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An investigation into the role of autophagy in mediating leukaemic cell location in the bone marrow niche
Get PDFLeukaemic stem cell (LSC) persistence is the prevailing issue in curing chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) with the current gold-standard treatment — tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). To fully comprehend how LSCs evade targeted treatment, it is essential to study LSCs in their natural environment: the bone marrow (BM) niche. In the last few decades, advances have been made to better understand how the niche influences the maintenance and regulation of healthy haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), as well as the role of the niche in malignancies. LSCs have been shown to be metabolically adapted to survive within the BM niche and outcompete healthy haematopoiesis.
Previous research in CML aimed to unravel the role of autophagy in LSC survival. This revealed that autophagy inhibition induced LSCs differentiation and sensitization to TKI treatment. As autophagy is influenced by the environment, such as hypoxia, nutrient availability, and inflammation, our study aimed to investigate the complex interplay of CML cells within the BM niche, with a specific focus on the role of autophagy. Moreover, we aimed to unravel the role of mitophagy, the selective degradation of mitochondria, in TKI resistance in vitro.
Through a minimally invasive surgery, high-resolution intravital microscopy (IVM) can be utilised to image cells within the BM in the mouse calvarium. We aimed to assess changes in the niche with leukaemia development and dynamics upon treatment response by developing xenograft and genetically engineered mouse models (GEMM) suitable for confocal IVM.
To model CML, we utilised the SCL-tTA/BCR∷ABL1 mouse model — an inducible mouse model resembling human CML-like disease development upon BCR∷ABL1 expression. To study autophagy in primitive leukaemic cells, we used a fluorescent BCR∷ABL1 mouse expressing the autophagy marker GFP-LC3. While we could observe autophagic flux in vitro, we faced challenges in detecting the GFP signal within the BM niche. Various strategies, including injectable fluorescent antibodies and ex vivo dyes for long-term tracking, were explored to overcome these challenges. Lastly, we generated a fluorescent version of the SCL-tTA/BCR∷ABL1 model by crossing it with the mTmG mouse, which expresses membrane-targeted tdTomato (tdTom). Encouragingly, transplantation of BCR∷ABL1tdTom+ haematopoietic cells allowed us to visualise leukaemic cells within the BM niche in WT recipient mice, providing a solid foundation for future studies.
The investigation extends to xenograft mouse models, aiming to understand the in vivo localisation and interactions of human leukaemic cells in the BM microenvironment. We observed highly variable BM engraftment of different cell lines, particularly concerning localisation within the calvarial BM compared to localisation within the long bones. This posed challenges for attempts to unravel the role of autophagy in BM engraftment and in vivo localisation. Furthermore, we noted different migration patterns of transplanted cells, with extramedullary tumour formation dependent on the mouse’s sex occurring in female mice but not males.
Finally, we investigated the role of mitophagy in response to TKI treatment. High-resolution confocal live-cell microscopy was used with KCL22 and K562 cell lines expressing the reporter gene mCherry-GFP-Fis1, referred to as MitoQC. This fluorescent tandem-dye allows distinction of healthy mitochondria and those undergoing mitophagy due to the pH-sensitivity of GFP. We observed an increase in mitophagy upon TKI treatment, mediated by the autophagy machinery, which, to our knowledge, has not been demonstrated previously. To validate our results, we inhibited autophagy by blocking ULK1 activity and by using ATG7 knockout (KO) cells. We explored different canonical mitophagy pathways, focusing on Nix and BNIP3, key proteins in hypoxia-mediated mitophagy. Our results provide initial insights that Nix and, in a broader sense, BNIP3 may be involved in this process, although further investigation is required to unravel their specific roles in TKI-induced mitophagy
Securing teleoperated robot: Classifying human operator identity and emotion through motion-controlled robotic behaviors
Get PDFTeleoperated robotic systems allow human operators to control robots from a distance, which mitigates the constraints of physical distance between the operators and offers invaluable applications in the real world. However, the security of these systems is a critical concern. System attacks and the potential impact of operators’ inappropriate emotions can result in misbehavior of the remote robots, which poses risks to the remote environment. These concerns become particularly serious when performing mission-critical tasks, such as nuclear cleaning. This thesis explored innovative security methods for the teleoperated robotic system. Common methods of security that can be used for teleoperated robots include encryption, robot misbehavior detection and user authentication. However, they have limitations for teleoperated robot systems. Encryption adds communication overheads to the systems. Robot misbehavior detection can only detect unusual signals on robot devices. The user authentication method secured the system primarily at the access point. To address this, we built motioncontrolled robot platforms that allow for robot teleoperation and proposed methods of performing user classification directly on remote-controlled robotic behavioral data to enhance security integrity throughout the operation. We discussed in Chapter 3 and conducted 4 experiments. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated the effectiveness of our approach, achieving user classification accuracy of 95% and 93% on two platforms respectively, using motion-controlled robotic end-effector trajectories. The results in experiment 3 further indicated that control system performance directly impacts user classification efficacy. Additionally, we deployed an AI agent to protect user biometric identities, ensuring the robot’s actions do not compromise user privacy in the remote environment in experiment 4. This chapter provided a foundation of methodology and experiment design for the next work. Additionally, Operators’ emotions could pose a security threat to the robot system. A remote robot operator’s emotions can significantly impact the resulting robot’s motions leading to unexpected consequences, even when the user follows protocol and performs permitted tasks. The recognition of a user operator’s emotions in remote robot control scenarios is, however, under-explored. Emotion signals mainly are physiological signals, semantic information, facial expressions and bodily movements. However, most physiological signals are electrical signals and are vulnerable to motion artifacts, which can not acquire the accurate signal and is not suitable for teleoperated robot systems. Semantic information and facial expressions are sometimes not accessible and involve high privacy issues and add additional sensors to the teleoperated systems. We proposed the methods of emotion recognition through the motion-controlled robotic behaviors in Chapter 4. This work demonstrated for the first time that the motioncontrolled robotic arm can inherit human operators’ emotions and emotions can be classified through robotic end-effector trajectories, achieving an 83.3% accuracy. We developed two emotion recognition algorithms using Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), deriving unique emotional features from the avatar’s end-effector motions and joint spatial-temporal characteristics. Additionally, we demonstrated through direct comparison that our approach is more appropriate for motion-based telerobotic applications than traditional ECG-based methods. Furthermore, we discussed the implications of this system on prominent current and future remote robot operations and emotional robotic contexts. By integrating user classification and emotion recognition into teleoperated robotic systems, this thesis lays the groundwork for a new security paradigm that enhances both the safety of remote operations. Recognizing users and their emotions allows for more contextually appropriate robot responses, potentially preventing harm and improving the overall quality of teleoperated interactions. These advancements contribute significantly to the development of more adaptive, intuitive, and human-centered HRI applications, setting a precedent for future research in the field
What is justice for the LGBTQ+ person in the Catholic school in Scotland? A Capabilities approach
Get PDFIn 2018 The Scottish Government accepted all 33 recommendations of the LGBTQI Working Group set up to explore issues of LGBTQ+ inclusion in Scottish schools. This new move to LGBTQ+ visibility and presence is to be across all school stages, across the curriculum and supported by regulation and inspection bodies. However, it sits within an education system that has within the recent past been subject to legislation, such as Section 28, that prohibited LGBTQ+ presence in schools and in a wider society that has seen some protest against LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools. This new policy and approach therefore raises key questions about the possibility and potential of inclusion. In a Scottish context, this is particularly apt as a significant number of state schools are denominationally Catholic. The Catholic Church has in the past been powerful and vocal in the discourses of exclusion for LGBTQ+ persons and curriculum content in Scottish schools. I argue, that through a clearer understanding and articulation of justice, employing the core ideas of Nussbaum’s Capabilities Approach, the discussion of LGBTQ+ inclusion in Catholic schools can be moved from the current fear and conflict to an imagined consensus where all are entitled to the capabilities to be and do those things they have reason to value. I maintain that, in contrast to the justification of exclusion -- based on a reliance on disjointed doctrine and scandal in Catholic education -- LGBTQ+ inclusion sits within Catholic ideas of hospitality, difference, and freedom in with each person is entitled to full human dignity and as an end in themselves. As a result, I propose that Catholic schools should and ought to be places of LGBTQ+ presence and visibility at the institutional, pedagogical and pastoral levels
Prognostic research in psychiatry: towards a clinically-relevant prediction model for first episode psychosis
Get PDFBackground. Prognosis is the determination of risk of future health outcomes in people with a given health condition. The primary aim for my thesis was to conduct prognostic model research into first episode psychosis (FEP). The prognosis of people with FEP is poor in around half of those affected and difficult to predict in individuals. Prognostic prediction models to predict outcome in individuals could facilitate early intervention to change clinical trajectories and improve prognosis. As part of my primary aim, I sought to answer four research questions. 1) Is prediction of individual patient outcome possible in FEP using clinical variables? 2) Does prediction model performance remain robust at external validation? 3) Does prediction model performance improve with the addition of biologically relevant disease markers? 4) Does prediction model performance improve with the application of advanced machine learning classifiers compared to logistic regression? These questions are addressed in studies 1 to 3.
The secondary aim for my thesis was to test whether routinely collected electronic healthcare record data could be used for prognostic research in the National Health Service (NHS) in Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GG&C). The coronavirus pandemic delayed collection of routine data in FEP. I took the opportunity to examine this question in a more common area of psychiatric disease, delirium, in the hope that information from this would inform future prospective studies in FEP. Delirium is an important risk factor for subsequent dementia. However, the field lacks large studies with long-term follow-up of delirium in subjects initially free of dementia to clearly establish clinical trajectories. This formed study 4.
Study 1. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review of prognostic prediction models developed for predicting poor outcome in FEP. Thirteen studies reporting 31 prediction models across a range of clinical outcomes met criteria for inclusion. Eleven studies used logistic regression with clinical variables. External validation was carried out in four studies. Only one study assessed whether biologically relevant disease markers added value as predictors. Two studies used machine learning but did not provide enough information to allow comparison to logistic regression. Most studies had methodological flaws and the potential for prediction modelling in FEP is yet to be fully realised.
Study 3. This study assessed the potential for biologically relevant disease markers as predictor variables and compared advanced machine learning classifiers to logistic regression in 168 patients with FEP. The addition of a biological variable did not improve the performance of a logistic regression model built using clinical variables. It is possible that the usefulness of the biological variables for prediction was curtailed by the lack of a mechanistic link to the pathophysiology of psychosis thereby limiting their effect size. The naïve Bayes machine learning model was better than maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) but not elastic net logistic regression in terms of discrimination. However, for all models except MLE logistic regression there were problems with calibration.
Study 4. This study consisted of a retrospective cohort study of all patients over the age of 65 diagnosed with an episode of delirium who were initially dementia free at onset of delirium within NHS GG&C between 1996 and 2020 using routinely collected electronic healthcare record (EHR) data. 12949 patients with an incident episode of delirium were included and followed up for an average of 741 days. The estimated cumulative incidence of dementia was 31% by 5 years. The estimated cumulative incidence of the competing risk of death without dementia was 49.2% by 5 years. The cause-specific hazard of dementia was increased with higher levels of deprivation and also with advancing age from 65, plateauing and decreasing from age 90.
Conclusions. Systematic review of the literature showed that there is considerable potential for prognostic prediction modelling in FEP, but that most existing models have methodological flaws. Developing on this literature, my FEP prognostic prediction model can help to identify individual patients at increased risk of nonremission at initial clinical contact and showed robust external validation. However, this approach did not benefit from the addition of biologically relevant disease markers as predictor variables or the application of machine learning methods. Finally, I demonstrated the feasibility of using routinely collected EHR data from NHS GG&C for prognostic research into delirium and the risk of subsequent dementia. This will inform future prospective prognostic modelling studies of routinely collected data in FEP. Altogether, this thesis made several contributions to the growing body of clinical prognostic research in first episode psychosis and delirium. In particular, considerable progress has been made towards the deployment of a useable and informative clinical prediction model which will improve care for people with first episode psychosis
Llyfr Coch Hergest: studies in text and manuscript context
Get PDFMeasuring 34 x 21cm, comprising 362 surviving leaves in thirty-four quires and containing some fifty prose texts and around 370 poems the late-fourteenth century Llyfr Coch Hergest (Oxford, Jesus College MS 111) is the largest extant medieval Welsh manuscript. Incorporating examples of almost every kind of Welsh literature from the period – excluding only the early poetry, the religious texts, and the laws – this manuscript has long been characterised by its size and scope, and scholars have commented on its perceived lack of organisational principle, beyond that of sheer inclusivity. Modern scholarship has tended to extract the texts from the manuscript in order to study them under their modern academic categorisations: researchers are interested in the Mabinogi; or the poetry of the Gogynfeirdd; or the Brutiau. Yet, in removing texts from their manuscript context, we are deprived of the opportunity to consider any editorial decisions on the part of patron or scribe, and a further layer of understanding is stripped away by not considering the socio-political context, or the potential motivations, of those responsible for the creation of the manuscript. This PhD thesis seeks to return the texts of Llyfr Coch Hergest to their manuscript context, through an examination of three case studies: the corpus of canu dychan (satirical poetry); two poems in the voice of Myrddin; and three translated popular European narrative prose texts, Pererindod Siarlymaen, Ystorya Bown o Hamtwn, and Kedymdeithas Amlyn ac Amic. In contemplating questions of textual organisation in the manuscript, it is hoped that some new light is shed on the interpretation of these texts through reading them in the order that patron and scribe intended
Walter Fawkes, 1769 – 1825 Patron of the Arts. In two volumes
Get PDFIn 1819 Walter Fawkes, a Yorkshire landowner and reformist Whig politician, staged an exhibition at his London townhouse of artworks drawn from his own private collection. It was the first display in a private residence comprised exclusively of watercolours by British artists. The event attracted great critical acclaim, not only for Fawkes, who was celebrated as a patriotic patron, but also for the artist J. M. W. Turner, whose work featured most prominently in the show. Moreover, commentators thought it a triumph for British artistic society more generally, not least by helping to promote painting in watercolour as the central component of a new national school of landscape art.
This thesis explores how Fawkes used his artistic interests and wider collection of books, pictures, and other objects, as well as events such as the exhibition staged in his London townhouse, in the promotion of his local and regional position and calls for parliamentary reform. Reform was a key word of the period, as much cultural as political, forward looking and progressive yet also retrospective, about the maintenance or restoration of established procedures and structures of society as well as their modernization. Indeed, Fawkes’ advocacy of reform was wide ranging, and concerned with the maintenance of the social order at a time when the traditional authority and governance of the landed classes was increasingly challenged by a range of forces. A focus on the hitherto little studied Fawkes opens fresh perspectives on the wider culture of early nineteenth-century reform, helping, for example, to highlight its often-underappreciated significance to an understanding of contemporary artistic patronage and collecting.
In some ways, what follows is as much a biography of a particular place as an individual. Fawkes’ collections were housed at Farnley Hall, his ancestral seat in Wharfedale, in the West Riding. His considerable financial investments in the improvement of the property as well as the collections displayed there were indicative of the value Fawkes placed on display and hospitality. It was a modest property in some ways, of the kind rarely featured in histories of the country house, but one Fawkes fashioned into a major cultural and political hub of national as well as regional repute.
Following an introduction establishing the motivations, methods and scope of the thesis, chapters each address individual, but related, aspects of Fawkes’ extensive collections and artistic patronage. The first considers the architectural and landscaping projects, initiated by his father, and developed with a Georgic sense of beauty and use by Fawkes. The second chapter investigates the items he amassed pertaining to the Civil Wars, their display and illustration; the conflicts of the seventeenth century having an autobiographical and political meaning for Fawkes as well as an antiquarian one. Fawkes’ assembly of his art collection is the subject of chapter three and is examined chronologically, while the fourth chapter focuses on the libraries at Farnley, the book collection and the natural history and literary interests revealed there. The fifth and final chapter looks closely at Fawkes’ patronage and friendship with Turner; here it is argued that the patronage of Fawkes came at a crucial time for the artist, marking a shift in Turner’s ambitions and the consolidation of his pre-eminence in the contemporary art world, the showcasing of his work in the 1819 exhibition being something of a ‘crowning’ moment in the painter’s early career.
While shedding new light on a previously little-known early nineteenth-century figure, until now only ever considered with regard to his relationship with Turner, this thesis also seeks to add to current debates around histories of the country house and collecting, highlighting the political dimensions that latter activity could at times come to have. The study furthermore brings attention to the growing importance and assertion of regional culture and identities in the period, noting the complexity of its exchanges with metropolitan society, as manifested in the exhibition Fawkes staged at his London townhouse; an event that showcased a series of views of the Farnley estate by Turner that celebrated the beauty and individuality of the local landscape under Fawkes’ stewardship
Attachment recognition in school-age children through multimodal analysis of verbal and non-verbal behaviour
Get PDFAttachment is a psychological construct concerning the affectional and emotional bonds between children and their caregivers. Attachment styles can be one of two main types: Secure attachment which describes a state where the child’s emotional needs are fulfilled, and Insecure attachment when these needs are unfulfilled. The formation of these attachment styles during childhood shapes the internal representation of close relationships which in turn impacts the quality of adulthood relationships and life. Moreover, past studies found that insecure attachment is linked to major issues such as heart diseases and antisocial behaviours. Early psychological interventions can mitigate the potential negative consequences of insecure attachment. To this end, it is essential to identify insecure children as early as possible. Various attachment assessment tests have been devised for infants and children which rely on observing their behaviours when exposed to distress situations. However, these tests suffer from a major drawback that impedes their applicability for population large-scale screenings, which is the need for trained professionals. One promising solution to overcome this challenge is by automating the assessment process and therefore increasing the applicability of the assessment tests.
In this thesis, automatic attachment recognition approaches based on the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task (MCAST) assessment test are proposed based on three main behavioural channels: facial expressions, paralanguage, and language. In addition, this thesis explores the benefit of combining different modalities to enhance the recognition rate. The results show that the attachment styles can be detected automatically with an accuracy of up to 75% by combining paralanguage and language modalities, and an F1-score of up to 68% by combining face and language modalities. Additionally, age and gender based performance analyses are conducted revealing that older children are more likely to express their condition through facial expressions while younger children are more likely to express it through paralanguage and language. Gender based effects are observed too and it is found that female children are more likely to express their condition through facial expressions, while male children tend to express it through language. These findings can enhance the recognition rate because it might be useful to adopt different modalities for different age or gender groups. It is also shown in this thesis that incorporating a confidence measure can increase the applicability of the approaches, for instance, by setting an acceptance level corresponding to 80% accuracy, which can be considered as human-level performance, 77% of the predictions can be accepted using an approach based on combining all of the three behavioural channels
Exploring the impact of integrating technology-enhanced learning and music as teaching tools and pedagogies for student engagement in private nurseries in Beijing: A qualitative study
Get PDFThe use of technology-enhanced learning in early childhood education has increased gradually in recent years (Lindeman et al. 2021). At the same time, scholarly investigations have outlined the benefits of using music for language learning and the expansion of Nursery education in China. However, research on the effects of integrating music and technology-enhanced language learning in Chinese nurseries is limited. Some have argued that technology enhances student engagement, while others believe it might hinder traditional forms of learning. To address this gap, this research conducted a case study using an interpretive practice-based approach, including collaborative action research methods.
Over a 3-month period, I conducted action research in collaboration with teachers in two nurseries to investigate the impact of music and technology including teachers’ related skills, on student engagement. The methodology included collaborations with teachers to co-develop lesson plans, post-lesson discussion. The data gathering adopted a qualitative approach. Both inductive and deductive processes were used in the thematic analyses of classroom observation and teacher interview transcripts (44, 130, and 75 pages, respectively).
The study considers seven key findings. Firstly, the use of technology and music, combined with the support of peers and teachers, fostered student engagement. Furthermore, the level of student engagement was impacted by various factors, including the practical experience and training of teachers; their teaching methods, emotional patterns, tone, and class content as well as their pedagogical beliefs and values. Finally, the exchange of thoughts and insights about educational identity, pedagogical autonomy, and teaching efficiency between the teachers and myself facilitated professional growth and, ultimately, supported student engagement
Increasing flight safety
No full textAviation accidents continue to horrify some people till this day, yet aviation safety has been the highest priority for the industry for the past decade, and according to the Civil Aviation Authority flying is often said to be the safest form of passenger travel in terms of fatalities per distance travelled as compared to rail and car accidents. In order to help safety, it is important to understand areas where human errors are and to design new technology and adopting new procedures in order to prevent or reduce risk of aircraft accidents and or incidents.
This research aims to increase flight safety on large transport aeroplanes by examining fuel tank explosions, fire, fuel leakage, and fuel contamination (water) and providing alternative solutions. One of the factors involved in increasing flight safety is to minimise the risk of fuel tank explosions on large transport aeroplanes. Fire and fuel leakages can result in fuel tank explosions. Fire in the vicinity of the fuel tank can heat the fuel and increase its temperature to the auto ignition point, at which fuel burns without any source of ignition, thus resulting in fuel tank explosion. Fuel leaking from the tanks can be ignited by different sources with catastrophic consequences; therefore, it is important to detect any fuel leakage before the departure of the aircraft. Currently, fuel leak detection systems are not installed on commercial aircraft to detect fuel tank leakage. The approach proposed in this thesis requires the fuel vent ports on the wings to be replaced with fuel vent valves, which can be controlled to be in an open or closed position. The fuel vent valve will be closed when certain conditions are fulfilled; the fuel ullage area is then pressurised to 4psi and the rate of change in the pressure drop is measured over a period. Several experiments have been conducted and the results show that a continuous fuel leak of one litre per minute can be detected. Further experiments show that, if the fuel tank is pressurised to higher pressures, a fuel leak could be detected sooner.
In all commercial and non-commercial aircraft, there is no fire-extinguishing system in the avionics bay. All navigation and communication computers are located on the racks and cooled by either ambient or air-conditioned air. Each computer contains several circuit boards, which, in cases of overheating, can burn and increase the risk of fire igniting the surrounding components and structure, thus jeopardising flight safety. It is therefore important to provide fire-extinguishing system capabilities in the aircraft avionics compartment. The approach proposed in this thesis is to extract nitrogen from the ambient air using an air separator module, then route the nitrogen to the avionics bay racks, where it can extinguish any fire. The temperature of the nitrogen is controlled at around 25°C to prevent thermal shock effects on the circuit boards before the nitrogen is injected into the avionics compartment. A series of experiments were conducted, aimed at gathering data using dry nitrogen under different pressure values to extinguish different sizes of fire. The analysis of the experiments showed that increasing nitrogen pressure resulted in faster extinguishing of a flame. This is because nitrogen under pressure quickly decreases the oxygen concentration available for combustion. Nitrogen is ideal for extinguishing a fire on an electrical system because it is noncorrosive and does not cause a short circuit. There have been different cases of aircraft accidents due to water contamination in aviation fuel. Since large transport aeroplanes fly at very high altitudes, where the ambient temperature can reach –60°C, water freezes at this point, causing blockages in the fuel pipelines, fuel filters, booster pumps, etc., which can result in engine thrust reduction and/or engine shutdown. Microbiological contamination of the fuel can result in fuel tank structure corrosion, which, in turn, can lead to a fuel leak. In addition, biological contamination in the fuel can cause other technical problems such as fuel quantity indication malfunction and fuel filter clogging. Therefore, it is important to eliminate or reduce the presence of water and microbial growth in the fuel. This thesis aims to increase flight safety by minimising the effects of water and biological contamination in the jet fuel inside fuel tanks on large transport aeroplanes. The proposed methodology is that water contamination is eliminated by extracting water from the fuel using a water/fuel separator, and microbial contamination is eliminated using ultrasonic technology. Several experiments were performed by taking fuel samples checked for the presence of microbes, then subjecting them to ultrasonic. The fuel sample was in a stainless-steel container where it was subjected to the ultrasonic waves externally. The experimental results showed that ultrasonics can heat the fuel and destroy the microorganisms effectively. In addition to the experiments presented, several Simulink simulations have been created to demonstrate the proposed algorithms
Writing Artists’ Residencies in Scotland: The value of residency experiences from the perspective of the artist
Get PDFConducted in collaboration with three Scottish residency organisations: Bothy Project, Cove Park and The Work Room, this research project explores the value of artist residency experiences in the practice, career, and livelihood of artists. Following an ontologically driven framework, which acknowledges the performative nature of the research process (Gibson-Graham 2008), this research purposefully prioritises the processes of value formation from the perspective of the artist; capturing how residencies are felt and experienced by residents in relation to ongoing material and discursive entanglements.
The varying activities and residency offers proffered by Bothy Project, Cove Park and The Work Room are indicative of the range and scope of residency practices available in the contemporary climate. As studies, each organisation’s residency offer is not intended to (re)present an exemplar residency opportunity in a simple positive sense (Vergunst and Graham 2019). Rather, this thesis exemplifies and demonstrates the environmental and conceptual conditions in which ideas, practices, and artworks flow through the world. In turn it draws attention to that which artists are working with in the development of their practice and identity.
The nascent academic field of residency research, within which this study resides, has accelerated during the delivery of this thesis, with the majority of theory being developed by the sector and practice-led research. This thesis contributes to this by highlighting a constellation of value-based themes, which research participants have identified as cumulatively transforming their practice identities and artistic subjectivities (Mezirow 2008; Wakefield 2013). Framing residency as a process-method (Healy McMeans 2021), the research advocates ‘artist-centred’ residency opportunities, in which residencies are considered part of the ‘textility of making’ (Ingold 2009)
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