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Magnetic hydrogels for bone tissue engineering
No full textBone injuries represent a significant healthcare burden, with autograft transplantation currently considered the gold standard treatment. However, autografts are limited by donor site morbidity, pain, and restricted availability. Bone tissue engineering offers a promising alternative by combining stem cells, biomaterial scaffolds, and bioactive cues to promote regeneration. External stimulation, such as magnetic fields, has also emerged as a strategy to enhance bone healing and tissue regeneration. In this study, a magnetic hydrogel model was developed to explore the therapeutic potential and mechanisms of magnetic field stimulation in bone repair.
The effects of static and dynamic magnetic fields on mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) were first investigated, with a focus on osteogenic differentiation, mechanotransductive signaling and pathway activation. A magnetic hydrogel was then fabricated using gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) combined with iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). MSCs were encapsulated either as dispersed cells or in spheroid form. The hydrogels were extensively characterised, demonstrating tunable mechanical properties, appropriate porosity, and long-term biocompatibility. To evaluate osteogenic potential, MSC-laden hydrogels were exposed to either static or dynamic magnetic fields for up to 28 days. Gene expression, mineralisation and hydrogel stiffness were assessed as markers of osteogenic activity and environmental remodeling. Stemness markers were also monitored to evaluate stem cell renewal capacity.
Intermittent static magnetic field (SMF) exposure for 1 hour per day emerged as the most effective regime, enhancing osteogenic gene expression in 2D culture, and further evidenced within 3D cultures in combination with MNPs showing increased mineralisation. Incorporation of MNPs or application of intermittent SMF also led to stiffening of the hydrogel model over 28 days. In addition, intermittent SMF exposure supported stem cell population renewal over 28 days
This thesis demonstrates that GelMA based magnetic hydrogels, particularly under intermittent SMFs can direct MSC osteogenesis. These findings support the development of smart biomaterials that integrate biophysical cues for next generation bone tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
Development and application of advanced 3T3-L1 adipocyte culture models to enhance drug discovery
No full textObesity and type 2 diabetes are among the most pressing health challenges worldwide, driven by insulin resistance and the failure of adipose tissue to maintain metabolic function. Adipocytes not only store and release energy but also function as endocrine regulators of systemic homeostasis. However, the in vitro models most commonly used to study adipocytes remain limited, with conventional two-dimensional (2D) monolayers often lacking the architecture and complexity of adipose tissue. At the same time, drug discovery efforts require models that are both physiologically relevant and compatible with scalable, quantitative readouts. This thesis aimed to develop advanced adipocyte platforms that integrate improved culture formats with genetically encoded biosensors, enabling direct interrogation of receptor signalling and insulin-regulated glucose transport.
Initial work established and validated the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in 2D culture, confirming lipid accumulation, expression of canonical adipogenic markers, and functional outputs including lipolysis and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. Building on this, a scaffold-free spheroid system was implemented to capture elements of adipose architecture. These 3D cultures underwent adipogenic differentiation, upregulated adipocyte genes, and preserved functional responses, demonstrating that spheroids can reproduce features of adipose biology while remaining experimentally tractable.
A conformational intramolecular BRET sensor for FFA4 was stably expressed in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. The sensor reports receptor active-state transitions in real time, enabling quantitative comparison of endogenous fatty acids and TUG-891, and it revealed ligand-dependent kinetics with a modest basal tone consistent with endogenous lipid agonists. The biosensor line retained adipogenic competence and the signal was maintained after differentiation in both 2D monolayers and 3D spheroids, allowing direct assessment of culture-context effects on FFA4 pharmacology.
A luminescent GLUT4-HiBiT translocation biosensor was designed to measure insulin signalling in living cells. Introduced into 3T3-L1 cells, the line was characterised and retained adipogenic competence; the sensor reported insulin-dependent, concentration-graded GLUT4 surface delivery in both undifferentiated and differentiated states. The assay was then miniaturised and automated for screening, and a pilot high-throughput screen was completed under a submaximal insulin challenge. Although this library produced no clear insulin-sensitising hits, the workflow ran reliably at scale and establishes a screen-ready platform for larger or targeted libraries and follow-up studies.
Together, these studies show how combining established 2D monolayers, emerging 3D spheroid formats, and genetically encoded biosensors can generate adipocyte models that are both physiologically relevant and discovery-ready. By providing live, quantitative readouts of receptor activation and insulin-regulated glucose transport, this work advances the toolkit available for metabolic disease research. The platforms developed here bridge the gap between reductionist culture systems and complex in vivo physiology, offering new opportunities for mechanistic insight and for accelerating the identification of therapeutic strategies to combat insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes
Essays on crowdfunding
Full text linkThis thesis consists of three independent chapters: I examine the role of crowdfunding as an alternative financing tool, with a particular focus on the impact of external shocks, industry-specific responses, and the role of sustainable crowdfunding campaigns.
The first chapter investigates the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on crowdfunding campaigns in the UK, analysing key metrics such as success rates, number of backers, campaign duration, funds raised, and campaign’s location. It uses crowdfunding data from Crowdfunder, FundRazr, Indiegogo, and Kickstarter, COVID-19-related data from the Official Coronavirus Disease Situation Dashboard, and population data from the Office for National Statistics. Using OLS and LPM, the findings reveal that the pandemic did not lead to an increase in the number of backers or the raised amount; however, campaigns with shorter durations and lower goal amounts had higher success rates.
The second chapter extends this analysis by examining the differential impact of COVID-19 on campaigns requiring physical gathering. I then investigate the impact of the pandemic across various crowdfunding industries, including cultural, creative, and entertainment sectors, using a DiD model and data from four major crowdfunding platforms—Crowdfunder, FundRazr, Indiegogo, and Kickstarter. The chapter reveals that campaigns reliant on physical gatherings show a decrease in funds raised, while entertainment campaigns report an increase. This chapter offers new insights into how external shocks, such as a global pandemic, influence crowdfunding campaigns differently across industries. Heterogeneity analysis suggests the following: (1) campaigns following keep-it-all raised fewer funds, had fewer backers, and had a lower success rate; (2) campaigns with higher duration raised less money, had a lower success rate, and had fewer backers; (3) campaigns with higher goal amount had no impact on the raised amount, number of backers, or the success rate.
The third chapter explores the role of crowdfunding in supporting sustainable campaigns, focusing on campaigns aimed at promoting environmental and social responsibility. I further investigate whether sustainable campaigns initiated by females have increased the success, the raised amount, or the number of backers of campaigns. Despite growing global interest in sustainable development, such initiatives often face challenges securing traditional funding. This chapter applies OLS and LPM and uses data from UK-based crowdfunding campaigns between 2018 and 2022 to investigate whether campaigns with a sustainability focus are more likely to succeed in crowdfunding markets. The findings indicate that while sustainable campaigns do not necessarily outperform others in terms of success rates or raised amounts, campaigns initiated by women face particular challenges.
Overall, this thesis contributes to the literature by providing a comprehensive understanding of how crowdfunding responds to external shocks, industry-specific variations, and the growing need for financing sustainable ventures. Chapters two and three used manual classification to provide a unique dataset. The findings offer practical implications for both policymakers and practitioners interested in leveraging crowdfunding for social, economic, and environmental sustainability
Exploring climate change-related emotional experiences in Scottish students and the British public
Full text linkAcross three empirical projects, I aimed to develop a detailed understanding of how individuals in the UK experience climate change emotionally. I was particularly interested in climate anxiety as an emotion and the situational experiences that predict it, as well as understanding how university students experience and cope with the emotional impacts of climate change.
In the first project, I developed and evaluated a novel situated measure for climate anxiety that captures individuals’ levels of climate anxiety for different relevant situations. I evaluated this measurement in a quantitative survey study with adults from the general UK public (N = 303). Results showed patterns for some situations that tended to be associated with higher climate anxiety across participants (e.g., “Hearing about climate catastrophes on the news”, “Thinking about the future that children in the current generation may experience”), while other situations tended to be associated with lower climate anxiety (e.g., “Visiting a loved place in nature”, “Seeing news on advances in green energy production”). There were also large differences between individuals in how much climate anxiety they experienced on average. Participants further showed intra-individual variability, meaning that the same individual typically reported low climate anxiety for some situations, moderate levels for others, and high climate anxiety for yet others.
In the second project, I conducted a mixed-methods online survey study on University of Glasgow students (N = 869). I built on the first project and adapted the situated measure to a university student context by including situations particularly relevant to the life of students and young people (e.g., “Talking about the emotional impacts of climate change in class”, “Thinking about pursuing a career that is related to climate change”). I additionally assessed a number of other climate change emotions, climate change-related thoughts, and beliefs about the university’s climate actions to get a more holistic understanding of how students experienced climate change emotionally. Findings revealed that students experienced high levels of negative climate change-related emotions and thoughts, moderate but infrequent climate anxiety, and had mixed views of their university’s climate actions. Qualitative findings from open-ended questions further suggested that students would like to have more climate change-related teaching across subject areas and that they would like the university to pursue more sustainable investments. Findings suggested that this may even benefit students’ mental wellbeing by reducing anxiety.
The third project was largely qualitative, and I analysed existing data from project 2 (N = 823) to investigate how students coped with climate change and the types of situations that required coping. I used conceptual content analysis to extract these types of triggering situations from participants’ open-ended text responses. I found four situation types that required students to cope, including navigating climate change information, climate justice issues, climatic changes and environmental losses, and climate change dismissal. I further applied the framework method to analyse how participants tended to cope with climate change. I found four overarching coping strategies: reducing the mental load of climate change, doing something constructive about climate change, seeking social support and meaning, and doomist thinking and behaviour.
Taken together, these findings provide a much more nuanced understanding of climate anxiety and related emotions by showing their variability depending on the situation and the individual. Similarly, the types of triggering situations related to climate change that require active coping also seem to relate to a specific set of situational characteristics. The effects of these distressing emotions on university students’ mental health should be taken seriously, and universities may wish to investigate further the links between institutional climate actions and their students’ mental wellbeing
“A Sharp Turn in Education”. Towards a post-pandemic pedagogy in second language acquisition: reflections from English as an additional language teachers in British Columbia, Canada, after the COVID-19 Pandemic
Full text linkThe COVID-19 Pandemic produced a seismic shift in education, affecting over 1.6 billion educators and students worldwide (UNESCO, 2021). This research focused on the experiences of eight EAL teachers at colleges in British Columbia, Canada, during the switch to emergency remote teaching (ERT) during the Pandemic from 2020 to 2021, aiming to answer the question, "How (if at all) has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the teaching strategies of TEAL (Teacher of English as an Additional Language) practitioners at post-secondary colleges in British Columbia, Canada?" Brookfield's (2017) four lenses of critical reflection were used to frame the research questionnaire and semi-structured interview questions. Braun and Clarke's (2019) reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) model was employed to analyze the datasets. The findings revealed how the pandemic accelerated a shift in EAL teachers' approaches to teaching, heightened their awareness of the need for educational equity, and underscored the necessity for ongoing professional development. Key teaching recommendations are proposed for EAL college classrooms post-pandemic, based on teachers' reflections and current literature. Accompanying this is a proposed definition of a Post-Pandemic Pedagogy of Second Language Acquisition for this dissertation
Global justice and immigration: associative duty to admit
No full textOne of the reasons for perpetuating global injustice is the asymmetrical allocation of resources and duties. This obstacle is more challenging to overcome due to immigration control and state borders. This dissertation develops an alternative reading to Rawlsian justice theories with the associative responsibilities framework. It argues that the political conception of justice can be adjusted to a concurrent version that applies in the transnational domain and generates a transborder associative responsibility. Then, it posits a duty to admit immigrants to correspond to the transborder associative duty on the grounds of the overriding interest of the individual. It brings supporting justification from international human rights to demonstrate prospective immigrants' interests and the arbitrary allocation of political membership as a contributing factor to global injustice
Optimization and control of voltage in active distribution networks
Full text linkThe global transition towards decarbonized and decentralized energy systems is driving the rapid integration of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), such as solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and wind turbines, into electricity distribution networks. This evolution transforms traditionally passive networks into Active Distribution Networks (ADNs), characterized by bidirectional power flows, voltage fluctuations, and increased operational complexity. Voltage regulation emerges as a paramount challenge in this context, as the stochastic nature of renewable generation can lead to voltage violations, elevated power losses, and significant phase unbalance, particularly in inherently unbalanced three-phase low-voltage networks. While traditional devices like On-Load Tap Changers (OLTCs) provide a foundational means of voltage control, they lack the speed and flexibility to manage the spatial and temporal variations introduced by high DER penetration.
This thesis addresses these challenges by proposing and validating a series of integrated optimization frameworks that leverage the capabilities of power electronic-based Soft Open Points (SOPs) and Energy Storage Systems (ESS). The core of this research lies in the coordinated operation of these advanced technologies with traditional infrastructure to enhance the technical and economic performance of ADNs. A convex semidefinite programming (SDP) approach is used to optimize voltage profiles, reduce power losses, and improve phase balancing. Furthermore, the work introduces an economic model that includes grid purchase cost, battery degradation, and PV curtailment to ensure financially efficient operation. To tackle large-scale and time-coupled optimization, accelerated variants of the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) are applied. Case studies on IEEE 13-bus and 123-bus systems validate the proposed methods. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the coordinated operation of OLTC and SOP-ES in reducing losses, enhancing voltage quality, and minimizing economic cost
‘Mary whom even her killers long to love’: the Queen of Scots as a figure of cultural memory in nineteenth-century Scottish literature
No full textAbstract not currently available
The Plagiarists and All Under Heaven: My Understanding and Experience of Chinese Patriotism
No full textAbstract not currently available
Spheroid responses to extracellular matrix (ECM) mechanics in 3D environments
No full textAbstract not currently available
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