cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Design and Development of Tuneable Spin-Crossover Compounds as Alternative Switchable Components in Information Storage Media
Creators: name: Attwood, Max J D
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2020

description: The following work regards the synthesis and characterisation of compounds with the potential to undergo a spin crossover (SCO). A SCO describes an electronic transition between the LS and HS states in response to perturbation by light, pressure, magnetic-field or thermal stimuli. These materials consist of d4 – d7 first row transition metal ions chelated to a suitable organic ligand system. By inducing a SCO transition, a compound exhibits exploitable changes in magnetism, colour and conductivity, making them candidates for use in information storage media. For conventional systems, the SCO must occur around room temperature with a practical hysteresis. Here, the LS state and HS state can correspond to, for instance, the binary states used in computational memory. Currently, a suitable compound remains elusive. To this end, this thesis challenges the design and development of cationic Fe(II) and Co(II) complexes by intelligent ligand modification. Amide- and thioamide-functionalisation of Fe(II) 2,6-bis(pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine (bpp) complexes, of the form [Fe(ligand)2](X)2, where X = BF4- or ClO4-, has been used to modulate the SCO properties. Complexes were found to exhibit a range of magnetic, from being locked in the LS or HS state, to abrupt SCO with hysteresis up to 96 K. Crystallisation of several compounds was achieved by slow vapour diffusion. Intermolecular hydrogen bonding between NH-groups and anions were responsible for isostructural packing between salts, which led to similar SCO properties. In addition, amide-linked homo- and heterobimetallic coordination polymers were synthesised and found to exhibit gradual SCO, attributed to their amorphous nature. Finally, an attempt was made to establish a more ‘green’ and efficient synthesis of bpp and related ligands. As a result, several novel ligand species and their Fe(II) and Co(II) complexes were synthesised. Amide-functionalised 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl)pyridine (bbip) Fe(II) complexes were found to exhibit SCO behaviour, while ester functionalised versions persisted in the LS state. Compounds were analysed by TGA, DSC, Evan’s method NMR spectroscopy, SQUID magnetometry, UV/Vis, Raman spectroscopy, single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction. Surface deposits of coordination polymers were also characterised by SEM and AFM following drop casting and spin coating onto silicon wafers. Overall, this has been a highly fruitful investigation leading to a total of 33 novel organic compounds and 46 novel complexes, 26 of which displayed some form of SCO.
Towards Cross Reality: A Comparison of World-in-Miniature and Virtual Reality Switch
Creators: name: Welti, Damla
name: Lutfallah, Mathieu
name: Cheng, Long
name: Kunz, Andreas
Publisher: name: ETH Zurich
Year: 2025
Subjects: Cross Reality
World-in-Miniature
Mixed Reality
Virtual Reality
Spatial Comprehension

description: 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW)
description: ISBN:979-8-3315-1484-6
description: ISBN:979-8-3315-2563-7
Amines in Olefin Metathesis: Ligands and Poisons
Creators: name: Ireland, Benjamin
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2016
Subjects: Olefin Metathesis
Catalyst
Amine
Decomposition
Organometallic Chemistry

description: Olefin metathesis is a powerful tool for assembly of carbon-carbon bonds. Amines and related N-donors are problematic functional groups in Ru-catalyzed olefin metathesis - a well- documented, but poorly understood problem. The first part of this thesis focuses on amine-induced deactivation pathways; two of which are described in depth. Alkylidene abstraction, a previously unknown reaction for nitrogen nucleophiles, was observed for smaller and less Bronsted-basic amines. Deprotonation of the metallacyclobutane intermediate formed during catalysis is prominent for highly Bronsted basic or sterically bulky N-donors. Monosubstituted (and, by extension unsubstituted) metallacyclobutanes are particularly vulnerable to deprotonation. For each pathway, the fate of the alkylidene Ru=CHR functional group proved key in determining the nature of deactivation. Both pathways have been detected during catalysis, as evidenced by formation of diagnostic amine (RCH2NR2’) or substituted propene products. A combination of quantitative NMR and GC-MS analysis was used to identify these species on loss of the Ru-alkylidene functional group. The second part of this thesis focuses on incorporating amines into catalyst design – an under-utilized strategy in the context of Ru-catalyzed olefin metathesis. A modified Grubbs-type catalyst was developed featuring a bulky, relatively non-basic biaryldiamine ligand. Metathesis activity for this catalyst was comparable, and in some cases superior to the most widely-used homogeneous catalysts currently available. Several new, related Ru-benzylidenes were also prepared and fully characterized in conjunction with the mechanistic studies described above. Progress toward development of N-anion-containing metathesis catalysts is also discussed. Synthesis of Ru-hydride complexes originally intended for this purpose allowed for a fundamental study of the coordination chemistry and reductive elimination chemistry of the NPh2– anion.
La différence entre la réussite des garçons et des filles à l'école : représentations de sexe, solutions et pratiques éducatives des enseignant.e.s du secondaire
Creators: name: Grenier, Véronique
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2013
Subjects: Différence entre la réussite scolaire des garçons et des filles
Perspective des enseignant.e.s du secondaire
Rapports sociaux de sexe
Québec
Beauce

description: Dans cette thèse de maîtrise, nous avons tenté de répondre à la question de recherche suivante : quelles sont les représentations de sexe que les enseignant.e.s du secondaire ont des garçons et des filles qu’ils côtoient et quelles solutions et pratiques éducatives proposent-ils au problème de la différence entre la réussite des garçons et des filles à l’école? Cette question en sous-tend une autre : qu’est-ce que ce problème social nous révèle sur les rapports sociaux de sexe qui caractérisent notre époque? Afin de répondre à notre question, treize entretiens semi-dirigés auprès des membres du personnel enseignant de deux écoles secondaires de la région de la Beauce ont été menés. À la lumière des entretiens quatre constats principaux sont ressortis. Premièrement, les enseignant.e.s constatent des différences entre les garçons et les filles à l’école. Toutefois, leurs propos ne sont pas catégoriques à l’égard de leurs expériences avec les garçons et les filles. Ils mettent de l’avant plusieurs nuances. Deuxièmement, les enseignant.e.s exposent que le sexe de l’élève et le leur influencent leurs relations éducatives avec leurs élèves. Troisièmement, notre étude a pu mettre en lumière différentes solutions et pratiques éducatives prônées par les enseignant.e.s. Finalement, le problème social de la différence entre la réussite des filles et des garçons nous permet de constater, ou à tout le moins d’entrevoir, certaines recompositions des rapports sociaux de sexe dans le milieu de l’éducation.
Part A: Exploring Nursing Staffs’ Experiences of Working with Challenging Behaviour in Adults with Brain Injuries Through Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Part B: Examining the Mental Health Implications of Tourette Syndrome Through Qualitative Content Analysis of TikTok Videos
Creators: name: Mcentire, Lee
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: challenging behaviour
subject: TikTok
subject: Brain Injury
subject: Burnout
subject: Mental Health
subject: Nursing
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Tourette Syndrome

description: Part A: High rates of burnout among nurses and care workers are well-documented. In learning disability settings, one factor that may contribute to burnout among staff is ‘challenging behaviour’ (CB). In neurological settings, however, there is a lack of research into the relationship between staff burnout and CB. The current study aimed to explore nurses’ and healthcare assistants’ experiences of working with CB in adults with brain injuries. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 participants, and reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019) was employed. Five themes were generated, in which participants agreed that their jobs can be “really tough”, but that “it isn’t even the patients” that were the ‘main’ challenge. Instead, wider systemic issues were highlighted. Participants had a mentality towards CB of “I don’t let it get to me”, and mostly found their work both rewarding and stimulating. Real-world implications and future research directions are proposed.
Part B: Tourette Syndrome (TS) can negatively impact almost every aspect of daily life. Evidence suggests that individuals with TS are highly vulnerable to mental health problems, and that social support is key. One platform where these individuals may choose to share their experiences of TS is TikTok. However, recent research on TS on TikTok has instead focused on the phenomenon of ‘TikTok tics’. The current study aimed to explore the mental health implications of TS as seen on TikTok. Qualitative content analysis was employed to analyse 83 short videos. Eight categories were generated, in which users highlighted the prevalence of mental health problems in TS, as well as its co-morbidity with other conditions. Many videos were aimed at raising awareness and educating, as well as sharing personal stories. Some users had been accused of ‘faking it’ amidst the ‘TikTok tics’ phenomenon. Implications for TikTok and services, and recommendations for future research, are made.
Patterns of service use among persons with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
Creators: name: Carr, Vaughan J.
name: Johnston, Patrick J.
name: Lewin, Terry J.
name: Rajkumar, Sadanand
name: Carter, Gregory L.
name: Issakidis, Cathy
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: This study assessed 12-month service use patterns among people with psychotic disorders and sought to identify determinants of service use. As part of a large two-phase Australian study of psychotic disorders, structured interviews were conducted with a stratified random sample of adults who screened positive for psychosis. Demographic characteristics, social functioning, symptoms, mental health diagnoses, and use of psychiatric and nonpsychiatric services were assessed. Data were analyzed for 858 persons who had an ICD-10 diagnosis of a psychotic disorder and who had been hospitalized for less than six months during the previous year. People with psychotic disorders had high levels of use of health services, both in absolute terms and relative to people with nonpsychotic disorders. Those with psychotic disorders were estimated to have an average of one contact with health services per week. Use of psychiatric inpatient services was associated with parenthood, higher symptom levels, recent attempts at suicide or self-harm, personal disability, medication status, and frequency of alcohol consumption. Services provided by general practitioners (family physicians) were more likely to be obtained by older people, women, people with greater availability of friends, those with fewer negative symptoms, and those whose service needs were unmet by other sources. People who were high users of health services also reported having more contact with a range of non-health agencies. The predictors of service use accounted for small proportions of the variance in overall use of health services. The role of general practitioners in providing and monitoring treatment programs and other psychosocial interventions needs to be acknowledged and enhanced.
Energieeffiziente öffentliche Beschaffung
Creators: name: (:Unkn) Unknown
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Öffentliche Beschaffung
subject: Energieversorgungsart
subject: Klima | Energie
subject: Climate | Energy

description: Die Broschüre informiert öffentliche Auftraggeber und Interessierte über den rechtlichen Rahmen für die Beschaffung von energieeffizienten Produkten und Dienstleistungen sowie über deren praktische Umsetzung.
Hand Redirection Thresholds in a Shooting Game
Creators: name: Lutfallah, Mathieu
name: Biella, Alessandro
name: Kunz, Andreas
Publisher: name: ETH Zurich
Year: 2025
Subjects: Virtual Reality (VR)
Hand Redirection
Haptic Retargeting
Perception

description: 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW)
description: ISBN:979-8-3315-1484-6
description: ISBN:979-8-3315-2563-7
Wittgenstein on Magic, Metaphysics, and the History of Philosophy
Creators: name: Issaoui Mansouri, Bilal
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2015
Subjects: Wittgenstein
Metaphilosophy
Carnap
Heidegger
James George Frazer
Metaphysics

description: This work challenges the assumption that Wittgenstein’s comments about the word “philosophy” are always either normative or descriptive. In the introduction, I demonstrate that some apparent inconsistencies of Wittgenstein’s programmatic remarks can only be resolved if we reject this distinction. Although the distinction is not central to any major interpretation of Wittgenstein’s work, rejecting it will have significant implications regarding his relation to the history of philosophy. My central task is to demonstrate that Wittgenstein’s view of the history of philosophy does not imply a strict distinction between the historical concept of philosophy and Wittgenstein’s method. The core of my argument revolves around the Remarks on Frazer's Golden Bough. In this text, Wittgenstein compares magic with metaphysics and then proceeds to attack Frazer’s exceedingly critical analysis of primitive religions. I argue that Wittgenstein’s later use of the word “metaphysic” indicates that his criticism of past philosophers is not radical enough to justify a strict distinction between his philosophical program and the history of philosophy. In order to confirm the conclusions I have drawn from Wittgenstein’s use of the word “metaphysics,” I studied two conversations Wittgenstein had about Heidegger. I read Wittgenstein’s comments about Heidegger as a sign of the blurring distinction between his own program and more traditional conceptions of philosophy.
Permission to Pollute: Regulating Environmental Corporate Crime in the Alberta Tar Sands
Creators: name: Alexander, Chloe
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2015
Subjects: Tar Sands
Deep Ecology
Green Criminology
Environmental Crime

description: This study explores how the Canadian and Alberta governments downplay environmental harm in the Alberta Tar Sands, therein justifying its ongoing expansion and defining it as unnecessary to intervene through the law. In particular, this study draws on the concepts of hegemony, social harm and deep ecology to problematize how climate change has become the governments’ main environmental concern in the tar sands, despite the existence of other, equally troubling issues, and how carbon capture and storage (CCS) has become the states’ main climate change strategy, despite the largely untested nature of this technique. A critical discourse analysis of two government taskforce documents concerning CCS technology revealed that neoliberal and globalization discourses were used to narrowly conceptualize environmental harm, thereby privileging Canada’s trade relations and economic strength over the environment’s health. Relatedly, discourses of scientism were used to conceptualize climate change as a technical problem and CCS as the “preferred” solution.
Mitigating the Judicial Human-AI Fairness Gap
Creators: name: Chen, Benjamin
name: Hermstrüwer, Yoan
name: Langenbach, Pascal
name: Stremitzer, Alexander
name: Tobia, Kevin
Publisher: name: ETH Zurich
Year: 2025
Subjects: human-AI fairness gap
human in the loop
judicial decision-making
robot courts
ethnic disparities

description: Center for Law & Economics Working Paper Series, 07/2025
“Dori d’Italia e di Sicilia” e popolazioni locali nelle “politeiai” aristoteliche di Magna Grecia e Sicilia
Creators: name: Erdas, Donatella
Publisher: name: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico
Year: 2012

description: Forthcoming.
description: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico, No 7 (2012): Convivenze etniche, scontri e contatti di culture in Sicilia e Magna Grecia
Numerical Procedures for Relativistic Atomic Structure Calculations
Creators: name: Fischer, Charlotte Froese
name: Senchuk, Andrew
Publisher: name: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Year: 2021

description: Variational methods are used extensively in the calculation of transition rates for numerous lines in a spectrum. In the GRASP code, solutions of the multiconfiguration Dirac–Hartree–Fock (MCDHF) equations that optimize the orbitals are represented by numerical values on a grid using finite differences for integration and differentiation. The numerical accuracy and efficiency of existing procedures are evaluated and some modifications proposed with heavy elements in mind.
Monte Iato, un insediamento arcaico con popolazione etnica mista
Creators: name: Isler, Hans Peter
Publisher: name: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico
Year: 2012

description: Forthcoming.
description: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico, No 7 (2012): Convivenze etniche, scontri e contatti di culture in Sicilia e Magna Grecia
Adaptive Management of Virtual Network Resources
Creators: name: Wanis, Bassem
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2015
Subjects: Network Virtualization
Cloud Computing
Resource Management
Optimization

description: The past few years have witnessed a rapid emergence of large-scale, geographically dispersed, clouds offering in the form of an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). The adoption of these services requires the deployment of new networking technologies. This in turn, ensures the performance of the offered cloud services. Network virtualization has been proposed as a key attribute of the future inter-networking paradigm, providing efficient resource management solutions. Among the challenges that need yet to be addressed is the necessity to provide dynamic quality differentiated network services. In addition, it is required to guarantee the availability of network resources in response to workload fluctuations. Finally, it is necessary to periodically re-optimize the resource provisioning to be able to provide efficient resource utilization. These challenges are the motivation behind this work which aimed at developing a novel adaptive resource management model based on network virtualization. First, the proposed work describes a novel Virtual-Network-as-a-Service (VNaaS) model offering differentiated network-aware cloud services, resulting in a guarantee for the quality of the offered applications. This is achieved by enabling the cloud application providers to accurately express their dynamic needs, demand constraints and their network latency tolerance. The proposed work also enables the infrastructure provider to offer Elasticity-as-a-Service (EaaS) for the communication links by estimating and reserving the adequate pool of resources needed to fulfill the network workload fluctuations. This EaaS is offered at differentiated levels according to the hosted applications bandwidth-sensitivity. Finally, the proposed work employs a novel network resource re-optimization technique. The latter efficiently performs rearrangement for the VN portions contributing to the fragmentation of the underlying network. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented work and the significant gains achieved in terms of better adaptive network resource management.
A Thesis of Clinical Research and Practice: Part A: Translating the Neuroscience of Interoception and Cigarette Smoking into a Clinical Psychology Framework: A Narrative Review. Part B: Exploring the contribution of interoceptive processes to addiction severity and readiness to change in smokers. Part C: Summary of clinical practice and assessments
Creators: name: Willmott, Daniel
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2023

description: Interoception refers to the signalling, perception, and interpretation of moment-to-moment
description: changes in physiological signals. Interoceptive awareness relates to individual differences in
description: the ability to perceive internal bodily sensations. These individual differences have been
description: associated with differences in emotional experience, psychopathology, and cognition. This
description: thesis aimed to explore how interoceptive awareness is related to nicotine addiction in
description: tobacco smokers.

description:

description: Part one of this portfolio presents a narrative review of research into interoceptive
description: processes and smoking addiction. The review explores and synthesises research across
description: disciplines of neuroscience and psychology. It highlights research implicating the neural
description: basis of interoception, the insula cortex, in craving states and impulse control. Then, it
description: summarises research looking at interoceptive awareness on decision-making. The review
description: also explores how interoceptive processes relate to alexithymia, a difficulty in identifying
description: emotion, and anxiety sensitivity, the interpretation of bodily sensations of anxiety as
description: harmful, and how these constructs influence smoking behaviour. Finally, the review
description: synthesises this information and considers how these findings can be important for clinical
description: psychologists. This review has been submitted for publication at the Nicotine and Tobacco
description: Research journal and has been provisionally accepted following revisions to the paper.

description:

description: Part two of this portfolio presents an empirical paper that investigates interoceptive
description: awareness in current tobacco smokers and ex-smokers. The findings suggest that, within the
description: limitations of the sample size, there are no clear differences between current and ex-smokers,
description: and higher interoceptive awareness may relate to reduced motivation to quit in
description: smokers and increased attempts to successfully quit in ex-smokers. However, due to the
description: high proportion of e-cigarette users in the ex-smoker sample, further explorations found
description: that when looking at nicotine users as one group, those who are more interoceptively aware
description: are significantly less dependent on nicotine.
The mindsweeper tales : a creative and critical approach to reinventing the medieval framed story-collection as a modern novel.
Creators: name: Cawthorne, Natalie I.
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2020

description: A widely used narrative form in medieval literature is the framed story-collection, where an external narrative frames a collection of interpolated tales. This practice-based PhD in Creative Writing addresses the absence of the medieval framed story-collection structure in modern literature through creative practice and critical enquiry. The project is comprised of two parts: the creative artefact, for which I have written a novel of roughly 100,000 words, and the accompanying critical exegesis of 30,000 words. By considering Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales as a stylistic and structural model, I argue for the medieval framed story-collection structure’s continued relevance in contemporary fiction by demonstrating its potential for reinvention in the form of a modern novel. This thesis presents a methodological framework that can be practically applied to creative writing, consisting of six essential components to consider when modernising the medieval form: the frame, the tellers, the tales, dramatic interplay, stylistic variety, and themes. In my creative component, The Mindsweeper Tales, I demonstrate the application of these components by reinventing Chaucer’s pilgrimage in the form of a murder trial at the Old Bailey during the year 2030, in which the jurors become the narrators of the interpolated story collection. Further to this, I modernise Chaucer’s stylistic variety by engaging alternative narrative forms beyond traditional prose, such as Surrealist text collage and poetic interludes. Finally, I address the importance of socio-political themes in both Chaucer’s work and my own, demonstrating how the stylistic variety can be manipulated to represent the concerns of modern culture. This critical exegesis examines these Chaucerian elements alongside my creative piece to demonstrate how they have been reconceptualised in the form of a modern novel.
…e i Focidesi? Un aspetto della riflessione tucididea sull’etnogenesi elima
Creators: name: Moscati Castelnuovo, Luisa
Publisher: name: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico
Year: 2012

description: Forthcoming.
description: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico, No 7 (2012): Convivenze etniche, scontri e contatti di culture in Sicilia e Magna Grecia
A Philanthropic Fix to Education? A Case Study of a Corporate Foundation in India
Creators: name: Baur, Lianna
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2016
Subjects: philanthropy
education
India
foundation
private
corporate

description: The involvement of private philanthropic actors in education in developing countries has grown significantly in recent years. While it is the subject of much conceptual discussion, there are few in-depth studies examining the actions and influence of these actors. This MA thesis responds to that gap by conducting a case study of one elementary education program (the Satya Bharti School (SBS) program) in Rajasthan, India run by the Bharti Foundation, a major Indian corporate foundation and philanthropic arm of Indian telecommunications conglomerate, Bharti Group. The study draws on new institutional theory, specifically the literature on embedded agency and institutional change (DiMaggio, 1988), to examine the Foundation’s objectives, and how it mediated and influenced regulatory frameworks for education to achieve these objectives. Primary data were collected in 2012 through semi-structured interviews, field observations, and documentary analysis at different sites, including the Bharti Foundation’s headquarters, field offices, and SBS schools in rural Rajasthan.
Resti di capanne della tarda età del Ferro a Naxos di Sicilia
Creators: name: Lentini, Maria Costanza
Publisher: name: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico
Year: 2012

description: Forthcoming.
description: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico, No 7 (2012): Convivenze etniche, scontri e contatti di culture in Sicilia e Magna Grecia
Siculi e Greci sui colli di Leontini: un aggiornamento
Creators: name: Frasca, Massimo
Publisher: name: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico
Year: 2012

description: Forthcoming.
description: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico, No 7 (2012): Convivenze etniche, scontri e contatti di culture in Sicilia e Magna Grecia
The inter-relationship between vitamin D status, bone health and physical performance in university athletes.
Creators: name: Wilson-Barnes, Saskia L.
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2020

description: Vitamin D deficiency (˂25nmol/L) and insufficiency (˂50nmol/L) has become an increasingly popular topic. Current research focusses upon the potential ergogenic effects of vitamin D (vitD) in sporting performance; however, the relationship between vitD (dietary intake and nutritional status) and bone health within a University athlete cohort remains under-investigated. Therefore, the aims of this Thesis were to (1) examine vitD status longitudinally across the University competitive seasons and; (2) examine the implications that vitD deficiency/ insufficiency may have upon physical performance parameters or bone health. In the first study, fifty-seven competitive University level- athletes from varied sports were observed from autumn to spring. Radial bone mineral density (BMD) and physical performance parameters were investigated; for the analysis of vitD and parathyroid hormone, blood samples were collected. Within the cohort 7% presented with deficiency during the autumn; increasing to 44% during spring. However, this did not have a significant effect upon physical performance and bone health despite an average status of 31.5±16.4 nmol/L in spring. In the second study, 34 University athletes and sixteen sedentary students were recruited and followed from spring to summer. Whole body, hip and tibial scans were conducted to determine BMD and bone mineral content (BMC). Physical performance parameters including jump height, aerobic fitness, muscular strength and blood biochemistry were also collected. During the summer term, 26% of the cohort were vitD insufficient. Moreover, an insufficient vitD status was associated with a lowered jump height (p=0.015) but not aerobic fitness (p=0.07). There was also a significant positive relationship between vitD status, femoral neck BMC (r=0.685; p˂0.02) and BMD (r=0.679; p˂0.02). Our results show that BMD was higher in weight bearing athletes. The final study found that racket sport athletes had a significantly superior bone profile in their dominant arm when contrasted to controls. Overall, these findings suggest that an insufficient vitD status was associated with lower indices of muscular power and aerobic fitness in University students. Therefore, being vitD replete may not only play an important role in musculoskeletal health but could also be a key determining factor in athletic performance.
Riflessi del sincretismo religioso della Sicilia orientale nelle testimonianze scritte
Creators: name: Alfieri Tonini, Teresa
Publisher: name: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico
Year: 2012

description: Forthcoming.
description: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico, No 7 (2012): Convivenze etniche, scontri e contatti di culture in Sicilia e Magna Grecia
Nano-structure Survey of Natural and Biomimetic Dental Tissues by the 3D SAXS Tensor Tomography
Creators: name: Rabnawaz, Tayyaba
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2024
Subjects: small-angle X-ray scattering; tensor tomography; nanostructure; human dental tissue; dental caries; natural and artificial demineralisation

description: Human dental caries is transmissible bacterial disease, which dissolves the inorganic componentfrom the dental hard tissues (enamel, dentine and cementum), influences the micro- and nanostructureand mechanical properties of the teeth. To understand the change in the mechanicalproperties of the teeth caused by natural and laboratory-based artificially induced dental caries,firstly it is vital to understand how the structural arrangement at nanoscale resolution relates to theorganic/inorganic component of dental hard tissues. For this purpose, numerous studies has beenconducted using cutting-edge X-rays imaging techniques for the dental hard tissues structureinvestigation. However, due to the complex 3D hierarchical structure organisation of the dentine,there is still an understanding gap, primarily due to field of view and spatial resolution limitations.
To address these challenges, in this study first UK based advanced 3D Small-angle X-rayscattering tensors tomography (SASTT) technique has build-up at beamline I22, Diamond LightSource to investigate the 3D dentine structural variation due to dental caries a with a high imagingresolution at nanoscale. 3D SASTT findings show well-defined organic/inorganics componentdistribution into dentine, pronounced caries region and structure alterations. Additionally, toexplore the 3D dentine structure alteration effect on the mechanical properties of the dentine, insitu compression micro-mechanical testing was performed on healthy and demineralised dentine.The results of the study indicated that the strength of the demineralised dentine decreases threetimes more than healthy dentine.
By understanding this relationship, the next goal was to design a new ceramic-based compositesfor dental restorative applications and analyse their 3D structure distribution at the nanoscale.Overall, this study provides valuable insight into dentine structure and mechanical properties,which will facilitate development of high strength restorative materials to treat dental caries anddemineralised teeth in dentistry.
Food for Thought: Applying Behavioural Insights to Household Food Waste Recycling Behaviour.
Creators: name: Shearer, Linzi A.
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2020

description: Municipal waste production is one of the most widely recognised environmental issues in society today. In the UK, households are responsible for generating millions of tonnes of waste materials each year, with food waste proving to be a particularly problematic waste stream. Local authorities, who are responsible for waste management, have historically relied on changes to physical infrastructure or informational interventions to drive performance improvements. However, in times of increasing financial pressures, there has been a growing recognition that the transition to a sustainable, resilient and resourceful society will require fundamental changes to the way people think and behave. Indeed, what connects many modern-day sustainability challenges are their roots in human behaviour. While various ‘tools of government’ can be employed to realise strategic public policy objectives, emergent localism and the apparent ineffectiveness of this traditional approach catalysed a shift towards ensuring that statutory requirements were delivered more efficiently than ever before. This led to a widespread application of ‘insights’, synthesised from behavioural sciences, to inform the design, implementation and evaluation of new policy interventions. Enthusiasm to the so-called ‘nudge’ approach, which recognises that behaviour can be strongly and automatically influenced by the context in which it is situated, soon trickled down to local government, creating a growing appetite for the approach. These collective ‘behavioural insights’ provided local authorities with a powerful new set of policy tools that, if used correctly, could be used to influence waste behaviours. This research explored their application by evaluating the efficacy and affordability of those nudges that could feasibly be introduced at scale by local authority practitioners to produce a positive and sustained influence on household food waste recycling behaviour. By adopting a mixed-methods approach it was shown that, by making simple changes to the existing ‘choice environment’ in Surrey, it was possible to ‘nudge’ households towards engaging (more) in food waste recycling behaviour. Further, it was found that prompt-based nudges, using stickers as the medium of delivery, were particularly effective, with effects persisting for far longer than has typically been achieved using more ‘traditional’ informational policy interventions. While popular, the practice of ‘nudging’ has a range of issues, both conceptual and controversial, so it is important for policymakers to be aware of the differing philosophies, efficacy, methodologies and ethics associated with these types of intervention. While nudges may not be the ‘silver bullet’, it is argued that they are, at least for now, useful devices for policymakers to have in their ‘toolkit’.
Seismic resilience of novel rocking bridge foundation including soil structure interaction.
Creators: name: Rele, Rajesh
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2020

description: The conventional design philosophy of bridges allows damage in the pier through yielding. A fuse-like action is achieved if the bridge piers are designed to develop substantial inelastic deformations when subjected to earthquake excitations. Such a design can avoid collapse of the bridge but not damage. The damage is the plastic hinge formation at location of maximum forces and stresses that can lead to permanent lateral displacement. This can impair traffic flow and cause time consuming repairs or in some cases even complete demolition of the bridge. Rocking can act as a form of isolation by not fixing the foundation to the ground but to allow it to uplift and thus act as a mechanical fuse, limiting the forces transferred to the base of the structure. Rocking isolation enhances the seismic resistance of the structure and their post-earthquake serviceability. In this context, this research proposes a novel rocking isolation technique which uses elastomeric pads incorporated beneath the footing of the bridge piers and external restrainer in the form of shape memory alloy bar (SMA). The rocking mechanism is achieved by restricting the horizontal movement of footing by providing stoppers at all sides of footing. The pads are designed to remain elastic without allowing their shearing. The pier, the footing and the elastomeric pads are supported on concrete sub base which rests on firm strata such as stiff soil, hard rock or on pile cap. By performing nonlinear dynamic time history analysis and nonlinear pushover analysis, the proposed bridge with the novel resilient pier foundation is compared against an existing conventional bridge on spread foundation as well as on pile foundation. The proposed pier rocking on elastomeric pads and external restrainer has been found to have good re-centering capability and negligible residual drifts during earthquakes. It is also found that by allowing the foundation to uplift, the forces at base of pier are effectively reduced but the horizontal displacements at pier top are increased. However, these excessive pier displacements can be controlled by the sacrificial external SMA bars attached from the footing to the base slab of the foundation.
Tucidide e i Siculi: problemi di inquadramento etnico e politico
Creators: name: Schirripa, Paola
Publisher: name: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico
Year: 2012

description: Forthcoming.
description: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico, No 7 (2012): Convivenze etniche, scontri e contatti di culture in Sicilia e Magna Grecia
Mathematical models for tissue growth and development with applications to organoids and tissue engineering
Creators: name: Boniface, Kieran Peter
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2024
Subjects: Mechanobiology
Mechanotransduction
Tissue growth
Contractility
Organoids

description: The behaviour of soft tissues is heavily influenced by their mechanical microenvironment. Mechanical forces have been shown to play a crucial role in the development of cells and tissues. However, the impact of mechanical interactions on tissue behaviours is made more complex since tissues can generate forces through growth and cellular contractility. In this thesis, we develop continuum mechanics models based on the theory of elasticity to understand the mechanical behaviour of organoid experiments.
We first consider an active stress approach to model cellular contractility on the tissue level. With a linear elastic framework and symmetry arguments, analytical solutions for the deformations can be found. We show that the ratio of tissue stiffness and matrix stiffness is a key parameter for the existence of potential mechanical signalling mechanisms. We further develop this model to account for mechanical feedback, in which the contractile response of the tissues now depends on its strain. With this feedback mechanism, we show an effective stiffening of the tissue. The tissue's Poisson ratio plays a pivotal role in driving this stiffening phenomenon, underscoring the significance of tissue compressibility. We find that the predicted response of tissues in 3D differs greatly from the response of cells in 2D experiments.
We then introduce a framework for modelling tissue growth using elasticity theory, switching to a nonlinear framework in doing so. We further highlight the importance of the relative stiffness between the tissue and the surrounding matrix. We develop our framework further by coupling contractility into the growth model. We find that growth and contractility are in some sense antagonistic mechanics, where they oppose the deformations caused by each other. Finally, we consider possible mechanisms for stress-based growth which further highlight the importance of tissue compressibility on the mechanical behaviour of organoids.
Monte Casasia. Alcune osservazioni sulla ceramica greca dalla necropoli
Creators: name: Lorefice, Giuseppe
Publisher: name: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico
Year: 2012

description: Forthcoming.
description: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico, No 7 (2012): Convivenze etniche, scontri e contatti di culture in Sicilia e Magna Grecia
Convivenza e ostentazione. Tombe “aristocratiche” greche nei centri siculi. I casi dell’entroterra di Camarina
Creators: name: Di Stefano, Giovanni
Publisher: name: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico
Year: 2012

description: Forthcoming.
description: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico, No 7 (2012): Convivenze etniche, scontri e contatti di culture in Sicilia e Magna Grecia
Convivenze nei monti Iblei? Il caso di Castiglione di Ragusa
Creators: name: Mercuri, Laurence
Publisher: name: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico
Year: 2012

description: Forthcoming.
description: Aristonothos. Scritti per il Mediterraneo antico, No 7 (2012): Convivenze etniche, scontri e contatti di culture in Sicilia e Magna Grecia
Role of p38 and STAT5 Kinase Pathways in the Regulation of Survival of Motor Neuron Gene Expression for Development of Novel Spinal Muscular Atrophy Therapeutics
Creators: name: Farooq, Faraz T
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2012
Subjects: Anisomycin
Celecoxib
Novel therapeutics
p38 MAPK
Prolactin
SMA
SMN

description: Spinal muscle atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease which is characterized by the loss of α motor neurons from the anterior horn of the spinal cord, resulting in progressive muscle atrophy. The loss of functional Survival motor neuron (SMN) protein due to mutations or deletion in the SMN1 gene is the cause of SMA. A potential treatment strategy for SMA is to upregulate levels of the SMN protein originating from the copy gene SMN2 which can compensate in part for the absence of the functional SMN1 gene. I have shown a novel therapeutic strategy for SMA treatment through the activation of the p38 pathway by the bacterial antibiotic anisomycin which stabilizes and increases SMN mRNA levels in vitro. Activation of the p38 pathway by anisomycin leads to cytoplasmic accumulation of HuR protein which binds to the 3’UTR of SMN transcript resulting in increased SMN levels. This opens up a novel potential therapeutic strategy for SMA. I have also identified and demonstrated a significant induction of SMN protein levels in vitro and in vivo upon treatment with FDA approved drug celecoxib, which also activates the p38 pathway. Celecoxib mitigates disease severity along with increasing the lifespan of SMA mice. Sodium valproate, trichostatin A and aclarubicin, all agents which effectively enhance SMN2 expression, have been recently shown to activate STAT5 in SMA-like mouse embryonic fibroblasts and human SMN2-transfected NSC34 cells. Given that prolactin is also known to activate the STAT5 signalling pathway, can cross blood brain barrier and is FDA approved, we elected to assess its impact on SMN levels. In this manner, I have demonstrated a significant induction in SMN mRNA and protein levels in neuronal NT2 and MN-1 cells upon treatment with prolactin. I have also demonstrated that activation of the STAT5 pathway by prolactin is necessary for this transcriptional upregulation of the SMN gene. I have found that prolactin treatment induces SMN expression in brain and spinal cord samples and that it ameliorates the disease phenotype, improving motor neuron function and increasing survival in the SMA mouse model. Presently there is no cure for SMA. This study will help in the identification and characterization of potential therapeutic compounds for the treatment of SMA.
Novel Combination Therapy: Monensin Potentiates Erlotinib-Induced Cytotoxicity
Creators: name: Khalil, Dayekh
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2013
Subjects: monensin
erlotinib
lovastatin
head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
combination treatment

description: Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) inhibitors, such as erlotinib/tarceva, have been introduced in the past decade as a promising therapeutic option in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC), however, they lack significant efficacy as single agents. As a result, RTK inhibitors require a combination based therapeutic approach with other treatment modalities. To uncover such a combination of agents, we performed a high throughput Prestwick library screen that included 1200 compounds approved by the FDA on HNSCC cell lines and found that monensin, a coccidial antibiotic, synergistically enhanced the cytotoxicity of erlotinib. RT-PCR revealed that monensin induced the expression of Activation of Transcription Factor (ATF) 3 and its downstream target C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) which are key regulators of apoptosis. Furthermore, RNA-Seq analysis suggests that monensin augments erlotinib cytotoxicity by disturbing lipid and sterol biosynthesis. Therefore, identifying the mechanism of action exerted by monensin may open alternative avenues of cancer treatment.
Exploring hybridity during a global pandemic: a study of educators’ perceptions of hybrid teaching in a UK research intensive university
Creators: name: McLaughlin, Celeste
Publisher: name: Lancaster University
Year: 2024
Subjects: hybrid-teaching
Covid-19
phenomenography
sociomateriality
postdigital

description: This thesis captures educators' lived experience of teaching
 undergraduate students in one research intensive university in the United
 Kingdom during a time of uncertainty and rapid changes to pedagogical
 practices in response to the Covid-19 health pandemic. The research
 methodology was informed by phenomenography and data included
 semi-structured interviews and photo elicitation. Variations in educators’
 perceived experiences of hybrid teaching during academic year 2020-21 were
 identified, as were some common characteristics. The findings were
 considered using a sociomaterial framework to make visible and challenge
 beliefs about teaching in bounded campus spaces. Findings were interpreted
 using a postdigital perspective to consider the intersection between
 digital technology, pedagogy and the social elements of education. They
 contribute to an emerging and valuable body of knowledge about teaching
 during times of crisis, uncertainty, and rapid change, to provide insights
 which will be useful to inform future periods of disruption and crisis in
 order to be better prepared. The research also provides insights into
 changing understandings of digital pedagogies by capturing nuanced and
 contextual understandings of changing teaching practices and some
 considerations about how these changes might inform teaching practices
 beyond the pandemic are offered.