Recognising the belonging of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities in research through a collaborative exploration of identity

This work was designed to establish the belonging of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities within research through the undertaking of a collaborative study of identity with four people who have profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. It began with the research question: how can I do research with people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities? The ‘with’ of this question is foregrounded against a history of research done on and for people with disabilities. Dovetailed with the emerging answering of the first question is the second question of this study: how is identity experienced within our research encounters?The philosophical foundations of this work are Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception. Building on an enactivist ontology and informed epistemologically by participatory sense-making the study involved participant observation as a methodological approach, informed by sensory ethnography. Fieldwork took place two days per week from February 2023 to October 2023 in a special school in the UK. In addition to ethics clearance, permission given by the school and informed consent given by the parents of the young people who were approached to take part, process assent was continually sought from the young people who were participants in regards to the first question of the study and researchers in relation to the second question.Data were generated in the form of ethnographic vignettes and reflexive memos. Photographs were also taken. The dataset was thematically analysed through an intuitive, iterative, inductive process and ultimately the themes of: intention, Being With, obstructions and identity were generated.In relation to question one the researcher, together with the young people involved found a research method they were able to use to meaningfully work together in the exploration of question two. This method is referred to as Being With. People with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities were able to adopt researcher identities, where identity was understood as a sense of who one is in a social location and how one acts. Working together, through the process of Being With, embodied identity was experienced as shared.This work troubles the narrative that people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities are too difficult to include in research. The findings around identity ask us to consider ways in which identity may be held in embodied fashion and help to illuminate the experiences of people close to people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities who often struggle to wrestle their notion of themselves separate from their notion of their loved one. Ultimately the belonging of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities within research is argued for based on fact, fairness, and fruitfulness: including them brings us insights we would not gain without them, their exclusion is an epistemic injustice, and as we seek to understand the human experience we cannot do that fully unless all humans are included in the models we create. <br/

Legionella pneumophila response to shifts in biofilm structure mediated by hydrodynamics

Preventing legionellosis in water systems demands effective hydrodynamic management and biofilm mitigation. This study investigates the complex relationship between hydrodynamics (80 RPM and stagnation), biofilm mesoscale structure and Legionella pneumophila colonization, by addressing three key questions: (1) How do low flow vs stagnation conditions affect biofilm response to L. pneumophila colonization?, (2) How do biofilm structural variations mediate L. pneumophila migration across the biofilm?, and (3) Can specific hydrodynamic conditions trigger L. pneumophila entrance in a viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state? It was found that Pseudomonas fluorescens biofilms exhibit different responses to L. pneumophila based on the prevailing hydrodynamic conditions. While biofilm thickness and porosity decreased under shear (80 RPM), thickness tends to significantly increase when pre-established 80 RPM-grown biofilms are set to stagnation upon L. pneumophila spiking. Imposing stagnation after the spiking also seemed to accelerate Legionella migration towards the bottom of the biofilm. Water structures in the biofilm seem to be key to Legionella migration across the biofilm. Finally, shear conditions favoured the transition of L. pneumophila to VBNC states (∼94 %), despite the high viable cell counts (∼8 log10 CFU/cm2) found throughout the experiments. This research highlights the increased risk posed by biofilms and stagnation, emphasizing the importance of understanding the mechanisms that govern Legionella behaviour in diverse biofilm environments. These insights are crucial for developing more effective monitoring and prevention strategies in water systems.</p

The freedom to become: Henri Bergson’s recovery of the unquantified self

This chapter argues that Henri Bergson—whose philosophy is in large part devoted to locating human freedom outside not only the laws of causality, but the mechanical modes of thinking and habitual modes of acting that define our usual conduct—should be considered a crucial figure in the tradition of modernist self-optimization and in the intellectual history of media theory. Although Bergson regards such freedom as a fundamental and originary characteristic of our being, he equally posits it as able to be realized only through an ongoing inner labor whereby we work to distinguish our true self from the repetition and similitude encrusted upon it. And whilst his account of freedom is often utilized today as an antidote to rampant quantification of ourselves and our experience, it is very much grounded in an ethos of heroic productivism and transgressive spontaneity reflective of and responsive to the industrial culture within which it was formulated

Single-cell impedance spectroscopy of bacteria

Bacteria are the causative agents of many diseases, and understanding biophysical changes in bacteria following physical or chemical treatment is of considerable interest. In this thesis, different bacteria were measured using single-cell impedance cytometry in order to understand changes in electrical properties following exposure to different perturbations. Traditionally, alternating current (AC) electrokinetic methods are used to measure the electrical properties of cells. However, the throughput of these techniques is low. To overcome this limitation single-cell impedance cytometry measures the impedance of individual cells at hundreds per second.In this study, the electrical properties of single cells were measured across a broad range of frequencies at the rate of tens of thousands of cells in a few minutes. The complex impedance spectrum was modelled using Maxwell’s mixture equation together with the multi-shell model to extract dielectric parameters for each bacterium.Two model organisms were used for experiments: Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Impedance cytometry was used to characterise the effect of heat treatment (including pasteurisation and autoclaving) on bacteria and results showed that the dielectric properties of the cells were in agreement with AC electrokinetic methods. Bacteria were also exposed to three classes of antibiotics, namely β-lactam, polymyxin and aminoglycoside. Dielectric characterisation demonstrated that bacteria respond differently following exposure to different antibiotics. Their phenotypic response changes their dielectric parameters in a way that is consistent with the mode of action of antibiotics.Single-cell impedance cytometry was also used to follow bacterial-phage interaction. Experiments showed that the phenotypic response of bacteria can be followed during the phage infection cycle, and that the technique can rapidly identify bacterial susceptibility to phages. The data also helps explain the complex bacterial defence mechanisms against phages from a dielectric perspective.In summary, this thesis describes an electrical method for probing bacteria, linking measured biophysical changes to biological responses, furthering our understanding of the action of antibiotics and phage therapies

Models for the cohomology of certain polyhedral products

For a commutative ring k with unit, we describe and study various differential graded k-modules and k-algebras as models for the cohomology of polyhedral products (CX, X)K. Along the way, we prove that the integral cohomology H∗((D1, S0)K; Z) of the real moment–angle complex is a Tor module, one that does not come from a geometric setting. As an application, this work sets the stage for studying the based loop space of Σ(CX, X)K

Supply chain sustainability integration: The case of textile and ready-made garment (RMG) industry of Bangladesh

Being second biggest exporter of Textile and RMG products, Bangladesh has been facing challenges to manage sustainability issues in the industry for ages. As sustainability literature in the sector mostly focuses on individual dimension and there is gap of integrated approach, this study tries to identify sustainability challenges in the environmental, social, economic, and macro-infrastructural dimensions. Respective initiatives taken to mitigate those issues along with the sustainability solutions are also addressed accordingly. Following qualitative framework, an integrated model of sustainable textile supply chain management has been proposed. Based on extensive literature review, a semi structured interview protocol was developed to explore the pertinent themes by interviewing relevant stakeholders. The transcribed data are analysed using NVivo to derive the results. In exploring sustainability outlook, triple bottom line (TBL) lens has been used as the guiding theoretical backdrop along with stakeholders’ theory, stakeholders ‘salience model, and stakeholders’ resource-based view (SRBV). Result shows that the industry has major gaps in sustainability practices in all dimensions. In social side, workers salary is in sub-human level, skill level of the industry and workers is low, health and safety issues are overlooked, working environment is not standardized, workers are overburdened and overstressed. In environmental front, there is no chemical management guideline, monitoring of Effluent Treatment Plant is insufficient, subcontracting units do not maintain environmental obligations, untreated wastewater is released to the water stream and there is no ground water extraction policy yet. In economic perspective, the industry is facing challenges in getting fair prices from the brands, there is gap in value addition, product and market diversification is in infancy stage. In macro environmental consideration, raw materials supply is import-dependant, crisis of energy supply is a regular phenomenon, logistics and transportation system is underdeveloped, there is corruption and capability gap from the regulatory side. The findings also provide some positive practices. The industry has gone through massive retrofitting processes after Rana Plaza collapse. Current working environment is much safer and workers welfare initiatives are in-place. Export-oriented factories are now environmentally concerned, many of energy and resources saving initiatives have been taken, number of LEED certified green factories from Bangladesh are leading the global chart. Surveillance and monitoring mechanism from government agencies, brands, and associations have increased manifolds. The study incorporates solutions to each dimension of the existing sustainability challenges. Skill enhancement in line with automation, ensuring workers wellbeing, salary adjustment, health insurance and compensation can be offered as social solutions. Circular economy adoption, biological ETP, digital and tech-based monitoring, solid waste infrastructure, greening initiatives can make the industry environment friendly. For economic sustainability, better price negotiation, high-end diversified production, lead time minimisation, and positive global branding initiatives should be taken. This research offers a broader sustainability outlook of Bangladeshi RMG supply chain paving a pathway to reach the vision of exporting 100 billion USD by 2030. For which, infrastructure, communication and transport, port facilities, supplies and concerned stakeholders’ effort must be coordinated along with factory-oriented initiatives. <br/

Energy harvesting technologies on high-speed railway infrastructure: review and comparative analysis of the potential and practicality

A comprehensive quantitative analysis is provided of the potential applications of energy harvesting (EH) technologies tailored to high-speed railway infrastructure. The study compares the various energy sources within railway infrastructure and identifies suitable EH technologies. Feasible designs and scales of EH are assessed based on the installation location; the overall power availability and energy yield are compared for a notional high-speed railway. For resonant EH devices an assessment is also given of the optimal tuning frequency. Vibration-based EH, when applied to the track or bridge structures, can provide sufficient power for individual low-power sensors; however, its output is insufficient for higher-power applications or for data transmission unless energy storage devices are incorporated. Despite the elevated noise levels generated by high-speed trains, the energy available from this acoustic source is negligible and impractical for EH. Small vertical axis wind turbines installed close to the track and driven by passing trains show great potential, capable of harvesting several orders of magnitude more energy than vibration-based EH. Solar photovoltaic panels can generate significantly more energy than other methods, although their output is confined to daylight conditions and is contingent upon weather conditions

Secure operation of a stand-alone wind energy system based on an incommensurate fractional-order chaotic system

Cybersecurity for wind energy conversion systems, such as Stand-Alone Wind Energy Conversion Systems (SAWECSs) that use Self-Excited Induction Generators (SEIGs), has been a growing area of focus recently. Despite their advantages such as robust structure, low cost, minimal maintenance, and the ability to operate at varying wind speeds, SEIG-based SAWECSs rely on effective reactive power management to maintain output voltage stability. As modern technologies become more integrated into SAWECS, controlling the output voltage becomes increasingly challenging, which makes the system more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. To ensure the cybersecurity of SEIG-based SAWECS, this study proposes a novel approach, a chaotic system-based secure communication algorithm derived from the interaction between dark matter and dark energy (DM-DE). This algorithm utilizes fractional calculus to increase the complexity of chaotic flows, thereby strengthening the robustness of secure communication. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified through detailed analyses and simulation studies, demonstrating its capability to maintain system stability and security. The chaos-based secure operation algorithm is then tested and validated using a SAWECS comprising a 3-phase, 400V, 50 Hz SEIG with resistive-inductive loads. It is observed that the experimental results are consistent with the simulation results. This work demonstrates that chaotic system-based approaches can be used to enhance the cybersecurity of renewable energy systems

Learning to argue and arguing to learn: Unpacking the nature of criticality development in English for academic purposes for political science in a Thai university context

This study investigates the nature of criticality development in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) for Political Science at a Thai public university, focusing on how argumentation and critical thinking evolve. Guided by an interpretivist research paradigm, it employs a qualitative case study approach to explore educators' conceptualisations of criticality, examine pedagogical practices through classroom observations, and analyse discourse patterns and linguistic demands in argumentative writing. Drawing on Johnston et al.'s (2011) model of developmental criticality and integrating frameworks such as “Learning to Argue” and “Arguing to Learn,” the research highlights the progression from foundational argumentative skills to advanced critical engagement.Key findings indicate that the development of criticality is deeply intertwined with argumentation practices, as revealed through interviews, classroom observations, and argument analysis. Interviews with educators shed light on varying conceptualisations of criticality, influencing pedagogical approaches and expectations. Observations of classroom interactions reveal that while structured guidance is crucial for developing foundational argumentative skills, it is also essential to balance this with opportunities for students to explore and critically engage with complex, discipline-specific issues. The analysis highlights how students develop from using simple argument structures to employing advanced techniques, such as effectively countering opposing views and presenting well-supported arguments, reflecting a higher level of critical engagement and understanding of the subject matter. Collectively, these findings suggest the multifaceted nature of criticality and show that effective argumentation encompasses both foundational skills and advanced, discipline-specific inquiry.The study identifies distinct stages in criticality development, from early guided practices to autonomous, sophisticated argumentation and demonstrates how argumentation skills develop alongside criticality. It highlights the importance of structured pedagogical frameworks and the role of disciplinary content in shaping critical practices. This thesis contributes to a nuanced understanding of criticality development and suggests that EAP should better support students in bridging language proficiency with disciplinary knowledge. It calls for future research to further explore how instructional strategies and interdisciplinary approaches can enhance criticality across various academic contexts