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This thesis traces the connections between ethnicity, hierarchy, and punishment on a Ugandan periphery. Focusing on an area known as Bugungu in the lowland northern-western littoral of Bunyoro, this study explores a colonial optic that ordered ethnic subjects not only horizontally and spatially through division and agglomeration, but also vertically by ascribing places in a civilisational hierarchy. This study advances the concept of ethno-civilisationalism to encapsulate this mode of thought and practice. Adopted by the British partly as a matter of expedience and economy, this approach offered opportunities for colonial subjects to assert or advance their own rank, drawing on their own prior versions of inter-ethnic hierarchy. Shifting the focus from the violence of classification to violence as classification, this thesis posits that ethnic difference and hierarchy was primarily inscribed in colonial Africa through what is here termed ‘collectivising punishment’ – punishment of, or calibrated for, particular collectives on the basis of stereotypes. Colonialism constituted a project of discipline and rank as well as one of divide and rule. Based on archival and oral sources, this thesis looks to the peripheries of a colonial territory where the British at times outsourced the business of empire – including punishment – to what they saw as ‘more civilised’ African ethnic sub-colonials, instead of adopting Indirect Rule. The thesis traces the evolution, contestation, and internalisation of these ideas and practices within states and society over a period of 130 years, spanning the pre-colonial and post-colonial eras.

Much focus has been given in recent years to the Community of Practice, Participation Metaphor of Learning. Less attention has been paid in the literature to understanding the elements effecting how people are able to engage, particularly within the dynamic of developing market professionals within international CoP’s. This study explores the experiences and perceptions of established international professional’s and newcomers within this dynamic. Through qualitative investigation in two organisations in West Africa and the Middle East, the study discusses findings within two meta themes regarding the effects of local newcomer’s experiences of legitimate peripheral participation in their respective CoP’s. Firstly “Multiple and Consistent Identity Formation within CoP Constellation Navigation” explores two-way meaning and learning from professional communities and the impact on actors developing professional and personal identities. This is built from four contributory themes; Exploring different routes to CoP participation; Impacts of professional vs domestic CoP’s on identity; Continuity of personal identity across CoP’s and the impact of CoP norms on Identity. Secondly “Palatable Diversity” explores evidence around the impact of sponsored participation opportunities; Positive discrimination policies, Effects of local CoP members becoming established; Degrees of diversity found palatable by established Professionals, and finally: An absence of Racism in LPP. Conclusions are made that engagement in LPP is entirely possible through a nuanced understanding of individual differences within a complex landscape of CoP’s, which is notably different for developing market newcomers in comparison to their international predecessors. This impacts on their professional and personal identities in different ways. It was however found that access was attainable to them, if they succeeded in understanding and navigating the trajectories required for participation by established members. This is presented as providing a contribution to the debate through problematizing recent literature on multiple identity creation through meaning making in legitimate peripheral participation, as well as adding to the discussion on attitudes to diversity within a constellation landscape of international and local CoP’s.

Background: ADHD is characterised by three core symptoms: hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention. For those affected, ADHD can have a wide range of negative impacts. It has the potential to reduce academic performance, interfere with interpersonal relationships and is a purported risk factor for numerous mental and behavioural disorders, and accidental injury. However, questions remain regarding the epidemiology of ADHD in the UK. Aims: Phase 1: To describe the incidence and distribution of ADHD within the UK (2004-2013), and to examine if there was any association between ADHD incidence and socioeconomic deprivation. Phase 2: To assess what proportion of ADHD patients received a primary care prescription for a licensed ADHD medication, and to determine the average time between diagnosis and the start of treatment in primary care. Phase 3: To establish if selected comorbidities, and prescriptions for psychotropic drugs, are significantly more likely in patients with ADHD than matched comparators. Phase 4: To establish if accidental fractures are significantly more likely in patients with ADHD than matched comparators. Methods: The study used electronic healthcare records data. The study population comprised patients diagnosed with ADHD before the age of 19, between 1/1/2004 and 31/12/13. Patients with a diagnosis of ADHD, comorbidities of interest or who had received prescriptions for licensed ADHD medications/psychotropic drugs were identified by the presence of relevant codes in their medical records. Results: Phase 1: Between 2004 and 2013, the incidence of ADHD amongst under 19s in the UK was 11.67 (95% CI 11.45 – 11.90) cases per 10,000 person-years at risk. Most of those diagnosed with ADHD were male (n=8407; 82%). There appeared to be an association between increasing socioeconomic deprivation and ADHD incidence. Annual incidence rates remained relatively stable between 2004 and 2013, but were highest in the last two years studied. Phase 2: 57% of patients with a diagnosis of ADHD received a primary care prescription for a licensed ADHD medication during follow-up. In treated patients, the median interval between diagnosis and a first prescription for an ADHD medication was 84 days (IQR 21–258 days); methylphenidate was used first-line in 92% of treated patients. Phase 3: ADHD was associated with a significantly increased risk of comorbidity [RR 3.59 (95% CI 3.40 – 3.79)]. ADHD patients had significantly higher exposure to second generation antipsychotics [RR 29.48 (95% CI 23.25 – 37.40)], antidepressants and anxiolytics/hypnotics [RR 12.56 (95% CI 11.44 – 13.79)]. Phase 4: ADHD patients had a significantly higher risk of fracture relative to comparators [HR 1.17 (1.06 – 1.30)].Conclusion: ADHD incidence appears stable, but demographic factors can significantly influence an individual’s risk of being diagnosed with the disorder. Pharmaceutical treatment is far from universal in primary care, suggesting that GPs remain cautious about prescribing drugs for ADHD. Comorbid diagnoses are more likely among children with ADHD, and the increased use of psychotropics in this population suggests that these comorbidities are clinically-significant. ADHD patients’ higher risk of fracture lends support to the theory that impaired impulse control increases these patients’ risk of accidental injury.

The British Methodist Church defines oversight as the means by which churches remain true to their calling. Its presbyters are charged with upholding Constitution, Practice, and Discipline or ‘CPD’. This research employs a combination of Practical Theology methods to examine the challenge of applying CPD to fresh expressions (forms of Church established for the benefit of those who are not yet members of a local church). It offers three original insights in regard to the tension between mission-praxis and ecclesiological discipline. First, it provides empirical evidence to support the anecdotal observation that not all fresh expressions are authentic in that they lack ecclesial intent. A combination of factors inhibited this. New churches can be formed when twelve Methodist members unite. Current legislation allows members of the Church to belong to only one society, meaning that leaders face the conflict of leaving their parent church if they are to form a new church. Second, membership mediated an unequal power balance between fresh expressions and their parent churches, undermining progress towards achieving a ‘mixed economy’. This situation was confounded by the fact that newcomers to fresh expressions viewed Methodist membership as an institutional construct and requirement, rather than an opportunity for spiritual renewal. Third, the Methodist Church policy that encourages presbyters to apply CPD with a ‘light-touch’ in respect of how its disciplines are applied to new work, risks inconsistency. This thesis invites the Church to find a way of identifying which of its fresh expressions have genuine ecclesial intent, reflect on how membership is impacting their ecclesial formation, and widen its existing legislation so that a Methodist member may belong to two local societies at the same time. This, combined with additional District oversight, would remove some significant barriers to ecclesial formation.

Contemporary techniques for web service description and discovery are insufficient when considering diverse and variable organisational contexts. Strategic objectives, organisational structures, business processes and technology when placed into a climate of constant change impact the normative behavioural patterns of people working in all kinds of organisations. Such dynamic conditions profoundly affect the discovery of appropriate web services. To overcome this challenge, a stratagem based upon semiotic theory is used to define a mechanism that enriches existing web service description approaches with techniques that enable the varied and erratic character of web service consumer organisational contexts to be captured and added as pragmatic information to web service description. Calibrated against an established sign classification scheme, the signs exchanged between web service providers and consumers reveal areas that pragmatic information complements existing web service description methods. United with established semiotic techniques for understanding organisational behaviour - affordances and norms, semiotic theory is used to form shared semiosis in joint action between web service providers and consumers. Encapsulating the signs exchanged in communication and supplementing them with pragmatic information made it possible to specify and apply a norm- based software agent to describe and discover web services on behalf of web service consumers. Assisted by speech act theory in a communication architecture specialised for web service description, the norm based software agent follows a dedicated negotiation protocol to add and make use of pragmatic information related to web services. To demonstrate the effectiveness of adding pragmatic information to web services, a case study shows that such descriptions when augmented with pragmatic information enhances the matching of web services to organisations with diverse and unpredictable contexts. The case study validates the approach taken to defining and building a mechanism for web service description and discovery and the relevance of semiotic theory to challenge the issues associated with web service utilisation.

There is at present some uncertainty as to what the roles and requirements of the next generation of UAVs might be and the configurations that might be adopted. The incorporation of technological features on these designs is also a significant driving force in their configuration, efficiency, performance abilities and operational requirements. The objective of this project is thus to provide some insight into what the next generation of technologies might be and what their impact would be on the rest of the aircraft. This work involved the conceptual designs of two new relevant full-scale UAVs which were used to integrate a select number of these advanced technologies. The project was a CASE award which was linked to the Flaviir research programme for advanced UAV technologies. Thus, the technologies investigated during this study were selected with respect to the objectives of the Flaviir project. These were either relative to those already being developed as course of the Flaviir project or others from elsewhere. As course of this project, two technologies have been identified and evaluated which fit this criterion and show potential for use on future aircraft. Thus we have been able to make a contirubtion knowledge in two gaps in current aerospace technology. The first of these studies was to investigate the feasibility of using a low cost mechanical thrust vectoring system as used on the X-31, to replace conventional control surfaces. This is an alternative to the fluidic thrust vectoring devices being proposed by the Flaviir project for this task. The second study is to investigate the use of fuel reformer based fuel cell system to supply power to an all-electric power train which will be a means of primary propulsion. A number of different fuels were investigated for such a system with methanol showing the greatest promise and has been shown to have a number of distinct advantages over the traditional fuel for fuel cells (hydrogen). Each of these technologies was integrated onto the baseline conceptual design which was identified as that most suitable to each technology. A UCAV configuration was selected for the thrust vectoring system while a MALE configuration was selected for the fuel cell propulsion system. Each aircraft was a new design which was developed specifically for the needs of this project. Analysis of these baseline configurations with and without the technologies allowed an assessment to be made of the viability of these technologies. The benefits of the thrust vectoring system were evaluated at take-off, cruise and landing. It showed no benefit at take-off and landing which was due to its location on the very aft of the airframe. At cruise, its performance and efficiency was shown to be comparable to that of a conventional configuration utilizing elevons and expected to be comparable to the fluidic devices developed by the Flaviir project. This system does however offer a number of benefits over many other nozzle configurations of improved stealth due to significant exhaust nozzle shielding.The fuel reformer based fuel cell system was evaluated in both all-electric and hybrid configurations. In the ell-electric configuration, the conventional turboprop engine was completely replaced with an all-electric powertrain. This system was shown to have an inferior fuel consumption compared to a turboprop engine and thus the hybrid system was conceived. In this system, the fuel cell is only used at loiter with the turboprop engine being retained for all other flight phases. For the same quantity of fuel, a reduction in loiter time of 24% was experienced (compared to the baseline turboprop) but such a system does have benefits of reduced emissions and IR signature. With further refinement, it is possible that the performance and efficiency of such a system could be further improved. In this project, two potential technologies were identified and thoroughly analysed. We are therefore able to say that the project objectives have been met and the project has proven worthwhile to the advancement of aerospace technology. Although these systems did not provide the desired results at this stage, they have shown the potential for improvement with further development.

The period from 1808 to 1829, largely neglected by those historians who have looked at the Hydrographic Office, was the crucial formative period for expansion that laid the solid foundations which later Hydrographers could then exploit. The context, achievements and failures of the Admiralty’s hydrographic function, including surveying, chart production, supply, sales and its contribution to the Navy and the scientific world, as an all encompassing beast has been overlooked; the Admiralty placed the responsibility for those tasks on the shoulders of its Hydrographer. Subsequently he determined the success or failure of the office, using his initiative to expand and develop opportunities benefiting the Admiralty, as well as managing a valuable resource of geographical intelligence, fostering links with scientists and the international hydrographic community. The Hydrographer also found himself creating his own policies, serving as Secretary to the Board of Longitude, being a consultant on navigational matters, taking responsibility for the acquisition, supply and maintenance of chronometers for the Navy, as well as being a focal point for issues concerning pay, promotion and manning for surveying specialists. The period from 1808 to 1829 saw many changes, which gave rise to numerous opportunities for expansion. The Admiralty Board and William, Duke of Clarence (as the last Lord High Admiral), both had a direct influence in the way the office expanded, which saw innovation and experimental work become part of the Hydrographer’s routine, especially after the Peace of 1815. But expansion required funding and at a time when internal economy appeared to the be the main objective within the Admiralty, Captain Thomas Hurd managed not only to establish a 100% increase in surveying capacity but laid the foundation for a distinct specialist and professional core of survey officers. His successor, Captain William Parry, despite his absences, overhauled working practices in the office, set standards for surveyors to follow and continued to expand the number of survey ships in commission. Subsequently Captain Francis Beaufort was left the most highly efficient hydrographic office since its foundation in 1795.

Suppose that we wish to determine which models in a candidate set are most likely to have given rise to a set of observed data. Then, it is well-established that, from a Bayesian viewpoint, evaluation of the marginal likelihood for each candidate is a crucial step to this end. For the purposes of model comparison, this will enable subsequent computation of both Bayes’ factors and posterior model probabilities. Given its evident significance in this area, it is thus regrettable that analytic calculation of the marginal likelihood is often not possible. To tackle this problem, one recent addition to the literature is the variational Bayesian approach. In this thesis, it is seen that variational Bayes provides efficient, accurate approximations to both the marginal likelihood and the parameter posterior distribution, conditioned on each model. In particular, the theory is applied to ranking sparse, vector autoregressive graphical models of order 1 in both the zero and non-zero mean case. That is, our primary aim is to estimate the unknown sparsity structure of the autoregressive matrix in the process. Moreover, approximate, marginal posterior information about the coefficients of this matrix is also of interest. To enable rapid exploration of higher-dimensional graphical spaces, a Metropolis-Hastings algorithm is presented so that a random walk can be made between neighbouring graphs. The scheme is then tested on both simulated and real datasets of varying dimension.

pQBR103 is a representative of the large pQBR collection of ecologically well characterised self-transmissible and mercury resistant plasmids. These plasmids constitute five genetically distinct groups (I-V) and were isolated from the phytosphere of a number of plant species at a single geographical location. Of the collection pQBR103 (group I), which is known to confer a seasonal fitness benefit on a pseudomonad host, is the best studied. Determination and annotation of the pQBR103 sequence, in this thesis, has revealed it is large at 425 kb, and contains no 16S rRNA or other host "housekeeping" genes. It also revealed the likely mechanisms of plasmid replication and stability, but not of plasmid transfer. While traits of possible ecological function were identified, 80% of coding sequences could not be ascribed a function and 59% of the total coding capacity of pQBR103 constituted novel orphan genes. Therefore, the ecological function of this plasmid remains largely enigmatic. Having created an online database, of all publicly available complete plasmid genomes, the lack of functional assignment to pQBR103 may reflect the biases in plasmids previously chosen for sequencing. Building on the legacy of the plasmid sequence, genomic investigations were undertaken. In vitro, proteomic studies demonstrated pQBR103 is tightly regulated and affects host chromosomal responses to the environment. Diversity within the pQBR collection (groups I, III and IV) was assessed by PCR surveys and a custom pQBR103 microarray. Intergroup comparisons revealed no shared homology between group I and groups III or IV, other than common mer genes, suggesting independent evolutionary histories. Intragroup comparisons identified genetic instability and revealed a common genetic core, which contains the genes putatively responsible for stability and replication. These features are not clustered and there are relatively few repeat sequences, both of which contradict the modular paradigm described for other plasmids.

Leak-off pressures (LOPs) recorded during leak-off tests (LOTs) conducted down boreholes are often used to estimate the magnitude of the minimum stress (usually assumed to be horizontal – S(_h)) in the subsurface. However, the reliability of these tests has previously been questioned in the literature and the accuracy of the data obtained from them has been in doubt. Using original LOT data from Mid-Norway, this study has shown that through stringent quality control, good LOT data can be used to accurately constrain the magnitude of S(_h). Knowledge of the relationship between in-situ stress and pore pressures (Pp) in basins provides insights into their structure as well as having implications for well design and drilling safety. Using stress-depth plots to display S(_h) measurements from Mid-Norway and six further basins from around the world reveals a variability in the magnitude of Sh at all depths. Analyses show that rock mechanical properties or differences in the way LOTs are performed cannot explain this variability. Separate analysis of extended leak-off test (XLOT) data from Mid-Norway shows that variability in the magnitude of the LOP (most often used to calculate S(_h)) is inherent in the testing procedure. This inherence suggests either the variations in Sh are real (they represent basin heterogeneities) or that they result from a combination or rock mechanical and/or pumping pressure test parameters. Further use of multiple cycle XLOTs shows that using LOPs and instantaneous shut-in pressures (ISIPs) to calculate S(_h) produces similar results. Considering re-opening cycles of tests and those tests from greater depths shows the difference between the magnitude of Sh calculated using the LOP and ISIP is reduced. These same high quality data have been used to calculate the magnitude of the three principal stress from Mid-Norway and show the contemporary stress situation to be S(_h)

Pri.or to 1990, and the advent of deregulation in the UK, the Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) was a state-owned, vertically integrated monopoly. For the first time the way was opened for the introduction of competitiveness into the many and varied aspects ofthe market. This brought with it diversity and additional requirements for customer and engineering services. This new business-driven, customer-orientated environment led to the re~assessment of the utility's customer communication systems. In order to take full advantage of this new environment, an integrated communications and information systems infrastructure is required. This thesis addresses the design and development of an efficient and reliable communications system for the collection and distribution of data within the ESI. Although the communications architecture proposed focuses on meeting the requirements of a specific Regional Electricity Company, SWEB, it is generic and hence may be used in any electric utility. This architecture, based on an open systems approach, provides bearer services to existing and emerging engineering and business applications. The open system aspect permits the deferred design of system components, thereby providing maximum system flexibility and simplicity. An overview ofthe operational systems in the ESI as they existed in 1997 is given. This review considers the power engineering and distribution networks, metering and tariffs, together with SWEB's specific IT and data communication systems. There then follows a review ofthe business and technical environments in the industry, in terms ofthe potential benefits of value-added services and the emerging applications, together with a brief analysis of the post-privatisation growth ofthe telecommunications industry in the UK. A review was carried out on the media used for different communication services involving Power Line Carrier technology (PLC), Telephony, Fibre Optic Cable (FOC), Twisted Pair and Coaxial cable. These media are examined as to their suitability for data communications for the electric utility industry. Various modulation techniques including AM, FM and Spread Spectrum systems were investigated with respect to their transmission characteristics, and a comparison made ofthe modulation techniques used in PLC systems. The 1990s saw considerable interest in utility communications resulting in many trials being carried out throughout the world. A number ofthese are reviewed in this thesis in support of the proposed architecture. The cardinal factor in the design and development of any modern communication system is the compliance with internationally agreed standards and recommendations. The Open Systems Interconnection model is introduced. together with the standards, protocols and profiles particularly relevant to utility communications. The Utility Communications Architecture (UCA) profile, developed by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is also introduced. The programme ofwork outlined in this thesis was driven by two objectives. The first of these was the aim of utilising the considerable copper infrastructure in the ESI distribution systems for communication purposes. The second was to investigate the feasibility of the provision ofvalue-added services. The generic architecture presented here, based on powerline carrier and other media technology, clearly satisfies the first ofthe above objectives. However PLC inherently lacks the bandwidth for some ofthe value-added services considered, and this may lead slow data transfer rates for certain applications such as downloading large text, image and audio files from internet websites.The second objective was pragmatically modified to address the problems of Remote Metre Reading. To this end a protocol is proposed which requires a minimum data rate transfer thereby conserving network bandwidth.

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is human disorder arising from heterogeneous molecular lesions in the genes encoding a phagocyte specific enzyme system, the NADPH-oxidase. The importance of this system to host immunity is exemplified by the clinical phenotype arising from its defective function, which is characterised by recurrent bacterial and fungal infection. Bone marrow transplantation can be curative, but the paucity of suitable donor material, and the increased risks and complications associated with use of matched unrelated donor grafts, restricts application of this procedure to a minority of cases. CGD is an excellent candidate disorder for the development of somatic gene therapy. The studies presented in this thesis investigate potential mechanisms for determination of the myeloid and differentiation-specific expression of one of the NADPH-oxidase components, p47phox, and demonstrate the applicability of a gene transfer approach using recombinant retrovirus-based systems to permanently reconstitute NADPH- oxidase activity in immortalised B cells. However, the current generation of retroviral vectors are limited by inefficient transduction of relatively quiescent cells, which include the pluripotent haematopoietic stem cell population. This greatly restricts their potential to effect lifelong correction of the clinical phenotype. One system which may be less dependent on cell cycle for successful transduction is based on the dependovirus, adeno-associated virus (AAV). These vectors are shown to stably transduce and restore NADPH-oxidase activity to patient-derived B cells, but are also shown to be difficult to propagate. A method for rescue of recombinant AAV particles from replication-defective adenoviruses is described, which facilitates production, and significantly reduces the risk of contamination with wild-type adenovirus. Adenoviral vectors are also shown to restore function to primary monocytes derived from patients, and may prove to be useful for delivery of the recombinogenic AAV vector genome to target cells.

The electrochemical preparation of ferrate by the anodic dissolution of iron and its alloys in concentrated sodium hydroxide has been reinvestigated. It has been shown that the current efficiency for ferrate formation can be improved significantly by (a) the use of a three dimensional iron anode and (b) the choice of an iron alloy with a high carbon content. Ferrate (VI) was produced by anodic dissolution of an iron wool anode in 10 M NaOH in a membrane flow cell. It was shown that using a current density of 18 mA cnY2 , the current efficiency could be as high as 60 % but it usually dropped to z 25 % during an extended electrolysis. The reason for this change in current efficiency was investigated using voltammetric techniques and it is proposed that the ratio of oxygen evolution/ferrate production is sensitive to the composition, structure or thickness of the iron oxide/hydroxide layer on the anode surface. Periodic current reversal overcomes this loss in current efficiency to some extent. Ile influence of sodium hydroxide concentration and temperature on the electrolyses were also investigated. Voltammetric methods have also been used to define the influence of the composition of the anode on the transpassive dissolution of the iron and its alloys. It was concluded that the carbon content of the steel was critical and this was also demonstrated by preparative electrolyses at flat plate anodes. Ferrate may have applications as a water treatment chemical and experiments were carried out to define the ways in which it could be employed. Hence, the kinetics of the reaction of ferrate (VI) with water, aliphatic alcohols and phenol have been investigated. It has been shown that the ferrate (VI) ion exhibits good stability at 298 K in aqueous 10 M NaOH solution, having a half life of approximately one month. The stability of the ion was found to be strongly dependent on temperature with the decomposition occurring 1000 times faster when the temperature was raised to 333 K The NaOH concentration also determines the life time of the ion in solution; in IM NaOK the half life of the ion was only 7 minutes and the mechanism of decomposition had changed. Ferrate can, however, be added as a solid to polluted water whereupon it will react selectively with the organics. The kinetics of the reactions of ferrate (VI) were also studied in 10 M NaOH; commonly, the reactions are very fast compared to that with water. Moreover, with Jt was shown that some organics (methanol, ethanediol and phenol) undergo complete oxidation to C02 and H20. Other organics appear to undergo only partial oxidation although these results may be distorted by adsorption of the organics on the Fe(OH)3 precipitate formed during the reaction.