Communities of practice have been used as a way of sharing practice and developing knowledge. The End of Life Care Education Consortium was formed by three hospice education departments in the West Midlands, United Kingdom, with the support of the Strategic Health Authority, to provide education programmes for healthcare professionals in palliative care. As the Consortium worked collaboratively, I wanted to explore whether there was potential for it to evolve into a community of practice and whether there was scope for communities of practice being utilised in end of life care settings to share and develop practice. The literature review revealed there were no articles written on communities of practice in palliative care settings and demonstrated that the workplace is an important area for learning as new staff learn from more experienced members of the workforce. Communities of practice can be used for experienced staff to learn from each other and share practice with others from outside the community. Case study research was used to explore whether the Consortium had the potential to evolve into a community of practice and if its members learnt from each other. Members of the Consortium were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, documents including my research diary, reports and notes from meetings were also used as data. Although the findings showed that the Consortium was not functioning as a community of practice it did have the key characteristics of one and there is potential for hospices to form communities of practice to enable staff to share practice and support each other. The findings demonstrated that for a community of practice to be successful it requires the support of management to allow staff to take part in community activities, seen as an important part of the organisation’s culture and there needs to be leadership to enable the community to develop. Journal clubs, clinical supervision and multidisciplinary meetings are already in place and these could be ways of healthcare professionals sharing knowledge and learning together. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (2015) state that all nurses and midwives are required to revalidate every three years to enable them to practise as registered nurses; one of my recommendations is that communities of practice could be used to keep staff updated. Inviting healthcare professionals from outside the hospice to take part in community activities would enable knowledge to flow in and out therefore enhancing patient care.

To ensure greater success in its regular projects, Abu-Dhabi Police (ADP) is working on: training their project managers, applying project management software, utilising the services of engineering consultants, etc. However, the performance and outcomes of its projects are still not fully meeting the desired expectations. Therefore, a study to understand some of the undermining factors was carried out. A critical literature review was carried out initially where it was established that project delivery and outcomes are affected in part by the three overarching factors of: project managers’ characteristics, organizational culture and project management culture. On this basis a conceptual framework was developed highlighting how these 3 compound factors affect project performance and outcome; and in particular how ADP’s values relate with the competencies of their project managers. The empirical aspects involved the use of mixed methods where the first part was a quantitative survey of the understanding and achievement of both ADP’s 5 values (part of organizational culture) and 15 competencies (part of project manager’s characteristics), as well as the impact of the former on the later. A questionnaire was administered to 157 people for data collection and 71 fully completed responses were obtained, representing a response rate of 45%. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the levels of achievement of ADP’s values and competencies, which were found to be high. The analysis went on to use ordered logistic regression to examine the association between the attainment of ADP’s values and competencies. The findings showed that the 5 values impact on the competencies of ADP’s project managers differently; for example, the value of ‘integrity and honesty’ impacts heavily on the 5 competencies of Integration management, Scope management, Time management, Achieving and action, and Leadership; while the value of ‘effective communication’ impacts heavily on the 3 competencies of Scope management, Cost management, and Achieving and action. An advanced training programme was subsequently developed for ADP to further increase the attainment of values and competencies by their project managers. This programme was developed in focus group discussions that involved some selected project managers who had long working experience and high understanding of ADP project schemes. A further round of focus group discussions was also used to validate this advanced training programme.

There has been a surge in the involvement of service users and carers in health and social care education, research, and practice in the last three decades within the United Kingdom. However, there are few studies that have evaluated the impact of Involvement in health and social care students’ education. This study explored the impact of active involvement in Adult Nursing and Social Work pre-registration education. It provided a tripartite perspective from the perceptions of the three main stakeholders involved: students, academic staff and service users/carers in a specific Higher Education setting in the United Kingdom. A concurrent embedded mixed-methods approach was employed in this study. The study sample was drawn from the three participating stakeholder groups. A total of 38 participants took part in this study. Qualitative information was gathered using semi-structured interviews and focus groups, which explored participants’ perspectives of the impact of active involvement in Adult Nursing and Social Work pre-registration degrees. Questionnaires was the data collection tool for the quantitative information required in this study. Questionnaire was helpful in obtaining contextual information about the participants and service users and carers’ involvement at the research site. It was used to gather factual information about the participants and the current nature of the involvement in Adult Nursing and Social Work pre-registration degree as it was being practiced at the time of data collection and characteristics that may influence or affect the impact of involvement Qualitative data was analysed thematically from the semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Additionally, descriptive and cross-tab analysis of quantitative data was carried out. Then, a side-by-side comparison was used to identify aspects of the qualitative and quantitative findings that were convergent and conflicting. Findings of this study indicated that the scope and integration of service users and carers in educational activities varied greatly within and between subjects even within the same university. Social Work degree reported a wider scope and greater inclusion than the Adult nursing degree. Two main factors account for this notable differences between the two degrees. These are: the duration of involvement being a regulatory requirement by the Professional Regulatory and Statutory Bodies as well as the duration of conducting involvement. Furthermore, this study revealed that involvement influences all three main stakeholders in Higher Education. Some beneficial outcomes of involvement were similar in the academic staff and students’ participant groups. Academic staff and service users/carers raised similar concerns. Overall, the participants indicated that service users and carers’ involvement is generally positive and makes an important and unique contribution to the education of nurses and Social Workers supporting the delivery of patient/client-centred care. This study contributed to new knowledge about involvement in Adult Nursing and Social Work pre-registration degrees by generating a holistic view of its impact. This was achieved by exploring these impacts from a tripartite perspective of the three main stakeholders in Higher Education. This study also developed a modified six rung model that helps to involvement is active and meaningful. A partnership framework was proposed to inform future involvement practices and research about ways of optimising the beneficial outcomes and limiting the inhibitory factors of service users and carers’ involvement in students’ education. Overall, this study provided insights into best practices and pitfalls to avoid, which may be of value to HE providers, education commissioners as well as Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies regarding the practices of service users and carers’ involvement in Higher Education.

Ischaemic cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. Therapeutic angiogenesis provides a valuable tool to treat these conditions by stimulating the growth of new blood vessels in the ischaemic tissue. The pro-angiogenic factor VEGF is the most potent inducer of angiogenesis, and exogenous delivery of VEGF has been a key element of therapeutic strategies. Unfortunately, VEGF-based pro-angiogenic procedures have produced only limited patient benefit. Failure to restore efficient VEGF activity remains a major problem. VEGF-mediated activation of the calcineurin/NFAT signalling pathway has been identified as a crucial regulator of angiogenesis. Our laboratory has recently shown a novel role for the plasma membrane calcium ATPase 4 (PMCA4) protein as a negative regulator of VEGF-induced angiogenesis via interaction with calcineurin. The recent identification of aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA) as a selective inhibitor of PMCA4 prompted us to hypothesise that inhibition of PMCA4 with ATA should enhance VEGF-induced angiogenesis. Here, we show that treatment of endothelial cells with nanomolar concentrations of ATA notably enhances calcineurin/NFAT signalling by disrupting the PMCA4/calcineurin interaction. ATA mediated inhibition of PMCA4 results in a significant increase in endothelial cell motility and in vitro and in vivo blood vessel formation. Low concentrations of ATA do not have any deleterious effects on the viability of endothelial cells or zebrafish embryonic development. However, high ATA concentrations impaired endothelial cell viability, and were associated with toxicity in zebrafish embryos. This study highlights the potential of targeting PMCA4 to improve VEGF-based pro-angiogenic therapeutic strategies. This goal will require the development of refined versions of ATA without associated toxicity, or the identification of novel PMCA4 inhibitors.

This thesis addresses a methodological impasse within film studies which is of ongoing concern because of the way that it demonstrates the discipline’s conflicting approaches to ideology. This impasse arises because proponents of poststructuralism and cognitivism utilise methodologies which not only make internally consistent interpretations of films, but are also able to discount the theoretical criticisms of the rival paradigm. Attempts to debate and transcend these divisions have been unsuccessful. This thesis contributes to this gap in knowledge by arguing that both academic theories (such as poststructuralism and cognitivism) and filmmaking practice are influenced by the same historically contingent socio-cultural determinants. Academic claims about film’s effects can then be conceptualised as aggregates of thought which are analogous to the dramatic manipulations that filmmakers unconsciously work into their films, with both forms of cultural activity (academic theorising and filmmaking practice) influenced by the same diachronic socio-cultural contexts. The term that I use for these specific forms of filmmaking practice is writing formations. A filmic writing formation is a form of filmmaking practice influenced by the same cultural ideas which also inform academic hermeneutics. The thesis does not undertake a conventional extended literature review as a means to identify the gap in the literature. This is because contested theoretical discourses are part of the thesis’ subject matter. I analyse academic literature in the same way that I analyse film, conceptualising both 3 activities as being determined by the same specific historical and socio-cultural contexts. The thesis analyses Shakespearean films because they offer multiple diachronic texts which are foregrounded as interpretations, and in which different approaches to filmmaking can be clearly compared and contrasted across time. They clarify the complex and often unconscious relationships between academic theorising and filmic writing formations by facilitating an investigation of how the historic development of academic discourse relates to the historic development of filmmaking practice. The corpus of texts for analysis has been confined to Anglo-American realist film adaptations, and European and American debates about, and criticism of, realist film from the advent of poststructuralism in the late 1960s to the present day. The thesis is structured as an investigation into the current theoretical impasse and the unsatisfactory attempts to transcend it, the articulation of a new methodology relating to filmic writing formations, the elaboration of how different filmic writing formations operate within realist film adaptation, and a close case study of the unfolding historical processes whereby academic theory and filmmaking practice relate to the same socio-cultural determinants using four adaptations of Hamlet from different time periods. It concludes by explaining how filmmakers exploit and manipulate forms of filmic grammar which correspond to academic theories about those forms of filmic grammar, with both activities influenced by the same underlying diachronic culture. The thesis argues, then, that academic poststructuralism and cognitivism can be 4 conceptualised as explanations for different but contiguous aspects of filmmaking practice, rather than as mutually exclusive claims about film’s effects.

Background The effect of Malaria attack on maternal and child health in Nigeria is high compared with other countries in sub Saharan Africa. This problem has been a persistent issue in Nigeria and many researchers have tried to proffer solutions. Insecticide treated nets (ITN) have been identified as providing approximately 80% protection against malaria attack. However, all the measures put in place to control malaria failed to meet up with the set target of the Roll Back Malaria Initiative, which aimed at reducing malaria deaths in Nigeria by half by 2010 in line with the Millennium Development Goals (Anyaehie et al., 2009). As part of the global initiative to reduce malaria deaths before 2015 (Amoran, Senbanjo and Asagwara, 2011) the Nigerian government introduced intervention programmes to protect pregnant women, and children under-five years of age (Anyaehie et al., 2011). However, although there has been considerable and effective intervention in controlling this preventable disease in the African continent, marked inconsistency in the distribution of the ITN, scarcity and low usage in Nigeria (Amoran, Senbanjo and Asagwara, 2011) are apparent, despite emphasis on community-based strategies for malaria control (Obinna, 2011). For midwives in rural Nigeria the disproportionate vulnerability of pregnant women and young children is of great concern. This particular issue is the focus of a hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry into the experiences of pregnant women and mothers in their efforts to protect their families and themselves from malaria attack. The study contends that the ‘big (pan-African/national) story’ of malaria has found many voices, speaking from a predominantly positivist perspective. While some more interpretivist approaches to exploring experience have been employed elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa (Rachel and Frank 2005), there remains a need for more participatory research related to health care issues in Nigeria (Abdullahi et al 2013). Women and children make up the majority of the Nigeria population of over 160 million. An attack of malaria on them affects entire households and the economy of the nation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to give voice to the ‘small (household) stories’ of Nigerian women (mothers and health workers), living and working in impoverished rural communities, and consider how their viewpoints, perspectives and imaginings might contribute to the fight for a malaria-free Nigeria. Methodological approach The research draws on the philosophy of Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. The participants’ accounts are interpreted in terms of Africana ‘Womanism’ as defined by Hudson-Weems (1993), the socio-narratology approach elaborated by Frank (2010), and Igbo world-view. Research procedure Individual semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with Igbo women in three rural communities in Enugu State in eastern Nigeria (Nsukka, Ngwo, and Amechi). This was a three-phase process involving an initial orientation visit to engage with local gatekeepers and community health workers. A first round of interviews and discussion took place in three communities in 2014, followed by the first phase of interpretation. A second field trip took place in 2015, during which participants discussed the ongoing interpretation and elaborated further on some of the issues raised. Interpretive phases 2 and 3 followed this visit. Interpretive process Interpretive shifts in understanding were accomplished in three ways: 1. Seeking thematic connections between participants’ accounts of living with the threat of malaria. 2. Engaging in dialogical narrative analysis to explore the work done by the stories embedded in individual accounts of living under the threat of malaria. 3. Crafting found poetry from within the collective accounts to produce an evocative text that could mediate an emotional response and understanding of the malaria experience. Key outcomes The research was a response to calls for more participatory research into the detailed experiences of people in Africa facing up to the threat of malaria. It has provided a vehicle for the voices of a group of Nigerian women and health workers to bring attention to the continuing plight of pregnant women and their families with limited access to insecticide-treated bed nets in poor living conditions. They have told how they seek to empower themselves in their own small and particular ways. It has provided insights into their worldview(s) and what others might see from where they stand. As such it has added to their own call expressed during the research to “Keep malaria on the agenda.” The research has used the women’s own testimony to create an oral resource designed https://youtu.be/XelMXLUzTV0 to facilitate education and action among small local groups of women and their families, and for health workers in local rural communities.

Written in response to a current gap in academic and industry based literature, this thesis was written on the topic of Trade Based Money Laundering (TBML) and risk assessment, within the banking context. Despite the increased use of TBML, most academic descriptions of money laundering have used the cash based model of placement and integration of large cash deposits acquired from criminal activity, which are then merged into legitimate pre-existing funds. However, there are a significant number of examples to show that cash transferred into goods and then shipped to other countries can be easier to move and less conspicuous or traceable than simple cash based deposits. One of the main challenges for detecting shipping based laundering techniques is that they involve a number of agencies sharing data and information, in order to catch the criminals. Simple banking checks may not always elicit the required information without verification from either customs or law enforcement agencies. The research sought to identify the current challenges and issues facing risk assessment professionals in the banking sector and to identify gaps in the current systems being used. The data collected included interviews and survey information taken from professionals working on AML risk assessment in banking and financial institutions from across the globe. In addition to the description of different money laundering schemes, much of the current academic discussion on money laundering in banking has focused on the regulation requirements for financial institutions to stop money laundering activity, but there has been little empirical guidance on how regulation can be adapted and implemented at the individual banking level. This research accessed a number of legal cases available in the public domain, which were analysed to see how and where some of the larger banks have failed to implement current anti-money laundering controls and to consider how this could impact on the detection of TBML activity. This research uses an Agency theory model to look at the pressures banks are under to manage client’s accounts efficiently, versus the requirements of outside regulation to undertake extensive checks on business transactions and accounts. Finally, the researcher proposed a simple risk matrix approach that developed the current thinking of client behaviour and transaction monitoring risk analysis associated with cash based laundering, to develop a four-point risk model that added geography and third party behaviour, to account for shipping and trade based laundering activity.

The study of emotional language use and production within UK adolescent therapeutic populations has received relatively little attention compared to other client-, process- and outcome factor research. In recent years, novel and distinct methods of delivering therapy that rely on the production and interpretation of language are increasing in popularity, compared to traditional therapeutic models that use non-verbal aspects of communication in the therapeutic process. In order to explore how aspects of emotional language production may inform clinicians about therapeutic interventions with a UK adolescent population, two studies were designed to analyse how adolescents use written emotional language to indicate their psychological wellbeing, identity and agency development through receipt of psychological intervention. A quantitative study was designed to measure therapeutic and non-therapeutic adolescents’ production of positive and negative emotional word frequency through free-response narratives. Positive and negative emotional word frequencies were assessed for relationships with measures of trait emotional intelligence (TEIQue-ASF; Petrides et al., 2006) and psychological wellbeing (18-item PWBS; Clarke et al., 2001). Multiple regression analyses determined that trait emotional intelligence significantly predicted psychological wellbeing, but positive and negative emotional word production and therapeutic experience did not. A qualitative study using Parker’s (2005) methods of narrative analysis of limited narratives focused on exploring how adolescents who have experienced therapy construct narratives. The analysis illustrated the construction of agency in developing adolescent identities and accounts of helpful and unhelpful events in therapeutic interventions, which became the primary narrative genres. Emotional contexts were highlighted in exploring the functions of emotional language in constructing stories of adolescent agency and identity in therapy. The results of both studies, their contributions to, and implications for clinical practice and counselling psychology are discussed in relation to novel or modern methods of delivering therapeutic interventions tailored to this developmental population, and in the wider socio-political context.

Due to the influence of the construction industry on the country’s economy, resolution of disputes is very important. The Arbitration Act 1996 was passed to remedy the complaints that had made arbitration unpopular. Comments from academics and practitioners indicated that construction arbitration remained unpopular and procedural innovation anticipated had not materialised. This study considers arbitration in the construction industry in England and Wales and evaluates its use and role since the passing of the Arbitration Act 1996. It also explores the potential use of arbitration against the use of litigation, statutory adjudication, mediation and expert determination having regard to variables of size of claim and dispute. A pragmatic theoretical perspective was followed, using a survey strategy. Initially a quantitative methodology was used, with structured questionnaires sent to users of arbitration, their legal advisers and construction arbitrators. To provide extension and clarification of matters revealed from questionnaires, interviews were conducted with construction arbitrators and construction lawyers, thereby incorporating a qualitative methodology. The study shows a significant decline in the use of construction arbitration, but comparing the two periods investigated, there was less of a decline for the more recent period, compared to the earlier period. As a dispute resolution method, arbitration was considered neutral, being neither poor, nor excellent. Arbitration’s standing, overall, is poor; however, for claims between £1 million and £10 million it is similar to the other methods referred to above. Positive influences towards choosing arbitration are that arbitration is private, providing fairness, allowing control of the process with an award that is final. Negative influences are that arbitration is costly, complex with procedures styled on litigation, subject to delays and confidence issues with arbitrators’ decisions. Cost and duration of arbitration remain the most problematic features, however the investigation suggests that users and particularly their lawyer advisers are reluctant to implement cost saving procedures.

Changes within vocational education have been consistent within England (Wolf, 2011, p4.) and are currently increasing within the education of 16-19 year olds (ONS in City & Guilds, 2001 p6.). Included in those changes was a recent reform to BTEC. Stemming from this reform was the introduction of assessment changes. More specifically, an increase in controlled assessments and exams, especially within the Early Years sector, which forms the focus of this research. The introduction of such assessment methods offers a conflicting argument to the notion of creating Early Years practitioners with vocational and industry skills (Nutbrown, 2012). Within current education, students on Early Years vocational courses have voiced concerns that examined assessments do not provide them with the skillset they need for employment. In order to explore the true influence of assessment methods on student outcomes, a range of methods were used to ensure validity, and strengthen findings. Firstly, pre-existing data in the form of modular reviews provided student’s perceptions on how different assessment methods have prepared them for practice and supported their learning. These findings are explored alongside others from the five semi structured interviews gathered from members within one institution. This was used to compare how well assessment methods within the institution were supporting learners compared to the literary findings gathered within the literature review. Each of the data collection methods presented findings which support the need for Nutbrown’s (2012) concept of assessment methods to be industry related. Although, findings also indicated that the institution analysed in this research is considering ways to support the vocational and industry skills of their Early Years workers. However, clear evidence suggests that controlled assessment methods have not provided students with as good an outcome for both grades and skills as industry related assessment methods. Therefore, it is important to make recommendations for change. Following the recognition that the key assessments being used, in line with the BTEC reform, are not providing learners with the best industry related experience they could achieve. Several recommendations are made in line with the key research questions and address both institutions- including teachers and management - and policy writers.