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Unlike mammals, zebrafish can undergo complete functional recovery after spinal cord injury. One likely mechanism contributing to this regeneration is the proliferation and differentiation of ependymo-radial glial cells into new neurons. It is possible that some immune pathways are involved in re-initiating neurogenesis, as immune cells immediately infiltrate the site of spinal cord injury. Previously, global pharmacological manipulations of inflammation has shown that reducing inflammation results in lower levels of neurogenesis after central nervous system injury. However, the exact cell types and signals involved were still unknown. This project aimed to characterise the populations of immune cells and progenitor cells in the lesioned zebrafish and to identify potential pro-neurogenic signalling signals between the cell types. To identify any immune-derived signals at the lesion site, I performed single cell sequencing experiment on mpeg1+ progeny from both naïve and lesioned fish (24 hours post injury). Using marker genes, I identified the main subtypes of innate immune cells present at the lesion site including macrophages, microglia and neutrophils. Comparisons of the populations isolated from the naïve and lesioned fish revealed injury induced changes in these populations. I observed a notable expansion of the microglia cells in the lesioned fish compared to the unlesioned fish. Furthermore, I use changes in gene expression in the macrophages and microglia to deduce the injury induced changes undergone by these cells. Macrophages adopt an activated and secretory programme in the lesioned spinal cord. Similarly, single cell sequencing was performed on FAC sorted her4.3+ ependymo-radial glial cells and their progeny in the same injury conditions. Following unsupervised clustering, identities of the derived neuronal and glial clusters were assigned based on marker gene expression. Comparisons of these cell types before and after injury showed an expansion of a rare neuronal population with a putative neurosecretory function in the lesioned fish. Injury induced gene expression changes in our dataset were also compared to gene expression changes following injury in mice, to identify conserved and unique pathways across species. The transcription factor irf9 was upregulated in all mice progenitor populations after injury as well as our zebrafish dataset, indicating a conserved role in the injured spinal cord. Finally, the datasets were considered together in order to identify pathways of innate immune cell signalling to neuronal progenitor cells which may initiate promote neurogenesis. Receptor-ligand pairs were identified in which the ligands are up-regulated in the immune cells after injury and the corresponding receptors are present in the ependymo-radial glial cells. This identified some candidates for immune derived neurogenic pathways including Tnf signalling. Manipulating genes in the Tnf signalling cascade using CRISPR/Cas9 confirmed a pro-neurogenic function for immune-derived Tnf via its receptor on ependymo-radial glial cells. Overall, this research characterises the main immune and progenitor cell types involved in regenerative neurogenesis after spinal cord injury in zebrafish larvae. Comparing the cell populations before and after injury provides insight into the role of the immune system in promoting neurogenesis.

Background: Asthma is frequently misdiagnosed attributed to lack of objective testing. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommend diagnostic algorithms in attempt to improve diagnosis (NG80). Algorithms have not been validated. An evidenced based optimal approach to asthma diagnosis in steroid naïve symptomatic patients has yet to be established. The novel test Airways Oscillometry (AO) lacks evidence for its use in asthma diagnosis in steroid naïve symptomatic adults. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic emphasises knowledge gaps in diagnosing asthma when aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) are not available. This thesis aims to address these gaps in knowledge. Methods: Symptomatic untreated patients were referred into 'Rapid Access Diagnostics in Asthma' research clinic with clinician suspected asthma. Clinical consultation, all tests from the NG80 (FEV1/FVC ratio, BDR, PEFv, FeNO, BCTmeth), and other tests (blood eosinophils, skin prick testing, and airways oscillometry) were measured pre- and post- trial of treatment with inhaled corticosteroids. Expert panel confirmed or refuted asthma diagnosis. Results: NG80 algorithms confidently rule-in asthma but underdiagnose patients in a third of asthmatic adults and one in seven asthmatic children. Our recommended algorithm in adults (any one test positive of: wheeze auscultated, FEV1/FVC < LLN, BDR =12 and 200ml, PEFv (alternative) >20%, Eosinophils >0.4x109/L, BCTmeth PD20 =0.2), and children (any two tests positive of: wheeze auscultated, FEV1/FVC < LLN, BDR =12, PEFv (alternative) >20%, Eosinophils >0.4x109/L, FeNO =35ppb, BCTmeth PD20 =0.2), outperformed the current NG80. AO BDR (X5ex%change) was the only measure to discriminate asthma from nonasthma in symptomatic adults (p 0.014). Our non-AGP algorithm (any one positive of; auscultated wheeze, Eosinophils >0.4x109/L, PEFv(alternative) >20%) provided sensitivity 55%, specificity 100%, PPV 100%, NPV 60%, reducing the need for spirometry-based tests by one-third. Conclusions: National asthma guidance (NG80) rules-in asthma but underdiagnosed asthma risking misdiagnosis or treatment delay. Our alternative diagnostic algorithms (with and without AGPs) performed better to 'rule-in' asthma but require further validation. The novel test AO BDR was able to discriminate asthma from symptomatic "not asthma" in steroid naïve patients showing a potential role in asthma diagnosis.

The present dissertation compares two separate literary corpora, Middle English verse romance and the group of Old Norse-Icelandic romance sagas often referred to as the fornaldarsögur, or 'legendary sagas'. I read these as literatures emergent from a shared North Atlantic archipelago, from insular (island) worlds whose relationship to the sea was fundamental and in some but not all ways shared or overlapping. Although comparative romance studies have sometimes looked at English and Icelandic romance texts in tandem, usually in terms of those that share a source in Anglo-Norman or French romance, no one has considered them in this context of their shared North Atlantic maritime environment, in terms of the marine ecologies and island activities of daily existence which are sometimes incidental yet nevertheless important to their narratives. The extended Anglo-Icelandic trade in staple goods and fish throughout the later Middle Ages and culminating in the fifteenth century engenders my comparison of medieval English and Icelandic romance literature. This trade is an important factor in considering how the separate, yet comparable genres of late-medieval English and Icelandic romance are connected by and possibly also take influence from the maritime environments of the North Atlantic. I argue that the sea in Middle English and Old Norse-Icelandic romance is presented as an environment rich in resources which lie in wait for the canny individual to harvest and use. Furthermore, the ways in which the sea is represented in these texts comprises coastal maritime industries, movement, and ecologies, with both groups of texts presenting people living with the sea in maritime communities of the North Atlantic who are reliant on its resources and skilled in the knowledge of how to test its bounds to acquire and use them.

In Jeremiah 32, the portrayal of economic writing creates conditions suitable for reading Jer 32 as a creative and productive analogy for prophetic writing. The composite nature of the text allows it to be read as a microcosm of the growth of the Book of Jeremiah. Just as economic writing secures testimony to a transaction, conveys ownership through time, and offers the possibility of economic renewal after exile, prophetic writing secures testimony to the divine message, conveys divine speech through time, and offers the possibility of covenant renewal after exile. What is more, Jer 32 presents economic writing as the prophet's initiative, and the expansion of the historical sign-act into the wider narrative of the chapter presents a sophisticated evocation of the potential of prophetic writing to address circumstances in other times and places. The transformation of the sign-act of Jer 32.6-15 into a written prophetic text, and the growth of the text over time, allows Jer 32 to be read as a microcosm of the development of the Book of Jeremiah. The realism of the material details enhances the persuasive effect of the analogy between economic and prophetic writing, rather than providing a precise basis for identifying the origins of elements of the composite text of Jer 32. Jer 32 does not offer a presentation of ethical norms for the economic practice of redemption of land. Redemption of land and economic hope are, of course, central to the narrative of Jer 32 as a whole. Jer 32 does not, however, offer a clear prospective ethic for economic practices. Instead, the economic practice of redemption, with all its details, provides narrative realism for the text, and the economic practice of writing provides a narrative analogue for the idea of prophetic writing.

This study aims to provide a new interpretation of Edward I's army in Gascony throughout the Anglo-French war (1294-1297). The conflict has been viewed as a futile cause because only very small numbers of English troops departed for the duchy, yet it will be the intention here to explore the military effectiveness of these contingents. This will be achieved through an assessment of the organisation, strategy, and tactics of the expeditionary forces. This is important for it will highlight how the English pursued the same military policy, with increasing success, from 1294 through to victory at Poitiers in 1356. The first part of the thesis, chapters two and three, will investigate the military composition of the expeditionary forces, providing a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the king's overseas army. Chapters four and five will assess the strategy of the military command against the backdrop of a French ambush at Bellegarde and the scorched earth policy of the earl of Lincoln. The second part, chapters six and seven, will highlight the contribution of Edward's continental allies, from the mounted retinues of Gascon and Aragonese troops to the resurgence of a Grand Alliance across the Low Countries. And finally, chapter eight will set the Anglo-French war within the ever-expanding military revolution debate, here proposing that an evolutionary process was taking place within the Edwardian army. Overall, the thesis will place the Anglo-French war at the head of a series of late medieval conflicts between the English and French, but more importantly, it will be argued that the campaign was the catalyst for the Hundred Years War, both in its origins as a dispute over ancestral right and sovereignty, and in the ways the English military command conducted the expeditions.

Conflict is rife in the natural world and is widely recognised as a powerful selective pressure in social evolution. For group-living species, conflict over valuable resources arises between members of the same group (within-group conflict) and with conspecific outsiders (between-group conflict; also called outgroup or intergroup conflict). Traditionally, research on nonhuman animals has focused on the contests that arise within- and between groups; in the former case, there have also been extensive studies of the immediate consequences of aggressive interactions. By contrast, relatively little is known about the short-term consequences of between-group conflict and, for both conflict types, there has been little empirical consideration of the longer-term consequences. In this thesis, I combine detailed behavioural observations, field experiments and long-term life-history data to investigate the consequences of within- and between-group conflict over different timeframes, using wild dwarf mongooses (Helogale parvula) as a model system. First, I show that unresolved within-group conflict can have cumulative behavioural effects and present evidence for delayed post-contest management by bystanders (Chapter Two). In the remaining data chapters, I focus on between-group conflict. I find consequences of outgroup threats in the short-term (in the hour after exposure) for within-group affiliation, foraging and sentinel behaviour (Chapter Three). I then demonstrate that such threats can also influence behaviour over longer timeframes, with carryover effects on affiliation into the following day, and cumulative effects on affiliation, foraging, sentinel and territorial behaviour, as well as body mass, after repeated outgroup encounters across a week. Lastly, I examine the reproductive consequences of between-group conflict and, unexpectedly, find a positive relationship with pup survival. By demonstrating an array of effects over timeframes rarely addressed previously, I help shed light on the more-lasting consequences of social conflict which is important for a greater understanding of how it shapes the lives of group-living species.

This thesis analyses professional identity formation in a university legal advice clinic and the tensions, dilemmas and conflicts that arise between contrasting idealistic and technocratic ideologies. The research is built upon solid theoretical foundations and draws upon the concepts of Bourdieu’s habitus and field, Weber’s value spheres and rationality for social action and Knorr Cetina’s epistemic cultures. Through embedding theory into the research, the study acknowledges the participant’s agency but also considers the underlying generative structures for knowledge and action. The thesis considers the literature outlining the destruction of the personal narrative in dialogical interactions between lawyer and client. It also examines the neutrally detached case method approach to legal education and alternative approaches to both traditional lawyering practices and educational pedagogies. Adopting a predominantly ethnographic approach, with idiographic elements, it presents a robust methodology, including uncomfortable reflexivity and a rigorous iterative analysis, within a pilot study, to reduce potential bias. The thesis examines the participants’ sense of meaning and the explicit, implicit and tacit messages relayed within dialogical discourse. A range of identities emerges, with the experiential context of both the students and supervisors proving important to their rationalities. The students display dispositions ranging from anxiety to kinship and a beneficent character, whereas the supervisors relate the importance of procedure and collection of information. Analysis also identifies the influence of the formalistic and economic spheres of power and the tensions and conflicts that arise in seeking to invoke a more personal and relational approach to the learning of law. This innovative research moves the field of legal education forwards into a new domain, at a time when legal educators need to both question current methods and invoke new ways of thinking about the law. It considers not just what legal education is, but what it ought to be.

Generalist apex predators have broad diets, consuming species from a range of trophic levels and connecting multiple energetic pathways. Investigating the diet of generalist apex predators thus provides a unique opportunity to describe trophic interactions over space and time, and can be used to gain an insight into ecosystem level changes. Broad spatio-temporal and demographic variation in the diet of the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra), an apex predator of freshwater ecosystems, were investigated using a biobank of tissue samples and data collected from dead otters in England and Wales over 23 years. Molecular methods were utilised to gain a greater insight into otter diet, with stable isotope analysis revealing broad-scale variation in nutrient assimilation, and DNA metabarcoding provided a more precise description of the species consumed by otters. Isotopic signatures suggested nutrient assimilation by otters was driven by changes in basal nutrient levels and prey availability. Variation in nitrogen isotopes may reflect landscape scale differences in anthropogenic inputs from fertilisers, which were suggested to enrich basal nitrogen signatures within the environment and thus enrich signals throughout the trophic network, with some additional changes driven by differences in the consumption of high trophic level prey by otters. Variation in carbon isotopes of otters reflected changes in the availability of marine-derived nutrients, with otters sampling such nutrients primarily via consumption of marine prey at the coast and anadromous fish inland. Analysis of DNA metabarcoding data revealed otters consumed a broad range of prey from a variety of habitats. Stocked fish, invasive species and protected species occurred in the diet of otters infrequently, with the exception of the critically endangered European eel (Anguilla anguilla), which was one of the most frequently consumed prey items. Dietary variation primarily reflected seasonal changes in prey availability and differences in prey distributions across the landscape pertaining to longitude and coastal proximity. These findings displayed the opportunistic foraging behaviour of otters and their ability to switch predation to more abundant prey. Prior to ecological analyses of DNA metabarcoding data, a range of minimum sequence copy thresholds were tested to remove erroneous data and provide a more accurate description of the diet of otters. Of these thresholds, combining the removal of 2 a percentage of reads per sample with removal of the maximum read count in a blank control per taxon performed the best. Overall the findings of this study demonstrate the high levels of dietary plasticity exhibited by otters. Such adaptability in foraging is suggested to have aided population recovery and distribution expansion by British otter populations and provide resilience to future environmental stressors. The study also highlights how an understanding of the dietary variation exhibited by generalist apex predators can be utilised to investigate trophic interactions and nutrient flows across freshwater ecosystems.

The thesis tests the extent to which Christian ministry, understood as movement, is a meaningful form of engagement with the many boundary situations apparent in modern urban living. In the thesis opportunity is given for Methodists to revisit their own self-understanding, through looking at ministry in terms of its movement and as an everyday practice. The research also offers a more general investigation of ministry in terms of its spatial relationships and of the relationship of churches with place. The thesis is tested through an ethnographic and theological study carried out in the Metropolitan City of Bradford. The study is conducted ethnographically through exploration of Bradford as a place, and through a detailed study of some of the boundary spaces that help to give the city its character. The thesis also addresses a theological concern in giving consideration to a theology of place as it relates especially to these boundary spaces of movement. The main finding of the research is that the extent to which a notion of Christian ministry understood as movement offers a means of engagement with situations of the boundary is a measure of its connectedness, with movements at, across, and along the boundaries of place. The study also concludes that movement is a form of practised connectedness, and that ministry as explored in the thesis operates through everyday processes of moving and paying attention. A further key finding is that this ministry of movement contributes to the making of places through an itinerary set out as a gathering of fragments and a glimpsing of flows. Finally, it is argued that when theology is done itinerantly, it becomes a resource for producing theology that is relational, motional and transformational.

Objective: Treatment outcomes for anorexia nervosa (AN) remain unsatisfactory. Substantial research has investigated the neuropsychological effects of AN, often with mixed results. One explanation for the inconsistencies is that there exist several distinct neuropsychological profiles within AN. Profiles have been reported, though not associated with clinical or demographic variables, limiting their utility. Suboptimal statistical techniques may undermine these findings. Method: An existing dataset of healthy controls (HCs) and AN patients (n = 423) was subjected to secondary analysis using latent profile analysis and a neural network to investigate latent profiles and the existence of non-linear neuropsychological structure. Profiles were compared with respect to demographic and clinical variables. Results: The latent profile analysis revealed five AN neuropsychological profiles. Patients in a globally neuropsychologically impaired profile were older than those in a high-average with high verbal profile and weighed less than those in an average performance profile. A non-linear neural network failed to outperform a linear neural network on a diagnosis classification task. Discussion: The five-profile solution extended the neuropsychological groups previously found in the literature. This study is the first to successfully associate latent neuropsychological profile to clinically meaningful variables, though the profile in which differences were observed was tiny (7% of patients). None of the discovered profiles differed in terms of anxiety, undermining support for the noradrenergic hypothesis of AN. The failure of the non-linear neural network to outperform the linear network indicates that AN neuropsychological ability does not contain significant non-linearity, indicating that conventional statistical techniques can model them.

Natural Killer (NK) cell mediated immune surveillance is important in preventing and controlling malignancies. However, tumours ultimately evade NK cells, enhancing their survival and progression. The immunosuppressive cytokine TGF-β is an established, potent inhibitor of NK cell mediated anti-tumour immunity. Genetically manipulating NK cells to resist the actions of TGF-β is a potential route by which to enhance NK cell-mediated immunotherapy. However, NK cells are notoriously difficult to manipulate with conventional viral vectors or transfection techniques and alternative methodologies are required to achieve this. I have explored the ability of several virus vectors to transduce primary human NK cells, with a chimaeric adenovirus (Ad) vector proving the most promising. Replacing the Ad5 fibre with that from Ad35 (forming Ad5f35) generated a vector capable of efficient transduction of primary human NK cells and the NK cell lines, YT, NKL and NK92. Ad5F35 utilises CD46 as an entry receptor and NK cell transduction by Ad5f35 was CD46 dependent. The Ad5f35 vector provides a route to genetically manipulate NK cells. Transfection experiments in non-lymphoid cells showed that expression of a dominant negative TGF-β receptor II or inhibitory SMADs (SMAD7) inhibit the TGF-β signalling pathway. Using recombination-based methods in E.coli, an Ad5f35 vector was constructed to deliver the dominant negative TGF-β receptor II into mammalian cells. High expression and inhibitory activity was achieved in non-lymphoid cells, but expression in NK cells was low and activity reduced. Nevertheless, the Ad5f35 system clearly has potential for future applications in NK cells, including the development of NK cell based cellular therapies.

When Pentecostal-Charismatic [P-C] theologians look for theological resources, John Calvin is rarely first choice. This thesis explores how the Reformer's theology of human participation in God through Union with Christ offers a rich, untapped, resource for constructing a theology for P-C worship. It moves through three key questions: I. What is the distinct understanding of divine-human relationship captured in the instinctive praxis of Charismatic worship? 2. How does Calvin's notion of Union with Christ provide a theological grounding for, and critique of the notion of intimacy and encounter with God at the heart of Charismatic worship experience? 3. Can the dialogue between these two traditions form the basis for constructing a wider Trinitarian theology of Christian worship that is a synthesis of pneumatological emphasis and Christo-centricity. Union with Christ is found to provide a missing soteriological lens for P-C worship whilst P-C worship invites an expansion of the notion of 'visible grace' and the 'accommodation' of God. United by their shared pneumatological emphasis, together both traditions offer a new framework for constructing a theology of worship that expands existing sacramental models. This 'Trinitarian Participatory Ontology' places both Christ and the Spirit as central to mediating human participation in God.

As the 21st century proceeds, individuals are increasingly working into later years to support themselves and maintain their quality of life. This changing pattern of employment has implications for workers, employers and society alike. Although older workers have much to contribute, individuals may experience health issues or physical, sensory or psychological changes related to ageing. Health and safety statistics indicate that older workers are a vulnerable group. Employers then, have a responsibility to examine the working environment and protect those with reduced capabilities. For society to function, older workers need to be able to remain in work, otherwise this will impact on both the economy and older individuals quality of life. This thesis aimed to understand the opportunities and challenges employers encounter when trying to protect and promote the health and safety of older workers. The research used qualitative approaches, combining interviews and focus groups to provide rich data on the circumstances of older workers. Triangulation was used, collecting data over different time periods, from different sources, to help balance out any weaknesses across the studies. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. A review of the literature found that there is no consistent definition of ageing or older worker. Many researchers have used chronological age and, therefore, this thesis used 50 as a threshold. The literature highlights that older workers have a wealth of knowledge and skills to bring to the workplace. Negative perceptions, however, regarding natural ageing and adaptability exist. Other authors have argued that organisations need to provide a safe environment for older workers and implement measures to mitigate changes in abilities, whilst recognising that there is no one size fits all strategy. First, an initial scoping study was undertaken with employers, which sought to understand their perceptions concerning the ageing workforce. The study also collected information on the health and safety age management strategies that have been implemented within the organisations. Interviews with employers (senior managers who influence health and safety management strategies) (n=41) revealed that, in line with literature, there is recognition that older workers bring benefits to the workplace. However, some comments demonstrated inaccurate stereotyping. The interviews found that these employers were uncertain how to proceed with implementing actions to protect the health and safety of their older workers. Two subsequent studies, consisting of focus groups (n=10) and interviews (n=50) were then conducted, which explored older workers experiences of working into later life and their views on the issues identified by the employer interview study. The older worker interviews also examined their perceptions regarding their health and capabilities, appropriate health and safety measures in response to this and interviewees anticipated future in the workforce. Older workers explained that they do not feel supported or engaged. They are fearful of reporting capability changes that may affect their ability to perform work tasks, as they believe this may have negative consequences for their future employment. During discussions, they suggested various measures that may help them remain in the workforce for longer. The information gathered during the literature review and the findings from the first three studies, were then used to develop examples of good practice health and safety measures that organisations could implement to help protect and promote the health and safety of older workers. A final interview study with key employer representatives (n=16) was conducted, to understand whether the health and safety good practice measures might be considered beneficial and achievable. This study found that although organisations recognised the benefits of health and safety measures tailored for older workers, the feasibility of some of the suggestions was in doubt. Budgetary constraints, insufficient time and lack of necessary knowledge were seen as particular obstacles to implementation. This thesis has identified that although research evidence exists in relation to measures to support the health and safety of older workers, e.g. the benefits of health promotion, improved work scheduling, workplace assessments etc, this is rarely translated into practice. Within organisations, there is uncertainty about age management for older workers and limited understanding of the divergent needs as workers capabilities change. The default position then becomes to cater for a typical worker. A coordinated multi-disciplinary approach between health and safety, occupational health, human resources and operational management is required. This thesis argues for an integrated age management strategy, with an emphasis on proactive prevention, in the interests of protecting and promoting the health and safety of older workers.

This thesis investigates the effects in speech production of prediction during speech comprehension. The topic is raised by recent theoretical models of speech comprehension, which suggest a more integrated role for speech production and comprehension mechanisms than has previously been posited. The thesis is specifically concerned with the suggestion that during speech comprehension upcoming input is simulated with reference to the listener’s own speech production system by way of efference copy. Throughout this thesis the approach taken is to investigate whether representations elicited during comprehension impact speech production. The representations of interest are those generated endogenously by the listener during prediction of upcoming input. We investigate whether predictions are represented at a form level within the listener’s speech production system. We first present an overview of the relevant literature. We then present details of a picture word interference study undertaken to confirm that the item set employed elicits typical phonological effects within a conventional paradigm in which the competing representation is perceptually available. The main body of the thesis presents evidence concerning the nature of representations arising during prediction, specifically their effect on speech output. We first present evidence from picture naming vocal response latencies. We then complement and extend this with evidence from articulatory imaging, allowing an examination of pre-acoustic aspects of speech production. To investigate effects on speech production as a dynamic motor-activity we employ the Delta method, developed to quantify articulatory variability from EPG and ultrasound recordings. We apply this technique to ultrasound data acquired during mid-sagittal imaging of the tongue and extend the approach to allow us to explore the time-course of articulation during the acoustic response latency period. We investigate whether prediction of another’s speech evokes articulatorily specified activation within the listener’s speech production system The findings presented in this thesis suggest that representations evoked as predictions during speech comprehension do affect speech motor output. However, we found no evidence to suggest that predictions are represented in an articulatorily specified manner. We discuss this conclusion with reference to models of speech production-perception that implicate efference copies in the generation of predictions during speech comprehension.

Cornwall has long stood out as one of the least understood corners of Britain. The peninsula appeared simultaneously both detached and yet integrated, with these dual aspects of the county seemingly contradictory. This thesis seeks to reconcile late medieval Cornish distinctiveness with the peninsula's integration. At every point the county emerges as idiosyncratic, with a powerful body of Cornish proprietors dominating its affairs and a potent lordship fused with the structures of the shire. Myths, saints, government, and lordship all endowed the notion of Cornwall with authority in the minds of its inhabitants, forging its people into a commonalty. Contemporaries even believed that Cornwall had existed 'since the time of King Arthur'. Yet Cornwall and its residents also depended on their place in the realm, with the Cornish simultaneously viewing their county as 'a schere of Engelond'. Consideration is therefore given to the influence exercised by comital, ducal, and regnal lordship in Cornwall, with emphasis placed on the way in which the earldom-duchy and Crown together rendered the politics of the county part and parcel of those of the wider realm. Attention is then directed away from Cornwall as defined by its boundaries to consider the social and geographic mobility of the county's inhabitants, analysing connectivity between Cornwall and the wider realm. A multitude of Cornishmen and women were drawn beyond the Tamar by the needs of the Crown, warfare, lordship, commerce, the law, and the Church. By the fourteenth century the Cornish had become interwoven into pan-English networks of communication and movement, contributing to every sphere of the kingdom's collective life. Indeed, the county and the kingdom emerge as interdependent, with Cornwall holding an integral place in the realm while remaining strikingly distinctive.

In Myanmar, Plasmodium falciparum malaria is important because of both the burden of disease and the emergence of parasites resistant to artemisinin-based therapies. In 2012, concomitant with the lifting of international economic sanctions, funding for malaria control and elimination in Myanmar rose significantly. The University of Oxford was asked to support priority setting by assessing the relative cost-effectiveness of insecticide- treated bed nets and community health workers, particularly with respect to planning in the Myanmar Artemisinin Resistance Containment region along the east of the country. In the context of rising artemisinin resistance and, later, the goal of regional malaria elimination by 2030, reduction in malaria transmission was an important consideration in prioritising between interventions. A cost-effectiveness analysis was undertaken using both a static decision tree model and a dynamic disease transmission model. Supporting work towards this analysis included a systematic review of dynamic-transmission economic-evaluations and the creation of a data repository to collate governmental and non-governmental malaria case records. In addition, initially unplanned work on economic evaluation methodology was completed; identifying challenges in the application of cost utility analysis to this decision problem and proposing a framework for budget-based geographic resource allocation as an adaptation of standard methods. The results of this work include a tripling of the number of malaria diagnostic reports available between 2012 and 2014 (71% increase in Plasmodium falciparum cases) with this data showing a decrease in Plasmodium falciparum cases over time, alongside rising testing rates. Cost utility analysis found that, in general, malaria community health workers are more costly yet more effective than insecticide treated bed nets, though in both cases cost effectiveness is very much context dependent. Geographic allocation analyses using both static and dynamic models illustrate the potential for economic evaluation to provide both more detailed and more practical policy recommendations. Parameter uncertainty was explored in both cases. Some township recommendations were robust to both parameter uncertainty and model variation (structural uncertainty). Viewed through the lens of the Reference Case for Economic Evaluation in Low and Middle Income Countries (published during the course of this DPhil), budget-based geographic resource allocation largely adheres to the healthcare economic evaluation principles and offers improvements to dealing with heterogeneity and resource constraints. This DPhil recommends that Myanmar malaria policy is tailored to reflect geographic variation in intervention cost-effectiveness, rather than focusing on universal coverage, and illustrates a framework for economic evaluation to support budget-based geographic allocation.

Introduction - Secondary schools are an important setting for the prevention of obesity during the critical age of adolescence. National guidance in the United Kingdom proposes a clear role for headteachers and chairs of governors in delivering school-based preventative action. Despite this, their views are underrepresented in the existing evidence base. The aim of this study therefore was to explore headteachers’ and chairs of governors’ perspectives regarding adolescent obesity and its prevention in English secondary school settings. Methods - This study utilised a mixed methods exploratory sequential design and was informed by the completion of a systematic review and qualitative synthesis. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted (n = 22) and transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Based on the resultant themes and sub-themes, a descriptive online cross-sectional survey was developed for use in the quantitative phase. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyse the survey responses obtained (n=127). Results - Headteachers and chairs of governors viewed unhealthy dietary habits and sedentary behaviour as a more significant problem than obesity in adolescence. Obesity was understood to be complex and multi-causal, although primary responsibility for its prevention was attributed to parents. Despite not an explicit school priority, the role of secondary schools in obesity prevention was supported given the acknowledged reciprocal relationship between health and educational outcomes. However various internal and external barriers were identified, which strongly influenced participants’ desire and ability to deliver school-based preventative action. Conclusion - Secondary schools may be well positioned to influence adolescent lifestyle behaviours and weight status. Nevertheless public health policy makers and professionals need to understand the unique challenges schools face when contributing to the obesity prevention agenda. To maximise the effectiveness of school-based prevention, schools require additional support and resources. Furthermore public health action is required to address systematically the extensive social and environmental factors influencing adolescent obesity.

Background: A “basic cognitive disruption” leading to impairment in top-down and bottom-up processing is thought to underlie a number of anomalous experiences reported by individuals with psychosis. Visual illusion paradigms may be useful in exploring this potential disruption. The primary aim was to explore whether a group of young people having psychotic-like experiences were less susceptible to visual illusions than a group of healthy controls. This study also examined the relationship between frequency of psychotic-like experiences and illusion susceptibility and the role of appraisals and emotions because they are considered an important mechanism underlying anomalies in perception. Method: A quantitative cross-sectional design was used to compare visual illusion susceptibility scores from a clinical group of young people reporting psychotic-like experiences with a nonclinical comparison group from a student population. Relationships between illusion susceptibility; the frequency of psychotic-like experiences; appraisals and emotional responses to psychotic-like experiences were explored within the clinical group only. Twenty-five clinical participants and 53 non-clinical participants completed a visual illusions task (measuring illusion susceptibility) and measures examining psychotic-like symptoms and mental-health symptomology. The clinical group only completed measures examining frequency, appraisals and emotional responses to psychotic-like experiences. Results: The research found the clinical group were significantly more susceptible to visual illusions than the non-clinical group. When depression, anxiety and stress scores were controlled for,no significant difference was found between the groups for illusion susceptibility. Susceptibility scores were not related to frequency of psychotic-experiences; appraisals or emotional responses to anomalous experiences. Discussion: The finding that a clinical group were more susceptible to visual illusions than a nonclinical group does not fit with Hemsley’s (2005) cognitive model. However, perceptual processing differences were observed between a clinical and non-clinical group. Theoretical and clinical implications for these findings are considered.