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The aim of this research is to critically explore the working practices of detectives and third parties involved in the detention and interviewing of vulnerable suspects, who have been arrested on suspicion of committing homicide (and attempted murder) offences in England and Wales. Vulnerable suspects (juveniles under 18 years of age and adults with a mental health condition or mental disorder (Code C PACE)) are over-represented within the criminal justice system (Loucks, 2007; Bradley, 2009) and are at a higher risk of making false confessions or being unable to act in their best interests during a suspect interview (Gudjonsson, 2003). Those who are arrested on suspicion of committing homicide offences can be detained in custody for up to 96 hours and may experience lengthy and complex interviews, potentially exacerbating their vulnerability. Therefore, it is important to explore how these interviews take place and whether the safeguards that vulnerable suspects are entitled to enable fair treatment. This research explores what takes place prior to and during the suspect interview and the working practices of detectives and third parties (e.g., the appropriate adult (AA) and legal advisor). To achieve this aim, a case study design was employed. Fieldwork was undertaken between July 2018 and January 2020. 125 police suspect interviews and 29 custody records were analysed for 27 vulnerable suspects on 26 investigations, across three police forces. This was supplemented with 37 semi-structured interviews with police officers, AAs and legal advisors. This research identified that detectives and third parties do not always adhere to the rules and guidance which govern the detention and interviewing of vulnerable suspects. Theoretical explanations include police culture and pro-social rule-breaking and these highlight the tensions between the crime control objectives of the police, which prioritise obtaining an evidential account from a suspect, and the due process or welfare objectives of third parties. The research concludes that vulnerable suspects are not always treated fairly, and the implications of these findings for policy and practice are explored. This thesis proposes that the rules which govern the practices of detectives and third parties need to be defined clearly, and that when breaches occur those responsible are held accountable. Proposals also include specialist training (similar to a 'Tier' system) for AAs to prepare them for participation in major crime interviews.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a global health issue known to cause avoidable harm and death. Improvement in its prevention and management is therefore considered an important goal for the healthcare sector. While improvement science states that without measurement, improvement is not possible, at the outset of this research, the epidemiology of AKI was also not fully understood. Whereas numerous studies had described AKI that is developed during hospitalisation, less had focused on that developed in the community. This healthcare informatics thesis centres on the proposed utilisation of routine serum creatinine (SCr) data for informing both the epidemiology of AKI, and improvement in care for patients who develop and/or are at risk of AKI. It follows the recent implementation of an automated laboratory-based electronic alerting system for AKI across the entire Welsh National Health Service which, in addition to its primary purpose of aiding early intervention, also had potential to be applied as a centralised system of data collection. The first of three projects documented in the portfolio style thesis involves development of processes to systematically extract, cleanse and classify data on electronic (e)-alerts transmitted by the algorithm of the aforementioned system. This author's work results in a data set which is suitable for analysis and enables reliable identification of all AKI occurring in the Welsh population, including that which is hospital and community acquired. Following this is project two and presentation of a series of peer-reviewed studies by the author which, by utilising the described novel data set, include some of the first comprehensive, population-based descriptions of AKI and its associated factors known to date. Project three follows with further practical examples of work by the author to demonstrate the potential of the same data set. It begins with studies by the author which, in helping end-users better understand the significance of AKI e-alerts, could allay speculation healthcare providers and professionals may have regarding their clinical utility. It closes by presenting a prototype of a tool which, via application of statistical process control techniques and indicators developed by the author, provides a means to robustly measure, and identify variation in, quality of healthcare provision related to AKI in Wales, a mechanism which did not exist prior. The original contribution to knowledge is the methodological development of a new national data source for AKI, and the demonstration and conclusion that these large validated data provide unique opportunity to reliably inform the epidemiology of, and quality improvement in healthcare provision for, AKI. Work on and of this scale and scope is yet to be achieved elsewhere. This thesis therefore significantly adds to the literature to which it relates. To validate its contribution, and support its overall conclusion, the peer-reviewed status of the author's 14 published works appended and presented throughout are offered. Finally, while the work here concerns SCr and AKI, it is also presented as a wider proof of concept which in theory could be replicated for other routine laboratory-based healthcare data, to improve the epidemiological understanding and management of other health conditions.

The PLATZ (plant AT-rich sequence-and zinc-binding protein) family of proteins were initially defined through the study of the PLATZ1 protein from pea. This family of proteins were described as a novel class proteins that exhibit two conserved zinc finger domains C-x2-H-x11-C-x2-C-x(4–5)-C-x2-C-x(3–7)-H-x2-H and C-x2-C-x(10–11)-C-x3-C. Despite their initial implication as DNA binding proteins no other family member has been proven to exhibit this activity and few PLATZ genes have since been studied. Here we report a survey of the PLATZ domain containing genes in the complete genomes of a selection of algae, basal plants, and higher monocot and dicot plants. We find evidence for the expansion of the repertoire of PLATZ genes due to gene and genome duplication events and for altered gene structures. We identify the likely orthologous genes in higher plants through synteny analysis. A multiple sequence alignment (MSA) analysis of these proteins allowed us to generate an updated profile of the amino acids that are conserved within two conserved zinc finger domains. The first zinc finger domain appears to have evolved from the B-box zinc finger domain that is found in a wide range of eukaryotes. The second zinc finger domain (PLATZ domain) may constitute two domains – a protein-protein interaction domain and a C2C2 type zinc finger domain. This region of the protein was not found in eukaryotes outside of algae and plants. The precise function of PLATZ proteins in plants remains poorly defined and there are indications that they function in response to stress (So et al, POJ 8(6):479-484 (2015). We report the tissue specific expression profiles of PLATZ family members in cereal grasses through an analysis of public RNA-seq datasets. Lastly we report our attempts to place PLATZ proteins within predicted gene regulatory networks through co-expression analysis.

Kerogen, ancient organic matter formed over geologic time in sedimentary deposits, is the most abundant form of organic carbon (OC) on Earth. Continental margins are important sites for OC burial and the subsequent sequestering of C out of the atmosphere. Study of dynamics of OC in the global carbon cycle are important to understanding and predicting atmospheric gas levels, especially oxygen and CO₂. In the Eel River system in northern California kerogen-laden bedrock is subject to rapid erosion and transport to a marine shelf with high sediment accumulation rates. This area presents an opportunity to study kerogen dynamics in both terrestrial and marine settings. The objective of this study was to characterize changes in kerogen and modern OC associated with fine-grained sediment as particles move from a bedrock source to the seabed in the Eel River system. As a starting point, the organic matter of the kerogen-laden bedrock was characterized using elemental and isotopic analyses, FTIR, solid state NMR and Rock-Eval pyrolysis. The effectiveness of the various analytical tools for tracking the kerogen and studying OC transformations in the Eel River system was investigated. Characterization of the kerogen found in the clay-rich melange bedrock of the Eel River watershed identified it as a mature Type III kerogen. More then 70% of the OC in the bulk bedrock sediment and about 90% of the OC in the clay-sized fraction of the bedrock was due to kerogen. Low-density particles in the bedrock included fossilized wood fragments. The FTIR spectrum of the bitumen fraction isolated from the bedrock had a relatively strong aromatic character compared to other published bitumen spectra. The kerogen had low oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur contents and Rock-Eval analysis classified it as highly mature. The FTIR spectrum of the demineralized kerogen had strong aromatic and ether bands and lacked any distinct carbonyl peaks around 1710 cm⁻¹. ¹³C CP-MAS NMR showed that about 70% of the OC in the kerogen was aromatic. Overall, the kerogen was found to be highly aromatic, un-weathered and with a significant terrestrial source component. Microbial nitrogen processing complicates the use of C/N ratios for identifying source organic matter in the clay-sized fraction. In soils, C/N ratios reflect the degree of microbial organic matter alteration and are not good OC source indicators. In marine sediments on the Eel shelf, C/N ratios are potentially insensitive to organic matter changes in fine sediment fractions and are better suited for bulk sediment and coarse fraction analysis. FTIR spectra can provide information about the molecular composition of the organic matter in the clay-sized fraction. Similarity in IR spectra did not consistently correspond to similarity in other characteristics, such as C/N or del ¹³C. Microbial processing may cause organic matter with similar characteristics to be spectrally variable, although microbial alteration is insufficient to explain differences in all the spectra analyzed. Dual isotope analysis provided the best method for identifying and quantifying kerogen in modern sediments. Fractional kerogen contents were calculated using del 13C and delta 14C values. Kerogen persists in soils of the watershed and in the sediments of the Eel shelf. The clay-sized particles in all the sediments sampled appear to retain a kerogen OC load unaltered from bedrock levels. In the clay-sized fraction of the soils analyzed, generally 50% or more of the total OC was due to kerogen. Similar kerogen contents were also seen in surface sediments and recently buried sediments of the Eel shelf.

A colony of Grey-headed flying foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus) in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia was studied over a ten-week period before, during and after the mating season to assess spatial distribution of individuals, specifically investigating age and sex segregation. Ground censusing techniques were used to determine weekly estimates of the numbers of bats in the colony and numbers of bats within each tree. Surveys were used to document sexes and ages of bats occupying each tree. Unlike Nelson’s (1965) findings, the social structure of the colony was based not on mating strategies of individual bats but on age and sex. Adult and subadult bats clearly segregated within the colony with adult bats roosting in significantly taller trees than non-adult (subadult and juvenile) bats. Among both adults and subadults, bats also segregated by sex, except during the mating season.

In the 1990's the incidence of eating disorders among college aged females had increased (Johnston & Christropher, 1991) with specific concern for female college athletes. A 1992 NCAA study found that 70% of responding institutions reported at least one case of an eating disorder with the highest prevalence in gymnastics, cross country, swimming, and track (Dick, 1993). College athletic trainers dealt with athletes on a daily basis and were responsible for identifying and helping athletes with eating disorders. Researchers asserted that the education of athletic trainers on the issue of eating disorders was key in preventing future cases (Turk, 1999). A comprehensive review of the literature revealed no published study examining college athletic trainers' knowledge of and perceived confidence in identifying athletes with eating disorders. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess Division IA and IAA college athletic trainers' knowledge and perceived efficacy expectation regarding female college athletes with eating disorders. A four-page questionnaire was administered to 236 Division IA and IAA institutions. The survey consisted of questions on knowledge of eating disorders, perceived role and efficacy expectation of the athletic trainer, and demographic information. There was a 72% overall response rate from all institutions. Results showed that the majority of athletic trainers felt it was their role to identify (strongly agree = 78%) athletes with eating disorders. Most correctly responded to knowledge questions on risk factors, warning signs, and long-term problems of eating disorders. However, only 1 in 4 (27%) felt efficacious in identifying an athlete with an eating disorder and only 1 in 3 (38%) felt efficacious in asking an athlete if she had an eating disorder. Gender and athletic department policy were significant with efficacy expectation and athletic trainers' knowledge did not differ based on gender or athletic department policy. Based on the findings of this study, it appears beneficial for institutions to have a policy on eating disorders and having a resource person on staff, such a dietician, could also be beneficial. By establishing knowledge and confidence levels, future and continuing education could be focused on identifying and dealing with athletes with eating disorders.