• A qualitative investigation of the therapeutic relationship in the facilitation of empowerment in psychological therapy for adults with learning disabilities

      Chadwick, Darren; Wesson, Caroline; Alonso, Phoebe (University of Wolverhampton, 2019-11)
      Background Many authors in the field of adult learning disabilities have described the challenges experienced by clinicians in obtaining evidence regarding the effectiveness of psychological therapies for this particular client group (e.g. it can be a costly, lengthy, time-consuming process) (Taylor, Lindsay, Hastings & Hatton, 2013). Gaps also exist in the area of social justice and empowerment in relation to this population, which has historically experienced significant inequalities. This research intended to contribute to the current information available for researchers and psychological practitioners and to focus upon particular practical issues highlighted as important to the service-users, therapists and support workers within a single UK NHS service. The aims of this research project were: 1. To investigate what factors clients with learning disabilities find most helpful and empowering in the psychological therapy received from psychological therapists. 2. To ascertain how the therapeutic relationship affects psychological well-being within a learning disabled population, as facilitated by their therapists and support workers. 3. To explore the importance of support workers’ involvement in providing support with psychotherapeutic work for PWLD. 4. To consider how empowerment is experienced and conceptualised by the main stakeholders in the therapeutic encounter, between PWLD, their therapist and their support worker. Method Five triads were interviewed, each consisting of a person with learning disabilities, a psychological therapist and a support worker. Qualitative methodology was used to analyse the data obtained, via Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Findings The resulting research findings highlighted the importance of four super-ordinate themes: i) Values, Stigma & Social Equity; ii) Building Relationships, Collaboration & Trust; iii) Coping & Adaptations and iv) Positive Outcomes. Implications for various key groups including counselling psychologists, were considered and findings were contextualised with prior research findings. Conclusions The researcher’s original contribution to knowledge relates to the inclusion and exploration of the experiences and perspectives of three related stakeholder groups, including previously under-represented participants with learning disabilities, in order to voice what was important to them in terms of the therapeutic relationship and the facilitation of empowerment through psychological therapy.
    • Quantitative risk assessment in drill casing design for oil and gas wells

      Zhang, Xutuan (University of Wolverhampton, 2004)
      In the oil and gas industry the use of a reliability based design is becoming increasingly important because of the increasingly requirements for safety and economy. In contrast to the traditional working stress design (WSD), Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) provides the methodology for quantifying the risk of the design for a particular scenario. The full QRA methodology was discussed and a mathematical model, based on Generalised Pareto Distribution (GPD) and Asymptotic important sampling (AIS) techniques, was built to give more precise answer by analysing limited random data points rather than using the assumed pre-defined distributions. Particular attention is paid to the tails of the distribution to obtain a good fit. The methods developed are compared with the traditional methods such as First/Second Order Reliability Method (FORM/SORM), Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) to assess the efficiency and accuracy. It is shown that, for the examples considered, the proposed methods provide accurate and efficient results for the probability of failure. Another important characteristic of this method is that it uses the random data and does not need the user to determine the distribution type of the variables. And the mathematical model built in the present research is a generalised method and can be use for other risk assessment.
    • Queering the Black Country: a critical and creative response

      McDonald, Paul; Colbert, Ben; Francis, Robert Mark (2018-09-01)
      This project explores the following research questions: How might Black Country fiction illuminate the possible connections – in theory and practice – between the post-industrial liminality of the region and queer identity or experience; and, in what ways might a close analysis of contemporary Black Country fiction function as an enabling or energising factor in the production of a new creative work about the region? Using Environmental Psychology and Psychogeography, I critically examine the ways the literature of the region depict its geography and the impact this has on the identity of its characters. Freudian and post-Freudian psychoanalysis is utilised to discuss ideas of liminal states of being - focusing on the uncanny, the abject and Lacan’s Lamella. These ideas are set within the framework of Queer Theory, connecting place and identity with non-normative sexualities. Psychogeography and environmental psychology illustrate how one’s culture, heritage and environment help form communal identity and sense of place. I examine sense of place in the region’s literature and investigate the liminal aspects of its geography and socio-politics, exposing how liminal place affects the inhabiting cultures and communities, and how liminal place forges liminal experience and identity. I investigate identity by looking at literary depictions of abjection and the uncanny; using Freud, Lacan and Kristeva, this project looks at notions of coming into being, and the anxieties formed from the return of the repressed. Queer Theory focuses on non-normative desire and sexuality. I discuss how queer experience and identity can be read as liminal, uncanny and abject. These theories are set against the landscape of the Black Country, examining how the region can be used as a fruitful backdrop for dealing with identity politics and how the Black Country, in its borderlessness, plays a significant role in specifically local types of queerness. An important thematic thread of contemporary Black Country literature deals with notions of identity in a post-industrial landscape. The region can be identified as post-industrial in several ways. I examine how Black Country writers deal with it as a borderless place – a place difficult to map, a place where new meets old, where rural life sits next to heavy industry, a place geographically and socio-politically liminal. This thesis is a piece of literary criticism of existing Black Country Literature, an original piece of creative writing and a reflective commentary on my creative practices. Queering the Black Country investigates the research questions through three different methodologies, resulting in an overall conclusion that draws on three distinct academic / creative practices. The critical output sets out how Black Country writing can be read as examples of liminal, post-industrial and queer literature. This also develops the theoretical framework the creative element uses. The creative output develops and adds to the existing dialogue of these ideas of liminality and queer experience, offering an original creative perspective on the traditions of this region’s literature. My reflective commentary explores how creative writing practices and processes, in terms of narrative devices, add to the ways one produces liminal and queer literature. This part critical - part creative project investigates slippery notions of liminality through criticism of existing Black Country literature and through production of an original piece of creative fiction.
    • The race to the top: the experiences and strategies of women of colour in UK academia

      Yamak, Sibel; Ogunseyin, Michael; Omhand , Khaoula; University of Wolverhampton Business School, Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences (University of Wolverhampton, 2023-04)
      Research has outlined the potential benefits of diversity at multiple levels of higher education. At the organisational level, the underrepresentation of BAME women in senior positions in academia, particularly in professorship positions remains of high interest for academics, practitioners, and policymakers. To have better understanding of this wicked problem, this study critically explores the extent to which neo-liberalism as a doxa has impacted the career progression of academic women of colour. It investigates the extent to which racialised experience and White privilege, and early life experience impact women of colour’s career progression, and investigates the strategies deployed by those women to succeed in UK universities despite these multi-layered challenges. The study contributes to the literature and theory in three major areas. This study applies Bourdieu’s practice theory (field, habitus, capital and doxa), Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) to investigate the ‘Race' of Women of colour to the top of the ivory tower. Using first Bourdieu thinking tools lens with a focus on field and doxa allowed the interaction between women of colour interviewed and their context to be recognised. This nexus of levels in this research was essential as it permitted the analysis of the macro context by examining the micro and equally the illumination of how macro level issues shape experiences at the micro level. Second, this study also challenges critical race theory by recognising that it doesn’t fully acknowledge or represent class aspects and the agency of the participants. This is illustrated in my need to draw on Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and capital to demonstrate the role of socio-economic class in shaping the career decision and progression of our participants. Lastly, to move beyond countering deficit views of women of colour in the UK academy; I proposed using CCW framework to help direct discussions of our participants away from their defect experiences toward their adequacies. Grounded in critical paradigm and Black feminist epistemology, and building upon Critical Diversity Studies, the 24 participants interviewed in this study share their experiential knowledge of journeying through the UK academia system by reflecting on their experience in getting professorship positions. Results exhibit the influence of neoliberalism as a doxa, class and race on their career journey in academia — from early life until securing academic positions. This research highlights some of the unique challenges confronted by this group including the extent to which the changing environment of higher education institutions and the ethos of neoliberalism as a doxa has disturbed their progression and development, the extent to which racism was endemic and remained rooted and positioned at different levels, and the role of early life and social class impacting upon participants’ decision to enter academia and thrive or struggle in their academic roles. Yet, due to strong commitment to reaching academic ‘success’ in their career journey, Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) strategies are utilised to overcome such challenges. Finally, limited understandings of academic career success and university leadership based on meritocratic and neoliberal underpinnings are questioned. I argue that current knowledge fails to recognise inherent inequalities within the university system that make it problematic for women academics of colour to achieve professorship positions. Thus, we explore prospects to (re)envisage academic career and university leadership including professorship positions beyond the dominant discourse of neoliberal meritocracy.
    • Re-investigating coastal trade: the ports of the Bristol Channel and the Severn Estuary, c.1695 - c.1704

      Hussey, David P. (University of Wolverhampton, 1995)
      This thesis provides a fresh perspective on the coastal trade of a major domestic region centred upon the port of Bristol. It acknowledges that coasting formed a vital link in the economy of pre-industrial England and Wales. However, coasting has been seen as the eternally poor relation of international and transoceanic commerce in studies of economic growth, urban development, and industrial diversification. This imbalance is addressed fully. The thesis sheds new light upon the volume, nature, structure and mechanisms of both the coastal and internal trades, and exposes to a more critical analysis the extent to which Bristol, as the major regional centre, acted as a 'quasi-metropolis' in the direction of the internal trade of its hinterland. A central theme is the computerisation, and examination of a wide sample of coastal Port Books for the ports of the Bristol Channel, over a limited but coherent timespan. Port Book data are also integrated with data gleaned from mercantile accounts to enable a thorough reconstruction of the means and motives of regional commerce to be devised. The Introduction discusses the study of internal trade and argues that the lack of sustained research emanates from the absence of accessible and tractable quantitative evidence. With regard to coasting, problems surrounding the interpretation and manipulation of the coastal Port Books have limited many investigations. Similarly, the want of quantitative evidence has led many accounts of the region into repeating uncritically theories of the centrality of Bristol and its perceived metropolitan hegemony over regional patterns of trade. Chapter 1 analyses how Port Books have been utilised to date and provides a detailed methodological overview of the coastal Books for the Bristol Channel ports within the geographical and chronological parameters of the research. The Chapter also outlines the strategies of analysis and computerisation and the technical bases through which Port Books are structured for further study. The following Chapters use the datasets as case studies to shed new light upon the conduct of the coastal trade. Chapter 2 constructs a hierarchy of commercial activity at the regional ports and examines the spatial patterns of trade within the region; Chapter 3 provides an insight into the extent and range of goods carried, arguing that bulk staples did not wholly dominate coasting as is implied by secondary literature; and Chapter 4 analyses the level of mercantile organisation, boat provision and operation. In Chapter 5, Port Book data are combined with the accounts of Hoare and Company and William Alloway, two important Bridgwater merchant houses, to indicate how coastal, river and overland trade provided a complex, highly sophisticated transport system. The Conclusion suggests that the methods and techniques outlined in the thesis provide a basis for the re-interpretation of coastal trade, not only in the relation of Bristol to its nominally subordinate economic hinterland, but also in the wider significance of coasting to the development of the pre-industrial economy.
    • Rebalancing acts?: an evaluation of the changes to the right of silence and pre-trial disclosure

      Quirk, Hannah (University of Wolverhampton, 2003)
      This thesis examines the direct and indirect effects of the curtailment of the right of silence, (ss34-38 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994), and the pre-trial disclosure regime created by Part 1 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996. The effects are explored through critiques of the debates surrounding the introduction of the Acts, associated research, analyses of the case law and a qualitative study of how criminal justice practitioners in one region of England view the provisions. It demonstrates the flaws, in both principle and practice, of the rhetoric of `re-balancing' a system tipped too far in favour of `criminals' that was deployed in support of these measures and subsequent initiatives that encroach further upon the rights of the accused. Whilst the direct effects of these Acts have been limited by the small number of cases to which they apply, it is argued that their insidious effects go beyond mere procedural change and have distorted the adversarial nature of the criminal justice system. Both Statutes have imposed quasi-inquisitorial expectations upon the defence, the results of which, the prosecution is entitled to deploy in an adversarial contest. The provisions undermine many of the protections guaranteeing suspects a fair trial, in particular legal advice at the police station, in such a way as to be almost immune from formal challenge. Rather than `re-balancing', the process may be more appropriately characterised as a series of crude "trade-offs" which have compromised the fundamental rights of the defendant and vitiated the fairness of proceedings.
    • Recalling trauma: the legacy of slavery and colonialism in contemporary black women’s fiction

      Colbert, Benjamin; Otuegbe, Nneoma; School of Humanities, Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences (University of Wolverhampton, 2023-09)
      This thesis examines key literary representations of black women’s historical trauma linked to colonialism and slavery. Through comparative readings of contemporary fiction by black women writers from two continents, I explore the intimate links between the historical traumas of colonialism and slavery and the identity of black women in novels by Toni Morrison, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Edwidge Danticat, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Scholastique Mukasonga published between 2004 and 2014. The authors I consider represent literary historians engaging with traumatic pasts in order to rewrite and (re)present black women in a global present. From a postcolonial feminist and cultural trauma viewpoint, I reflect on the manifestations of slavery and colonial trauma on black women characters and explore the ways in which they navigate the historical limitations of collective trauma in their respective locales. My readings interrogate and demonstrate the possibility of a postcolonial feminist and decolonised trauma model that is specific to black women’s writing through a global, transcultural, and transnational outlook. This is a model which centres the experiences of black women from around the world as it is depicted in literature by black women. In addition to this, I examine the solidarities envisioned by the authors under investigation in this thesis in terms of a progressive decolonised trauma studies which encourages healing beyond borders for female descendants of former slaves and formerly colonised peoples. By uncovering the links between the remembering of traumatic events and the processes of healing as groups –– as opposed to the individualised Euro-American models articulated by pioneer theorists ––I situate my interrogation of a specific postcolonial feminist trauma theory as being crucial to my reading of my primary texts and argue that through this, we can uncover ways in which the fiction discussed here articulates and offers routes to communal healing from (initially through voicing) the previously unsaid traumas that are specific to the experience of black women in postcolonial settings. As its contribution to knowledge, this thesis introduces and utilises a decolonised trauma model which situates the black female historical perspective into specific focus and includes as well as studies postcolonial women’s fiction as part of a historical corpus. The thesis also demonstrates a closure of the gap between cultural texts written by American black women and other black women from around the world. Through a comparative analytical methodology and a theoretical framework which combines theories of cultural trauma, black and postcolonial feminisms, it locates black women’s trauma as a significant specific area in the fields of feminism, postcolonial trauma studies, comparative literature, world literatures in English, women’s studies, and studies in fiction.
    • Reducing medication errors in Kuwaiti government hospitals through pharmacovigilance

      Morrissey, Hana; Saada, Mohammad; School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science and Engineering (University of Wolverhampton, 2021-07)
      Background: Reducing medication errors in Kuwaiti government hospitals through pharmacovigilance involves the improvement of medication management practices to achieve the desired outcome. Medication management practices were assessed and based upon the findings, training to enhance healthcare professional’s awareness was developed, and recommendations for improvement of medication safety practices to reduce medication errors through pharmacovigilance were made. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the extent of medication errors in the Kuwaiti government healthcare system, to gauge the healthcare professional’ awareness about medication safety culture and assess the healthcare professional’s attitudes towards medication error reporting. Methods and design: The study design included five distinct phases. A medical records/systems audit, for healthcare professionals an observation study, survey and development and piloting of a training package, plus the development of a framework for a medication error reporting and recording system. Results: The study revealed important findings at all five steps of the research process. The audit revealed that almost half of identified errors occurred during the prescribing stage (46.1%). The observation study of professionals revealed low compliance with basic standards of good practice such as (68%) updating patient information and (68%) double-checking prescribed medication. The professionals’ survey results revealed that (53.3%) were not aware of the existence of a medication error reporting system. The results of the training program implementation showed that (58%) of professionals indicated that they would like this training to be offered once a year and (39%) felt that the training session should last for at least one day. Finally, the study made recommendations with regards to the suggested algorithm for medication management process, clinical governance and a culturally safe reporting system. Conclusion: This multifaceted research study on reducing medication errors in Kuwaiti government hospitals through pharmacovigilance involved audits, observation studies, surveys, trainings, and the development of system recommendations for future enhancement in terms of recording systems, audit of reports, feedback to staff and development of an open, no blame, error-averse healthcare culture.
    • Reflections beyond words: using auto-driven photo-elicitation to explore the pain management programme journey

      Cureton, Debra; Lawton, Megan; Ward, Gavin; Roberts, Suzanne (University of Wolverhampton, 2021-05)
      In the UK, around one-third to one-half of the population are estimated to be affected by persistent pain, a long-term complex condition which can have serious implications for an individual’s everyday functioning and quality of life. A biopsychosocial approach to care and pain management programmes can be adopted as a treatment option. A growing body of research supports the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy based pain management programmes. This research, however, is based on analyses of pre-post changes in pre-defined outcome measures. Limited qualitative research has focused on programme evaluation and the notion of acceptance. This study aimed to explore the individuals’ everyday experience of change as they progressed through a pain management programme to enhance understanding of the change process from the individuals’ perspective. This study also aimed to establish how auto-driven photo-elicitation can support participants to articulate their pain management journey. Nine participants who were part of a six-week online pain management programme were asked to generate weekly images representing a meaningful change in their pain management. These images were discussed in photo-elicitation interviews at week two, four and six of the programme. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings represented the way participants created meaning associated with changes in their pain management across the three timepoints of data collection. The significance of these time points in relation to pain management were constructed as: (1) Insight and Awareness, (2) Integration and (3) Reframing. All participants described a shift in their perspective towards pain, which appeared to be facilitated by factors of ‘acceptance’ and ‘empowerment’. Auto-driven photo-elicitation was found to ‘invite reflection’ and held ‘therapeutic value’ which facilitated the change process. Photography was found to be an engaging and valuable method for helping individuals articulate their pain management journey. This provides support for the adaptability of pain management programmes and the use of photography to create therapeutic opportunities.
    • Reflections from practice using the UK QAA Quality Code as a framework to assist in managing and subsequently closing an international branch campus

      Devlin, Linda; Houlton, Loraine Jennifer (University of Wolverhampton, 2019-01)
      This study is based on a single longitudinal live case study of an International Branch Campus The scope of this study relates to learning lessons from the current literature in relation to International Branch Campuses [IBC]. The review of the current literature allowed me to identify risks based on experiences from my fellow practitioners, which then allowed me to mitigate my own exposure to them. This related initially to the setting up of an IBC and thereafter the delivery at an IBC. The introduction of a Quality Framework, in December 2012, by the Quality Assurance Agency [QAA] is an independent body whose role is safeguard standards and improve the quality of UK higher education wherever it is delivered around the world. The Quality Framework was a unification of standards across the whole of the UK, whereas previously there were separate systems in England, Wales and Scotland and Northern Ireland. The framework introduced two key new concepts, firstly, a ‘risk based approach’, the first phase of risk management is risk identification according the Institute of Risk Management and by reviewing existing literature I was able to identify risks from learning lessons from existing case study examples. The second concept related to quality enhancement rather than just focusing on quality assurance. This encourages a continuous monitoring of processes rather than the previous concept of annual monitoring. This was piloted in the case study example in the form of a lessons learned log which identified risks at the earliest opportunity, which then fed into the Course Journal. A lessons learned log approach allowed students to be engaged in the quality process more and quality became a positive element, looking at what went well, and even better if…mind set rather than ticking a box in relation to compliance. This research is based in a lived in case study example of an IBC which opened in March 2012, prior to, and the subsequent introduction of the Quality Framework, and illustrates the lessons learned through the first year of operation providing an insight to examples of quality enhancement in relation to pedagogical examples of delivery, content and student engagement. In June 2015 a decision was made to close the case study International Branch Campus whilst reviewing literature in relation to closing an International Branch Campus there was a gap in relation to ‘how to’ close rather than providing data on how many had closed [although this appears to be lacking in rigor], and identifying the reasons for closure. This study will illustrate how to close an International Branch Campus using the QAA Quality Framework to ensure that student enhancement opportunities are identified to support student success.
    • Regional and Firm Level Determinants of International Competitiveness: An Examination of SME’s Role, Capability and Competencies

      Ahmed, Pervaiz K.; Cook, Mark (University of Wolverhampton, 2008)
      In our increasingly globalised world, supranational regions, nation states and individual country regions are progressively more in competition with one another. How the nation state and region can become more competitive and how this competitiveness can be measured is open to debate. This thesis presents work based upon two aspects that have been proffered as to how competitiveness at the country and region level can be explained, that is through investment (via Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)) inflows and through the development of enterprise and in particular the enhancement of the small firm in international markets. The theme that runs through the thesis is one of competitiveness and competence. The competence of the region to attract FDI and the competence of the entrepreneur and the SME to undertake internationalisation. The thesis begins by examining the concepts of national and regional competitiveness. Two of the determinants of national and regional competitiveness are then considered - FDI and the level of small firm activity/entrepreneurship. The paper analyses the empirical and theoretical work on FDI and considers how regional competencies/factors can be used to attract FDI. SME internationalisation and its impact on regional competitiveness are then examined, focussing on the resources and competences, at the level of the entrepreneur and the firm, which influence SME internationalisation. The thesis contributes to the richness of understanding of the complex relationship between the range of explanatory factors at a regional, national and supra-national level that influence inbound FDI. In particular providing a much better understanding of UK regional FDI inflows. The section on internationalisation of SMEs contributes to the understanding of entrepreneurial and firm competences through the study of small firms at the county level of Northamptonshire. This county is a relatively under-researched area in the study of SMEs and in the study of the county's SME activity in international markets it has been even more sparsely investigated.
    • Registered nurses’ experiences of working with trainee nursing associates in acute hospital settings: a generic qualitative study

      Cureton, Debra; Pursehouse, Lucy; Mitchell, Jacqueline; Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing
      Launching new roles in healthcare settings can be controversial; potentially threatening the status of existing professionals. The introduction of the Trainee/Nursing Associate (TNA/NA) role occurred in response to a governmental mandate to bridge the gap between unregulated generic healthcare support workers and Registered Nurses (RNs) in 2016. Nursing associates support RNs in the provision of quality patient care. Within a growing body of literature exploring the impact of the introduction of TNAs/NAs, there is a clear research gap addressing what it is like to work with TNAs, exclusively from the RN perspective. I adopted a Generic Qualitative Research Approach (GQRA) to explore RN experiences. This overarching GQRA approach provided a method of exploring the discipline of nursing. My study is aligned to the constructivist branch of interpretivism with a narrative inquiry lens. Phenomenology and hermeneutics are integral to my study design, focusing on the lived experience of participants. Purposive criterion sampling recruited five RN participants who took part in an individual face to face semi-structured interview during 2018. Reflexive Thematic Analysis generated five themes and seventeen subthemes. The five themes were, Apprehension, TNAs alleviate pressure and provide support, Conflict and tension, Professional accountability and Harmony and reciprocal learning. Findings revealed that RNs journeyed from an initial position of apprehension and uncertainty as they worked with TNAs, to a later position of accepting and welcoming TNAs to the role across a variety of acute clinical settings. An unexpected finding was the existence of conflict, tension, jealousy and animosity from healthcare support worker colleagues toward TNAs. The introduction of new healthcare support roles can be contentious. A myriad of dynamics impact on the acceptance and successful embedding of new roles into existing teams. The exclusive RN perspective within a generic qualitative research approach, with both a narrative inquiry and hermeneutic interpretative lens makes this study unique. My study is timely and adds to the developing body of knowledge where an in-depth understanding of the RN experience of working with TNAs and NAs is not evident. Various recommendations have been proposed for three different audiences: the nursing profession and nursing practice, workforce planners and managers, and educationalists in academic settings.
    • Regulation of VEGF-activated signalling by the plasma membrane calcium ATPase 4 in endothelial cells

      Armesilla, Angel; Immanuel, Reshma Naomi Ranjit (University of Wolverhampton, 2021-01)
      INTRODUCTION: Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones. It is a tightly regulated processes involving pro- and anti-angiogenic molecules. Deregulation of this process is associated with aberrant blood vessel formation (excessive or insufficient) in several human pathologies. Among the many pro-angiogenic factors promoting angiogenesis, the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been characterised as a major regulator of both physiological and pathological angiogenesis. Therefore, the characterisation of the molecular mechanisms that regulate VEGF-induced angiogenesis is essential to develop therapeutic strategies that correct abnormal angiogenesis. In this sense, our group has previously reported a negative role for the Plasma Membrane Calcium ATPase 4 (PMCA4) protein in endothelial cells, acting via inhibition of the pro-angiogenic calcineurin/NFAT signalling pathway. However, we hypothesise that other intracellular pathways might be regulated by PMCA4 in endothelial cells during VEGF stimulation of angiogenesis. METHODS: To identify PMCA4 regulated pro-angiogenic signalling pathways, we have screened gene arrays related to Notch signalling or extracellular matrix-Cell Adhesion Molecule (ECM-CAM) pathway using RNA isolated from PMCA4-silenced (or control) HUVEC. Changes in gene expression after PMCA4 knockdown have been further validated by TaqMan-based qPCR in HUVEC or HDMEC. RNA levels of PMCA4 in aging HUVEC were analysed by TaqMan qPCR using RNA isolated from HUVEC cultured from different passages (from 3 to 15 passages). RESULTS: siRNA-mediated PMCA4 knockdown led to increased expression of Notch ligand DLL1 and Notch target gene Hey1 in VEGF-stimulated HUVEC. Expression of the transcription factor c-Fos was also elevated after PMCA4 knockdown in HUVEC stimulated with VEGF for 1h. Analysis of a gene array containing genes encoding extracellular matrix and cell adhesion molecules revealed that PMCA4 silencing alters the basal expression of P-Selectin and L-Selectin in HUVEC. The expression of other genes in the array like, ADAMTS-1, E-Selectin, and VCAM-1, was affected by lack of PMCA4, but only when cells were stimulated with VEGF. Examination of changes in the expression of these genes in PMCA4-silenced HUVEC or HDMEC showed differences indicating that PMCA4 might differentially regulate these genes in different sub-types of endothelial cells. In conclusion, our results suggest that PMCA4 negatively regulates Notch signaling pathway, and it is required for proper synthesis of ECM-CAM molecules. A first step to investigate the expression of PMCA4 in endothelial cells during aging has shown that PMCA4 mRNA levels increase along cell culture passage in HUVEC. However, this initial result requires further verification of changes in PMCA4 protein levels and/or in other cellular types to conclude that PMCA4 expression increases with aging.
    • Relationship of the glycation gap to diabetes and its complications, and the potential role of adipokines

      Ojo, Opeolu; Idiakheua, Omoriawo Simeon; Faculty of Science and Engineering (University of Wolverhampton, 2023-01)
      Background: Diabetes mellitus has become a global health menace and the management cost to both developed and developing countries is biting hard on the economy. Diabetes mellitus is primarily caused by hyperglycaemia and research has confirmed the strong link of obesity as a precursor of type 2 diabetes. Hyperglycaemia is a major and an independent risk factor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and atherosclerosis in diabetes. Obesity is also associated with cardiovascular disease which is one of the diabetic complications. Stress which is one the predisposing factor of obesity generates a vicious cycle leading to the release of high level of inflammatory adipokines and this is the link between obesity and CVD. Adipokines are believed to have a role in diabetic complications. This research intends to understand the role some specified adipokines plays in insulin secretions and beta cell failure. Glycation is a common and spontaneous reaction of proteins or lipids becoming glycated after exposure to sugars, occurring in vivo without the controlling action of an enzyme. Deglycation is an enzyme-mediated pathway and fructoseamine-3-kinase (FN3K) is believed to be one of the major enzymes. FN3K is known to play a protective role in the development of vascular complications in diabetes patients. In the absence of deglycation or deglycating enzymes, advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) are formed. This research work employed 1-deoxy-1-morpholino fructose (DMF) a major enzyme which can prevent deglycation to show the importance of deglycation in beta cell and FN3K role in insulin secretion. Method: This research work analysed glycoprotein acetylation (GlycA) a known inflammatory marker that tracks systemic inflammation and cardiovascular risk. The investigation of the potential role of inflammation in the GGap using a novel (and putatively better than existing measures such as CRP) marker of inflammation, GlycA was carried out. A total of 54 diabetic patients were used for this research work and divided into 2 groups. GGap negative (G0) = 34 and GGap positive (G1) = 20. 1H- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) was used to analyse the samples and measuring the different peaks. Glycoscale was used for glycoproteins while liposcale was used for lipoproteins. Laboratory analyses were carried out to ascertain the pathophysiological role of adipokines in inducing insulin secretion. The laboratory analysis includes assessment of insulin secretion from MIN6 and BRIN-BD11 cells, effects of WISP1 on beta cells viability, effects of some adipokines (WISP1, eNAMPT/Visfatin, sFRP4) on insulin secretions/release from pancreatic beta cell. To this end, MIN6 cells were cultured in low and high glucose media, treated with different concentrations of adipokines, and tested for insulin secretion, beta cell failure and cell viability. Using insulin ELISA assay, the concentrations of insulin release/secretions was measured while cell viability was determined by using prestoleblue. Results: Visfatin/eNAMPT exhibited a dose dependant insulin response at high concentrations. WISP1 acute effects (incubating cells for 48hours) shows a dose-dependent outcome on insulin secretions and a reduced effects at high concentrations. Chronic effects of WISP1 (incubation of cells for over 72 hours) shows increase acute GSIS over 72hr period independent of glucose or WISP1 concentrations (P-value = 0.0025). With low glucose, MIN6 cell viability decreases over 72 hours while at high glucose, cells didn’t appear to have proliferated much over 72 hours. sFRP4 had an increased effect at higher glucose levels. The introduction of FN3K inhibitor in the presence of high glucose led to a drastic fall in insulin release with P value = 0.005. GlycA and GlycB but not GlycF concentrations were elevated in the Positive GGap group (p<0.001). BMI was higher in positive GGap indicating its link to diabetes and its complications. VLDL was higher in cholesterol and triglyceride in positive GGap patients while HDL was lower in cholesterol and triglyceride in positive GGap patients (p<0.001). Conclusion: This research has been able to show that the selected adipokines are able to induce insulin secretion. GGap positive patients are more susceptible to diabetes complications. GlycA and GlycB but not GlycF shows to be potent biomarker of inflammation. Lipoproteins particles of GGap positive patients are more exposed to diabetes complications. Lipoprotein particle measurement may be useful in patients at risk of CVD.
    • Relationships between transport, mobility, sustainable livelihoods and social capital for poverty reduction

      Davis, Annabel (University of Wolverhampton, 2004)
      The focus of contemporary development discourse has shifted from economic growth to poverty reduction, leading to development of the Millennium Development Goals. An estimated 1.1 billion people in the world live in absolute poverty, 314 million of whom live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Seventy five percent of the world's poor live in rural areas (World Bank, 2004a). This thesis addresses relationships between accessibility, sustainable livelihoods and social capital, and their role in alleviating poverty by reducing the vulnerability of isolated people. Isolation and inaccessibility to basic needs and services are a cause and symptom of rural poverty. Transport (including infrastructure and means of transport) and mobility (the precondition for people's physical movement) facilitate accessibility and bring people to services and services to people. Transport is nested within a complex mix of livelihood issues that affect mobility and access, including assets and coping strategies. Isolation can increase vulnerability to risk, through an absence of knowledge and communication among poor people, such that external shocks become difficult to manage and can perpetuate the poverty cycle. Social capital provides kinship and friendship resources for managing vulnerability and risk. Transport is a key agency by which social networks can be supported. Drawing on findings from participatory case studies in Zambia, Cameroon and Kenya, the thesis investigates how accessibility, sustainable livelihoods and social capital can be considered collectively by development practitioners to generate measurable improvements in access to basic needs and services. Social capital provides a catalyst for personal mobility and service delivery in the absence of conventionally measured economic benefits. Without the social capital argument the reasons for maintaining rural transport infrastructure and services remain weak. This thesis attempts to break down the boundaries between sociologists, economists and engineers, whose pursuit of development goals has traditionally been in isolation from one another. The thesis suggests that the transport sector move from a position of `isolation' and finds clear interfaces with other sectors delivering on poverty reduction.
    • Religion and spirituality within the Sikh religion: how counselling psychologists can help

      Kaur, Mandeep (2018-11-01)
      This study investigated the spiritual and religious experience of members of the Sikh community with a focus on how such an experience affects their sense of wellbeing. Consequently, the central aim of this study is to explore how Sikhs use religion and spirituality with coping. This was examined by exploring how Sikhs deal with stressful events and how these impacted on their wellbeing. The thesis was comprised of two parts. Study one comprised of the thematic analysis of questionnaires. 56 UK based Sikh participants (23 males and 33 females; age range 17-62) took part. The findings from study one speculated that the older age group appeared more accepting of their religion and spirituality suggesting maybe they are less occupied by a quest to explore their life through religion and spirituality than the 20-30 year old age group. Consequently, study two looked more closely at participants aged between 20-30 year olds to further explore their lived experience. In line with the IPA methodology, a small well-defined opportunity sample of six people (4 males and 2 females) in the Sikh faith, who have been practicing their religion for at least 2-3 years and between the ages of 20-30 were invited to participate in the interviews. Four superordinate themes were found which represented an overall story. The themes were namely, religious and spiritual struggles; religion and spirituality assisting with the development of self and identity; spiritual striving and aids to well-being: religious/spiritual coping. It is hoped that findings from this research will help to inform our understanding of how Sikh client’s religious and spiritual beliefs influences their wellbeing as well as incorporating this knowledge into the therapy process to make good clinical judgements. This study will enhance research in counselling psychology with regards to religion and spirituality and mental health specifically with regards to young Sikh’s.
    • RELIGION, CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF ISLAM AND SAUDI CULTURE ON HRM PRACTICES OF INDIGENOUS AND FOREIGN OWNED AND MANAGED CORPORATIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA

      ALFALIH, ABDULLAH (2016-06)
      This dissertation provides a journey into the world of beliefs and values of Saudi Arabia’s organisations, people and society at large, and how these influence and shape HRM practices and the employment relationship in the country. Designed as a single country case study, the dissertation uses a multi-case research design where two large companies operating in Saudi Arabia (an indigenous and a foreign multinational corporation) are explored and compared through methodological triangulation in data collection methods (interviews, surveys and focus group). The main findings identify that institutional pressures (regulatory and normative) are strong catalysts facilitating the impact of Islamic teachings on the workplace in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The regulative forces represent the organisations’ rules, regulatory constraints (forced by regulatory bodies) and penalties for violations. They are a result of the KSA’s legal system and its political culture. The normative forces identify values and social behavioural norms which define how things should be done within the organisation. They are a result of the wider Saudi culture. Apart from its contribution to knowledge of the HRM practices of Saudi Arabia at micro- and meta- level, the dissertation also provides an analysis at two additional levels. it contributes firstly to the growing knowledge on the influence of Islamic beliefs in the workplace, and secondly, to the enlargement of theory on the subject of religion and its impact in the workplace. Moreover, the dissertation makes a contribution to the literature on HRM practices and approaches in Saudi Arabia. This extends to other countries of the Arab Gulf, holding strong potential to become a source of knowledge and reference for foreign organisations which operate and wish to operate in that region.
    • Religious attendance and provision in Birmingham and the Black Country and the surrounding rural areas during the mid-nineteenth century

      McPhail, John Alexander (University of Wolverhampton, 1995)
      The aim of this thesis is an investigation of religious attendance and provision in the mid-nineteenth century for the region of Birmingham and the Black Country and its surrounding rural areas. Two distinct methodologies have been employed to establish general regional patterns of religious attendance and provision and, subsequently, to assess trends of religious attendance and provision in a number of settlements within the region over a longer period of time. Firstly, the returns of the 1851 Religious Census for the whole region have been analysed in terms of settlement type and denominational distribution. This facilitated a comparison between the identified regional patterns of attendance and provision with the established national patterns. Secondly, a number of contiguous settlements within the region have been chosen in order to carry out three case studies of the period between approximately 1840 and 1860. This used alternative local sources of evidence to discover whether the patterns of religious attendance and provision identified in the previous analysis were uniform throughout the region, and to locate the findings of the 1851 Religious Census within a wider period. Therefore, in chapter one, there is a survey of existing national and regional analyses of religious provision and attendance during the first half of the nineteenth century. In addition, the various interpretations of the findings of the 1851 Religious Census have been assessed. Finally, a Typology to identify the settlements within the region has been constructed. In chapter two, the returns of the eighty-seven settlements located within the nine Registration Districts which formed the region under examination have been examined, firstly, to obtain overall Indexes of Attendance (IAs) and Indexes of Accommodation (IAccs) and, subsequently, similar IAs and IAccs for each denomination. The level of free accommodation and the incidence of service in the region were similarly assessed. This regional analysis has been undertaken with reference to denominational distribution and settlement type. In the case studies of chapter three, local sources of evidence of religious attendance and provision have been located to provide a dynamic analysis over time. This evidence, such as Methodist membership records and Visitation records, has not been as complete or as extensive as the returns of the 1851 Religious Census. Nevertheless, they have offered an opportunity to engage in an assessment of the level of attendance and provision over time, with specific interest in the typicality of the 1851 results throughout the mid-nineteenth century. In chapter four, an evaluation of the methodological issues has beeni undertaken. In addition, the historical conclusions from both methodological approaches have been contextualised within the wider debate of the religious practice of the working class in the mid-nineteenth century, and some indication of further investigation has been made.
    • The remarkable everyday lives of people with hidden dis/ability: a material-semiotic analysis

      Goldschmied, Anita Z. (University of Wolverhampton, 2019-12)
      My research concentrates on conditions including autism, intellectual disability and mental health. I explore the ways they are used to establish the divisions required by diagnostic criteria in the separated health and social approaches to care. Defining conditions rather than performances has resulted in a neglect of the consideration of connectivity. My project employs Actor-Network-Theory, and Latour’s and Baudrillard’s philosophy, to reconsider the specific metaphysical and ontological issues of how, when and why we judge hidden dis/ability as a universal and essential thing, rather than one constantly formed and performed (perFormed), solved and dissolved (disSolved), produced and reproduced (reProduced) by diverse human and non-human actors in complex webs of connections. I composed the 6D material-semiotic network practice to offer a new ontological ‘seeing’ of how the associations and significations of hidden dis/ability are produced, represented and thus consumed. I found that exploring the everyday performances of hidden dis/ability with the 6D material-semiotic network practice might not verify the apparently universal, fragmented and permanent notions that the distinct categories imply. I conclude that hidden dis/ability can be considered as in a constant state of transformation which, when people are left to their own devices, composes capacities for shared cultural experiences and practices dismantling long-held ideas, and will be one of the benefits giving opportunities to rethink how we provide apposite care, services and inclusion for the conditions.