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This PhD thesis explores a disconnect within contemporary heritage management that, through the international Conventions, calls for inclusivity, Indigenous knowledge recognition, and the participation of Indigenous peoples in heritage yet continues to marginalize these knowledges and practitioners. It is anchored in geography where I have found synergy with a subdiscipline known as Indigenous geographies that is calling for increased participation and new methodologies that instead marginalize still-dominant colonial practices. Drawing on a variety of Indigenous and ally scholars I demonstrate the ways that Indigenous knowledges are not accommodated within current heritage management structures. I also posit a need to explore cultural institutions such as inclusive museums for models of better practice and collaborative engagement. My own professional career has not only demonstrated the benefits of such ways of working but also dictated how I was willing to engage in a fieldwork project and facilitated a suitable project. This fieldwork, undertaken through a technical assistance at the request of the Pueblo of Cacha, high in the Andes of Ecuador, foregrounded the work requested by the Pueblo yet demonstrated the benefits and pitfalls of bridging knowledge systems, with strongly positive results in the community yet an incomplete attempt to dislodge the dominant heritage practice paradigm. My ethnographic account of the time in Ecuador uses photography and a series of vignettes to explore the partial knowledges shared, then assessments through both professional and academic lenses. Indeed, this dichotomy of practitioner and academic is evident throughout this thesis, mirroring the challenges of working in new and different ways.

Novel antimicrobials that target Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of severe malaria, are needed to combat widespread drug resistance. Herbicide resistance is also prevalent and poses a substantial threat to global crop production. DNA topoisomerases (topos) are a group of enzymes that regulate the topological state of DNA during vital cell processes such as DNA replication and transcription. Because of their fundamental cellular importance, topos are major molecular targets for chemotherapeutic and antimicrobial drugs. Topo VI is found ubiquitously in archaea and plants, where it plays critical roles in chromosome segregation and endoreduplication, respectively. Topo VI is also found sporadically in bacteria, algae, and other protists, but it is unclear whether the putative topo VI genes present in Plasmodium constitute a canonical topo VI complex. The present study features a series of bioinformatic and biochemical approaches to improve our knowledge of topo VI, and to determine its suitability as a target for inhibitors. Phylogenetic analysis has been used to show that topo VI is widely distributed across all three domains of life but is not present in Plasmodium. Furthermore, a coupled ATPase assay has shown that the rate of ATP hydrolysis by topo VI from the archaeon Methanosarcina mazei (MmTopo VI) is enhanced ~2-fold in the presence of positively-supercoiled DNA over that in the presence of negatively-supercoiled DNA. A novel high-throughput relaxation assay was also developed that has identified two potent inhibitors of MmTopo VI and yeast topo II. MmTopo VI is a useful model for the study of eukaryotic topo VI, and the plant enzyme should be pursued as a target for herbicides.

This thesis emphasises the need for doctors' professional duties to be bound firmly together with their moral obligations; there is danger for the patient when there is a divergence. I believe that the consideration and practice of supererogation acts as a means to further this union. I argue for its inclusion in medical practice. Acts of supererogation go beyond the requirements of duty. The concept has roots in Christianity, and was most fully developed by St Thomas Aquinas. It came under attack during the Reformation; for Protestants, salvation was not to be earned by good works, it was only bestowed by the grace of God. The concept has largely disappeared from everyday usage in a secular society, nevertheless there is an expectation that members of the caring professions should embrace it to some extent. Doctors have lost an understanding of the subject, hampered by the professionalization of medicine. This thesis illustrates the concept in its practical application and provides a framework of three different models of supererogation. I look to the work of K.E.Kirk and Stanley Hauerwas in theology, and I look at the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas and Iris Murdoch to support my claims. Examples from literary sources, rather than medical case histories which are often too businesslike in tone, illustrate the complexity of what takes place between patient and doctor. Doctors might fail to see what is important; they need the faculty of moral perception and also imagination to think of what more can be done for patients as well as wisdom to judge if this can be done safely. I believe that my third model of supererogation could be put into practice for the benefit of both patients and doctors.

Parental domestic violence and abuse (DVA), mental ill-health (MH), and substance misuse (SU) are three adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that are prevalent, (potentially) interrelated, and detrimental to parents and children. This thesis explores how we can better prevent and address co-occurring parental DVA, MH, and SU. This thesis comprises: 1) a secondary data analysis utilising the Millennium Cohort Study to explore how parental DVA, MH, and SU co-occur during early childhood and how this impacts child MH trajectories; 2) a systematic review of family focused interventions that aim to address parental DVA, MH, and SU in combination; and 3) a qualitative study involving interviews with service users and focus groups with service providers and senior leadership/commissioners to develop an understanding of stakeholders' experiences of current service provision for parental DVA, MH, and SU. The secondary data analysis found parental DVA, MH, and SU co-occur during early childhood and that this can negatively impact children at age three. Families experiencing these co-occurring adversities were more likely to be experiencing socio-economic disadvantage. The systematic review identified no family focused interventions that had combined positive impacts on parental DVA, MH, and SU. Interventions mostly targeted mothers, those from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, and used an identification and referral approach to addressing multiple needs. The qualitative study highlighted the importance of early, relational support that addressed wider determinants. However, joined-up provision was challenged by an overwhelmed workforce and siloed services. Overall findings highlight a lack of evidence on what works to prevent and address parental DVA, MH, and SU in combination. Working at the intersection of these ACEs is likely to require early, 'think family' support that addresses wider determinants, as well as more fundamental systems change. Future work should re-frame parental DVA, MH, and SU as a syndemic and co-develop approaches to better support families.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is becoming an increasingly popular manufacturing process due to its design freedoms and material efficiency. However, the use of AM in industry is limited by the reliability of the deposited parts. Process-microstructure-property relationships are of paramount importance to increasing understanding and consistency within additive processes. Within this work, thermal and microstructure modelling methods are investigated to develop an efficient approach to the simulation of solidification microstructure. Finite element thermal models are considered as well as the implementation of analytical solutions. Cellular automata methods are used to simulate grain growth, 2D models are implemented for computational efficiency. The established approach is applied to three case studies within this work. The first is the application to laser scans on a bare nickel superalloy substrate, followed by the application to direct energy deposition techniques. Within the second study the capability of the modelling approach to capture changes in microstructure as a result of a change in process parameters is investigated. Finally, the modelling approach is applied to functionally graded materials through in situ changes in process parameters.

The argument central to this thesis is that business analysis techniques can be transposed from use in a legitimate business situation to a criminal investigative standpoint. In an investigative situation, business analysis techniques can enhance investigation and provide insight into strategy development against organised crime groups (OCGs). Much of this research was conducted while working as a volunteer for City of London Police. The methodology is multi-faceted and involves seven key strands: 1) Creation of a framework to analyse which key questions posed within current business analysis techniques are translatable to an organised crime context, 2) Creation of initial toolkit based on results of methodology 1. 3) Trial and improvement of initial toolkit by the author on a range of historical cases. 4) A survey distributed to the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) network to determine strengths and weaknesses of the toolkit and verify the core research concept. 5) In depth interviews conducted with law enforcement and academia for the same purpose as strand 4. 6) Further trial and adaption of the of toolkit on live cases following amendments by myself made after analysis of the results of methodologies 4 and 5. 7) The seventh strand involved detailed feedback from a series of live pilot on cases conducted by specially selected analysts in several law enforcement agencies. Case study data was obtained from several law enforcement agencies with permission for academic analysis, but not for disclosure into the public domain; therefore, the results of the case study analysis, but not the raw intelligence itself, will be included in this submission. Because of the unique nature of each organised crime investigation, the quality of the intelligence data in each case study differs depending on the level of access granted and the level of intelligence granted to the lead law enforcement agency. To counteract this the thesis' central argument was tested on organised crime groups that were involved in a variety of criminal activities including: fraud, drugs and counterfeiting. Following the conclusion of this methodological approach, the evidence amassed has allowed concrete conclusions to be drawn surrounding the applicability of business analysis techniques to enhance analysis of Organised Crime Groups (OCGs). These conclusions have been used to create a series of questions, which has the potential to make a tangible difference in the way in which investigative strategies are developed.

While both Deleuze and Nāgārjuna have been extensively studied in their own traditions, there has been no thoroughgoing attempt to study them in conjunction. This thesis puts Deleuze and Nāgārjuna into such a relation, by examining each of their philosophies, and then overlapping them and to see where the differences and similarities reveal themselves. The introduction is focused on creating a methodology for the rest of the thesis. Chapter 1 focuses purely on Deleuze and is meant to provide a thematic interpretation of Deleuze for the comparison proper. As such, Chapter 1 examines Deleuze's relationship with Spinoza and Nietzsche as well as using Plato as a way into each of those relationships. There is then an interlude that serves as a coda to the exegetical analysis on Deleuze as well as functioning as a transitional point to examine the context of religion and mythology when it comes to comparing Deleuze and Nāgārjuna. Chapter 2 focuses on providing a historical context for mythology's importance to Buddhism and Nāgārjuna. This is necessary, I argue, because modern, western conceptions of Buddhism differ from the Buddhism that Nāgārjuna worked from and, significantly, they underestimate the role of mythology in the tradition. Chapter 3 is an exegetical examination of chapters from Nāgārjuna's magnum opus, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā to give the reader context for comparing Nāgārjuna in the subsequent chapter. Chapter 4 focuses on comparing and establishing a closeness between Deleuze and Nāgārjuna by examination of their shared problems as well as similarities in their respective solutions. Having established closeness between the two, the position of this thesis is that this is strong enough to overcome any potential opposition between Deleuze and Nāgārjuna. Following from this the chapter argues that a potential way to read Deleuze to his practical conclusion can be found in Nāgārjuna's Buddhism.

Functional polymers integrated with battery materials have been investigated as a potential safety measure in the prevention of thermal runaway within lithium-ion batteries. To this end a positive temperature coefficient of resistivity (PTCR) was explored to increase resistance of charge carriers at elevated temperatures prior to a thermal runaway event. Studies into the effectiveness of these PTCR responses and the impact of integrating the polymers on key cell performance metrics were performed. PTCR was identified for two different polymer systems. Electrodeposited polyacrylonitrile (PAN) on graphite-composite anodes was one explored system. This system was intended to prevent thermal runaway via a shutdown effect at elevated temperatures that stopped the flow of ions and the resulting electrochemistry of the two electrodes. Chronoamperometry and cyclic voltammetry techniques were used to deposit a thin polymer layer. The techniques were performed with acrylonitrile monomers saturated with oxygen, the polymerisation was initiated via a reactive intermediate of superoxide anions produced from oxygen reduction at the cathode. The choice of electrode surface and exposure to air was found to be of critical importance to the microstructure of the films affecting the continuity of the polymer. Cracks within the polymer films were dependent upon film thickness with precise control of thickness possible by varying deposition times. Post-treatment annealing at 120 oC was also found to remove cracks but caused large changes to the microstructure. Extensive lithium-ion cell testing was performed for electrodeposited PAN films. This was performed within a Swagelok cell using a standard lithium-ion half-cell assembly. Graphite-composites with PAN films formed the working electrode against a lithium metal counter-reference electrode. The electrolyte used was LP57; 1 M LiPF6 in an ethylene carbonate (EC) and ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) solvent, weight ratio of EC:EMC was 3:7. This was sandwiched between two copper current collectors with glass fibre separators between the electrodes. A trade-off between charge capacity and the effectiveness of the PTCR response was found. Thinner films provided better charge capacity whilst thicker films provided a greater shutdown between 80 oC and 100 oC resulting in reduced charge capacity at elevated temperatures. This temperature is competitive with other commercial alternative solutions to thermal runaway. For example Celgard separators that experience a shutdown around 130 oC and similarly to the PAN films also create a shutdown effect by stopping the flow of ions between electrodes. Both the PAN film response and Celgard response are irreversible leading to the observed shutdown of the cell being permanent. Percolating composites were the second explored system, these were formed from a polymer matrix (polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), or low-density polyethylene (LDPE)) and a conductive filler (carbon or TiC). This material system was designed to stop thermal runway by restricting electron flow via a large PTCR response. A solvent cast method was used to form PAN and PVDF based composites, this was where the polymer and filler were dissolved and mixed within 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP). This mixture was subsequently spread onto copper foil and punched out after drying to form 11 mm diameter electrodes. HDPE and LDPE based composites were not easily soluble and so were formed via molten casting, the polymer and filler were mixed and melted at 130 oC onto copper foil on top of a hot plate. The melt was compressed using a glass rolling pin to reduce thickness and punched out after cooling to form 11 mm diameter electrodes. A percolation transition from insulating to conducting was identified at specific filler contents. TiC was found to require 60 % to 70 % content by mass, whilst carbon only needed 15 % to 25 %. The TiC composites formed a more brittle material as a result of the lower polymer content. Transition temperatures of each composite were identified using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) along with the magnitude of the PTCR responses around these temperatures calculated using impedance measurements. Melting-transitions were found to be far more effective at producing a PTCR than glass transition due to far greater thermal expansion. LDPE-TiC composites were found to produce the greatest PTCR response while maintaining a low room temperature resistivity. The temperature of this response was also at a suitable temperature to prevent thermal runaway, 120 oC. Unlike the PAN films and commercial Celgard, the response of this system was found to be reversible upon return to ambient conditions allowing recovery and re-use of the battery system to be possible. Percolating LDPE-carbon composites were briefly tested in a lithium-ion cell. The electrochemistry was largely unaffected with the exception of the first charge cycle where far greater capacities than typical were drawn. This was a result of the large amount of carbon introduced to the working electrode due to the LDPE-carbon composite resulting in far greater amounts of solid-electrolyte interface (SEI) formation.

Environmental sustainability at music festivals has been a focus of both academic and industry concern in recent years. However, work to improve sustainability, and address carbon emissions arising from energy demand at festivals, has predominantly focused upon the quantification of energy use at greenfield festivals and designing behaviour change interventions for festival organisers to implement. Rather than seeking to quantify the outcomes (energy use and carbon emissions) of what people do, I adopt a practice theory approach in order to open up new areas for consideration and ask questions about the composition of music festivals and the dynamics of their energy demand that have been under- addressed or overlooked in existing work. I adopt a multi-methods approach, comprising interviews with people involved in organising and running music festivals, observations of two greenfield and three urban music festivals and research into secondary sources on the history of greenfield music festivals. I argue that everyday life at greenfield festivals is made up of varied, interconnected and dynamic social practices that have evolved through repeated performances both at and outside of festivals. I also demonstrate that materiality is central to the performance of these practices, arguing that it is crucial to understand the provisioning of materials as it sequences and recursively shapes the performance of everyday life practices. I also consider how the various material settings in which everyday life is enacted during music festivals also affects everyday life. Exploring how everyday life is lived during both UK greenfield and urban music festivals generates insights into how festival organisers attend to the energy demanding practices of festival-goers, resulting in disproportionate attention to the (un)sustainability of greenfield festivals. By investigating how energy use arises from the performance of everyday life practices, my research takes a step towards understanding the social embeddedness of the energy demand of music festivals. This indicates possible directions of change in the provision for and performances of practices at greenfield music festivals and points to the recursive relationships between different aspects of festival-goer and festival organiser provisioning and marketplace competition that are driving this change.

Enchantment is an important category of analysis in social and cultural histories. Generally confined to histories of religion, scholars have extensively debated the limits of Weberian disenchantment: how industry, science, and capitalism dispelled the sublime, sacred, and divine forces and values that provided meaning, explanation, and moral frameworks for living in a world full of unexplained and unexplainable phenomena. Pushing against secularising impulses, this thesis argues for the continued relevance of enchantment for understanding experiences in modernity, albeit in altered and adapted forms. In particular, it asserts that a focus on enchantment offers fresh perspectives on class and social identities as industrial capitalism blurred social hierarchies and belonging. Methodologically, a focus on the material culture of weddings explores how the spiritual and moral qualities of objects illuminate the classed enchantments that shaped the boundaries of social inclusion and exclusion in Victorian and Edwardian England. As scholars increasingly reject class consciousness in favour of intersectional models, class analysis is often blind to the intangible, spiritual (religious and non-religious) dimensions of identity-formation and self- fashioning. Taking a cross-class perspective, this thesis explores contingent conceptualisations of the sublime, sacred, and divine and their importance for the ways that individuals understood and constructed their social worlds and relationships. In focusing on weddings, considerable attention is given to ideas of tradition in enchantment, how they supplied meaning, explanation, and moral guidance at transitional moments, and the significance of its constructed and ever-evolving nature for nuancing class identities. In focusing on objects, the study charts the growth of a commercial wedding market influenced by these classed enchantments and traditions: the implications of which underlie a wedding industry that comprises a vital part of UK economic, social, and cultural identity today.

Sarcopenia, defined as the loss of muscle mass, quality and strength commonly occurs over the course of ageing and disease states such as chronic liver disease. In chronic liver disease sarcopenia is associated with a number of negative outcomes including an increase in mortality, increased risk of infections and an increase in length of hospital stay, presenting a major socioeconomic issue. Despite the known complications associated with the progression of sarcopenia, the mechanisms relating to its development across the different stages of chronic liver disease is largely unknown. Inflammatory cytokines and ammonia may be key systemic drivers of sarcopenia within cirrhosis. However, the investigation of these factors is limited to supraphysiological in vitro treatments. Therefore, in Chapter 3 we investigated the use of ex vivo human serum to condition C2C12 skeletal muscle cells in order to develop a more physiologically relevant model, which may be applied to a number of conditions to investigate the development of sarcopenia in both age and disease. We found that myotubes treated with serum from older individuals resulted in myotube atrophy and a blunted anabolic response to leucine provision. Based upon the in vitro model developed here, Chapter 4 assessed the potential mechanisms of myotube atrophy in C2C12s conditioned with serum from end-stage liver disease (ESLD), non-cirrhotic non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients and age-matched controls. We found a reduction in myotube diameter in cells treated with serum from ESLD patients, which may be characterised by a reduction in mitochondrial respiration, mitophagy and an increase in proteolysis. Following on from this in vitro work, in Chapter 5 we investigated fasted-state skeletal muscle regulatory protein content and gene expression in ESLD, NAFLD and age-matched controls. We found a decline in the protein content of OXPHOS complexes I and IV, alongside a decline in citrate synthase activity in ESLD patients. Additionally, we identified an upregulation in genes related to the oxidative stress response in ESLD and senescence in NAFLD patients. In conclusion, this thesis enhanced our understanding of the potential mechanisms which may underpin the development of sarcopenia in chronic liver disease, through the development of a novel in vitro model of liver disease and completion of an in vivo human muscle biopsy trial. These findings highlight that mitochondrial dysfunction may be a key driver of sarcopenia in ESLD. Additionally, we describe a valuable model for the investigation of nutritional and pharmaceutical compounds, prior to in vivo trials.

By inserting the key concept that is political corruption into the aperture of American occupations since 1898, this thesis unlocks greater understanding of why occupations succeed-but more often fail-in creating stable democracies. This study begins with the first Essex School analysis of the logics long driving American foreign policy. Predictive patterns in presidential discourse are linked to practices by demonstrating the alignment of state-building objectives with American ideals-ideals that scholarship associates with reduced political corruption. The doctrinal and historical analysis that follows shows that, while officers often projected abroad corruption-limiting democratic institutions from home, they persistently failed to directly address the host-nation corruption undermining their missions. Historical analysis is built on a foundation of other firsts, including the analysis of American occupations' impact on host-nation corruption and the causes and consequences of this impact. Fifty-four economic, political, and other determinants of corruption are employed to determine causes. One broad finding is that U.S. occupations affected most determinants favorably, but favorable effects since the Korean War have been offset by the creation of crippling economic dependency and, sometimes, destabilizing insurgencies. Another key finding is that corruption scores at the start and end of occupations-and changes to scores during occupations-predict how long new or supported democracies endured after occupation. The concluding Afghanistan case study adds more historical flesh to the trends uncovered, showing how the grammar of corruption-related American discourse and actions contributed to Kabul's fall in 2021. Ultimately, this thesis demonstrates that the problem of reducing host-nation political corruption is why stabilizing new democracies usually require costly, generational commitments to achieve. Such commitments-even when desired by most occupied people-are almost always unsustainable for modern democratic state builders.

Internet memes have become a common communicative tool, blending images, text, and humour into complex multimodal units. Despite their prevalence, memes have been the subject of comparatively little linguistic study. In this thesis, I have undertaken an analysis of image macro memes from a linguistic perspective, drawing from a framework based on iconicity and metaphor. My approach was also informed by data from a review of 30 prevalent memes, an online survey of the Reddit forum r/memes, and focus groups of meme users. Combining established linguistic conventions with the findings from my data collection, I have created a theoretical model to document meme construction and evolution, the Life Cycle model of internet memes. This model consists of three stages-creation, conventionalization, and abstraction-which are each defined by six criteria: engagement, relation to origin, locus of meaning, continuity of form, continuity of meaning, and intuitability. In Stage One, a meme is a largely structural unit used by a limited group which relies on a fixed form and meaning. In Stage Two, these characteristics begin to erode, with the meme used in a larger network with fewer restrictions of form and meaning. In Stage Three, a meme moves beyond its physical limits into the conceptual sphere, emerging as a widely used point of reference with highly fluid or branching forms and meanings. Together, the stages of my Life Cycle model describe the entire progression of a meme from a novel pairing of media with text through to becoming an entrenched part of internet culture.

Rechargeable batteries are a critical modern technology, with widespread and growing use in consumer electronics, transport, and grid energy storage. Lithium-ion batteries commonly use lithium transition metal oxides as cathode materials, many of which can undergo dissolution of the transition metal(s) into the electrolyte solution. Transition metal dissolution can lead to cathode restructuring, electrolyte degradation, thickening of the anode solid electrolyte interphase, and loss of lithium from the active lithium inventory, ultimately causing battery capacity loss. It is generally accepted that dissolved transition metals (e.g., Mn²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺) are paramagnetic. In NMR measurements, paramagnetic solutes can significantly affect the peak positions and relaxation rates of nearby chemical species in solution. This work therefore explores the use of solution NMR to characterise and quantify transition metal dissolution in battery electrolytes. ¹H, ¹⁹F, ³¹P, and ⁷Li NMR measurements are performed on LiPF₆ solutions containing model transition metal compounds or metals dissolved from cathode materials. NMR of transition metal-contaminated battery electrolyte solutions is used to quantify dissolved metals at micromolar concentrations; determine their oxidation states, spin states, and coordination numbers; and understand the solvation shell in pristine and degraded electrolyte solutions. Specifically, it is shown that Mn²⁺ and Ni²⁺ coordinate primarily to ethylene carbonate in pristine electrolyte solutions, and to difluorophosphate (or other fluorophosphate species) in degraded electrolyte solutions. Sufficient transition metal coordination to fluorophosphate degradation products can induce severe signal broadening, rendering these species undetectable by ¹⁹F and ³¹P NMR, but this issue can be mitigated with the use of suitable coordinating solvents or precipitation agents. This work demonstrates the broad capabilities of easily accessible solution NMR measurements towards elucidating transition metal dissolution-migration-deposition mechanisms. The methods explored in this work may further be applied to any battery chemistry with dissolved paramagnetic species, including sodium-ion, potassium-ion, multivalent, and redox flow chemistries.

This Action Research (AR) project undertaken by a Trainee Educational Psychologist (TEP) explored the development of Restorative Approaches (RAs) in an educational setting (ES). The systematic review of literature highlighted the wide use and potential impact of RAs in Education. The TEP Researcher worked in collaboration with a specialist ES supporting children and young people with social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) difficulties. Participants included the ESs staff, young people, and parents. The research examined the potential contribution of Educational Psychologists (EPs) including those in training, when supporting ESs in developing a restorative community. A range of practice including assessment, consultation, training, and intervention was undertaken. Findings are reported from ten critically reflective AR Cycles. The Framework for Critically Reflective Educational Psychology Practice (FCREPP; Rowley & Giles, 2020) was used to analyse and reflect on practice to promote growth. This created a Living Educational Theory (Whitehead, 1993) that suggests that TEPS and EPs can develop practice to support ESs to use RAs and add value through consultation and systemic approaches to enhance restorative communities. Implications for future practice and research are outlined.

As defined by the WHO, probiotics are live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host (WHO, 2002). Commonly, the target site for probiotic bacteria is the gastrointestinal system, and in particular, the epithelial layer of the large and small intestines. The oral delivery route is often preferred as a less-invasive, low cost and high patient compliant method. Previously, probiotics and other beneficial organisms were commonly delivered through liquid and semi-solid (i.e. yogurt, milk and other dairy) products - however, these have been shown to lack temporal stability and consumer acceptability. More recently, lyophilisation techniques have allowed freeze-dried probiotics to be included into solid dosage formats that include directly compressed tablets. Probiotic bacteria are often selected based on their ability to exert [often strain-specific] effects on the host - the functionality of which is often assessed as the native strain. Recent work has shown that the influence of exogenous stressors introduced during stages of manufacturing have the ability to affect both viability and functionality, which constitutes an economic burden on the manufacturers of probiotic supplements who need to guarantee both viable number and functionality. Using both culture-dependant and independent techniques, this thesis shows that the manufacturing processes of tabletting induces a loss of viability of the Lab4® probiotic consortium in a control formulation. However, using in vitro and cell-based models, this piece of work has shown that the tabletting manufacturing processes does not affect some of the desirable functionalities of the probiotic when compared to the un-processed, control formulation. Pressure-dependant studies subsequently highlighted the causation between tablet compaction pressure and bacterial viability. Following this, optimisation work to improve tabletability and reduce the required compaction pressure was undertaken utilising both machining and formulation parameters. Results showed that optimisation of the control formulation and machining parameters were able to elicit greater bacterial recovery values without compromising on tablet integrity. The results from this Eng.D. can be seen as highly pertinent to the successful design and production of probiotic solid dosage formats, especially tablets. The results from which highlight the impact of tablet manufacturing methods on probiotic viability and functionality, therefore can be utilised to improve the probiotic product whilst also reducing costs through a reduced need to have large overages in bacterial additions to account for the previous losses that occur during tabletting.

An important strand of early years policy development has been an increased focus on integrated service provision. This has been part of government policy initiatives during the past two decades that have sought to promote children's development and enhance their life chances (Barnes et al. 2018). Collaboration between professionals from different disciplines is considered to effectively support multifaceted issues that may adversely affect young children's development (Gordon et al. 2016; Vandekerckhove et al. 2019). However, integrated working has been identified as a complex area of practice (Canavan et al. 2009; Wong and Sumsion 2013; Nutbrown 2018) that takes place in a fluid landscape of children's services. Developing the proficiency to collaborate effectively and responsively with others requires additional layers of expertise, as well as the specialist knowledge and skills associated with particular professional roles (Edwards, 2010a; Cumming and Wong 2012). This project explores measures that can enhance support for early years teachers in integrated working practice. Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological model (Bronfenbrenner and Morris 2006) is employed as a theoretical framework for the research. This model draws attention to the importance of the early years teacher's reciprocal interactions with key actors in integrated working and how these might be influenced by personal characteristics, contextual and temporal factors. The research is framed as a qualitative interview study that incorporates the use of in-depth interviews and the experimental use of a walking interview with one participant. Thematic analysis of the participants' data reveals an array of measures to support the early years teacher to engage in integrated working. Findings from the research are supplemented by exploration of the current evidence base to identify recommendations for practice. These include a focused consideration of the role of reciprocal interactions in integrated working practice, the use of technology to support communication, practical tasks in professional development and an exploration of the wider field of support to help the early years teacher to manage the 'complex realities of practice' (Dalli et al. 2012: 7).

Since the year 2000 the existing business model of many European airlines has come under extreme financial pressure from a weak and volatile economy, the threat of international conflict, terrorism and pandemics, as well as a high dependence on the supply and price of fossil fuels. Oil based transport is becoming a major sustainability issue due to price and supply fluctuations, geopolitics, and burgeoning environmental concerns. This thesis examines the role of business model innovation in supporting a sustainability transition in the European airline sector. To achieve this aim, I develop a novel framework that links the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP), the STOF model and business model innovation to understand the drivers affecting the European airline industry. I adopt a four-stage mixed-method approach consisting of a quantitative study of published European airline results, a grey literature review, forty structured interviews and a final triangulation. The findings pinpoint the failings of the industry and detail the major issues concerning its sustainability transition to a low carbon industry. A fragmentation towards four business model groups is identified. The results of the research indicate that changes to airline business models are reactions to forces arising from the MLP and do not lead industry transition. The study indicates that a long incremental sustainability transition in an internationally regulated industry using evolving complex technologies is difficult to capture by reworking airline business models, but that the adoption of new technology can advance system transition. The separation of these technologies into operating ´parcels´ could offer a valuable understanding of their contribution to the business model construct. A sequenced framework for industry transition is proposed. The thesis contributes to the limited literature on the role of business model innovation in shaping sustainability transitions and highlights critical issues and challenges facing the airline sector in Europe.

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is an emerging fungal pathogen that threatens amphibian hosts globally. The observed mass mortality events in amphibian populations, multiple species declines and extinctions caused by this pathogen, have been attributed to its broad host range, widespread geographic distribution, and ability to infect all amphibian life-history stages. While the severity of the disease is worse in post-metamorphic animals, it is the pre-metamorphic (tadpole) stage that is seen as an important disease reservoir. The potential for tadpoles to act as a reservoir for Bd is dependent on their contribution to the environmental pool of zoospores, and therefore, their role in Bd transmission. However, few studies have explored transmission dynamics in multi-host tadpole communities. To explore Bd transmission in the tadpole communities, I break the transmission process into three discrete stages: (i) susceptibility (the probability of a naïve host becoming infected upon exposure to Bd zoospores in the environment), (ii) infectiousness (the rate at which infected hosts release Bd zoospores into the environment) and (iii) contact rate (the rate at which tadpoles encounter zoospores in the environment). I quantified the first two of these processes experimentally for a range of host species. I then used these data to parameterise a range of mathematical models to predict the consequences for Bd transmission in multi-host communities and in doing so, explored the sensitivity of my predictions to variations in contact rate (the third of the above processes). Standardised experiments exposing three tadpole host species individually to Bd showed that host susceptibility conformed to previous held species responses, with species lying along a continuum from largely resistant (rarely infected, or only infected to a very low level) to largely tolerant (highly likely to be infected, potentially to a high level), and there was little evidence of Bd-induced mortality for all species. I also co-exposed hosts to another amphibian pathogen of conservation concern, ranavirus, but this did not have a significant effect on Bd infections, although there were some additional mortalities of co-exposed hosts. Next, I explored zoospore shedding rates for the different host species, and found a clear power relationship between species-specific susceptibility and infectiousness. However, for a given pathogen load, hosts across all species did not differ in pathogen shedding rates. Hence these experiments revealed a strong host identity component to contribution to environmental zoospores, but this arises purely through variation in their own infection levels, which then directly determine their zoospore shedding rate. From these experimental chapters, I conclude that tadpoles can be classified into two broad host identities (tolerant and resistant), and I used this to develop and parameterise a series of mathematical models to assess Bd transmission dynamics in multi-host tadpole communities, considering variable contact and reinfection rates. The models revealed a clear effect of host community composition. Tolerant hosts contributed disproportionately to the environmental pool of zoospores, with the subsequent increase in the force of infection from the environment driving infection dynamics in a more resistant host species. These findings, however, suggest that the process by which reinfection occurs, which can lead to increases in on-host infection loads of tolerant host, can be highly influential in determining Bd-dynamics in the wider system. These predictions therefore highlight the need to understand the fate of zoospores shed from an infected host: whether they enter the aquatic environment and contribute towards the force of infection for other hosts, or whether they engage in immediate reinfection, contributing to increases in infection load of that host. My model predictions suggest that determining the relative occurrence of these two processes may be crucial for determining community-wide Bd transmission dynamics. Overall, my work shows that tadpole Bd-load dynamics and their resulting host identity associations, hold the potential to influence community-wide infection dynamics, an understanding of which could inform more targeted mitigation strategies than otherwise possible.

Research studies in the UK over the past twenty-five years have consistently found a number of challenges and problems in the engagement, and relationship between fathers and social workers in child protection practice. This has resulted in missed opportunities for fathers to be assessed as either a risk or a resource for their children. In considering the latter, this PhD thesis study, through adopting an Appreciative Inquiry lens, contributes to existing knowledge through exploring what factors were present where social workers had successfully considered non-resident fathers as a resource. In particular, situations where the social workers agreed to the father becoming their child's primary carer, when they had concerns about the care the child was receiving from their mother. Seven social workers and thirteen former non-resident fathers were recruited and interviewed. The fathers who participated in the study had their child living with them on a full-time basis. Adopting a narrative approach to the interviews I documented the fathers' journeys, exploring their motivations for agreeing to take on this role and their experiences of their involvement with their child's social workers, whom I also interviewed. The thesis illustrated how given the opportunity, fathers involved in child protection will 'step up' and become a resource for their child when the child's mother is not in a position to do so. The fathers exercised agency and demonstrated a commitment to the assessment and their child. The social workers demonstrated a level of reasoning and discretion in considering the negative aspects of the fathers' lives, where they understand that the fathers were neither good nor bad, but a combination of both, and demonstrated an ability to offer encouragement and challenge in equal measures. Most importantly, despite a few challenges, the fathers and social workers were able to develop, and sustain a relationship, that led to the fathers been successfully utilised as a resource in child protection practice.

Glycans are molecules consisting of glycosidically linked monosaccharides, ubiquitous in biological systems forming the glyco portion of many glycoconjugates including glycoproteins and glycolipids. The variety in the glycan structure dictate the wide variety of roles these glycans play. These include protective, stabilising and organisation functions. In addition glycans present on biotherapeutics affect the stability and efficacy of the drugs due to the sialylation of the glycan and therefore biotherapeutic glycans must be characterised as their presence is regulated by drug agencies. The inherent structures of glycans hinders their detection by traditional methods and therefore a derivative of the glycan are often analysed to overcome the poor detection. One of these derivatization methods is where a chemical label is added to the reducing end of the glycans by reductive amination to facilitate detection, however, these modifications prevents further uses of glycans which due to the difficulty of glycan synthesis is a drawback of these workflows. Glycan analysis is commonly performed in hydrophilic interaction mode HPLC, however this method of HPLC suffers from many limitations due to the mechanism of retention relying on an immobilised layer of water. Hydrophilic interaction HPLC suffers from poor peak shape, difficult method development and long equilibration times. The analysis of glycans is also complicated by the class of monosaccharide, sialic acid which is common on the non-reducing end of the glycans. Sialic acid play many roles in biotherapeutic clearance. For these reasons sialic acid analysis is also performed as the derivative due to the inherent negative charge of sialic acid. Derivatisation is performed with 1,2-diamino-4,5-methylenedioxybenzene (DMB), however this label is associated with poor stability and samples require analysing as soon as possible after labelling. This thesis presents potential solution to these observations. The synthesis of two multifunctional glycan labels containing additional groups which show similar HILIC mode HPLC analysis to currently used labels for the analysis of glycans meaning these labels can be employed in glycan analysis workflows to provide further uses. The further uses investigated in this research examined the ability for the carbohydrates labelled with the alkyne multifunctional labels to react with an azide conjugation partners to give a more sensitive molecule to improve detection and characterisation. This research also investigated the ability for the analysis of glycans via reverse phase HPLC methods to overcome the common limitations of hydrophilic interaction mode HPLC. The reverse phase HPLC of labelled carbohydrates resulted in the production and optimisation of eight reverse phase HPLC methods capable of analysing derivatised glycans from a variety of sources which may be used as alternatives to hydrophilic interaction HPLC for the analysis of glycans. Finally, this thesis trialled ortho-phenylenediamine derivatives in the quinoxaline derivatisation of sialic acids in an effort to find a possible alternative to DMB in the analysis of sialic acid. These labels were employed in the analysis of Neu5Ac and were observed to provide sufficient detection and resolution for the labelled sialic acid in reverse phase HPLC. These alternatives however were found to be inferior to DMB which displayed similar stability and superior detection sensitivity.

The aim of this project has been to investigate into the representation theory of the bosonic ghost vertex algebra and to construct a quantum group with an equivalent category of modules. The bosonic ghost vertex algebra violates many properties of other vertex algebras which simplify the representation theory and this means one cannot directly apply many of the methods commonly used in these simpler cases. A key component in many of the methods employed is the screening operator. The vertex algebra itself is the kernel of the screening operator acting on a lattice vertex algebra. The module containing the screening operator characterises a Nichols algebra which is crucial in the construction of the corresponding quantum group. An equivalence of representation theory is with respect to a certain level of structure. The consensus is that a sensible choice of module category for vertex algebras should admit a braided tensor structure. We realised that the notion of a dual module vertex algebras possess leads to a generalised duality called Grothendieck-Verdier structure on the module category. Therefore we construct the equivalence at the level of ribbon Grothendieck-Verdier structure, a braided monoidal category with a twist and Grothendieck-Verdier dual. We develop a rigorous framework for constructing functors from a given category to a vertex algebra module category. We work through all the details of an equivalence for lattice vertex algebras and the bosonic ghost vertex algebra with their Hopf algebra counterparts. Finally, we construct the candidate quantum group and prove the ribbon Grothendiec-Verdier equivalence to the bosonic ghost vertex algebra, up to one equation involving inter-twining operators. A more general equivalence between vertex algebras which are the kernel of screenings and quantum groups constructed from the corresponding Nichols algebra is still conjectural but more evidence and tools are now available.

Modern liberal democracies pride themselves on protecting certain fundamental rights for individuals. In the context of the criminal law, perhaps the most prominent is the right of accused persons to be presumed innocent until proven guilty of criminal wrongdoing. However, similarly prominent is the phenomenon of imposing a burden of proof on the accused, the effect of which is to require them to prove their innocence. This thesis explores the relationship between these two features of the criminal law and examines how it is possible to reconcile the presumption of innocence (PoI) with 'reverse' burdens of proof. In particular, the thesis sets out to answer the following question: under what circumstances, if any, will it be coherent with the PoI to impose a reverse burden of proof on the accused in a criminal trial? In response, the thesis ultimately argues that reverse burdens and the PoI cannot be reconciled where the reverse burden amounts to a requirement to prove innocence. This is because, properly understood, the PoI requires proof guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This, in turn, is understood in terms of the allocation of risk of failing to persuade the factfinder of a certain fact. Specifically, the thesis contends that the PoI prohibits the allocation of this 'risk of non-persuasion' to the accused, meaning that the accused must not be required to prove that they are innocent. This is a unique interpretation of the PoI in the context of reverse burdens. The thesis therefore concludes that the only reverse burdens which can be reconciled with the PoI are those which do not require the accused to prove their innocence, a set of defences known as 'non-exculpatory defences'. Otherwise, the PoI prohibits reverse burdens. In reaching this conclusion, the thesis proceeds in three main parts. The first expands on and contextualises the problem which reverse burdens pose in terms of PoI compatibility. The chapters comprising this first part of the thesis offer a critical account of the prevailing approaches to analysing reverse burdens in several common law jurisdictions. The thesis then identifies a distinction which has often gone unacknowledged in these conventional accounts of reverse burden compatibility. This is the distinction between the PoI as a trial rule (the 'thin' PoI) compared to the PoI as a general norm of the criminal law (the 'thick' PoI). Departing from the tradition of choosing either the thick or thin PoI as the only correct version of the PoI, the thesis argues that both must be relevant to a holistic assessment of how to allocate the burden of proof in a way which is coherent with the PoI. The second part of the thesis fleshes this idea out and develops an account of the thick PoI as entailing a prohibition on requiring the accused to prove any fact which bears on their responsibility for the offence in question. In these chapters, the thesis explains why this understanding should be preferred to three alternative approaches to connecting the PoI and reverse burdens. These alternatives are: i) ignoring the thick PoI and characterising the PoI as nothing more than a trial rule; ii) assessing each reverse burden on an ad hoc basis, by reference to a requirement of proportionality; and iii) flatly banning any persuasive burden on the accused. Ultimately, it is argued that each of these is flawed for a different reason. Finally, the third part of the thesis examines the ramifications of adopting this new understanding of reverse burdens for the structure of the modern criminal law in systems such as England and Wales or the United States. The chapters forming this third part offer a new way forward, whereby burdens on the accused are generally not full persuasive burdens, and where criminal offences are drafted more carefully with the burden of proof in mind. This charts a path for a criminal law which more fully respects the rights of individuals.

This research explores the concept of well-being as it applies to family carers of older people and the experiences of those carers in the light of a reworked version of that concept. The study is situated within a broader context of the 'care crisis' consisting of an increase in older age care demands alongside a decrease in the resource or care capacity to support demand, resulting in a so-called 'care deficit'. Notions of 'well-being' have become nested within this crisis narrative. During the past five years, particularly in the UK, references to well-being have been explicitly embedded into social care welfare support programmes, and are used to determine and shape how care support services are delivered to carers and those requiring care. However, as well as being ubiquitous, the term is contentious. Its meaning in the care context has yet to be resolved, and in particular, scant critical attention has been paid to the term's significance in the context of care for older people. This study responds to this knowledge gap by exploring the meaning and implication of well-being in the context of care of older people. This qualitative research study provides a full analysis of relevant theory, policy and empirical research addressing well-being and family carers. The central research question is: What is well-being in the context of family care of older people, and why does it matter? The research question is explored through an extended critical engagement with relevant well-being and care theoretical foundations (Nussbaum, 2011; Tronto, 2013) and through a policy analysis of the Social Services and Well-being Act (Wales) 2014. A novel theoretical framework founded upon a social justice perspective and drawing upon critical care ethics and the capability approach is developed. Through critical engagement with the latent meaning of well-being, I argue that the mainstream conception in the context of care is narrow and reductive. Based upon and reflecting ideas about older age and care that mute the value of care as an essential component of all human life and, have the potential in practice to limit and damage family carers' lives and life chances. In the latter part of the thesis, this framework is applied to primary data gathered through thirty qualitative semi-structured interviews with family carers of older people in Wales. The analysis explores how 'well-being' as an enduring ideal defining what it means to live a 'good life' interacts with how care in older age is understood. The analysis identifies the key themes of well-being as a multidimensional and relational idea, freedom, choice, vulnerability and dependency. From these findings, I suggest that there is value in theorising an imperfect conception of well-being that acknowledges decline and dependence, particularly in older age care. Furthermore, I suggest a reformulation of well-being in the context of older age care, based upon acknowledging relationality, inequalities and socio-political and cultural contexts. Such a conception, I argue, has the potential to provide a firmer basis on which to articulate and tackle well-being within social care policy and to combat harmful assumptions about the place of care of older people within those systems and the value of caring relationships themselves.

On the heels of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal, historian, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. (1973), contended the presidency had become too powerful, essentially 'imperial' in nature. Today, concern over a new, 'unitary' presidency, perhaps a 'new imperial presidency' wielding unconstitutional authority unchecked by Congress, has resurfaced (Howell, 2003; Rudalegive, 2005). In response, this dissertation asks two critical questions: What are the determinants of presidential imperial behavior? And secondly, is the imperial presidency an ongoing component of the modern presidency? To evaluate those questions, I apply a multi-level analysis to the Vietnam War, George W. Bush's War on Terror, and the Reagan Administration's handling of both the Iranian arms for hostage dealings and civil wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Specifically, I draw on the theoretical approaches formulated from the field of Foreign Policy Analysis, a sub-field of International Relations theory. Counter to conventional wisdom, I argue that the 'imperial presidency' is in fact a continual, if at times dormant, component of the modern presidency beginning with the Cold War. The president's evaluation of threats to their administration's military policy agenda serves as our primary independent variable and is strongly influenced by the associated level of domestic policy support stemming from two interactive, intervening variables; the United States Congress and the views of the American public. A third element is found in the American media, which serves as a conduit between Congress, the public and the presidency itself. When support among these three audiences is strong, presidents hold a free hand. Where support is weak, policy limitations exist. However, where support is weak, but the threat to the president's military priorities are perceived by the administration as significant, I argue they have been willing to ignore domestic constraints and proceed in an imperial manner. Those imperial actions represent the study's dependent variable.

Comparing the centre to the periphery is a well-established trope in the history of ideas as in other fields of enquiry. This thesis adopts a different approach. It examines the work of two intellectuals from parts of the world deemed 'peripheral' whose intellectual contribution sought to transcend their condition of peripherality by bypassing the centre: the Haitian historian, anthropologist, and public intellectual Joseph Anténor Firmin (1850-1911) and the Georgian philologist, archaeologist, and philosopher of language Nikolai Marr (1865-1934). By comparing writers from such far-removed parts of the world who inhabited the same historical period, I intend to offer an alternative to the diffusionist model of intellectual history, in which concepts are traced from their emergence in Europe to their application in the rest of the world. The comparison undertaken in this thesis follows different vectors in the communication of philosophical ideas. This is highly fitting because Firmin and Marr devoted themselves to studying evolution and historical development in a manner designed to challenge the belief that certain peoples and cultures are the driving force of history while others are destined to languish behind. Strikingly, they framed their respective projects in the spirit of universalism, which is to say they were committed to the universal action of evolutionary law common to all societies. Through the uniform application of developmental law, Firmin and Marr sought to incorporate all societies as equal parties in global development, irrespective of the racial (Firmin) and linguistic (Marr) exclusion they may have been subject to. I begin by examining the parallel and overlapping ways in which Firmin and Marr constructed their respective world-historical schemes and how they attempted to reconcile the existence of multiple developmental trajectories within a single evolutionary masterplan. I then examine how changing political circumstances in both their lives challenged and modified these commitments.

Wave Energy Converters (WECs) have been shown to offer a promising option for power generation. The WaveCat is a moored WEC design which uses wave overtopping discharge into a variable v-shaped hull, to generate electricity through low head turbines. Physical model tests of the WaveCat WEC were carried out at the University of Plymouth COAST Laboratory to determine the device reflection, transmission and absorption coefficients. 60° and 30° wedge angles were tested, where wedge angle is the angle between the two hulls. Motion response of the WaveCat model was also quantified. The device heave and pitch motions were simulated using the CFD package STAR-CCM+. The results show the WaveCat absorption coefficient and expected power generation is highest during the largest Hs and smallest Tp conditions tested for both wedge angle cases. During the wave conditions that exhibit highest amount of power captured, the device has the lowest motion responses. When at a 60° wedge angle the device generated the highest power (0.4 W) during tests of Hs = 0.12 m and Tp = 1.09 s. When at a 30° wedge angle the device generated the highest power (1.8 W) during tests of Hs = 0.15 m and Tp = 1.46 s which would be normal operating conditions. The 60° and 30° configurations showed the highest surge Response Amplitude Operator (RAO) (0.68 and 0.79 respectively), pitch RAO (1.9 and 2.2 respectively) and heave RAO (0.97 and 0.92 respectively) values during tests where the wavelength is larger than the model length. Experimental responses were shown to be well predicted by the numerical model. The 60° configuration Capture Width Ratio (CWR) peaked at 1.5% during tests indicating greatest efficiency. This occurred at Hs of 0.08 m and Tp of 1.09 s. The 30° configuration CWR peaked at 5.4% during tests indicating greatest efficiency. This occurred at tests with Hs of 0.15 m and Tp of 1.46 s. At full scale the 60° configuration produced the equivalent of 64.6 kW in conditions of Hs = 3.5 m and Tp = 6 s. At full scale the 30° configuration produced the equivalent of 269.2 kW in conditions of Hs = 4.5 m and Tp = 8 s. These values show the device successfully captures and generates power and is suitable for further development. The findings presented in this thesis have increased understanding of behaviour of the WaveCat in a wide range of wave conditions and across two wedge angles.

A reservoir computer is a special type of neural network, where most of the weights are randomly fixed and only a subset are trained. In this thesis we prove results about reservoir computers trained on deterministic dynamical systems, and stochastic processes. We focus mostly on a special type of reservoir computer called an Echo State Network (ESN). In the deterministic case, we prove (under some assumptions) that if a reservoir computer has the Echo State Property (ESP), then there is a C1 generalised synchronisation between the input dynamical system and the dynamics in the reservoir space. Furthermore, we prove that a reservoir computer with the local ESP in several disjoint subsets of the reservoir space will admit several distinct generalised synchronisations. In the special case that the reservoir map is linear, and has the ESP, we prove that the generalised synchronisation is generically an embedding. This result admits Takens' embedding Theorem as a special case. We go to show that ESNs trained on scalar observations of an ergodic dynamical system can approximate an arbitrary target function, including the next step map used in time series forecasting. This universal approximation property holds despite the training process being entirely linear. We prove analogous results for ESNs trained on observations of a stochastic process, which are not be Markovian in general. We use these results to develop supervised learning, and reinforcement learning algorithms supported by an ESN. In the penultimate chapter of this thesis, we use a reservoir computer to numerically solve linear PDEs. In the final chapter, we conclude and discuss directions for future work.

This thesis explores male sociality in African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana), focusing on the influence of age structure on social dynamics between males in a male dominated area. There is much to learn regarding the nature of relationships in non-reproductive all-male groupings and the benefits afforded to males in associating with each other. Moreover, in long-lived species, all-male groupings provide an opportunity for individuals of vastly different age and experience to interact, and there may be different benefits afforded to males of different age in associating with one another. I conducted focal animal sampling of male elephants aggregating at hotspots of social activity, and a camera trap survey of elephant movements and behaviours on elephant pathways in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana. I found differences in grouping and performance of several behaviours with male age. Adolescents were more likely to travel in all-male groups, and mature bulls were more likely to travel alone, suggesting association with other males is more beneficial for younger males. Adolescents performed greeting behaviours at greater rates than adults, and such behaviours may facilitate further beneficial interactions between males. Adolescents also directed more aggressive and fear-related behaviours to non-elephant targets when alone, compared to when with other males. Adolescents may therefore perceive themselves to be at greater risk when socially isolated, and grouping with other males may reduce predation risks, and improve adolescents' ability to safely navigate unknown, risky environments. Males' olfactory responses to pathways and experimentally placed urine deposits, however, did not vary with age, suggesting remote monitoring of same-sex conspecifics is equally important across the life course. Urine from adult males was more likely to evoke heightened responses than urine of adolescent males, suggesting males may be able to discern the age of same-sex conspecifics from their remote deposits. Such remote assessment of potential affiliates, threats or competitors sharing the environment is likely beneficial for males living in highly fission-fusion societies. I also found evidence for important social roles of older males in all-male groupings. Older males were more likely to lead their group movements, suggesting they may guide younger, less experienced males in locating critical resources. Male elephants were less likely to direct aggression to non-elephant targets when more males from the oldest age cohort were present. Older males may be particularly effective assessors of environmental risk, and elephants may perform less aggressive behaviours to non-elephant targets when more older males are present due to reductions in anxiety. Alternatively, older males may police other males' aggression behaviours. The African elephant is of conservation concern and a species involved in several unresolved human-wildlife conflicts. Throughout this thesis I therefore also relate findings to potential management and conservation implications.

Representing words by vectors of numbers, known as word embeddings, enables computational reasoning over words and is foundational to automating tasks involving natural language. For example, by crafting word embeddings so that similar words have similar valued embeddings, often thought of as nearby points in a semantic space, word similarity can be readily assessed using a variety of metrics. In contrast, judging whether two words are similar from more common representations, such as their English spelling, is often impossible (e.g. cat/feline); and to predetermine and store all similarities between all words is prohibitively time-consuming, memory intensive and subjective. As a succinct means of representing words - or, perhaps, the concepts that words themselves represent - word embeddings also relate to information theory and cognitive science. Numerous algorithms have been proposed to learn word embeddings from different data sources, such as large text corpora, document collections and "knowledge graphs" - compilations of facts in the form hsubject entity, relation, object entityi, e.g. hEdinburgh, capital of, Scotlandi. The broad aim of these algorithms is to capture information from the data in the components of each word embedding that is useful for a certain task or suite of tasks, such as detecting sentiment in text, identifying the topic of a document, or predicting whether a given fact is true or false. In this thesis, we focus on word embeddings learned from text corpora and knowledge graphs. Several well-known algorithms learn word embeddings from text on an unsupervised (or, more recently, self-supervised) basis by learning to predict context words that occur around each word, e.g. word2vec (Mikolov et al., 2013a,b) and GloVe (Pennington et al., 2014). The parameters of word embeddings learned in this way are known to reflect word co-occurrence statistics, but how they capture semantic meaning has been largely unclear. Knowledge graph representation models learn representations both of entities, which include words, people, places, etc., and binary relations between them. Representations are typically learned by training the model to predict known true facts of the knowledge graph in a supervised manner. Despite steady improvements in the accuracy with which knowledge graph representation models are able to predict facts, both seen and unseen during training, little is understood of the latent structure that allows them to do so. This limited understanding of how latent semantic structure is encoded in the geometry of word embeddings and knowledge graph representations makes a principled direction for improving their performance, reliability or interpretability unclear. To address this: 1. we theoretically justify the empirical observation that particular geometric relationships between word embeddings learned by algorithms such as word2vec and GloVe correspond to semantic relations between words; and 2. we extend this correspondence between semantics and geometry to the entities and relations of knowledge graphs, providing a model for the latent structure of knowledge graph representation linked to that of word embeddings. We first give a probabilistic explanation for why word embeddings of analogies - phrases of the form "man is to king as woman is to queen" - often appear to approximate a parallelogram. This "analogy phenomenon" has generated much intrigue since word embeddings are not trained to achieve it, yet it allows many analogies to be "solved" simply by adding and subtracting their embeddings, e.g. wqueen ≈ wking − wman + wwoman. Similar probabilistic rationale is given to explain how semantic relations such as similarity and paraphrase are encoded in the relative geometry of word embeddings. Lastly, we extend this correspondence, between semantics and embedding geometry, to the specific relations of knowledge graphs. We derive a hierarchical categorisation of relation types and, for each type, identify the notional geometric relationship between word embeddings of related entities. This gives a theoretical basis for relation representation against which we can contrast a range of knowledge graph representation models. By analysing properties of their representations and their relation-by-relation performance, we show that the closer the agreement between how a model represents a relation and our theoretically-inspired basis, the better the model performs. Indeed, a knowledge graph representation model inspired by this research achieved state-of-the-art performance (Balaˇzevi´c et al., 2019b).

Pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is described as one of the most debilitating symptoms of the condition, often persisting when joint inflammation is pharmacologically controlled. With current treatment options for RA-associated joint pain proving insufficient, a greater understanding is required of nociceptive signalling mechanisms, both in the presence and absence of overt joint inflammation. Animal models of RA pain by recapitulating clinical and pathological features of the human condition provide an important tool for delineating mechanisms contributing to pain in RA. This thesis, utilizing the mouse K/BxN serum-transfer model of inflammatory arthritis in addition to in-vitro experimentation using cultured peritoneal macrophages and dissociated dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, aims to investigate mechanisms leading to heightened nociceptive signalling either in the presence and absence of joint swelling. Following passive immunization with K/BxN serum, mechanical hypersensitivity presents alongside joint swelling, concomitant to greater calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) expression from DRG neurons and increased cFos expression centrally, from superficial laminae dorsal horn neurons, indicative of neuronal activation. Following serum transfer, persistent hyperalgesia that outlasts joint swelling occurs concomitant to greater macrophage presence in K/BxN DRG. Lipid mediator profiling of lumbar DRG, the site of sensory neuron cell bodies innervating the ankle joints, revealed mechanical hyperalgesia alongside joint swelling (5 days post- immunization) is associated with greater pro-inflammatory PGD2 levels in the K/BxN DRG, whereas persistent hyperalgesia which outlasts joint swelling (25 days post- immunization) occurs concurrent with reduced pro-resolution Maresin-1 (MaR1) levels in the K/BxN DRG. Following serum transfer, repeated, but not acute, systemic treatment with MaR1 either during or post-joint swelling caused sustained reversal of hyperalgesia, reduced pro-inflammatory macrophage presence in lumbar DRG (PNS) and reduced dorsal horn microglial activation (CNS). In-vitro experiments revealed that when applied to cultured peritoneal macrophages challenged with pro-inflammatory LPS, MaR1 reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine (TNFα & NOS2) expression and miR- 155, with no effect on anti-inflammatory signalling. Moreover, calcium imaging demonstrated that MaR1 application inhibits neuronal activation of DRG neurons exposed to capsaicin in a dose dependant manner, with MaR1's action dependant on GPCRi/o signalling. Assessment of miRNA expression highlighted dysregulation of miRNAs in K/BxN DRG, where in the absence of joint swelling, hyperalgesia is associated with up-regulation of miR-706 and down-regulation of miR-709 expression. Further in-vitro investigation highlighted that following capsaicin exposure, DRG neurons exhibit increased miR-706 and miR-21 expression, which is unaffected by MaR1 treatment. Taken together, the findings of this thesis demonstrate that in the K/BxN serum transfer model of inflammatory arthritis, there are distinct neuro-immune signalling mechanisms relating to mechanical hyperalgesia either in the presence or absence of joint swelling. Specifically, in the K/BxN DRG, where cell bodies of nociceptors reside, when joint swelling has resolved persistent hyperalgesia is associated with increased pro-inflammatory macrophage presence, increased miRNA dysregulation, and reduced pro-resolution MaR1 levels. MaR1 supplementation leads to long-lasting anti- hyperalgesic actions. Although I also observe direct inhibition of capsaicin-sensitive sensory neuron activation, this MaR1-mediated anti-hyperalgesia is likely through reduction of pro-inflammatory macrophage signalling to neurons in the DRG. Collectively, the findings of this thesis highlight the crucial role neuro-immune interactions play in maintaining persistent nociceptive states associated with RA, whereby further investigation of aberrant pro-resolution mechanisms can inform novel therapeutic strategies against arthritis joint pain.