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Meridional heat transport around Australia is determined by Australia’s two poleward flowing boundary currents: the East Australian Current (EAC) and Leeuwin Current (LC). This thesis aims to improve our understanding of the circulation, variability and dynamics of the LC and EAC by characterising the importance of bathymetry and non-linear processes in terms of the role of eddy fluxes and forcing variability. In Part 1, a quantitative assessment of LC pathways suggests that more than half of LC source waters originate from tropical waters. The Lagrangian framework quantifies the preference for LC waters to exit the LC north of 30S; if the LC waters travel beyond this latitude, then they are more likely to continue downstream. In particular, eddy fluxes allow only limited transport (0.2 Sv) to travel the entire length of the LC into the Great Australian Bight. In Part 2, we examine the role of deep bathymetry in the EAC separation by removing New Zealand. We find that the complete removal of New Zealand leads to the EAC mean separation latitude shifting >100km southward. We remove New Zealand with a hierarchy of linear models of increasing complexity; we find that linear processes and deep bathymetry play a major role in the Tasman Front position, whereas non-linear processes are crucial for the extent of the EAC retroflection. Contrary to previous work, we find that meridional gradients in the basin-wide wind stress curl are not the sole factor determining EAC separation. Part 3 examines the EAC separation in terms of the role of local versus remote forcing variability in setting the mean state of the Tasman Sea circulation. We find that local, variable wind stress forcing, with a period shorter than ~2 months, results in a rectified Tasman Sea circulation. The increased extent of the EAC extension is characterized by increases in eddy shedding rates, southward eddy propagation and increased EAC extension transports. An energetics framework suggests that these EAC extension changes are coincident with increases in offshore, upstream eddy variance (via near-surface barotropic instability) as well as increases in subsurface mean kinetic energy along the path of the EAC.

Computing has its roots in mathematics, where lectures are the dominant mode of education. Software engineering (SE) education, born from computer science, is also traditionally taught using lectures, but has grown beyond its mathematical roots; as the name implies, it is an engineering discipline. It is arguably necessary for SE to rethink its approach to education. Studio education is one alternative being explored. Studios originated from architecture and design, and are complex spaces used by collocated students to collaboratively and individually work on projects; they emphasise a physical “home” for students, problem-based and peer-based learning, and mentoring by academic staff rather than formal lectures. There are inherent similarities between SE and the original studio disciplines: e.g. we often use the architecture of buildings as metaphors when designing and describing software. This suggests that studios in SE should be further explored, despite its apparent lack of uptake across institutions worldwide. This thesis aims to provide useful information for anyone considering utilizing a studio-based approach. Initially, with no widely accepted definition for studio education available, a series of interviews with design/architecture studio educators was conducted, culminating in an understanding in the form of the ‘studio framework’. This is followed by further interviews, with SE studio educators, to determine their perspective of studio education, and exploring the SE specific elements to studio education. Finally, experiences and observations are shared of Lancaster University’s recent SE studio, comparing it to the studio framework.

Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) kinase is a signalling protein implicated in a number of cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). As well as activating mutations of EGFR kinase being oncogenic, the prognosis of NSCLC correlates with the impact of EGFR mutations on inhibitor binding affinities. However, treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors is particularly vulnerable to resistance mutations. The exact mechanisms by which EGFR kinase mutations impart activation or resistance has not been clearly defined at an atomistic level, and attempts to elucidate these mechanisms in silico are hindered by the long time scales over which the conformational dynamics of EGFR kinase occur. In this thesis rigorous free energy calculations are employed to investigate the relative binding free energy of inhibitors of EGFR kinase, and elucidate the hydration of the binding pocket. Additionally, various enhanced molecular dynamics (MD) sampling methods are utilised alongside conventional MD to investigate their ability to overcome the challenge of the long time scales of conformational change in EGFR kinase. The complementary use of dimensionality reduction techniques such as principal components analysis and locally scaled diffusion map analysis is shown to be useful in characterising long time scale dynamics, as well as in validating the sampling of enhanced MD methods. Using these techniques alongside traditional analyses, new insight into the role of three activating mutations was gained; however, the results suggest that accessible simulation times are still too short, implying a continuing role for enhanced MD methods in the future.

During the last decade, E-Gambling commerce has experienced significant economic, technological, political, social and cultural development. It is somewhat surprising given such significance, that there is still a relative scarcity of research conducted or published to date. This research seeks to make an important contribution to addressing such relative neglect by furthering our understanding of the varied complexities associated with the ethics of EGambling commerce. This in-depth study developed a range of theoretical and philosophical approaches to advance knowledge. In terms of theory, this thesis developed ideas in relation to Information Systems Ethics (ISE) and also refers to some developments within Internet and New Media Research (I/NMR) and Interactivity Theory. In terms of philosophical approaches in research this study is broadly Interpretivist and used methods such as interviews, semiotics, virtual ethnography and some secondary evidence. The use of such approaches helped to reveal a range of ethical concerns arising from the commercialisation of EGambling and more importantly the root causes of such issues and consequences. Furthermore, this study of E-Gambling commerce offered some implications for the development of certain theoretical and philosophical approaches.