27716 research outputs found
Sort by
Efficient robotic assembly of shell structures
No full textDigital design and fabrication has revolutionized architecture, enabling rapid exploration of complex forms through computer-aided design (CAD) software. Robot manipulator arms are additionally fast becoming useful construction hardware, being able to be adapted to a wide variety of tasks. However, the transition from digital models to physical fabrication and assembly remains predominantly manual, leading to inefficiencies and limitations in digital manufacture. Particularly in the manufacture and construction of thin element structures, CAD and digital manufacture tools are fast becoming able to realise a wider array of complex designs.
Slender structures come with additional pitfalls, however. Supporting falsework structures for thin panel systems construction constitute a high proportion of material waste, due to their often single-use and highly custom nature. Additionally, such segmented structures often rely on adhesives or fixtures to constrain parts, reducing potential for disassembly and reuse. This work presents a design approach developed to demonstrate the use of integral joints for maintaining structural stability through robotic assembly without falsework. An approach is proposed based on stability assessments and funicularity measures to understand the behaviour of designed structures during and after assembly. The integration of sensor technologies, such as low-cost cameras for process feedback, further enhances this automated workflow. Feedback is crucial for maintaining the alignment and integrity of structures during robotic assembly, where minor discrepancies can significantly impact success. While these features can be implemented in robotics middleware ROS, it is relatively inaccessible to the architectural designer.
To address these challenges, this research outlines a comprehensive approach to automating aspects of design, manufacture, and assembly of segmented shell panel structures with parametric CAD software. Through this automation, considering robot manipulator capabilities at early design stages, this research aims to enhance the capabilities of the designer in construction with robotic technologies. With integration of algorithmic design, structural analyses, robot kinematics modelling and real-time feedback mechanisms, this work seeks to streamline the design process with feedback for architectural structures, and ultimately contribute to the robotic assembly of disassemblable systems that align with the evolving demands for sustainability and efficiency in the AEC sector
Investigating the role of BACE1 in angiogenesis: physiological implications and molecular mechanisms
No full textParticipatory Stitch: the ways in which inclusive, group, hand-stitched textile projects can preserve or enhance wellbeing and good mental health in secondary school pupils in England
Get PDFThe academic literature that discusses the benefits of participatory, inclusive, hand-stitching projects in relation to mental health and wellbeing has, to date, focused on the benefits in adult communities. Studies have celebrated the value of those creative responses; citing improvements in wellbeing as a result of learning new skills and with participants achieving an enhanced sense of belonging and raised self-esteem as consequences of the calming, shared process of stitching together, and the approval garnered from a finished product.
Such interventions have not been replicated in secondary schools in England who are now charged with identifying and supporting a growing number of pupils struggling with their mental health and wellbeing; a situation that was exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, (2020 – 2023). Furthermore, beneficial creative opportunities in schools have been diminished because of national curriculum changes in the first quarter of the twenty-first century.
This research uses pragmatic, qualitative methodology viewed through the lens of critical realism, to interrogate the potential for similar outcomes with school pupils (aged 11 – 16) who have been identified by their school as vulnerable in respect of their mental health. Questioning whether hand-stitching interventions can preserve or enhance the wellbeing of those groups, the study contributes to knowledge on the value of such creative activity to the under-theorised demographic of children and young people.
The research findings evidence that pupils can benefit socially and emotionally from participation in hand-stitching activities with others, and that it is possible to replicate in school the positive outcomes that might have been initially regarded as incidental in some adult-focused settings. The research also contributes to the understanding of inclusive participation through two models that build on previous research, focusing on participation and the need to embrace different levels of individual progress. Additionally, the researcher has generated a representation of mental health and wellbeing, contextualised for schools, that offers clarification of the relationships between key elements; a valuable congruence being noted between wellbeing and mental health, participation, and inclusion
Vocational Progression and a Decent Career: Sectors, Locality and Early Adult Job Opportunities
Get PDFThe career achieved in early adulthood remains one of the most powerful indicators of future life chances. English higher-level vocational qualification reforms aim to improve vocational ‘middle’ pathways to higher-skilled work. There is extensive social science interest in the reproduction of inequalities from education into the labour market, but little attention on early adult career pathways within employment, most especially in the ‘missing middle’ of the mid-skills space, with significant gaps in evidence on how employers and local labour markets shape early adult career pathways.
My thesis examines ‘middle’, higher-level vocational progression to higher-skilled work in early adulthood, employing a mixed method, three-sector comparison of construction, textiles manufacturing and digital, in Northern Region in England, to explore diverse skills profiles through a locality, sector, and institutional lens in complex education and labour market intersections. New secondary quantitative analyses reveal that ‘middle skill’ space is a more complex and important opportunity structure than policy suggests, providing new definitions of mid-skill equilibria. Mapping the distinct sector qualification patterns in early adulthood challenges the normative policy representation of vocational higher-level qualifications as ‘one-size’, instead arguing these are intrinsically situated by sector.
Careers sequencing through qualitative enquiry, drawing from twenty-nine in-depth stakeholder interviews, identifies the importance of situated vocational worker identities, and industry traditions and norms in the processes of early adult vocational progression, in imaginaries of ‘becoming the high-skill vocational worker’. Place-based findings illuminate how local employer-education partnerships create informal opportunity structures or ‘fields’, normalising progression to higher-skilled work in communities with a limited history of professional work, contingent on multiple informal, employer-educator processes which are typically unrecognised. My study pivots the focus of ‘youth transition’ to early careers, arguing ‘decent careers’ into higher-skilled work are bound by ‘horizons of possibility’ through the locality, the sector, and its institutions in early adulthood
Density functional theory study of copper tungstate
Get PDFCopper tungstate (CuWO4) has attracted growing interest as a visible-light-responsive photocatalyst for solar-driven water splitting and carbon dioxide reduction, owing to its suitable band gap and chemical stability under a range of conditions. However, a detailed understanding of its surface redox properties, water adsorption behaviour, and catalytic mechanisms remains limited. This thesis presents a systematic computational study of the structural, electronic, and catalytic properties of CuWO4 using density functional theory (DFT), including on-site Coulomb and dispersion corrections (DFT+U-D3).
The equilibrium morphologies and stabilities of low-index surfaces were first examined through surface energy calculations and surface phase diagrams, revealing that the (010) and (110) facets are predominant under typical synthesis and operating conditions. Next, the adsorption of water on both pristine and reduced surfaces was investigated to understand its role in the initial stages of the photocatalytic water splitting reaction. Surface phase diagrams were constructed to evaluate water coverage as a function of temperature and pressure.
Finally, the mechanisms of water splitting and hydrogen evolution were explored through detailed analysis of reaction intermediates, charge redistribution, and transition states. The results indicate that oxygen vacancies on the reduced (010) surface enhance catalytic activity by stabilizing key intermediates and promoting charge localization. These findings offer important insights into the catalytic behaviour of CuWO4 and support its potential use in the development of solar-driven hydrogen production technologies
Educational Innovation: Exploring the Impact of Educational Innovation on the Internationalisation of the Curriculum in Uganda
Get PDFAbstract
This study investigates how the Internationalisation of the Curriculum (IoC) is interpreted and enacted within Uganda’s pre-primary education sector. Situated in a postcolonial, resource-constrained context, the research draws on Rogers’ (2003) Diffusion of Innovations Model to explore how teachers and school leaders navigate, adapt, and recontextualise global curriculum ideas in relation to local sociocultural realities.
Using qualitative data generated through focus groups, semi-structured interviews, and non-participant observation across urban and rural schools, the study reveals that educators demonstrate significant interpretive agency, reworking global content through relational pedagogies, vernacular knowledge systems, and community-based learning practices. Yet the diffusion process remains uneven, hindered by institutional gatekeeping, fragmented academic calendars, and systemic digital exclusion.
The study extends Rogers’ model by reconceptualising relative advantage in terms of cultural and pedagogical relevance, and by framing adoption as recursive and non-linear. In response, it proposes a hybrid analytic framework that integrates localisation, resilience, and epistemic justice, offering a nuanced account of innovation that centres on teacher agency and contextual coherence. By foregrounding pre-primary education in the Global South, this research contributes to critical debates on curriculum internationalisation and calls for equitable, situated, and relationally grounded approaches to educational change
Extreme rainfall and temporal loading: Towards more effective design storms
Get PDFPluvial flooding poses an increasing global risk to people and property, driven by urban expansion, infrastructure growth, and the intensification of rainfall associated with climate change. While tools to model pluvial flood hazard have also advanced, rainfall continues to be represented in these models using highly simplified forms. This is at odds with the physical complexity of rainfall events, which vary significantly in both space and time. While simplifications are inherent in modelling, there is limited understanding of how reducing the temporal complexity of rainfall affects hydrological outcomes. This gap in knowledge is especially concerning for pluvial flooding, where small-scale variations in rainfall can produce large differences in modelled impacts.
Simplification of rainfall events in flood modelling is generally achieved using design storms.
Design storms are synthetic profiles used to standardise the representation of extreme rainfall events for assessing flood hazard across different return periods. In these profiles a rainfall total is combined with a hyetograph, which dictates how rainfall is distributed over the course of the storm. Although design storms use locally specific estimates of total rainfall, in the UK the same standard hyetograph, with a highly peaked, symmetrical shape, is typically applied in all contexts, and the uncertainty introduced by this is rarely quantified. Looking ahead, intensification of convective storms in future climates may also bring changes in temporal rainfall patterns, further increasing the risk that current modelling practices will diverge from physical reality.
This thesis investigates the sensitivity of flood outcomes to temporal loading, and examines whether shifts in prevailing storm patterns under climate change can be detected using very high-resolution climate simulations. These analyses rely on event temporal loading metrics, categorical or numerical indicators calculated on detailed hyetographs or raw rainfall events. A 2-dimensional (2D), rain-on-grid flood model is applied to two small urban catchments in Leeds, prone to pluvial flooding. The sensitivity testing shows a clear response to temporal loading, with a late-peaking (‘back-loaded’) event causing up to a 25% increase in the flood affected area compared to a front-loaded event of the same size. To assess how these structures may change in future, very high-resolution climate simulations from the United Kingdom Climate Projections (UKCP) Local under Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 are analysed. Little detectable change in the frequency of different temporal loading patterns is found in the future climate,
but regional differences do emerge, with central and southern England producing more highly asymmetric (both ‘front-’ and ‘back’-loaded’) events in both present and future simulations.
Through flood-modelling and climate-simulation analyses, this thesis identifies that the lack of a single, consistent definition of temporal loading, exemplified by the abundance of related metrics, undermines our ability to compare impacts or characterise rainfall events consistently. This finding motivates a comprehensive review and empirical analysis of existing temporal loading metrics. By organising these metrics around five conceptual dimensions, namely peakiness, rainfall mass asymmetry, peak-timing asymmetry, event concentration and intermittency, a structured framework for selecting metrics aligned with specific research questions and data constraints is established. The resulting framework allows future studies to link more specific aspects of temporal loading to flood hazard or to project how these aspects may evolve under climate change. Furthermore, by clarifying which metrics quantify the same features and which capture distinct characteristics, and by providing an open codebase for consistent metric implementation, this thesis addresses previous methodological transparency in this field, and provides a basis for more fair cross-comparison of studies
Soil–plant–microplastic interactions and their ecological impacts for agricultural sustainability
Get PDFSince their formal definition in 2004, microplastics (MPs) have rapidly become a pressing environmental challenge due to their persistence, ubiquity, and potential ecological risks. While research on MPs in terrestrial environments has progressed in recent years, it still lags behind the extensive work done in aquatic systems. Important uncertainties remain, especially regarding their behaviour in soil matrices and their consequences for agroecosystems. Agricultural soils, covering approximately 38% of the global land area, serve as both major sinks and sources of MPs. Intensive farming practices, such as the widespread use of plastic mulch and the application of sewage sludge as fertilizer, contribute to MP accumulation and raise concerns about their uptake by crops. As integral components of agricultural ecosystems, plants not only sustain soil functionality but also serve as bioindicators in ecotoxicological evaluations. Understanding the transport mechanisms and ecological impacts of MPs in soil–plant systems is therefore essential for evaluating risks to agricultural sustainability, food safety, and human health. This study em-ploys soil-based experiments to closely simulate real-world terrestrial plant growth conditions. Through a multidisciplinary approach, it investigates the role of particle type, concentration, morphology, and plant species in shaping soil-MP-plant interactions, uncovering their complex interdependencies. Furthermore, an innovative staining technique was applied to enable the visualization of microfibers (MFs)—the predominant MP form in agricultural soils—under multimodal microscopy, addressing a critical knowledge gap. The findings reveal: (1) MPs exert diverse effects on soil properties and plant performance, influenced by particle type, plant species, and potential synergistic interactions; (2) MPs alter soil total organic carbon stocks under specific cropping conditions at environmentally relevant concentrations; (3) plant responses to MP exposure exhibit non-linear patterns, governed by species-specific mechanisms affecting growth and stress responses; (4) microfibers, owing to their unique shape, large surface area, and physicochemical properties, can penetrate certain plant root tissues via crack-entry pathways and apoplastic transport; and (5) the adsorption and accumulation patterns of microfibers are closely linked to plant root traits and antioxidant capacity. These insights significantly advance the understanding of MP risks in soil–plant systems and offer valuable information to a wide range of stakeholders, including environmental scientists, agricultural managers, policymakers, and public health professionals. Future research should prioritize the use of environmentally relevant MP concentrations and diverse MP types, while fully considering plant species variability to enhance ecological risk assessments and the development of effective mitigation strategies
Longitudinal genomic and epigenomic changes in glioblastoma brain tumours
Get PDFGlioblastoma is a highly aggressive brain tumour with a poor prognosis and inevitable recurrence following standard treatment. Understanding the molecular basis of treatment resistance and tumour progression is critical to improving therapeutic outcomes. This PhD thesis aimed to explore the genetic and epigenetic evolution of GBM through three phases: optimisation of sequencing pipelines, identification of altered biological pathways under therapeutic pressure, and DNA methylation profiling of recurrent disease.
In the first phase, whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing pipelines were optimised for use with challenging clinical material, including FFPE-derived samples. Custom adjustments, including the correction of overlapping read pairs and mitigation of FFPE artefacts, significantly improved variant calling accuracy and tumour mutational burden estimation.
The second phase focused on uncovering treatment-associated pathway alterations using paired primary and recurrent GBM samples from 2 cohorts. By tracking changes in variant allele frequency pre- and post-treatment, I identified variants either selected for or against by therapy. Pathway analysis using PathScore revealed several significant biological pathways under selection pressure, notably involving the ERBB signalling family. Disruption of ERBB4 signalling was associated with treatment sensitivity, suggesting that its inhibition may enhance therapeutic efficacy in a subset of patients.
The final phase applied genome-wide DNA methylation profiling using Illumina Infinium arrays. Although recurrence-associated changes were subtle at the cohort level, stratification by JARID2-related transcriptional response revealed subtype-specific epigenetic dynamics. A quadrant-based analysis highlighted greater methylation shifts in Down responders, potentially reflecting adaptive responses to treatment.
Altogether, this work provides insight into GBM evolution under therapy, demonstrating how both genetic and epigenetic shifts contribute to recurrence. The identification of ERBB4 signalling as potentially associated with treatment sensitivity highlights a candidate pathway that warrants further functional validation. Future work, including targeted experimental studies of ERBB4 function, alongside single-cell and spatial profiling, may reveal actionable therapeutic insights and refine strategies to overcome treatment resistance
Intelligent Support for Sustainability Awareness in Online Shopping
No full textSustainability concerns increasingly shape consumer choices, yet online
product descriptions often lack clarity or key sustainability informa-
tion. This creates information gaps that limit consumers’ ability to
make informed, responsible decisions—contributing to the persistent
intention–behaviour gap in ethical consumption.
While prior efforts in sustainability communication have focused on
labelling and user interface design, little attention has been paid to the
textual content of product descriptions and how it aligns with expert
assessments. This thesis addresses that gap by using generative AI to
generate sustainability awareness messages tailored to product context.
The work introduces a multi-stage framework that combines expert
knowledge with product-level data, structured through a sustainability
taxonomy covering health, environment, society, and economy. This
taxonomy guides the extraction of sustainability cues from product
descriptions, forming a Text-Based Green Profile (TGP) that serves as
a proxy for what consumers see. The TGP is then compared to expert
annotations to identify patterns of alignment and misalignment—some
of which reflect known decision-making biases. These patterns inform
the design of prompts for large language models (LLMs), which generate
context-aware sustainability messages. Finally, the generated messages
are evaluated through both automatic metrics and human feedback
from expert reviewers and a user study.
Findings show that the AI-generated messages were generally seen as
clear, relevant, and helpful. Participants reported improved awareness
of sustainability issues, with effectiveness varying by alignment pattern
and framing, highlighting the need for context-sensitive messaging. This thesis contributes a practical, scalable approach for generating
sustainability-focused messages to help close information gaps in online
shopping. It offers insights into how AI can support more transparent,
adaptive, and responsible communication in digital consumer environ-
ments
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage Open Research Online? Become a CORE Member to access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard! 👇