Impacts of quality management relations on sustainability performance

PhD ThesisThis study utilises the business relations theory as the theoretical lens to illustrate the links between quality management relations and the three dimensions of sustainability. The goal is to investigate the influences of the internal and external dimensional views of quality management (QM) relations in enhancing sustainability performance empirically. The internal quality management relations are associated with management and employees’ factors, while the external quality management relations are connected with customers’ and suppliers’ factors. Sustainability performance is measured through the social, environmental, and economic sustainability performance dimensions, which represent the triple bottom line (TBL). Additionally, this study examines the moderating impact of stakeholder pressure on the relationships between quality factors and sustainability dimensions. Also, the mediating effects of quality training, employee relations, supplier relations and customer relations were tested. Finally, this study examines group differences between the service and manufacturing sectors to enhance the generalisation of the survey findings. From this, a model is established to examine 24 hypothesised relationships. Questionnaires were used to collect data from top managers of 467 UK service and manufacturing firms. Statistical analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques were applied to test and analyse the data. The findings show that internal and external quality relations contribute to sustainability performance directly and indirectly, from management relations (MR) through employee relations (ER), customer relations (CR) and supplier relations (SR). Also, the results show that management relations (MR) supports other QM relations and is indirectly related to sustainability performance. The main effects were spread across the service and manufacturing sectors, and the results helped to identify the impact of different QM relations across different sustainability performance dimensions. The moderation results show mixed outcomes for QM relations and sustainability performance. This study is relevant for academics and practitioners as it focuses on significant QM management relations that are beneficial for the triple bottom line (TBL) of firms. This research contributes to the streams of business relations research by examining the internal and external quality aspects related to management, employees, customers, and suppliers to explain the mechanisms through which those internal and external aspects could contribute to the firms’ sustainability performance. As firms adopt internal and external QM relations to sustain their competitive advantage and achieve operational performance, their social, environmental, and economic sustainability performance dimensions improve. The importance of this research is that it investigates the influence of specific QM relations on the three dimensions of sustainability by providing robust and generalisable simultaneous examinations of these sustainability dimensions, primarily the social one. The social dimension has been paid less attention than the other sustainability dimensions and examining this aspect will provide further knowledge that has thus far been neglected in sustainability studies.government of Oma

Miniaturized bioreactor for bioprocessing: design and optimisation of a three-phase fluidized bed

Ph. D. Thesis.The fluidized bed reactor (FBR) is a processing platform relying on the fluidization of solids by liquid/gas flows, thus achieving the excellent multi-phases contact, minimum diffusional resistance, good heat and mass transfer. Recently, the miniaturization of fluidized bed has received much attention due to its fast screening and process intensification. However, the application of miniaturized fluidized bed in bioprocessing and bioproduction is still not explored, although FBR enables higher mass transfer, lower shear force and less energy consumption compared with flask, stirred-tank reactor and photobioreactor, respectively. To broaden the applicability of fluidized bed reactor in bioprocessing, this thesis combined the miniaturized fluidized bed reactor with Nidula niveo-tomentosa fungi to investigate the performance of FBR on fungal fermentation and raspberry ketone bioproduction. Thus, four main research themes were subsequently formulated and explored: (I). Design and fabrication of the micro-fluidized bed through 3D-printing technique; (II). Development of deeper understanding of the micro-fluidized bed based on liquid-gas and liquid-solid-gas hydrodynamic characteristics; (III). Investigation the cultivation parameters and different bioreactors for fungal fermentation and production; (IV). Development and investigation of a bench-scale fluidized bed reactor for fungal fermentation and raspberry ketone production. The preliminary study of pellet fluidization provided an experimental basis for the fungal fermentation using fluidized bed reactor, as fungal pellets in the micro-fluidized bed could be well fluidized by both liquid and gas flows, while the gas flow can not only improve the mixing but also decrease pellet agglomeration. Then, the following study demonstrated that the optimal cultivation conditions including 75g/l glucose concentration, 2.5 g/l of phenylalanine, 3-weekold of 40% seed culture can largely improve raspberry ketone (RK) production in flask culture. Besides, the homogenization which breaks the pellets into free mycelia can further promote ii RK production. Finally, the combination of these optimal parameters with the bench-scale fluidized bed bioreactor yielded raspberry ketone (up to 5 times compared to the control study by flask culture) and raspberry compounds (up to 3 times compared to the control study by flask culture), improving the overall bioproduction of Nidula niveo-tomentosa fungi. Therefore, this thesis successfully proved the novel use of fluidized bed bioreactor for fungal fermentation, as the gas/liquid flows can fluidize the pellets which provide sufficient mass transfer and gas supply. Besides, the gas flow can decrease the pellet agglomeration thus mitigating the dead zone. Such a combination of fluidized bed bioreactor with fungal pellets opens up opportunities to develop a suitable and efficient bioprocessing technique in fungal fermentation.Newcastle University, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapor

Exploring parents' understanding of their children’s mental health and wellbeing. From experience to discourse.

D. App. Ed. Psy. Thesis.This thesis explores parents’ views, experiences, and constructions of children’s mental health and wellbeing. Chapter 1: A meta-ethnographic, systematic literature review was conducted to synthesise findings of six studies which had explored the experiences of parents whose children had accessed mental health services. Findings demonstrated support for common understandings in help-seeking and access literature in mental health. The synthesis highlighted the expectations, assumptions, and anticipated consequences of constructing problems as mental health difficulties. Connections were drawn with the possibilities made available in community-based and partnership working in universal services. Chapter 2: Provides an ethical and methodological consideration of the empirical project presented in Chapter Three. The relationship between findings from the literature review and the empirical project is discussed and the methodological process is considered in depth. This includes consideration of the philosophical assumptions related to a discourse analysis methodology and consideration of ethically important moments which arose in carrying out the research. Chapter 3: An empirical study focused on understanding parents’ construction of wellbeing as a concept. A discourse analysis methodology was used to explore how wellbeing is constructed in conversations amongst parents. Participants were interviewed virtually in pre-existing pairs and the discussions then analysed. The discursive constructions and wider discourses considered in this analysis were explored from the perspective of power, positioning, and possibilities for action in universal services when developing approaches to practice. Particular consideration was given to the possible contribution of educational psychology. Chapter 4: Provides a reflective and reflexive account of the research process and outcomes and what this means for me as a trainee practitioner and researcher. The implications for my own professional practice as a future EP are considered and possible next steps in EP research and practice more generally are explored. Cross referencing is used throughout the thesis. These links are indicated by text in bold italics

Promoting school connectedness : planning and evaluating practice in educational settings

D. App. Ed. Psy. ThesisThis thesis explores school connectedness and ways in which this might be promoted. It contains four chapters: a systematic literature review, a critical consideration of research methodology and ethics, an empirical research project and a reflexive chapter, which considers the personal and professional implications of the thesis. Chapter 1: The systematic literature review explores the features of wider-school initiatives which have been suggested to promote school connectedness. Thematic synthesis was used to analyse five key papers, following a detailed process of searching and selecting. The features were grouped into three analytical themes: Practical Features, Features of the Relational Climate and Process Features. A theoretical framework about how school connectedness could be promoted was developed from the findings. This could be argued to begin to address comments within the literature about a research-practice gap in this area. Chapter 2: This chapter includes the rationale for the empirical research question following the systematic literature review. It also details how and why particular decisions were made about the research focus and design. Ethical considerations and the importance of reflexivity within this context are also explored. Chapter 3: The empirical report explores the relationship between school connectedness and staff and students eating lunch together. The project was undertaken in an Alternative Provision setting, where this practice was already in place. A qualitative approach to the research project was adopted. A focus group with staff members and two dyadic interviews with students were transcribed and analysed using a hybrid approach of deductive and inductive Thematic Analysis. The data was analysed using the findings of the Systematic Literature Review, which were constructed to form a theoretical framework about how school connectedness might be promoted. Findings are discussed with regards to the relationship between school connectedness and staff and students eating together. The use of the theoretical framework to evaluate practice and explore how school connectedness might be promoted is also discussed. Chapter 4: This chapter provides a reflective account about the research process and outcomes. It allows a space for consideration about what has changed for me as a result of engaging in this project and how this might shape my future practice and research. It also summarises the implications for further research and wider practice

Robust optimisation of dry port network design in the container shipping industry under uncertainty

PhD ThesisThe concept of dry port has attracted the attention of many researchers in the field of containerised transport industry over the past few decades. Previous research on dry port container network design has dealt with decision-making at different levels in an isolated manner. The purpose of this research is to develop a decision-making tool based on mathematical programming models to integrate strategic level decisions with operational level decisions. In this context, the strategic level decision making comprises the number and location of dry ports, the allocation of customers demand, and the provision of arcs between dry ports and customers within the network. On the other hand, the operational level decision making consists of containers flow, the selection of transportation modes, empty container repositioning, and empty containers inventory control. The containers flow decision involves the forward and backward flow of both laden and empty containers. Several mathematical models are developed for the optimal design of dry port networks while integrating all these decisions. One of the key aspects that has been incorporated in this study is the inherent uncertainty of container demands from end customers. Besides, a dynamic setting has to be adopted to consider the inevitable periodic fluctuation of demands. In order to incorporate the abovementioned decision-making integration with uncertain demands, several models are developed based on twostage stochastic programming approach. In the developed models, the strategic decisions are made in the first stage while the second-stage deals with operational decisions. The models are then solved through a robust sample average approximation approach, which is improved with the Benders Decomposition method. Moreover, several acceleration algorithms including multi-cut framework, knapsack inequalities, and Pareto-optimal cut scheme are applied to enhance the solution computational time. The proposed models are applied to a hypothetical case of dry port container network design in North Carolina, USA. Extensive numerical experiments are conducted to validate the dry port network design models. A large number of problem instances are employed in the numerical experiments to certify the capability of models. The quality of generated solutions is examined via a statistical validation procedure. The results reveal that the proposed approach can produce a reliable dry port container network under uncertain environment. Moreover, the experimental results underline the sensitivity of the configuration of the network to the inventory holding costs iii and the value of coefficients relating to model robustness and solution robustness. In addition, a number of managerial insights are provided that may be widely used in container shipping industry: that the optimal number of dry ports is inversely proportional to the empty container holding costs; that multiple sourcing is preferable when there are high levels of uncertainty; that rail tends to be better for transporting laden containers directly from seaports to customers with road being used for empty container repositioning; service level and fill rate improve when the design targets more robust solutions; and inventory turnover increases with high levels of holding cost; and inventory turnover decreases with increasing robustness

A Microstrip based RF Filter for Biosensor Applications

PhD ThesisThere is need in medical diagnostics for accurate, fast, and inexpensive devices, which can be routinely used. In this context, micro-biosensors are considered to provide viable solutions to the problems posed by the current healthcare industry. This is because these biosensing devices offer considerable advantages, such as specificity, small size, faster response, and low cost. Hence, innovative technique is desirable such as microstrip technology, which is a good means of employing planar and miniaturized high frequency filter designs. The advantages of implementing a high frequency filter design using microstrip technology includes low cost, light weight, compact size, planar structure and easy fabrication and integration with other components when deployed as a biosensor. Designing a highly sensitive and selective sensing element of a Biosensor is the aim of this research. To achieve this task a 5 th and 7th order Chebyshev type low pass filter possessing a passband ripple of 1dB and a 3rd and 5th order Chebyshev type Bandpassfilter possessing a bandwidth of 0.5GHz, a fractional Bandwidth of 20% and a centre frequency of 2.5GHz were designed. A second fabrication run was used to fine tune the device design and test point on the device. Three sets of microstrip filters were produced, two of these were on a quartz substrate using two distinct materials, one of these materials is the chemically reduced graphene oxide (rGO), produced from the hydrazine reduction of graphene oxide, while the second filter produced on a quartz substrate is the one made from a nano gold film material this was being produced by gold deposition technique on the quartz substrate, the third of the three set is the microstrip filter produced on an FR4, this was made from a laser ablation technique resulting in a laser inscribed graphene (LIG). For the first two cases, mask of the designed geometry was used to precisely implement the filter design on the substrate, while for the LIG microstrip filter, the design was engraved on a Kapton tape using a laser machine. The conductivity of the rGO was observed to have a maximum value of 8.7mS/m, while that of the gold film material is known to be 45.2 x106 S/m, and the conductivity of the LIG was observed to be 0.28mS/mm. The sensor’s RF characteristics was investigated using a vector network analyser (VNA), while ANSYS and Sonnet Lite simulation tools indicate the potential for rGO material, but very good results were recorded for the gold film material, while the LIG results indicated the need for improved conductivity. The gold 5 th order bandpass filter (5BPF) filter showed best repeatability with a frequency of 2.38GHz and standard deviation in the resonant frequency measurements of a single device of +/- 0.19MHz. Its initial functionalisation and then monolayer coverage of the sensor with a layer mouse IgG indicated that the corresponding shift in frequency response occasioned by the presence and volume of the target sample is an indication of the system’s selectivity and suitability for deployment for biological sensing application. Plans are currently on the way to test more biological samples with lower concentration levels to verify the filter’s sensitivity, selectivity, and wide range applicability as a biosensor sensing element. The future areas to be addressed are to enhance the fabricated material’s property and sensor device miniaturisation

Elucidating the importance of programmed cell death -1 in modulating innate lymphoid cells within the tumour microenvironment

Ph. D. Thesis.Programmed cell death – 1 receptor (PD-1) is an inhibitory co-receptor which is critical for immune regulation and tolerance. Following engagement with its ligands, Programmed cell death ligand (PDL)- 1 and -2, PD-1 inhibits cellular proliferation and cytokine production. Although literature has focused on T cells, emerging literature has identified PD-1 as a negative regulator of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs). ILCs are a tissue resident subset of the innate immune system which are divided into 3 groups; namely group 1 (including NK cells and ILC1s), group 2 and group 3 (including Lymphoid Tissue Inducers; LTi cells). We have demonstrated that PD-1 regulates ILC2s, whereby inhibition of PD-1 results in increased cell proliferation and cytokine production (Taylor et al., 2017). In human, all ILC subsets are capable of expressing PD-1 within the tumour (Salimi et al., 2018) though the regulation of these cells within the tumour microenvironment (TME) remains undetermined. Murine cancer models identified a unique ILC1 subset, namely Tbet+Nkp46+RORgt - ILC1s, that were found to upregulate PD-1 expression in the TME (p=0.01) and were significantly increased in the absence of PD-1 (p=0.02). Absence of PD-1 also led to the increase in cellular proliferation and cytokine production. Data indicated PD-1 may modulate the metabolic profile of ILC1 subset Tbet+NKp46+RORgt - ILC1s. Human data confirmed observations in mice, whereby human ILCs were capable of upregulating PD-1 in the presence of tumour cells and PD-1 negatively regulated cellular proliferation. Specifically, an equivalent PD-1+ subset was identified within human cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) tumours which was absent in patient peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). In conclusion, PD-1 signalling specifically dampens Tbet+Nkp46+RORgt - ILCs activity within the TME highlighting a potential therapeutic target which could enhance patient responses

Bayesian optimal design using stochastic gradient optimisation and surrogate utility functions

PhD ThesisExperimental design is becoming increasingly important to many applications from genetic research to robotics. It provides a structured way of allocating resources in an e cient manner prior to an experiment being conducted. Assuming a model for the data, one approach is to introduce a utility function to quantify the worth of a design given some data and parameters. Typically experiment-speci c utility functions are di cult to elicit and hence a pragmatic choice of utility concerning the information gained about the model parameters is used. Bayesian experimental design aims to maximise the expected utility accounting for uncertainty in the model parameters and the data which could be observed. For this approach, di culties arise as the expected utility is typically intractable and computationally costly to approximate. Modern applications often seek high dimensional designs. In these settings existing algorithms such as the MCMC scheme of Müller (1999) and ACE (Overstall and Woods, 2017), require a high number of utility evaluations before they converge. For the most commonly used utility functions this becomes a computationally costly exercise. Therefore there is a need for an e cient and scalable method for nding the Bayesian optimal design. The contributions of this thesis are as follows. Firstly, stochastic gradient optimisation, a scalable method widely used in the eld of machine learning, is applied to the Bayesian experimental design problem. The second contribution is to consider a utility function based on the Fisher information matrix as a Bayesian utility function by showing it has a decision theoretic justi cation. These utilities are often available in a closed-form so are fast to compute. The nal contribution is to investigate surrogate functions for expensive utilities as an e cient way of nding promising regions of the design space

Liberty, Property, Materiality : An historical archaeology of protest and resistance in later-eighteenth-century England

Ph. D. Thesis.The later eighteenth century (c.1763-1815) was a period of great social, economic and cultural upheaval in Britain. Drawing on a range of case studies from North-East England and London, drawn together through the life of Thomas Spence, this thesis explores how subaltern individuals and groups experienced, protested against, and resisted these upheavals, not just through public ‘flash-points’ such as riots but also routinely through quotidian objects and spaces in the everyday. To investigate case studies of everyday subaltern resistance, this thesis searches beyond elite produced textual accounts, which commonly obscure everyday forms of resistance, and instead pursues a multisource methodology integrating textual, material, and spatial sources. Through the critical examination of these sources in combination, a range of inconsistencies, ambiguities, and exaggerations appear suggesting the presence of underlying hidden tensions, anxieties, and dissent. This thesis then explores how these tensions were materialised in objects and places as component strategies articulating protest and resistance. Taken individually, the case studies present a series of highly nuanced micro-histories offering important insights into context-specific expressions of protest and resistance in later-eighteenth-century England. When read together, however, they suggest how material culture and space were widely understood, across diverse contexts, to offer important avenues for expressions of protest and resistance at the macro-scale. Between Marsden Grotto, Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s Town Moor, Spencean London and the Wilkes and Liberty movement, this thesis demonstrates how subalterns expressed their dissent and demands in common ways through objects, space and place. This thesis thus opens a new approach to the history and archaeology of protest and resistance, foregrounding subaltern experience and promoting a recognition of the pivotal roles played by material culture, space and place in the articulation of power, protest and resistance.AHR

The relationship between connectome structure and cognition

Ph. D. Thesis.Cognition consists of many abilities, designed to allow the animal to interact effectively with the environment. In this thesis, we explore the relationship between cognition and the network of connections within the brain, known as the connectome. Firstly, we assess the spatial organisation of the macaque monkey connectome. We ask whether regions are arranged so as to minimise the total wiring length, a theory known as component placement optimisation. We find that the total wiring length of the connectome can be reduced by repositioning brain regions, suggesting the presence of alternative constraints on brain connectivity. We subsequently construct a model of neural dynamics to obtain a mechanistic understanding for why the brain is sub-optimally arranged with respect to its wiring configuration. Next, we explore spatial optimisation in the human connectome. We find that the human connectome can be spatially rearranged to reduce the total length of all connections, and that regions differ in their contribution towards this reduction. We find evidence to suggest that this sub-optimal spatial arrangement of brain regions supports healthy dynamics by encouraging greater fluctuations in global synchrony throughout the brain. We also explore connectome structure in the context of impaired cognition, specifically in subjects with schizophrenia, where we identify a link between symptom severity and the spatial organisation of the frontal lobe. Lastly, we investigate the relationship between connectome structure and intelligence, performing numerous spatial and topological analyses on the human connectome alongside measures of fluid and crystallised ability. We find evidence suggesting that fluid ability, rather than crystallised, is linked to spatial features of the connectome, and, in particular, with connectivity that is closer to being spatially optimised. Our work contributes towards an understanding of the spatial and topological features of the connectome, and offers novel insights into the mechanisms that underpin cognitionNewcastle Universit