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In post-Soviet Russia, the destiny of the Southern Kuril Islands has been used by the political and intellectual elite to define and contest ideas of national identity. From the early 1990s these islands became a symbolic territory for elite groups attempting to define what kind of state the Russian Federation should become. The various geographical visions projected onto these islands are part of a struggle between elite groups to define national values and to claim the state for their own political ends. However, such visions are not smoothly inscribed onto these islands. Instead, any idea of state, nation and homeland is negotiated, contested and inflected at every geographical scale. The debates over these islands expose a deep tension over the political control of space in the Russian Far East and beyond. It is suggested that these islands are a kind of ‘hyper-border’: a site which is distant, and at times even beyond the state’s control, yet at the same time can be instantaneously linked to the destiny of the entire country. It is a term intended to capture the struggles, contestations and unequal power relations inherent in the ideological process of constructing national space and identity.

From the mid-seventeenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, the English Catholic community showed its robustness, resilience and complexity through its own periodical press. The subject, however, has been relatively neglected, specialist research amounts only to a bare handful of studies, and a full and definitive study which exploits the wealth of available materials has not yet been written. This thesis is therefore intended to present what has long been overdue, the first full chronological account of the foundation and development of the English Catholic periodical press from the Mercurius Catholicus to the Dublin Review. The work also serves specifically as a balance to Susan J. Acheson who argued in 1981, in her Oxford M.Litt. thesis on Victorian Catholic journalism, that the Emancipation Act of 1829 was the single most important influence on the Catholic periodical press in England. Against Acheson, my study shows that the Catholic periodical press did not owe its life to one major event early in the nineteenth century, but was rather the result of the religio-political activity which accompanied a long and difficult struggle for relief measures begun nearly two hundred years before. In describing the attempts by Catholics, often in difficult conditions and hostile circumstances, to develop a regular literary means of representing , and defending themselves, my thesis does not avoid the fact that the periodicals were often sustained and made exciting by internecine quarrels and struggles. Indeed, it concentrates on the tension between two groups of Catholics, about whether to stress division from or similarity with a Protestant state and society, which marked the early history of the English Catholic periodical press, and concludes that the final victory belonged to the party which emphasised distinctiveness over eirenicism.

This thesis describes the methods of anionic polymerisation and characterisation of poly(ethylene oxide) - poly(methyl methacrylate) block copolymers. Several experimental techniques have been used to study the phase transitions in these block copolymers as well as the corresponding binary blends. These techniques have included the following: differential scanning calorimetry, optical microscopy, small angle light scattering, small angle and wide angle x-ray scattering. A major part of this work involved the design, construction and operation of the small angle light scattering technique. The isothermal crystallisation kinetics of both the block copolymers and blends with high percentages of ethylene oxide component were investigated. The phase behaviour of the block copolymers and the blends was also studied. This involved analysing melting point depression and glass d-ansition data as well as investigating the structural morphology of the polymer systems. The phase behaviour of the block copolymers and die blends containing intermediate component compositions was observed at temperatures below the melting point temperature of PEO. For two block copolymer systems containing 50% and 55% by weight ethylene oxide, the chemical joint within die block inhibited crystallisation directly from the melt. These block copolymers microphase separated at low temperatures forming microdomains rich in PEO. Upon heating, the PEO microdomains crystallised A phase diagram incorporating this behaviour as well as the phase behaviour of the blends is presented. The structure from the micron level and below of the phase separated and crystalline regions has also been deduced. A block copolymer containing 76% ethylene oxide by weight crystallised directly from the melt. The isothermal crystallisation mechanism was very similar to that of the corresponding blend, however, the rate of crystallisation was appreciably slower and the melting point reduced. Comparison of analysed data from several techniques has allowed the contributions to the isothermal crystallisation mechanism to be distinguished

This qualitative study sought to characterize what constitutes quality in leadership studies dissertations. The individual opinions of twenty doctoral faculty members were solicited to identify characteristics of leadership studies dissertation quality. The study further sought to identify possible areas of agreement among participants about the quality characteristics of dissertations across the non-profit, traditional universities in the United States included in the study. At the same time, the study sought to identify characteristics of students that produce quality leadership studies dissertations from the perspective of these doctoral faculty participants. This study identified doctoral faculty perceptions about the characteristics that constitute a quality dissertation in leadership studies and the characteristics of students that produce quality dissertations. The study also resulted in a statement of purpose for a leadership studies dissertation, a statement of dissertation quality expectations, and statement of conclusions about student success characteristics. Additional insights related to quality began with the extent, to which dissertations did not pass and reasons therefor, and the function, composition, and roles of leadership studies dissertation committees. This study further identified implications for leadership studies students, faculty, doctoral program, and the discipline. The study made a case for developing an academic learning community of scholars centered on the identified characteristics of dissertation quality and characteristics of those students that would produce quality leadership dissertations. Taking all these outcomes together, the study may provide a starting point for improved program learning outcomes expressed through dissertations across the leadership studies doctoral programs now being offered. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Traumatic brain injuries result in a complex pathophysiological cascade that includes neuroinflammation, cellular energy dysregulation and axonal injury (Werner & Engelhard, 2007). Nineteen essential vitamins and minerals, along with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, are required by the body for competent cellular function. These cannot be synthesized by the body and must therefore be ingested either as part of the diet or through supplementation. Previous research has highlighted a relationship between micronutrient (vitamins, minerals, omega-3) levels and cognition in a range of neurological conditions (Bitarafan et al., 2014; Moore et al., 2012; Veronese et al., 2016), however there is very little research in post-acute traumatic brain injury (TBI). The aims of this thesis were to investigate the effects of micronutrient supplementation on cognition in both a normative and a TBI population, while also gaining an insight into the levels of micronutrients present in the diets of these participants. In the TBI population the hypothesis was that by nutritionally supporting these individuals this would improve cellular functioning and neuronal repair following injury, reducing the effects of ongoing secondary cascade mechanisms, with improved cognitive function as the outcome. Study one (normative study) demonstrated significant improvements in cognition, specifically memory and executive functions, following a relatively short eight-week intervention period, particularly in those taking a broad-spectrum multimicronutrient. Study two (TBI population) used a cross-over study design (omega-3 and multimicronutrient) with parallel placebo group. The omega-3 intervention consistently resulted in improved learning, attention, processing speed and set shifting, whereas improvements following the multimicronutrient intervention were more limited. Analyses of food diaries from participants in both studies indicated that levels of fat-soluble vitamins, some B vitamins, and minerals are below recommended intake in diet. Results of these studies indicate that micronutrient interventions can result in cognitive improvement in a relatively short period of time. This evidence provides a solid foundation for future micronutrient research in TBI populations which have the potential to serve as an adjunct to traditional rehabilitation strategies.

The Upper Cretaceous Lance Formation in the Washakie Basin has the potential to be a high volume gas producer. Sandstones in the Lance Formation are currently secondary targets that produce gas within a small geographical area. A better understanding of the petrophysical parameters for the Lance Formation may permit the expansion of the limited productive area by improving wireline log interpretation of the Lance Formation. Several problems are evident when petrophysical analysis of the Lance Formation is attempted. (1) There are no published values for the formation water resistivity (Rw) from the Lance Formation (2) values for the cementation factor (m), saturation exponent (n), and tortuosity factor (a) are not readily available (3) the characteristics (resistivity and porosity) of gas producing Lance sandstone and (4) 100% water saturated resistivity (Ro) is unknown. To address the petrophysical problem, several hypothesis were proposed. (1) The Rw determined using log analysis can be confirmed by sampling Lance Formation water (2) the cementation exponent determined by Pickett Plot can be used in the Archie equation to facilitate the evaluation of potential gas-bearing areas in the basin and (3) The controls of Lance Formation gas production include thick sandstones, structure, faulting of anticlinal folding.

Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits are personality attributes which include a deficit of affective valence and reduced empathetic responding (Guay et al., 2007). Conditions that exhibit high levels of CU traits demonstrate a disassociation within empathic processing; typically, emotional empathy is evidenced to be dysfunctional, while cognitive empathy is reported intact (e.g. psychopathy - Blair, 2008, 2005). This profile of empathetic processing, in relation to CU traits, was investigated in the general population. 124 participants completed the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (Frick, 2004), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1983), the Empathy Quotient (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004), an expression recognition task, and a measure of affective response. Negative correlations with CU trait score were observed for both cognitive empathy and emotional empathy. Accuracy in the identification of fearful expressions presented a negative association with CU trait score. Self-rating of affective valence, when viewing both positive and negative images, indicates a universal reduction in emotional response associated with increased CU trait manifestation. The dual reduction in empathy contrasts clinical research (Richell et al., 2003; Blair et al., 1996); however, the findings regarding expression recognition and emotional valence mirror previous clinical findings (Hastings et al., 2008; Herpertz et al., 2001). High, low and control CU trait experimental groups were selected using the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits from the research sample described above. These groups were used to explore the neural responses of participants with defined levels of CU trait manifestation to stimuli associated with empathy and affective valence. Electroencephalographic recording and event-related potential analysis were used to investigate the group's neural responses to 3 types of stimuli: facial expressions, painful and non-painful situations and emotional stimuli (both attended and unattended). Differences in the ERP responses of the CU trait groups were observed across the research, furthermore an interacting effect of attention was observed in the exploration of affective valence.