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This study performs a reading of Wittgenstein’s thought that integrates his sometimes sidelined remarks on aesthetics and belief, and emphasises consideration of language use on the level of practice. It analyses the many ways that Wittgenstein engages with the inexpressible or the limits of expression through comparison with poetry as a practice. The potential of a Wittgensteinian method of literary analysis concentrating on grammatical structures, exemplary forms of expression and quotidian meaning-making is shown by viewing several poets’ work in connection with specific forms of the inexpressible. This thesis consists of three parts. The first chapter surveys previous applications of Wittgenstein to aesthetic appreciation and analysis, and considers common interpretations of his earlier and later work. Incorporating a wide range of Wittgenstein sources allows a new reading to emerge that gives appropriate weight to his hitherto under-researched writings. This reading is tested in Chapters 2-5, in each case studying a poet or poets alongside a philosophical text or topic. Chapter 2 uses the negative theology of Pseudo-Dionysius to probe the ineffable; through Cora Diamond’s resolute reading of the Tractatus, Kei Miller’s ‘Church Women’ series and John Burnside’s intimate ineffable of ‘Parousia’, a grammatical understanding of inexpressibility emerges. Chapter 3 compares John McDowell’s minimal realism in Mind and World with Wallace Steven’s Supreme Fiction, demonstrating how Stevens’ – and Wittgenstein’s – rich conception of experience can close off a number of philosophical lacunae. Chapter 4 concentrates on the poetry of Jorie Graham, whose conception of the self is saturated with language. Parallels with Wittgenstein’s methodology are drawn, and some reminders issued to curb the excesses of postmodern accounts of subjectivity. The focus in Chapter 5 moves to the use of cartographical metaphor in Philosophical Investigations and Kei Miller’s poetry. The constraints of specific discourses on our thinking are examined, together with poetry’s potential for laying bare or reinvigorating the pictures by which we navigate. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses a selection of poetic projects completed alongside my research, to extend the reading of Wittgenstein into the area of creative practice. This thesis demonstrates Wittgenstein’s prolonged engagement with the limits of expression and with poetry, as well as the profit of a Wittgensteinian approach to poetry. It thereby questions a number of current responses to Wittgenstein’s work, and displays its own original creative outcomes.

The aim of the research was to evaluate the processes that determine P stability in riparian floodplain soils, with emphasis on chemical transformations in flood-drained calcareous soil. Flooding of soil columns showed an increase in P solubility (from 0.01 to 1.2 μg ml-1) largely due to the reductive dissolution of Fe minerals (solution Fe increased from < 0.05 to > 50 μg ml-1) and increased solubility of Ca-P minerals (solution Ca increased from < 100 to > 1000 μg ml-1). The periodic drainage of the flooded soil exported the equivalent of approximately O.l5 kg ha-1 (over six flood-drain cycles). Exported P correlated with soil solution P immediately before drainage (r2 = 0.99; P < 0.001). After drainage, there was a reversal of the reactions described above, with solution Fe, Ca and P returning to preflooding levels. Over the course of the 6 flood-drain cycles inorganic P became more stable, with Ca-P and Fe-P pools increasing (from 9 and 11 % respectively both to 14 % of TP) at the expense of labile pools. Similar patterns of P release and retention were observed during batch incubation studies of aerobic - anaerobic cycles using moist soil samples. Solution P and Fe were strongly correlated in both non-calcareous (r2 = 0.96) and calcareous (r2 = 0.73) soils. The role of Ca-P mineral solubility was disguised by the dissolution of calcium carbonate. Drying of the soil can lead to P release on re-wetting (up to eight-fold). This is most likely due to a release of P from ruptured microbial cells and transformations of Fe mineral surfaces. Monitoring suggested that all of these processes were active in the field, as the water table advanced and receded, though more slowly than in the laboratory. Over a four month flood-drain cycle losses of dissolved P from the floodplain were estimated at 0.034 kg ha-1. It is unlikely that this is significant relative to upstream inputs of P to the river from point sources and other types of agricultural land in the River Thames catchment.

The mitochondrial myopathies are associated with an expanding list of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) abnormalities including point mutations, single and multiple deletions, tandem duplications, and generalised depletion of the genome. The existence of further mtDNA defects seems likely, but their detection relies either on the fortuitous loss or gain of an endonuclease restriction site, the loss of sufficient base pairs to cause a detectable size shift, or the sequencing of the genome. The correlation between these defects and the biochemical or clinical phenotype is obscure. Investigation of the mitochondrial translation products, either in vitro or in culture, in patients with these diseases, aimed to address both these issues. An in vitro micro-technique for radiolabelling mitochondrially synthesised proteins was established. In 2 out of 5 cases with mtDNA deletions there was evidence for complementation for missing tRNAs. The possibility of complementation in the remaining cases was not excluded. No novel proteins correlating with translation of fusion genes were detected. Two cases with point mutations of tRNAleu(UUR) had mitochondrial protein synthesis rates and polypeptide profiles comparable with that seen in controls, refuting the suggestion that such mutations might alter the ratio of ribosomal to messenger RNA transcription. Of five cases with no detectable mtDNA mutation, one had a abnormality of mtDNA expression correlating with the biochemical defect and consistent with a defect in either a ribosomal or transfer RNA gene. Morphological, biochemical and genetic criteria for characterising the cultures were assessed. Myotubule cultures established from patients with mitochondrial myopathy associated with a heteroplasmic mtDNA deletion were found to loose the mutant mtDNA genomes within a few cell passages. Clonal myotube cultures showed differing proportions of wild type to mutant type mtDNA genomes in the different clones, which was maintained through a large number of cell divisions. The profile of mitochondrial translation products in the uncloned cultures did not differ from that obtained in controls.

This thesis itemises findings which support the belief .that antibodies against intrinsic factor within the gastro-intestinal tract, play a critical role in the pathogenesis of pernicious amaemia. A method is described for the release and identification of antibody in the gastric juice against intrinsic factor. The release of antibody was studied over a range of pH, under conditions of antigen excess and using progressively smaller quantities of antibody. This method was used inn art investigation of patients with pernicious anaemia. Out of fifty-three subjects studied, antibody was identified in the gastric juice of twenty-nine. There was no correlation in these subjects of antibody in the gastric juice with antibody in the serum. The antibody findings in the serum and gastric juice were related to vitamin B12 absorption studies, employing hog intrinsic factor. Patients without antibodies in the gastric juice or serum were found to absorb vitamin B12 normally when provided with extraneous hog intrinsic factor. Vitamin 412 absorption was impaired in those patients who exhibited intrinsic factor antibody In the gastric juice. In addition, eleven patients were studied who did not have pernicious anaemia but in whoa antibodies against intrinsic factor were identified in. the serum. All but one of these subjects lacked antibody from the gastric juice« All continued to absorb vitamin B12 normally. The relative importance of antibody in the serum and in the gastric juice is discussed in relation to their respective roles in the pathogenesis of pernicious anaemia. The relevant literature is reviewed and the work herein discussed in relation to the findings of other workers in this field.

Along with a recent trend in nuclear engineering of coupling codes to perform high-fidelity, multiphysics simulations, the MOOSE application Redwing was developed to couple the neutron transport and core simulator MPACT and the fuel performance program BISON in order to simulate light water reactor (LWR) fuel pins. Redwing enables two-way data transfer of intrapin fields such as power density and temperature in order to improve the prediction of fission gas release and the overall accuracy of the simulation. An original algorithm was developed to enable transfer of fission gas data between MPACT and BISON, referred to as fission gas coupling. A fuel pin model based on the Watts Bar Nuclear 1 reactor was created, and several aspects of the model were studied: radial mesh and time step sensitivity, the effect of fission gas coupling on a single pin at constant power, and the effect of fission gas coupling on a fuel pin array that undergoes a shutdown. The results show that fission gas coupling has a significant effect on the solution for fuel pins at high power and high burnup, causing an approximate 9% increase in fission gas released to the plenum. It was hypothesized that changes in output quantities of interest (QOIs) were mainly due to a change in the fission gas source. So, a fissionable nuclide-dependent fission gas source was implemented in the Sifgrs module of BISON to test this; results showed some improvement in QOIs compared to standard BISON simulations. Although the fissionable nuclide-dependent source did not have the same effects as enabling fission gas coupling in Redwing, results showed that improving the fission gas source prescription for BISON can capture some effects of fission gas coupling. The fissionable nuclide-dependent source requires further study to validate it. Apart from fission gas coupling, this research illustrated a few little-discussed ways that coupling neutron transport, nuclide depletion, and fuel performance simulations can effect QOIs usually associated with fuel performance. For one, capturing the time dependence of the recoverable energy released per fission has a significant effect on several QOIs in high-burnup fuel. Another important physical quantity derived from the neutron transport solution is the fast neutron flux in the cladding, which has a large effect on cladding creep rate.

This thesis describes the use of machine learning (ML) techniques applied to data gathered from GPS receivers attached to pasture-based dairy cows for the purpose of automatic behaviour identification. Automatically identifying the behaviour of cattle will allow livestock practitioners to make more informed decisions on their management. Furthermore, daily behaviour data can be utilised for earlier disease diagnosis. For example, if the feeding duration of a cow is below its expected target then managers can intervene. Individual animal data were previously unattainable, with cattle usually managed on a herd basis. This thesis begins with an introduction that summarises the ongoing research in the field of precision livestock farming (PLF) and how farmers are implementing some PLF systems for the management of livestock. The main PLF systems discussed are those that incorporate on-animal sensors for the detection and classification of key behaviours associated with production and health. The main body of the thesis is divided into three experimental chapters. Chapter 1 (published in the Journal of Dairy Science) describes the development of a behavioural model of pasture-based Holstein dairy cows using data collected from GPS receivers and processed using ML techniques. Chapter 2 (published in Computers and Electronics in Agriculture) discusses a further modification to the behavioural model which improves its ability to categorise behaviours. Finally, Chapter 3 describes the use of a data partitioning technique often used for timeseries analysis as an alternative method for the development of behaviour prediction models of dairy cows. Chapter 3 was published in the journal Biosystems Engineering. The thesis concludes with a discussion of each chapter in light of the wider research and highlights some necessary areas for further work.

The use of robotics in hazardous environments is becoming more common, where autonomy can handle the dull, dirty and dangerous jobs that humans have previously supported. This thesis focuses on the design of a helicopter deployable unmanned ground vehicle for use in hazardous environments, and presents the benefits of heterogeneous unmanned vehicle teams for operation in beyond line-of-site hazardous environments. The design of a ground robot that is capable of being flown on the undercarriage of a Yamaha RMAX unmanned air vehicle is presented. The robot is size, weight, and power limited and must be capable of traversing rough, unstructured terrain. The results of testing show that the design criteria for size, weight, and mobility are met. A path planning algorithm is developed using the A* search algorithm for the planning of optimal paths through rough terrain. The algorithm makes use of a vehicle/terrain interaction model to compute the cost of path traversal. In the CONOPS, the terrain model is generated real-time during a mission through the use of a stereovision system carried on the helicopter, which station-keeps above the ground robot. The algorithm simulates the robot on the terrain and presents the best feasible path to the operator to aid in teleoperated robot navigation. Simulations of the planning algorithm provided feasible paths over a rough terrain environment. A user study was conducted that evaluates the abilities of both mono- and stereo-vision systems in providing the teleoperator with adequate situational awareness with the intent of proving that stereovision data is more effective at aiding the user in making timely navigation decisions. The results of the study showed that the helicopter-mounted stereovision system was more efficient than the monovision system with respect to navigation time, the number of invalid moves, and total moves required for navigation of a simulated rough terrain environment.

This work was carried out to compare the endocrine function of ovarian tissue isolated in vitro, in an identical environment between ewes and ewe lambs. Furthermore, to determine whether the differences in endocrine and reproductive function of ewes and ewe lambs are related to differences in the proteomics of corpora lutea, follicles and oocytes. Oestradiol concentrations in tissue cultured in TCM-199 were similar for ewe and ewe lamb follicles collected post slaughter on day 9 to 12 of the oestrous cycle and cultured for different incubation times but increased with increase in follicular size. Oestradiol secretion was greater (P<0.001) for ewe and ewe lamb follicles cultured in media with FCS. Media progesterone concentrations were higher (P<0.001) for ewe than ewe lamb follicles. Progesterone in media and in follicular fluid was increased with increased follicles size. Ewe CL, collected on day 9 to 12 of the oestrous cycle, produced more progesterone than ewe lamb CL when cultured in TCM-199 with or without FCS, PVA, BSA. Proteomics indicated more large spots, in ewe follicular and CL tissue average gels compared with ewe lamb average gels. The protein spots were estimated to be between 45 to 97 kD, in both tissue and age groups, this range of molecular weight could have affected steroid hormone synthesis. (Chapter.3). Ewe and ewe lamb follicles cultured with FSH and LH produced more oestradiol than without, furthermore, oestradiol concentration increased with follicle size. There was no difference in media oestradiol concentration between age groups after 24 h of culture. However, for follicles cultured for 2, 4 or 6 h, concentrations were greater after 4 and 6 h, in ewes than in ewe lambs. Overall ewe lamb follicles produced more progesterone (P<0.001) than ewe follicles when cultured with FSH and LH when cultured for 24 h, but no difference was observed after 2, 4 and 6 hours between ewes and ewe lambs Overall ewe follicles produced more (P<0.002) progesterone than ewe lambs when cultured with different concentration of hCG although there was no difference between ages with respect to oestradiol concentrations. Ewe CL secreted more progesterone (P<0.002) than ewe lamb CL, when cultured for 0 or 24 h. Furthermore, tissue concentrations were greater in ewe CL than ewe lamb CL after incubation in TCM-199, TCM-199 plus BSA, TCM-199 plus FCS and TCM-199 plus PVA. Ewe lamb CL produced more progesterone than ewe CL in medium containing LH when cultured for 2, 4 and 6 hours, but ewes produced more progesterone than lambs when CL were cultured with different concentrations of hCG. Relative to untreated shells, the protein profiles of the ewe follicular shells treated with FSH and LH changed to a greater extent than that of the ewe lambs treated gels in both ages contained more protein spots than control gels. The largest spots were estimated to be between 30 and 97 kDa (Chapter.4). There was no difference between age groups for follicles from ewes and ewe lambs treated with ovagen in oestradiol and progesterone concentrations observed after 2,4, 6 and 8 h of incubation in TCM-199. However, treatment with ovagen plus hCG resulted in higher oestradiol and progesterone concentrations in the media from ewe follicles compared to ewe lambs. Furthermore, there were more protein spots in the range 30 to 66 kDa marker in gels from ewes treated with either ovagen or ovagen plus hCG than for ewe lambs (Chapter 5). Lamb oocytes were smaller than ewe oocytes and developed to a lesser extent in culture. Furthermore, the addition of FCS to TCM-199 caused greater cytoplasmic and nuclear maturation than other media used in this experiment and ewe lamb oocytes have a similar 1D protein bands compared with ewe oocytes, but contained less protein (Chapter 6).