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Investigations of the temporary adhesive of acorn barnacle Cypris Larvae
Get PDFPh. D. Thesis.During its life cycle, an acorn barnacle spans multiple niches, from a free-swimming larva to a sessile adult. Settlement is permanent and therefore the individual must locate an optimal site for access to food and reproductive partners. To this end, the final larval stage, the cyprid, is well adapted for the purpose of surface exploration and selection. In order to adhere while exploring in dynamic environments, the cyprid secretes a proteinaceous temporary adhesive from the third antennular segment. This adhesive material is uncharacterised, and the descriptions of its secretory system almost half a century old. However, there is evidence that this temporary adhesive has some homology with the pheromone responsible for gregariousness in barnacles, the settlement-inducing protein complex, as both induce gregarious settlement, and they share an immunoreactive epitope(s).
This work aimed to re-examine the location of the temporary adhesive glands, and associated secretion pathways, in acorn barnacles. Additionally, it aimed to characterise the temporary adhesive protein(s) using a multi-omics approach validated by expression studies, and assess the involvement of the settlement-inducing protein complex in the temporary adhesive system. Evidence is presented that the temporary adhesive gland is located in the proximal first antennular segment, and that the system is structured differently to that of stalked barnacles. The identity of the temporary adhesive protein(s) remained elusive, but a pathway to identification was developed and candidates presented. Finally, the settlement-inducing protein complex, as it exists in adult barnacles, may not be involved in temporary adhesion. Instead, a substantially different analogue is present
Promoting school connectedness : planning and evaluating practice in educational settings
Get PDFD. App. Ed. Psy. ThesisThis thesis explores school connectedness and ways in which this might be promoted.
It contains four chapters: a systematic literature review, a critical consideration of
research methodology and ethics, an empirical research project and a reflexive
chapter, which considers the personal and professional implications of the thesis.
Chapter 1: The systematic literature review explores the features of wider-school
initiatives which have been suggested to promote school connectedness. Thematic
synthesis was used to analyse five key papers, following a detailed process of
searching and selecting. The features were grouped into three analytical themes:
Practical Features, Features of the Relational Climate and Process Features. A
theoretical framework about how school connectedness could be promoted was
developed from the findings. This could be argued to begin to address comments
within the literature about a research-practice gap in this area.
Chapter 2: This chapter includes the rationale for the empirical research question
following the systematic literature review. It also details how and why particular
decisions were made about the research focus and design. Ethical considerations and
the importance of reflexivity within this context are also explored.
Chapter 3: The empirical report explores the relationship between school
connectedness and staff and students eating lunch together. The project was
undertaken in an Alternative Provision setting, where this practice was already in
place. A qualitative approach to the research project was adopted. A focus group with
staff members and two dyadic interviews with students were transcribed and analysed
using a hybrid approach of deductive and inductive Thematic Analysis. The data was
analysed using the findings of the Systematic Literature Review, which were
constructed to form a theoretical framework about how school connectedness might
be promoted. Findings are discussed with regards to the relationship between school
connectedness and staff and students eating together. The use of the theoretical
framework to evaluate practice and explore how school connectedness might be
promoted is also discussed.
Chapter 4: This chapter provides a reflective account about the research process and
outcomes. It allows a space for consideration about what has changed for me as a
result of engaging in this project and how this might shape my future practice and
research. It also summarises the implications for further research and wider practice
Sodium-dependent multivitamin transporter: a potential novel cause of cardiomyopathy
Get PDFPhD ThesisCardiomyopathy is a heterogeneous disorder affecting adults and children and is a
leading cause of death globally. Paediatric cardiomyopathies affect ~1:100,000
children, with around one third requiring a heart transplant or risk death within two
years of diagnosis.
A homozygous missense mutation in the human Sodium Multivitamin Transporter
(SMVT) gene, SLC5A6, was identified in sisters with paediatric cardiomyopathy. The
transporter is a plasma membrane protein that transports biotin, pantothenic acid and
lipoic acid throughout several tissues including the brain, intestine and heart. These
substrates play an essential role in energy metabolism and homeostasis, suggesting
reduced functionality of Slc5a6 within the heart could result in cardiomyopathy.
Mouse models were employed to conditionally delete Slc5a6 within cardiomyocytes
resulting in the development of cardiomyopathy markers throughout early adulthood
leading to sudden death at five months of age. Cardiac functionality was assessed
using electrocardiography (ECG) which showed atrioventricular block, and histological
analysis demonstrated myocardial fibrosis and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Cardiac
magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) revealed a reduction in ejection fraction, cardiac
output and stroke volume, hallmarks of left ventricular dysfunction. Together, these
changes confirm the presence of cardiomyopathy within the cardiomyocyte specific
Slc5a6 knockout model.
Gross abnormalities in mitochondrial structure and organisation were observed using
electron microscopy, and quadruple immunofluorescence staining revealed a
reduction in complex I of the mitochondrial electron transport chain. This suggests that
loss of Slc5a6 has a negative impact on energy metabolism through deficiency of
complex I, causing excess stress upon the heart ultimately resulting in
cardiomyopathy.
Preliminary data from vitamin supplementation to pregnant females and their Slc5a6
knockout offspring shows a delay in the onset of cardiomyopathy markers including
myocardial fibrosis and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, as shown by ECG and histology.
Collectively this data suggests that Slc5a6 is important for normal cardiac structure
and function, with potential for therapeutic intervention in patients with variants in
SLC5A6
Using atomic force microscopy to analyse the geomechanical properties of organic rich rocks
Get PDFPhD ThesisClimate change will have a major impact on society in the 21st century and beyond, unless
the right measures are taken in the next decade. These measures require a drastic decrease in
carbon dioxide emissions to reduce the concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere most likely
through sequestration into geologic formations. Organic matter has a key role in two major
types of carbon sequestration play; as a key component of a shale seal in many conventional
reservoirs, and comprising the majority of coal reservoirs. As such recent research has focused
on the mechanical properties of this organic component, with the Atomic Force Microscope and
Nanoindentation used to measure Young’s modulus at the nanoscale. This research is expand
upon by investigating the trends in organic matter Young’s modulus within marine shales, and
compare an immature marine shale (Tarfaya) to a lacustrine equivalent (Green River) using the
AFM. The results of this study indicate that there is a clear trend of marine shales exhibiting a
bimodal distribution in modulus, with a soft phase centered around 5-9GPa and a stiffer phase
centered around 18-24GPa. 13C NMR spectroscopy indicates that the increase in stiffness is tied
to an increase in aromatic carbon, which could indicate increases in modulus across all organic
matter with maturity.
Here AFM is used on a suite of coal macerals from different depositional environments and
maturities to assess if there are common trends. The results of this highlight that the modulus
distribution of coal macerals is generally unimodal, and softer than that in shales, with all modal
values <10GPa. There is however, a similar trend in terms of a stiffening with maturity, with all
macerals stiffer in the mature Northumberland Coal than in the immature cannel or paper coals.
Thermal modelling suggests that differential strain is more likely in immature coals, where there
is a greater difference moduli of liptinite and inertinite macerals. This problem is reduced in the
mature coal, with little difference between the maceral moduli, suggesting that deeper mature
coal seams are better targets for CCUS than shallower less mature seams.
Machine learning can be used to maximise already collected data by making inferences on
samples where information is limited, using the trends from a larger dataset. Here the first
attempt at using machine learning on SEM, EDX and AFM data is documented, using data
collected from the Eagle Ford and Green River shales, with the goal of making mineralogic and
geomechanical predictions. A variety of supervised and unsupervised machine learning methods
were used, including; Multi-Layer Perceptron, KNN and Random Forest. The accuracies of
these models on the test/training data is generally above 85%, and in the case of the KNN and
Random Forest above 95%. However, when the model are used on an unrelated dataset, the
accuracy decreases significantly. This research indicates that if machine learning is to be used,
the training dataset and model should be selected with the end result in mind, whilst acquiring
the datasets using a similar technique to a similar quality.NERC Centre for Doctoral Training Oil and Gas scheme and
Newcastle University
Critical transport across a finite temperature bosonic Josephson junction : resistive superflow dynamics, vortex ring generation and thermal damping
Get PDFPhD ThesisA Josephson junction consists of two-weakly coupled quantum fluids through a barrier
and is an ideal environment for studying coherent quantum transport and its breakdown
due to dissipation, depending on whether or not the superfluid velocity exceeds a critical
value. Motivated by a recent experiment with 6Li (in the Bose-Einstein condensation
limit) at LENS (Florence), in this thesis we firstly characterised the dynamical regimes
observed experimentally for an elongated three-dimensional bosonic Josephson junction:
the coherent dynamics Josephson ‘plasma’ oscillations regime and the dissipative one. Our
analysis is based on both zero-temperature mean-field theory (Gross-Pitaevskii equation),
and its finite temperature kinetic theory generalisation, in which the condensate is coupled
to a dynamical thermal cloud, described by a quantum Boltzmann equation (Zaremba Nikuni-Griffin method), and reveals excellent agreement with experimental findings.
Secondly, we showed a direct connection between resistive superfluid current and vortex
ring (VR) nucleation, through the mechanism of phase slips, thus demonstrating a close
analogy with the phase-slippage phenomenon in superfluid helium. Specifically, we identify
the origin of dissipation as the transfer of the incompressible kinetic energy from the
axial flow to the VR swirling flow, and the phonon emission during vortex propagation.
Performing a detailed study of the VR dynamics in our three-dimensional inhomogeneous
superfluid, we highlighted the role of trap asymmetry on the emergence of elliptical VRs
exhibiting Kelvin wave excitations. The dissipation due to relative condensate-thermal
motion (at fixed condensate number, well below the transition temperature) was found to
have no effect at early times but it becomes relevant at longer timescales, affecting both
the oscillatory relative population dynamics and the VR dynamics.
Exploring a wider range of barrier heights/widths beyond the experimental parame ters, we constructed an extended phase diagram for the elongated trap, including –beyond
Josephson ‘plasma’ and dissipative regimes discussed above – also the expected Macro scopic Quantum Self-Trapping regime. Confirmation of the emergence of an analogous
phase diagram in a spherical trap, demonstrates unequivocally that all three regimes
should be observable in carefully-tailored ultracold experiments.
Studying the role of finite temperature, we distinguished two regimes: at relatively low
temperatures, where condensate mean field dynamics dominates, the relative population
imbalance oscillates with two main frequencies: in this regime, the thermal cloud is driven
by the condensate, with its presence damping the condensate motion and decreasing its
frequency. However, when the temperature becomes such that the thermal cloud mean ki netic energy exceeds the barrier height, the thermal cloud oscillates with its own frequency,
and begins to drive the condensate, significantly affecting its observable dynamics
Designing for quality in real-world mobile crowdsourcing systems
Get PDFPhD ThesisCrowdsourcing has emerged as a popular means to collect and analyse data on a scale for
problems that require human intelligence to resolve. Its prompt response and low cost have
made it attractive to businesses and academic institutions. In response, various online
crowdsourcing platforms, such as Amazon MTurk, Figure Eight and Prolific have successfully
emerged to facilitate the entire crowdsourcing process. However, the quality of results has
been a major concern in crowdsourcing literature. Previous work has identified various key
factors that contribute to issues of quality and need to be addressed in order to produce high
quality results. Crowd tasks design, in particular, is a major key factor that impacts the
efficiency and effectiveness of crowd workers as well as the entire crowdsourcing process.
This research investigates crowdsourcing task designs to collect and analyse two distinct types
of data, and examines the value of creating high-quality crowdwork activities on new
crowdsource enabled systems for end-users. The main contribution of this research includes 1)
a set of guidelines for designing crowdsourcing tasks that support quality collection, analysis
and translation of speech and eye tracking data in real-world scenarios; and 2) Crowdsourcing
applications that capture real-world data and coordinate the entire crowdsourcing process to
analyse and feed quality results back. Furthermore, this research proposes a new quality control
method based on workers trust and self-verification. To achieve this, the research follows the
case study approach with a focus on two real-world data collection and analysis case studies.
The first case study, Speeching, explores real-world speech data collection, analysis, and
feedback for people with speech disorder, particularly with Parkinson’s. The second case study,
CrowdEyes, examines the development and use of a hybrid system combined of crowdsourcing
and low-cost DIY mobile eye trackers for real-world visual data collection, analysis, and
feedback. Both case studies have established the capability of crowdsourcing to obtain high
quality responses comparable to that of an expert. The Speeching app, and the provision of
feedback in particular were well perceived by the participants. This opens up new opportunities
in digital health and wellbeing. Besides, the proposed crowd-powered eye tracker is fully
functional under real-world settings. The results showed how this approach outperforms all
current state-of-the-art algorithms under all conditions, which opens up the technology for wide
variety of eye tracking applications in real-world settings
Exploring parents' understanding of their children’s mental health and wellbeing. From experience to discourse.
Get PDFD. App. Ed. Psy. Thesis.This thesis explores parents’ views, experiences, and constructions of children’s
mental health and wellbeing.
Chapter 1: A meta-ethnographic, systematic literature review was conducted to
synthesise findings of six studies which had explored the experiences of parents
whose children had accessed mental health services. Findings demonstrated
support for common understandings in help-seeking and access literature in mental
health. The synthesis highlighted the expectations, assumptions, and anticipated
consequences of constructing problems as mental health difficulties. Connections
were drawn with the possibilities made available in community-based and
partnership working in universal services.
Chapter 2: Provides an ethical and methodological consideration of the empirical
project presented in Chapter Three. The relationship between findings from the
literature review and the empirical project is discussed and the methodological
process is considered in depth. This includes consideration of the philosophical
assumptions related to a discourse analysis methodology and consideration of
ethically important moments which arose in carrying out the research.
Chapter 3: An empirical study focused on understanding parents’ construction of
wellbeing as a concept. A discourse analysis methodology was used to explore how
wellbeing is constructed in conversations amongst parents. Participants were
interviewed virtually in pre-existing pairs and the discussions then analysed. The
discursive constructions and wider discourses considered in this analysis were
explored from the perspective of power, positioning, and possibilities for action in
universal services when developing approaches to practice. Particular consideration
was given to the possible contribution of educational psychology.
Chapter 4: Provides a reflective and reflexive account of the research process and
outcomes and what this means for me as a trainee practitioner and researcher. The
implications for my own professional practice as a future EP are considered and
possible next steps in EP research and practice more generally are explored.
Cross referencing is used throughout the thesis. These links are indicated by text in
bold italics
Probing the dye-semiconductor interface in NiO based p-type dye sensitized solar cells using BODIPY
Get PDFPh. D. Thesis.A significant portion of the scientific community is focused on developing new
approaches to fulfilling the energy demands of a growing population, whilst also minimising
the damage to the environment. Chemistry has played a vital role in developing new
molecular systems to turn solar energy into electricity. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC)
have gained significant attention by offering a versatile and tuneable molecular system
as a promising alternative to traditional silicon devices. Single junction devices usually
based around an n-type TiO2 photoanode can be improved by pairing with a p-type
photocathode to create a tandem device, which could potentially surpass the Shockley-
Queisser limit of solar energy conversion over a single p-n junction. Although most of
the research on DSSC focusses on TiO2 based systems, improving the performance of the
p-type photocathode is required in order to approach a tandem DSSC which outperforms
the TiO2 photoanode.
A series of BODIPY sensitizers with small structural modifications to the core of the
chromophore were prepared by various synthetic pathways to create a robust and reliable
system with different photophysical and electrochemical properties with which to investigate
the underlying electron transfer pathways in p-type NiO DSSC. The properties of
these dyes were studied using steady state UV-Visible and Fluorescence spectroscopy and
coupled with cyclic voltammetry in order to create an energy level map of the system. Although
all three dyes appeared to have sufficient driving force for electron injection from
the VB on NiO into the HOMO of the dye, the three dyes showed modest performance
which appeared to be limited by the efficient regeneration of the dye by the redox electrolyte.
BOD2 showed the most promising results when used in a working p-type device
(JSC = 0.48 mA cm2) however these results did not agree with the calculated driving
force for injection ( Ginj therefore the dye|semiconductor interface was studied using
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) to create a new map of the energy levels inside
the p-DSSC. Inspection of the valence photoelectron spectra at varied X-ray excitation
energy allowed for probing of the energy levels in both the bulk semiconductor and at
the dye|semiconductor interface. The HOMO energies for all three dyes adsorbed onto
NiO were measured experimentally and these results confirm a shift in Fermi level for the
NiO upon dye adsorption. These results predict that BOD2 had the highest Ginj and the
frontier orbitals of BOD2 were the most well placed to encourage efficient electron transfer
between the dye and semiconductor. Femtosecond Transient Absorption Spectroscopy
(fs-TAS) was utilized to study the kinetics of the electron transfer processes within the
p-type device. Interestingly, the lifetime of the reduced dye appears to be increased in the
presence of a redox electrolyte and we postulate this to result from catalytic activity of
surface trap states NiO catalysing the conversion of Iodide to triiodide and deactivating a
recombination pathway in the p-DSSC. This has implications on future design of dyes for
p-type DSSC and outlines new methods on estimating driving forces for electron transfer
within a p-DSSC.Newcastle Universit
Poor Relief and Philanthropy in the British West Indies, 1834–1938
Get PDFPh. D. Thesis.The purpose of this thesis is to examine the relationship between state-organised poor relief and
self-help initiatives in the Anglophone Caribbean, from emancipation to 1938 through three key
areas: examining the evolution of British poor laws in colonial societies; analysing applications
made by paupers for relief; and charting the development of black-organised charity, social work
and mutual aid.
The establishment of laws for the relief of the poor shows us what theoretical concerns were being
tackled, as laws conceptualised in Britain for Britain were translocated to her West Indian colonies
which had no experience of administering poor relief prior to emancipation in 1834. The evolution
of colonial poor relief reveals conflicts between the interests of the planter oligarchy, the clergy and
evangelical organisations, and British metropolitan interests represented by the governor. These
discussions provide a foundation upon which to situate what is essentially a study of pauper agency.
The thesis presents the common survival strategies employed by all classes of persons designated
poor, from rural labourers to urban professionals. How did they endeavour to maintain family
cohesion and support one another in the face of extreme and pervasive poverty? How did their
actions refute elite moral judgements upon their racial characteristics and personal
interrelationships, and in what ways does the evidence challenge the officially stated causes of
poverty, illness and mortality? From basic sharing of food, to pooling savings, to establishing
friendly societies and lodges, the activities of the poorer classes reveal how they understood their
position as black colonial subjects and how they utilised the trappings of empire, patriotism and
Christian respectability to their advantage, while retaining African traditions out of which they
developed a uniquely Caribbean culture and identity.
Scholarship on the lives of the poor in the colonial West Indies has increasingly been concerned
with the extent to which the people were able to exercise agency – tools and strategies with which
they might resist imperial policies and practices and carve out their own paths in life. The reason for
this interest in uncovering agency is the paucity of literature in archives produced by the poor or
about their lived experiences, meaning that other methods are needed to ‘speak’ those silences.
Scholars have therefore focused on different areas in which to evidence people’s attempts to
maintain autonomy, such as through encounters with the judiciary, petitions to government, and
non-compliance with state-sponsored services such as education and health. Presenting letters
written by paupers seeking relief goes some way towards addressing the hiatus of first hand
accounts and allows a more direct window onto the feelings, interests and strategies of the poor.
Alongside the poor, women have suffered a similar silence in archives, yet not only were the
majority of poor relief applicants female, but women also outnumbered men as members of friendly
societies. Furthermore, black women in the 1930s assumed the role of unpaid social workers
establishing children’s homes, training facilities and pressure groups to effect change at the
government level. Thus, the role of women in the development of the politics of self-determination
cannot be ignored.
The study concludes that one hundred years of parish poor relief never went beyond addressing the
manifestations of poverty, rather than its root causes. The real impetus came from the working
classes themselves, who, aided by contact with the outside world principally through migrations and
trans-regional benevolent and fraternal societies, were able to maintain economic survival and
social cohesion, and work collaboratively to raise the standard of living, improve educational and
employment opportunities and lobby for change. Their organisational structures supported the
emergence of trade unions and political activism. Hence, alongside petitions to government and the
judiciary, poor relief is established as an arena of resistance to hegemony
Entrepreneurial Education: Northumberland 1869 -1889
Get PDFPh. D. Thesis.This thesis analyses the impact of the ground-breaking 1870 Education Act on entrepreneurial education in Northumberland. Some regulation and funding of mass education was already in place by then but the 1870 Act introduced direct state provision in the form of elected School Boards and school buildings. The Act promised to support the voluntary sector and use state provision to fill the gaps between existing schools and the total number of school-age children. In 1876 however, an Amendment Act changed and enhanced the delivery of state education. The remit of school boards was considerably extended from their responsibility to educate disadvantaged children to become the primary vehicle for delivering universal education. The 1870 Act required local governments to assess educational need in their areas. Where provision was inadequate, they were required to form a democratically elected school board. Any ratepayer could serve on their committee or vote, including women and elections were to be held every three years to ensure accountability. Boards were intended to work alongside the voluntary sector, encouraging the growth of all school accommodation thus relieving pressure on state provision. By 1876, however, it was clear that in some areas, such as Newcastle, the democratic process of the boards had broken down. Furthermore, the 1876 Reform Act which introduced additional powers to enforce compulsory attendance was used to force closures of ‘undesirable’ schools. This included Private Adventure Schools charging 9d or less per week. The history of education in nineteenth-century Britain has attracted considerable scholarly scrutiny but relatively little attention has been paid to the function and contribution of Private Adventure Schools. Particularly those charging 9d or less per week which could be considered affordable to the working class. A surge of research in 1970, inspired by the centenary of the Education Act, did little to evaluate the diversity and quality of entrepreneurial education. All too often, flawed reports, observations and skewed statistics of government inspectors were accepted without due diligence. Aside from the early work of authors such as E.G. West (Education and the State, 1965) and Philp Gardner (The Lost Elementary Schools of Victorian England, 1984), and the G.R. Grigg’s 2005 case study of Welsh Private Adventure Schools, this lacuna in the literature has still not been addressed. This study offers an entirely new approach to identifying and analysing the impact of entrepreneurial education. By using the whole of Northumberland as a defined geographical area and concentrating on the two decades between 1869 and 1889 this study compares urban and rural educational development in the wake of the 1870 Education Act. A mixed-methods approach combines big data, GIS and a quantitative survey to map out school structures with demographic context. In addition, a broad selection of qualitative historical material has been used to excavate individual school histories and changes in attitudes to education from a variety of perspectives. The key findings conclude that entrepreneurial education was much more resilient in Northumberland than previously thought. It was also far more diverse, quality-driven and impactful than current literature suggests. This thesis argues that the decline of entrepreneurial education in the late nineteenth-century was not inevitable. These schools warrant more attention both as a neglected aspect of educational
history and for its significance to contemporary global debates on the role of low-cost private schools in developed and developing economies.Economic and Social Research Counci