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Cellular senescence is a cell fate characterised by the permanent arrest from the cell cycle with an altered, mainly proinflammatory, secretory phenotype. Although, a positive process in development and regeneration, the accumulation of senescent cells, as seen in tissues of aged humans, can cause many negative effects. Within skeletal muscle the resident stem cells, Pax7+ve and CD56+ve satellite cells/muscle precursor cells (MPCs), are essential for muscle maintenance and repair following damage. Impairments either in their inherent behaviour, such as by being senesced, or by being negatively influenced by their environment, such as by the senescence associated secretory phenotype (SASP) of local senescent cells, may impair muscle regeneration in later life and contribute to the age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass, sarcopenia. Furthermore, regeneration is also dependent on the interaction of MPCs with other key cell types in muscle, principally fibroblasts, therefore understanding the senescent characteristics of both cell types is essential to gain further insight into skeletal muscle ageing. Currently, little is known about the senescent phenotype of human skeletal muscle derived cells. The aim of the work in this thesis was thus to investigate the senescent phenotype of human primary skeletal muscle derived MPCs and fibroblasts in a primary cell culture system. Once characterised this phenotype would then be used to investigate senescence within skeletal muscle cells obtained from very old and frail hip fracture patients. MPCs were sorted using CD56+ve magnetic beads after extraction and expansion from muscle biopsy samples taken from young healthy male volunteers (n=6, 22±1 years). Fibroblasts were derived from the negative fraction. In the first series of experiments cumulative population doublings (CPD) across multiple passages was used to induce cellular replicative senescence (RS). In the second, cells were treated with Doxorubicin (DOX; 0.2 μM) for 24h to induce a senescent phenotype and then investigated at a number of timepoints up to 35 days post treatment. In both approaches, senescence was determined by the presence of senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA β-gal) and the protein expression of p16, together with the absence of proliferation marker, Ki67. With expression determined using custom built cell-by-cell image analysis programs. The mRNA levels of established SASP factors (e.g. PAI-1, TGF-β1, IL-8 and IGFBP-3, amongst others) were also measured as was the differentiation capacity of MPCs for myogenic fusion. In the RS study only two of the six MPC populations remained highly myogenic through to RS. Senescence of these two populations of MPCs was shown by increased number of SA β-gal-positive and p16 expressing cells, and decreased Ki67 expression. The senescent, late passage MPCs showed a markedly reduced myogenic fusion index, compared to proliferative MPCs. The fibroblast experiments were terminated at the same time as the equivalent MPC cultures reached senescence. At this point, none of the fibroblast populations had reached RS, as evidenced by no changes in SA β-gal or p16, although there was a trend for slower population doubling times when compared to early passage rates and significantly decreased Ki67. When both MPCs and fibroblasts were exposed to DOX for 24h, senescence was demonstrated shortly after, with 99% of both cell types being SA β-gal-positive four days after DOX treatment, Ki67 expression markedly reduced and MPCs being less able to fuse and form myotubes. SASP factor (i.e. IGFBP7, PAI-1, IGFBP3) mRNA expression from this 4-day time point until 35 days post-DOX treatment varied over time and magnitude in both MPCs and fibroblasts. MPCs isolated from skeletal muscle of old (82±9 yrs) hip fracture patients showed significant differences in senescence marker and SASP factor expression, compared to young donor cells after a similar time in culture. In conclusion, RS is hard to achieve in human primary muscle cultures because even highly purified MPCs populations can eventually be overrun by initially small populations of fibroblasts, whilst the sorted fibroblast cultures, from the same biopsy samples, appear to take a much longer time to reach RS than the MPCs. DOX treatment allows a synchronised and rapid induction of senescence in both cell types eliminating these problems. Here the results showed both varying temporal and quantitative responses of the different SASP factors between the two cell types. The data highlight the complexity and dynamism of the senescent state within different cell types derived from human skeletal muscle. When myoblasts are taken from a very elderly frail human population undergoing hip fracture surgery, markers of senescence are elevated compared to young myoblasts after similar exposure to cell culture. These findings suggest that cellular senescence may start to be an issue within skeletal muscle cells very late in life. Therefore, this work could contribute to supporting research into healthy human ageing by investigating strategies which prevent the accumulation, or remove, these senescent cells.

A prominent feature of being a looked-after young person is that your life is overseen by a range of professionals, who make decisions that affect you (Golding et al., 2006). Whilst adults may assume these are in the best interest of the young person, there is a continuing lack of research into the experiences of looked-after young people to inform these decisions from the perspective of the young people. A need for research which allows looked-after young people to contribute to the literature what is important to them during adolescence was established. This exploratory study used a participant-led, photo-elicitation methodology to explore ‘what is important to looked-after young people during adolescence?’. The present study aimed to allow participants to meaningfully share what was important to them and contribute their perspective to the extant literature on looked-after young people. The study consisted of three phases: consultation, main study, and feedback. As a methodologically-led study, the research also aimed to evaluate the utility of the methodology with the participant group, whilst also considering what occurs when the findings of research are fed back to participants. Six young people who lived in foster care were recruited. A photo-elicitation interview was conducted in which participants brought photographs of what was important to them to the interview which they then discussed. Data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, alongside the use of photographs to inform and illuminate the analysis. A core theme and five main themes were generated to reflect what was important to participants. Participants described their experiences as being embedded in the place they lived, with their development being shaped by the possibilities this provided. Participants described what was important to them as: being seen and heard; a part of their place and being with others; finding space to escape to; relationships with their pets; and getting to know yourself. The research then returned to participants to explore their experience of the research process and to inform the literature about what happens when a researcher returns to participants to present their analysis. The present study concluded that looked-after young people have an opinion about what is important to them and when given the opportunity to participate were able to share this. Feedback appeared important to participants as it allowed them to see how their contributions were used, to feel heard and understood, and to reflect upon their experiences in relation to other looked-after young people.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine parents' reasons for choosing Non-Public Non-Denominational Elementary Schools for low socioeconomic students in Alabama. Low socioeconomic students were defined as students who qualified for free/reduced lunches. The research was designed as a mixed methods study with data being collected via an online survey and interviews. This study fills a gap in the literature about parents' reasons for choosing Non-Public Non-Denominational Elementary Schools for low socioeconomic students in Alabama. Based on the literature there are many possible reasons for parents choosing to send their children to private schools. The literature indicated that parents send their children primarily to avoid the lack of strict discipline, lack of parent-approved values, sex education, and certain aspects of curriculum and instruction in the public schools (Crawford & Freeman, 1996). Based on the results from the survey and interviews, parents chose these schools because they offered more discipline than public schools, they offered better teacher-student ratios, and they also offered Christian based curriculum. Parents overall had very high expectations for their children. They also wanted a more Christian-based environment for their children. There was limited significance between the two schools studied even though School B only had ten representatives. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation explored the Best Practices of Executive Coaches who coach C-Level Executives. The set of best practices developed was differentiated from best practices as applied with middle-manager executive clients. C-level executives were deemed to have a role within the organization with unusual influence and complexity and thus worthy of a separate (or higher order) set of best practices. The qualitative research deemed from 11 interviews supported such a claim with the development of two primary best practice categories for coaches working with C-level executives: Higher-level processing and Trusted Advisor and Peer. Two other sets of practices emerged from the data as well: Basic coaching best practices applicable to any coaching engagement (and supportive of existing best practice literature) and client best practices, a set of best practices for the client to utilize as a means of sustained professional and organizational growth. This study also investigated the notion that coaches working at the higher level of C-level coaching should be at a higher level of coaching excellence (i.e., be a "great" as opposed to a "good" coach). This area was deemed to be worthy of further discussion and research. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]