperatures tested. The findings of this thesis provide evidence of THADA's contribution to energy homeostasis in mammals and open the possibility of using THADA as a viable therapeutic target to increase basal metabolic rate and hence energy expenditure to tackle obesity.

The work presented in this dissertation primarily focused on two topics. The first was understanding differences in support for redistribution. In this section, we replicated existing research on the three-player two-situation model, extended this model with more precise measures - for instance of malicious envy - and developed new measures for instance of mutualism. The second main topic was understanding how motivations and cognitive ability influence people's economic attitudes and knowledge. The thesis is structured as follows. Chapter 1 provides a brief introduction about redistribution and economic ideology which will be discussed in subsequent chapters and argues for the importance of replication existing findings in psychology. Chapter 2 aims to address whether social orientation and cognitive style reflect the differences in cultural orientation, such as individualism and collectivism. We conducted a study (n = 216) to test the relationships between Sociogram Task (a social orientation measure which assumes that using a relatively large circle to perform self in a diagram would be more individualistic), Triad Task (a cognitive style measure which assumes grouping objects through their category rather than relationship would be more individualistic), and three cultural orientation measures. We found that neither social orientation nor cognitive style was associated with cultural orientations, and social orientation nor cognitive style were not correlated with each other, either. This result showed that Sociogram Task and Triad Task did not reflect the underlying dimension of individualism and collectivism, indicating that social orientation and cognitive style were not linked with cultural orientations. Given that the effects of social orientation and cognitive style failed to replicate, we switched to our main findings in the next part. In part one of this dissertation (Chapter 3 to Chapter 5), we explored a different direction, focusing on the replication and extension of the three-player two-situation model, which hypothesizes that people's attitude toward resource allocation (e.g. support for economic redistribution) is driven by three motivations: compassion, envy, and self-interest. In Chapter 3, we build on the work of the three-player two-situation model, testing whether the attitude toward redistribution is motivated by the three motivations rather than procedural fairness. We successfully replicated this model in three studies (n = 1,011), confirming that support for redistribution is influenced by compassion, envy, and self-interest, and procedural fairness plays no role. Furthermore, we also refined the three-player two-situation model, indicating that the concept of envy referred to malicious envy, which is characterized by hostility and behaviours about decreasing others' advantage. These results support the role of evolution motivates in explaining contemporary economic redistribution. In Chapter 4, we aim to answer whether support for redistribution would be shaped by a specific kind of fairness vital in collaboration, the equal-division fairness. In two studies (n = 805), we found that motivation of equal-division played a significant role in support for redistribution. Furthermore, we found that attitude toward redistribution involved a coercive part, which was also associated with equal-division fairness. These results confirmed the role of equal-division motivation, suggesting that the three-player two-situation model includes equal-division fairness and coercive enforcement. In Chapter 5, we focused on another key concept of the evolution of cooperation, mutualism, trying to answer how it influences support for redistribution and associates with compassion, envy, self-interest, and equal-division fairness. We developed a Mutualism scale based on Baumard, André, and Sperber (2013), which reflects proportional division, proportional punishment, and helping behaviour. In two studies (n = 902), the Mutualism scale showed good fits to the predicted model and satisfactory reliability and validity. Furthermore, we found mutualism was independent of compassion, envy, and self-interest, but associated with equal-division, coercing others to share equally, and negative attitudes toward redistribution. These results extended the three-player two-situation model, confirming the importance of equal-division and mutualism motivations in explaining people's tendency toward economic redistribution. In the second part of this dissertation (Chapter 6 and Chapter 7), we turned to concern how cognitive ability influence people's economic attitudes and knowledge. In Chapter 6, we addressed whether cognitive ability influences economic attitudes. In two studies (n = 1,400) and a longitudinal data set (n = 11,563), we found cognitive ability was positively correlated with how far individuals deviate from prevailing centrist views, that is, the level of economic extremism. These results indicated that the association between cognitive ability and economic attitudes was not a simple linear relationship, highlighting the role of cognitive ability in generating radical attitudes. Chapter 7 aims to answer whether cognitive ability is related to economic knowledge and whether it will increase financial outcomes. In two studies (n = 1,356), we found that cognitive ability was positively associated with economic knowledge, and greater economic knowledge also positively correlated with financial literacy. In addition, our findings showed that education level and economic training level only had little effect on economic knowledge compared with cognitive ability. These findings fill the gap between cognitive ability and economic knowledge, extending the role of general ability in improving lifetime financial wellbeing. Finally, Chapter 8 was a summary of the previous chapters' findings, and suggestions for future research on people's economic attitudes and knowledge, especially the role of individual differences in this research area.

In China, demands for housing and infrastructure have increased significantly in recent years. However, such problems as extra costs, time overruns, and low quality still afflict the Chinese construction industry. It is imperative that the researcher find an alternative and novel method to solve the problem. Off-Site Construction (OSC) methods are often introduced to address quality, cost, and delivery (QCD) problems in the current situation. Many such OSC organisations have been established in China over the past decade, providing good practice for Chinese OSC industry development. In order to implement the OSC method successfully, the process and features of the OSC method need to be elucidated. It is also necessary to understand the differences arising between traditional construction methods and those of OSC, the application of which may result in unique risk factors arising within the OSC approach. Previous articles presented many risks associated with OSC projects. However, only a few articles have thus far considered the risk factors that influence off-site manufacturing (OSM) processes, and there is currently no risk response method for OSM. Therefore, this research aims to develop a risk management framework to reduce the negative effect(s) caused by OSM risk in China. In this research, a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative method and quantitative method was employed. Through the review of article, an introduction to OSC and OSM was presented. Semi-structured interviews were conducted as part of the qualitative research process. Thirty participants were interviewed. Based on the interview data, 3 sub-types, 13 groups, and 77 risk factors were identified and defined for the OSM process in China. As a consequence, a risk influence diagram reflecting the relationships arising between risk factors and QCD was developed. In order to identify the significant risk factors for the OSM process, a questionnaire survey was then developed based on the 77 risk factors identified from the interviews. 436 OSC practitioners participated in this quantitative research aspect and the researcher was able to identify the significant risk factors by evaluating the probability and impact of each risk via a five-point Likert Scale. The questionnaire identified 28 significant risk factors that could cause QCD problems to arise within OSC projects. Based on the interviews and questionnaire data, a risk management framework was developed. In order to validate the significant risk factors and response methods, the OSM risk management framework was validated by case studies conducted for 2 OSC organisations. After the case study process had concluded, the OSM risk management framework was refined and presented. This research identified 3 risk types, 11 risk groups and 28 risk factors for OSM risk management. The significant OSM risk factor in China is caused by high initial cost, consultant lack of OSC experience and contract bidding problems. The risk management framework was divided into 4 groups: principles, framework development, process, and participant. The proposed OSM risk management framework seeks to help OSM organisations in China deal with risks pertaining to the OSC projects. This framework could help to identify those risk factors within the OSM process that may adversely affect QCD on the OSC project and presents the proposed response methods for each significant risk factor. Based on the type of organisation, the appropriate risk response method can be chosen from avoidance, transfer, reduction and retention. Thus, this framework is suitable for Chinese OSM organisations in helping them to understand the major barriers pertaining to the current situation. It may also have the potential to become a risk management guide for global OSM organisations.

Despite efforts over the last 30 years to make tampons more appealing to Chinese consumers, Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson only reach 2.5% of eligible users compared with 70% of consumers in the USA. Besides China, in Italy, most of Eastern Europe and South America, where tampons usage share is also very low. This discrepancy is due, in main, to cultural barriers. Drawing on Behavioural Reasoning Theory and an emic approach, taking the case of tampons in China as example, this study explores the reasons against consuming a specific product category, the cognitive process of reasons, and cultural antecedents underlying these reasons, leading to a 'reason against' model, to accomplish the central aim of this research which is to better understand the under-researched national level phenomenon of anti-consumption towards a specific product category which finally categorized as 'cultural sensitive product' in this research. This research utilizing semi-structured interview qualitative research method to achieve the research aim and answer the research questions. Randomly sampled 37 Chinese females who are tampons eligible users, 10 in the UK and 27 in China. Of those, 5 of 10 in the UK did follow-up interviews 6-to-9 months after their first interview. Interviewers' age ranged from 21-50, 21-30 years represented 59% of the samples. 95% is Han Chinese, the main ethnic group in China which accounts for more than 90% of the population and constitutes the world's single largest racial cultural group. The included native geographic places covered 77% provinces of Han Chinese habitation in mainland of China. Out of 37 participants, just one regularly consumed tampons (2.7%), which is very close the average usage in China at 2.5%. 37 semi-structured interviews result in three key findings: three 'reasons against', a set of emic cultural values and a model of 'reasons against' which together provide a more accurate insight into antecedents of anti-consumption. The first key finding, three 'reasons against' are risk aversion, undesired 'Ren' in relationships and situations, the lack of emic cultural recognised symbolic value added on tampons. These reasons are cohesively related to emic culture which confirms the main premise of Behavioural Reasoning Theory. These reasons are important linkages between cultural values and behaviours. The second key finding, a set of emic cultural values suggest that Chinese culture is oriented around 'Personalism', 'personal physical health' and 'relational and situational Ren'. This supports the views of Chinese indigenous researchers which counters Western scholars' view of Chinese collectivism culture. From a total of twenty-five identified emic values, fourteen have not been captured in the literature which updates the list of Chinese cultural values and offers an invaluable resource for future (anti)consumption research. The third key finding, the model of 'reasons against' offers a cognitive processing model base to explore and evaluate the relationships of cultural values, product features and categories, along with product (de)benefits and 'reasons against and for' (anti)consumption of a specific product category, which theoretically guides further researchers on the intentional and meaningful rejection of the consumption of a specific product category in a specific cultural context. The findings fill the gap with insufficient non-individual level antecedent/predictors, and the national level phenomenon of anti-consumption, to explore anti consumption from multiple perspectives, taking a more comprehensive approach to the various phenomena of consumption. The findings challenge marketing activities of tampons which overlook emic culture elements and are mainly concerned with providing the functional benefits or utilitarian values of tampons to consumers. Instead, the findings suggest emic cultural values-based symbolic added value interventions. This suggestion also serves as a proposal for other culturally sensitive products' marketing strategy.

Driven by the development of the film industry and the demands of film markets, as a mainstream type of soundtrack, the pop film music began to take on more tasks in dramatic film. An increasing number of English language pop songs have been used in non-English /East-Asian films. This phenomenon is not rare as English is the most widely used language in the world today, meanwhile the export of European and American culture has long been powerful. My research largely focuses on exploring the cooperation and relationship between films and pop songs, especially when the films and songs come from different cultural contexts. I am going to investigate the "content" of English pop songs, and examine how are they used in Eastern films and whether they will carry meaning in the films. Globalisation is one of the contexts and premises for the emergence of this phenomenon. Although this thesis is highly containing of these, it does not aim to focus on global culture, history, or society; while breaking down the film text, the analysis of the meaning of pop songs will incorporate references not only from film theory, but also from the cultural perspective.

The research work in this thesis is concerned with improving the output RF power of Uni-Travelling Carrier Photodiodes (UTC-PDs) by increasing their bias voltage capability and improving their thermal performance, targeting the frequency range of 200 - 300 GHz for ultra-high-speed wireless communications. Antenna integrated UTC-PDs with higher output power will enable sub-THz signals to be transmitted over longer distance and with higher signal to noise ratio (SNR). At the beginning of this thesis, types of continuous wave THz sources are reviewed in the literature to compare their suitability for wireless communications. Photonic techniques, benefiting from signal transmission over optical fibre cables, allow THz modulated optical signals to be distributed over long distances, superior to electronic techniques in this aspect. With respect to frequency bandwidth, tuneability and room temperature operation, UTC-PDs have exhibited advantages over competing photonic devices, and were chosen as the signal source for sub-THz wireless communications to investigate in this thesis. Following this, the first waveguide coupled phosphide-based UTC-PDs grown by Solid Source Molecular Beam Epitaxy are reported. Coplanar Waveguide (CPW) integrated UTC-PDs and antenna integrated UTC-PDs were fabricated and characterised. Techniques were developed to reduce the leakage current of UTC-PDs from several µA to less than 100 nA (biased at -1V) for different sizes of devices up to 7×15 μm², and bias voltage capability was improved to enable UTC-PDs work up to -5V voltage. Limitations due to thermal effects in UTC-PDs are studied in detail. Experiments with pulsed heterodyne input signals were used to separate the thermal effects on the output power of CPW devices. Pulse measurement results indicate that UTC-PD output saturation power can be increased by more than 3 dB by reducing thermal effects. Thermal modelling of UTC-PDs is presented to show the temperature distribution inside devices. The modelling shows the restrictions preventing heat dissipation mainly come from two factors: the small cross-sectional area of the P-type contact and the low thermal conductivity of semiconductor materials. Three solutions are proposed to reduce thermal resistance and improve heat dissipation inside UTC-PDs. In addition, verification experiments were conducted to measure UTC-PD temperature and compare with the simulated results. Good agreement was achieved, demonstrating the validity of the thermal modelling presented in this thesis.

This thesis studies two topics of fiscal policies and public debt sustainability. In Chapter 2, the study is motivated by the fact that UK government debt relative to output has increased dramatically in the last decade. In addition, an aging population in recent years presents many challenges to government expenditures. Consequently, the UK is projected to experience further upward pressures on government debt. This chapter uses a Neoclassical Growth Model to explore the amount of additional tax revenues needed to finance the future government expenditures and at the same time reduce the debt to output ratio to 60%. We find that the required revenue to achieve fiscal stability is in the range of 20-24% of consumption expenditures. Also, when a distorting tax (consumption tax or labor income tax) is used to achieve the goal, such tax rate needs to increase to a very high level, even though the government has broadened its tax base. Chapter 3 aims to identify the public investment shock for a sample of 14 OECD countries from 1985 to 2018 and investigate how public debt sustainability affects the macroeconomic effect of a public investment shock. This study identifies public investment shock as forecast errors of public investment and uses the local projection method to estimate the responses of a set of key macroeconomic variables to public investment shocks. The empirical result shows that the public investment shocks can increase the output, with a multiplier of 2.3 on average over three years. Moreover, public debt sustainability affects the effectiveness of the public investment: The responses of output are statistical significant larger in a weak-debt regime (i.e., the debt-to-GDP ratio is greater than a specific high level) than in a strong-debt regime (i.e., the debt ratio is less than a specific low level). To investigate the channels through which public debt sustainability can affect the effectiveness of public investment shocks, we also consider the response of other macroeconomic variables and find that public debt sustainability can limit the effectiveness of public investment through private consumption and borrowing costs.

Successful interactions within the environment are contingent upon the perceiver's ability to perceive the maximum extent over which they can perform actions, commonly referred to as action boundaries. Individuals are extremely sensitive to their action boundaries, and the perceptual system can quickly and flexibly recalibrate to changes in the size of action boundaries in the event of physiological and/or environmental changes. However, action boundaries are learned over time from perceptual-motor feedback across different environmental and physiological contexts, the information upon which action boundaries are based must inherently be characterised by variability. As a result, the judgement of one's action boundary is more likely based on probability distribution rather than an immutable, exact borderline. Hence, the question then arises as to where on that distribution do people decide that an action is possible. This thesis, therefore, seeks to understand how the perceptual system accounts for overt perceptual-motor variability in motor performance and recalibrate to new action boundary following changes in one's action capabilities. In 11 experimental studies, this thesis examined (1) how the perceptual system accounts for overt perceptual-motor variability in motor performance for different actions, and (2) whether the perceptual system employs different strategies to determine action boundary to accommodate demands arisen from the consequences and costs-benefits ratios of a particular action. The findings of this thesis suggest that the point on the distribution that acts as the judged action boundary varies as a function of task. Specifically, the strategy in which the perceptual system employs to determine action boundary after experiencing overt perceptual-motor variability in motor performance is specific the action, and the consequences and/or cost-benefits ratios of the outcome of a particular action but not the context. By using different approaches for different actions on an ad hoc basis to determine action boundaries, the perceptual system would be able to maximise the efficiency of information processing in the event of perceptual motor uncertainties, while minimising the exposure to potentially dangerous situations and aversive consequences. These findings of this thesis have broader theoretical and practical implications for future research in affordance perception and perceptual-motor recalibration.

Early diagnosis is crucial for facilitating treatment and limiting progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Current diagnostic approaches mainly focus on blood tests. However, blood analysis is invasive and requires trained personnel and specialised equipment. Hence, this thesis sought to use ATR-FTIR spectroscopy to detect components in non-invasive biofluids (urine and saliva) as early diagnostic tools. APRT-deficiency is characterised by the presence of typical crystalline 2,8 dihydroxyadenine (DHA) in the kidney and/or in urine which is currently detected by phase-contrast microscopy or more complex blood analysis of APRT enzyme activity. In this study, an optimised ATR-FTIR spectroscopy protocol for the detection of DHA was developed and used to analyse urine samples from patients with APRT-deficiency. The spectra showed typical crystalline DHA can be identified in urine and distinguished from other urinary crystals. The concentration of typical crystalline DHA was also quantitated using a calibration curve. Further, this study identified a different form of DHA in some of patients' urine. Imaging of different forms of DHA showed differences in appearance and structure between the two forms. A method for purification of endogenous typical crystalline DHA from patient urine was developed. In vitro treatment of human proximal tubular epithelial cells (HKC-8) with the different forms of DHA (0-200 µM) showed all forms of DHA induced a dose-dependent increase in expression of inflammatory genes (TNF-a, MCP-1, Kim-1). ATR-FTIR spectroscopy was also used to quantitate salivary urea in CKD patients to determine whether salivary urea can provide an indicator of CKD stage. The data showed an increase in salivary urea in CKD3-5 compared to healthy controls. A positive correlation between blood urea and salivary urea suggested that salivary urea could be an additional parameter for CKD diagnosis. Renal cells are shed into urine and the populations of cells are likely to vary with disease. The third part of the study explored the potential utility of urinary cells as biomarkers of kidney disease. Normal urine (N=18) contains low numbers of viable cells (1000-4000 cells/100 mL). Normal urinary cells exhibited limited in vitro growth with inadequate numbers for downstream analyses of cell type-specific markers. Analysis of freshly isolated cells showed wide variation in RNA yield and in expression of renal cell type-specific markers confounding comparisons of normal and diseased urines. Further investigations are required to determine the wider utility of this approach. Studies in this thesis showed that ATR-FTIR spectroscopy provides a simple, cost-effective method for detecting urinary DHA and salivary urea for diagnosis of APRT deficiency and CKD, respectively, with wider application to analysis of other urinary components. Both the method and instrumentation can be adapted for clinical use as a point-of-care screening tool.

Electrocatalytic devices are of great importance for promoting global electrification and solving renewable energy intermittency problem by enabling efficient and flexible conversion between electrical and chemical energy. For instance, green hydrogen, which refers to hydrogen gas produced by renewable energy, is considered an ideal candidate to replace fossil fuels as energy carriers and raw materials for domestic and industrial applications. Green hydrogen can be generated by water electrolyser through catalytic hydrogen evolution reaction and then be utilized as the fuel of fuel cells to power electronics. Hydrogen economy is currently hindered by the high production (due to the large overpotential and low economic value of the anodic product of the water splitting process) and utilization (due to the expensive fuel cell cathode material) cost, thus requires the electrocatalytic systems/catalysts to be further studied and designed. Here, this thesis firstly aims at minimising the operation potential of a H2 generator by replacing the sluggish anodic oxygen evolution reaction of conventional water electrolysers with advanced anodic reactions (i.e. organic compound oxidation reactions) which either requires lower overpotential (i.e. urea oxidation reaction) or generates high value products (i.e. methanol upgrading reaction). Step-by-step research is carried out by firstly investigating the products, selectivity and active site of organic compound oxidation reactions governed by nickel-carbon catalyst, then evaluating the activity limitations, finally optimising the electrocatalyst design. The second objective of this thesis is to design oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysts made of earth-abundant elements such as carbon and transition metals. Attention is laid on correlating oxygen reduction reaction selectivity with catalytic active moiety at atomic level to accommodate the demand for fuel cell application or green hydrogen peroxide synthesis. The details of these two main work in this PhD thesis are as follows: (1) Electrocatalytic organic compound oxidation reactions have been intensively studied for energy and environmentally benign applications. However, relatively little effort has been devoted to developing a fundamental understanding of the electrooxidation of organic compounds, including the detailed competition with side reactions and activity limitations, thus inhibiting the rational design of high-performance electrocatalysts. Herein, by taking NiWO4-catalysed urea oxidation reaction in aqueous media as an example, the competition between the organic compound oxidation reaction and the oxygen evolution reaction within a wide potential range was examined. It is shown that the root of the competition can be ascribed to insufficient surface concentration of dynamic Ni3+, an active site shared by both UOR and OER. Similar problems are observed in other OCOR electrocatalysts and systems. To address the issue, a "controllable reconstruction of pseudo-crystalline bimetal oxides" design strategy is proposed to maximise the dynamic Ni3+ population and manipulate the competition between urea oxidation and oxygen evolution reactions. The optimised electrocatalyst delivers best-in-class performance and a ~10-fold increase in current density at 1.6 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode for alkaline urea electrolysis compared to that of the pristine materials. (2) Electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), in which O2 is either reduced to H2O for fuel cell/metal air battery applications; or undergone a 2e- pathway to produce green H2O2, is critical for global electrification and decarbonisation thanks to its multi-pathway character. Nevertheless, holding multiple reaction channels can be a double-edge sword which raises difficulty in selectivity control. This work firstly identified the limitations of the popular Sabatier principle-driven ORR catalyst design, owing to which current ORR electrocatalysts are restricted by a activity-selectivity dilemma. A "O2 hydrogenation kinetics modification" strategy was then predicted for synergising the activity and selectivity. By designing and examining a series of Co-Nx-C samples, ORR selectivity was correlated with Co-N coordination at atomic level. The most optimised sample exhibits a ~100% H2O2 selectivity and a high onset which is comparable to the thermodynamic limit. Through operando spectroscopic studies, the excellent 2e- ORR activity and selectivity can be attributed to the seemly O2 hydrogenation kinetics, validating the as-proposed hypothesis. Finally, a redox-induced electron delocalisation mechanism was identified via analysing the pseudocapacitive and ORR behaviours of the Co-Nx-C samples. Such mechanism was then applied for regulating the H2O2 formation of ORR 4e- catalysts. The above discoveries provide fresh insights for electrocatalyst design in both fuel cell and H2O2 generation applications.

Nowadays the crossing-linked polyethylene (XLPE) has been widely used as the cable insulation materials in the high voltage direct current (HVDC) application. It has some disadvantages including non-recyclable properties, pollutants in the crosslinking process and bad mechanical properties under high temperature. Therefore, it is a main research direction to develop the new generation of polymeric insulation materials with excellent electrical properties, recyclability and environmental-friendly characteristics for the HVDC cable insulation. Polypropylene (PP) is one of commercial thermoplastic polymers which can be recycled and used as a high voltage insulator under high temperatures. Additionally, the electrical performance of PP is better than XLPE in terms of breakdown strength, conductivity, and space charge characteristic. Based on the nanodielectrics theorem, the excellent electrical performance of polymers can be achieved through the nanocomposite process. Therefore, nanocomposites based on PP can have much higher electrical properties and higher thermal stability than XLPE, which provides a new idea for the development of new HVDC cable insulation technology. Over the past few decades, significant attention was paid to the traditional inorganic nanofillers, especially to nano-MgO and nano-Al2O3, in order to modify the properties of PP. However, there is not sufficient research information available in the literature on the effect of POSS on the properties of PP. The main aim of this PhD project is to develop new PP's nanocomposites with high DC electrical performance for HVDC underground power cable insulation. Firstly, nano-MgO, nano-Al2O3, octavinyl-POSS (OvPOSS) and octaphenyl-POSS (OpPOSS) are selected as nanofillers to manufacture the nanocomposites of PP by the solution method. Then, the electrical properties of PP and its nanocomposites were measured and the mechanism about the nanofiller effect on the electrical performance was explored though the micro observation and macro-tests of PP's nanocomposites, especially for OvPOSS and OpPOSS. The formulation and preparation of PP's nanocomposites were optimized through the comparison between the effect of different nanofillers on the electrical performance of PP. The result of electrical measurements shows the electrical performance of POSS/PP nanocomposites is better than MgO/PP and Al2O3/PP nanocomposites under the temperature of 30 ℃, which means that POSS/PP nanocomposites have higher potential to be the next generation of polymeric cable insulation materials with the compare of traditional PP's nanocomposites, including MgO/PP and Al2O3/PP nanocomposites. Secondly, the electrical properties of OvPOSS/PP and OpPOSS/PP nanocomposites at higher temperatures, including 50, 70 and 90℃, have been measured. Then, the electrical measurement revealed that the effect of temperatures changes on the breakdown strength, DC conductivity and space charge characteristics. The relationship between the conductive current and space charge suppression of PP nanocomposites under different temperatures was still discussed to show the mechanism about how the effect of POSS addition can affect the electrical performance of PP under high temperatures. Finally, OpPOSS/PP nanocomposites are selected to explore the electrical and mechanical properties of aged samples through the thermal-oxidation aging (TA) and the electro thermal aging (ETA) processes at the temperature of 110℃. Through the comparison between OpPOSS/PP and pure PP, the OpPOSS can still improve the electrical performance of PP, but it cannot suppress the aging process occurring in pure PP. Under the operation of HVDC cable, the addition of OpPOSS can reduce the electrical damage in the bulk of PP then enhance the lifespan of PP under the HVDC conditions. In this PhD research project the effects of OvPOSS and OpPOSS on the electrical properties of PP have been investigated and the potential of OvPOSS/PP and OpPOSS/PP nanocomposites for the HVDC cable insulation has been analysed. Compared with the traditional nanocomposites, this thesis showed that OvPOSS/PP and OpPOSS/PP nanocomposites have higher electrical properties at the temperature of 30 ℃, this thesis also analyses the reason why addition of OvPOSS and OpPOSS into PP can result in its higher electrical performance . By testing the electrical properties of OvPOSS/PP and OpPOSS/PP nanocomposites at high temperatures, the changes of the electrical properties of these nanocomposites at different temperatures were revealed. Based on the TSDC test results, the influence of nanocomposites on the high temperature electrical properties of PP was demonstrated, the physical mechanism and method of regulating the space charge accumulation in the bulk of PP under the action of electric field at elevated temperature were proposed and the concentrations of nanofillers were optimized. Finally, the experimental platforms for thermal-oxidation aging and electro-thermal aging processes were designed to carry out aging experiments on PP and its nanocomposites. Under different aging times, the effects of OpPOSS on the mechanical and electrical properties of PP were analysed by FTIR spectroscopy. Finally, at 110 ℃ and 60 kV/mm, the breakdown time of PP and OpPOSS/PP was measured, and the lifespan of PP and OpPOSS/PP nanocomposite insulation layer in the actual operation of HVDC cable was theoretically predicted, which indicated the potential of OpPOSS/PP nanocomposites to be the next generation of HVDC cable insulation materials with environmental-friendly properties. Key words: Polypropylene, nanocomposites, electrical properties, thermal-oxidation aging, electro-thermal aging.

Background: Acute viral infections or reactivations, such as Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and herpes zoster (HZ), can cause high morbidity and mortality among older adults. Although vitamin D has immunomodulatory effects, the association between vitamin D status and COVID-19 and HZ is unclear. In this thesis, I investigated the association between vitamin D deficiency and HZ and COVID-19. Methods: This thesis comprises four parts: one systematic review and three analytic studies using UK Biobank. First, I systematically reviewed studies about vitamin D and human herpesviruses infection or reactivation. Second, I conducted a cross-sectional study which described the distribution of vitamin D status and identified demographic risk factors for vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in UK Biobank. In the third part, I undertook a cohort study to explore the association between vitamin D status, supplementation, and prescriptions and the risk of incident HZ. Finally, I assessed the association between vitamin D status and COVID-19 diagnosis, hospitalisation, and mortality. Results: My systematic review and meta-analysis (Chapter 3) included ten studies, and the results demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency was not associated with cytomegalovirus (CMV) diseases in transplant patients, but vitamin D supplementation was associated with a lower risk of HZ in individuals receiving haemodialysis. All included studies were hospital-based and conducted among immunosuppressed people. In my cross-sectional study (Chapter 5) of 449,943 participants aged 40 to 69 years with vitamin D records, I found that the winter and spring seasons, northern regions, male sex, abnormal body mass index (BMI), non-white ethnic backgrounds, smoking, and socioeconomic deprivation were associated with vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency. My cohort study of vitamin D and HZ (Chapter 6) included 177,572 participants with linked clinical records. I found no association between vitamin D deficiency and incident HZ (deficient: adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 0.99, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.90-1.10). Vitamin D supplementation or prescriptions were not associated with incident HZ. Finally, in the cohort study of vitamin D and COVID-19 (Chapter 7), including 307,512 people with linked COVID-19 clinical records, I found an inconsistent association between vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 diagnosis during different follow-up periods (during British summertime (BST) months: HR=0.86, 95% CI=0.77-0.95; during non-BST months: HR=1.14, 95%CI=1.01- 1.30). I found no evidence that vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency was associated with either hospitalisation or mortality due to COVID-19 in any time stratum. Conclusion: In summary, I found no association between vitamin D status, supplementation, or prescriptions and the risk of HZ or COVID-19. According to currently available evidence, extra vitamin D supplementation should not be recommended to prevent HZ or COVID-19.

Early detection improves the survival rate of lung cancer. Routine check-up gives rise to early detection, however, conventional screening methods such as X-ray and computed tomography (CT) are incompetent for routine check-up of lung carcinoma due to health hazards associated with repeated exposure to ionizing radiation. These limitations call for a safer, faster, and cheaper solution - the biosensor. In this study, an electrochemical sensor was fabricated using graphene/zirconia (ZG)-modified screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE). A green approach using solvent exfoliation alongside hydrothermal treatment was employed to prepare the ZG nanocomposites. Material characterisation suggested that pristine graphene and well-hybridised ZG nanocomposite were synthesised. Alongside material characterisation, a cytotoxicity test was performed on the ZG nanocomposite to address the issue of potential hazards during material synthesis and sensor fabrication. The result showed that the ZG nanocomposite had no adverse effects on human lung cells (MRC5) and skin cells (HaCaT), with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of >500 µg/ml. Before the development of an immunosensor and genosensor, the potential of the ZG-based platform as an electrochemical sensor for electroanalytical application was demonstrated via acetaminophen detection. The electrochemical sensor exhibited favourable performances for the detection of acetaminophen ranging from 10 μM to 100 μM. A limit of detection (LOD) of 75.5 nM, repeatability of < 3% relative standard deviation (RSD), reproducibility of 5 % RSD, stability of 95% after 5 days of storage alongside decent selectivity to acetaminophen in the presence of interfering species were observed. This finding subsequently motivated the exploration of the platform to serve as a genosensor enhanced with 1-pyrenebutyric-acid-N-hydroxysuccinimideester (PY) biolinker to differentiate wild-type and mutated exon-19 sequences in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The exon-19 mutation is common among lung cancers. The fabricated genosensor was able to quantify the concentration of wild-type exon-19 in the range of 5 nM to 1 µM, with a linearity coefficient of R2= 0.99 and a LOD of 1.7 nM. The sensor was observed to produce reproducibility of 8.3% of RSD and stability of 90% after 8 days of storage. Most importantly, the sensor was capable of generating distinctive signals for wild-type and mutated exon-19, making it valuable for the detection of genetic mutation. An immunosensor for the detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was proposed. CEA is a glycoprotein involved in cell adhesion and is known to be over-expressed in serum of lung cancer patients. Decent performances were exhibited by the immunosensor for CEA detection with a 4.25 pg/ml LOD and a correlation coefficient of R2= 0.99 within a linear working range from 0.01 ng/ml to 10 ng/ml. The immunosensor exhibited high specificity for CEA against interfering species, decent stability for up to 20 days, and reasonable reproducibility of 4.27% RSD. The immunosensor has also presented a good recovery of CEA in human serum, in which the detected CEA level was in close agreement ( < 7% deviation) with the actual concentration. The key characteristics of the sensors reported in this work offered appealing merits on their own: the stable PY biolinker immobilisation technique, the biocompatible ZG electrode material, the handiness of disposable design and the potential for miniaturisation; hence, hybridizing all these merits produced a promising electrochemical testing platform that subsequently opened up a new avenue for early detection of malignant conditions.

Rapid economic growth has historically been accompanied by a large amount of resources consumed and high environmental costs. Following rapid economic growth, China in recent years has made an increasing number of achievements in pollution treatment and environmental governance, and is likely to need to continue to promote high quality economic development with high-level protection of the environment in the next decades. This thesis explores the efforts on pollution controls and green economy development in China, as well as conducting policy evaluation to see the effects of the government actions. Chapter 2 tests the existence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis in China - the relationship between environmental degradation and economic development - at the provincial level. This chapter therefore investigates whether economic development can bring a positive effect on environmental improvement, utilizing a greater range of pollutants at a higher degree of disaggregation than previous analysis. Also, green investment were introduced to analyze the effect to pollution reduction. The results indicate that an inverted U-shaped curve between SO2, NOx and income per capita exists, whilst such a relationship is less clear for other pollutants including COD and particulates. Chapter 3 investigates the relationship between corporate environmental performance and financial performance. Specifically, it aims to provide evidence of the efforts of Chinese corporations on environmental improvement and the potential trade-off with profitability. The chapter captures the longer time period and includes multi-perspectives of environmental performance expression. The results illustrate that environmental performance is positively associated with the financial performance at the corporate level. It therefore indicates that private sector companies should not expect that improving their environmental management will have a detrimental effect on economic performance. In Chapter 4, the objective of research is to analyze the current green investment development in China, and the green bond is chosen in this chapter as the representative financing method of green investment. This paper is to evaluate the determinants of green bond yields and conduct a comparison between green bond and ordinary bond. The influencing factors of green bond consider bond characteristics and issuer characteristics, and the comparison shows the lower yields of green bond. The results illustrate the rapid expansion of green bond market, and the government should improve the regulation and oversight of the market scheme. Chapter 5 uses cost benefit analysis to assess the environmental policy at both national and provincial level. It finds that the health benefits - including declines in both morbidity and mortality risks - from actual emissions reduction are significantly greater than the air pollution mitigation costs over the period of 2011-2025, based on the actual emission reduction and estimated reduction using historical data. The scenario results are compared under the business-as-usual scenario and policy implemented scenario. In addition, the provincial results demonstrate the regional differences in China due to regional economic development, climate condition, primary industry and suggest that economic efficiency objectives should be pursued at a provincial rather than national level. To summarise, this paper gives a landscape of progress on environmental improvement in China based on the results. The results of these chapters demonstrate the common results of that China has stepped into the sustainable development path, including the continuous pollutants reduction, green finance market expansion, and more effective policies launched. The considerable industrial pollutants reduction have been demonstrated with empirical studies, and environmental policy emphasizes environmental improvement and energy efficiency instead of the pollution controls. Combining with updated policies, this paper could be a reference of policy implementation and provide the suggestions to related policy advisors.