Developing the MAR databases – Augmenting Genomic Versatility of Sequenced Marine Microbiota

This thesis introduces the MAR databases as marine-specific resources in the genomic landscape. Paper 1 describes the curation effort and development leading to the MAR databases being created. It results in the highly valued reference database MarRef, the broader MarDB, and the marine gene catalog MarCat. Definition of a marine environment, the curation process, and the Marine Metagenomics Portal as a public web-service are described. It facilitates scientists to find marine sequence data for prokaryotes and to explore rich contextual information, secondary metabolites, updated taxonomy, and helps in evaluating genome quality. Many of these database advancements are covered in Paper 2. This includes new entries and development of specific databases on marine fungi (MarFun) and salmon related prokaryotes (SalDB). With the implementation of metagenome assembled and single amplified genomes it leads up to the database quality evaluation discussed in Paper 3. The lack of quality control in primary databases is here discussed based on estimated completeness and contamination in the genomes of the MAR databases. Paper 4 explores the microbiota of skin and gut mucosa of Atlantic salmon. By using a database dependent amplicon analysis, the full-length 16 rRNA gene proved accurate, but not a game-changer in taxonomic classification for this environmental niche. The proportion of dataset sequences lacking clear taxonomic classification suggests lack of diversity in current-day databases and inadequate phylogenetic resolution. Advancing phylogenetic resolution was the subject of Paper 5. Here the highly similar species of genus Aliivibrio became delineated using six genes in a multilocus sequence analysis. Five potentially novel species could in this way be delineated, which coincided with recent genome-wide taxonomy listings. Thus, Paper 4 and 5 parallel those of the MAR databases by providing insight into the inter-relational framework of bioinformatic analysis and marine database sources

Conceptions of effective information use and learning in a tele-health organization: a phenomenographic study of information literacy and knowledge management at work.

This research study investigates the concept of workplace information literacy (IL) theoretically and empirically, focusing on the connections between information literacy and knowledge management (KM). This dissertation examines the relevance and applicability of current IL frameworks in a workplace environment by means of a review of the literature, a review of NHS Scotland documentation on its KM initiatives, and a phenomenographic study undertaken with frontline staff at NHS24, a nurse-led, 24/7 service of NHS Scotland that provides over-the-phone consultation and health information. For that study, a working definition of IL as effective information use was employed. The concept of information literacy has been developed mainly within librarianship, researched mainly within educational contexts and focused on individual competence in information use. While its application to workplace environments has been assumed, comparatively little research has been done into workplace situations. On the other hand, the concept of knowledge management is directed at a wider organizational level. However, while there is a clear focus in the KM literature on the value of information and its importance for organizations, little attention has been paid to the theoretical and empirical developments of Library and Information Science (LIS) relative to information behaviour and effective information use. The findings of this research identified limitations in the current IL frameworks, notably the lack of consideration for peoples exchanges of knowledge and information and of the social sense making that influences information interpretation and application. The findings endorse views of learning and information use grounded in socio-constructive perspectives and a consideration of context as situated practice. The conclusions suggest the need for more collaboration between studies of IL and information behaviour, and for LIS research to focus more on workplace studies and knowledge management

Semantic Service Description Framework for Efficient Service Discovery and Composition

Web services have been widely adopted as a new distributed system technology by industries in the areas of, enterprise application integration, business process management, and virtual organisation. However, lack of semantics in current Web services standards has been a major barrier in the further improvement of service discovery and composition. For the last decade, Semantic Web Services have become an important research topic to enrich the semantics of Web services. The key objective of Semantic Web Services is to achieve automatic/semi-automatic Web service discovery, invocation, and composition. There are several existing semantic Web service description frameworks, such as, OWL-S, WSDL-S, and WSMF. However, existing frameworks have several issues, such as insufficient service usage context information, precisely specified requirements needed to locate services, lacking information about inter-service relationships, and insufficient/incomplete information handling, make the process of service discovery and composition not as efficient as it should be. To address these problems, a context-based semantic service description framework is proposed in this thesis. This framework focuses on not only capabilities of Web services, but also the usage context information of Web services, which we consider as an important factor in efficient service discovery and composition. Based on this framework, an enhanced service discovery mechanism is proposed. It gives service users more flexibility to search for services in more natural ways rather than only by technical specifications of required services. The service discovery mechanism also demonstrates how the features provided by the framework can facilitate the service discovery and composition processes. Together with the framework, a transformation method is provided to transform exiting service descriptions into the new framework based descriptions. The framework is evaluated through a scenario based analysis in comparison with OWL-S and a prototype based performance evaluation in terms of query response time, the precision and recall ratio, and system scalability

Exploring the experience of psychogenic syncope following diagnosis

This portfolio has three parts.I. Part one is a systematic literature review entitled ‘What are the psychological factors associated with psychogenic syncope or psychogenic non-epileptic seizures? Psychological factors that appear to be commonly linked to syncopal events of unknown medical origin are explored in relation to psychogenic syncope. Studies have widely acknowledged psychological distress in this patient group. The prevalence of psychological factors and their impact on people remains uncertain. A systematic search of four databases identified eleven studies. The findings are summarised and discussed from various perspectives. Clinical implications and areas of future research are highlighted.II. Part two is an empirical paper, utilising Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) entitled: ‘What are the experiences of people diagnosed with psychogenic syncope?’ The study explores peoples’ perspective of living with psychogenic syncope. A total of six people chose to participate in the study, which employed a semi-structured interview based on the self-regulation model (Leventhal, Nerenz & Steele, 1984). Five superordinate and seven subordinate themes emerged from the data. Peoples’ experience of psychogenic syncope was conceptualised by drawing on various theories in order to highlight a need for holistic healthcare practice. Wider psychosocial influences on people diagnosed with psychogenic syncope were also considered.III. Part three comprises appendices relating to part one and part two. Included in this is an epistemological statement of the stance of the researcher, and a reflective statement on the process of conducting the research, and its challenges

Towards an existential phenomenological family therapy model of working with issues of alcohol abuse: a grounded theory study

This research is a step towards creating an existential phenomenological model of family therapy when working with alcohol abuse. The research method was constructivist grounded theory and involved interviews with twelve experienced family therapists. From an initial one hundred and twenty-five provisional categories the data was analysed to form eight main concepts. Each of the concepts contains a family therapy and an existential phenomenological perspective. The model can be considered in three formats; a review of family therapy when addressing alcohol problems, an existential phenomenological approach to that situation and an integrated version. The model is described and shown in diagram form and can be used by practitioners in part or whole to assist in their work with families

Economic evaluation of gender empowerment programmes with a violence prevention focus: objective empowerment and subjective wellbeing

Prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) is high the world over, and in sub-Saharan Africa, between 30% and 66% of ever-partnered women aged 15 or over have experienced IPV at least once in their lifetime, and 37% on the African continent. Power imbalance in the household and unequal access to resources are often identified as triggers of violence. Microfinance interventions provide women with access to financial resources as well as soft-skills training (MF-plus). Evidence of microfinance’s impact on IPV is still however contradictory, often confined to observational cross-sectional studies, with narrow definitions of IPV, and no clear link with a process of empowerment. This thesis addresses these limitations by (i) analysing data from the randomised control trials (RCTs) of two microfinance and training interventions in sub-Saharan Africa aimed at reducing IPV; (ii) defining a conceptual framework for the analysis of impact that I term eudaimonic utility (EUD) and linking this with empowerment indicators; and (iii) interpreting this evidence with reference to sociological and economic models of IPV. EUD is the self-actualisation component of psychological measures of wellbeing (WB). I derive EUD from the triangulation of the construct of wellbeing I found in the milieu of sub-Saharan African women targeted by one of the interventions, psychological indices of wellbeing, and properties of plural utility functions. It comprises three psychological dimensions: autonomy (deciding for oneself), meaningful relations with others (maintaining mutually supportive and emotionally meaningful relationships) and environmental mastery (ensuring that the external environment is conducive to one’s flourishing). For the analysis of intervention impact, I group empowerment indicators on the basis of the factor analysis associations with EUD dimensions. Impact estimates suggest that women who access MF-plus services gain more control over their own time, experience improvement in proxies of eudaimonia, and experience reduced IPV exposure. Women who trained in negotiation skills in addition to access to financial services experience limited increase in cooperation with their spouses, but no IPV reduction

Janet : the shape of the hidden : collaborative video practice as research in a poetry archive

PhD ThesisThis doctoral project was guided by curiosity aroused by a cursory note written in the margins of a poetry transcript. It is a speculative investigation into the potential significance of ephemeral material secreted within the administrative section of the Bloodaxe Archive. The methodological development of the research has been iterative. It was developed through the production of collage-like video pieces that incorporate documentary-style video footage, drawing and photography, as well as spoken word, poetry and sound. The project’s eventual collaborative and cross-disciplinary approach unfolded through initial observational work in the archive. The research suggests that the composite, transferable and potentially ‘ever unfinished’1 nature of video is a useful parallel to the idea of the contemporary archive as shifting and fragmentary. The written thesis that accompanies the creative work disseminates my utilisation of video making as a contemporary tool of archival research. The text also acknowledges embodied and ephemeral ‘technologies’ associated with collaboration - such as conversation and gesture - as key parts of the research methodology. My search for Janet within the ephemeral materiality of the archive was a re-imagining of the archive as a space for speculation rather than a source of truths. Ideas gathered together in this thesis address the use of archive ephemera as a starting point for association, invention and autobiographical reflection

Making sense of children’s rights: how professionals providing integrated child welfare services understand and interpret children's rights

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the development of integrated child welfare services through an exploration of how professionals providing such services make sense of children’s rights and interpret their understandings in their approach to practice. The study focuses on professionals providing services for children between 5 and 13 years old within the Every Child Matters initiative, designed to support the assessment and provision of integrated child and family preventive services in England. The aims were to explore professional understandings of, and engagement with children's rights, provide a description and analysis of the empirical data, and develop a theorised understanding of the factors influencing sense-making and their implications for professionals’ interpretations of their role. Areas of interest included similarities and differences in professionals’ understandings and how these matched the understandings of service users and those evident in legal and policy texts. It was anticipated that professionals’ understandings and engagement would draw on a complex mix of variable knowledge and embedded assumptions and practices, contested and negotiated in relation to welfare structures, texts and professional identities. The study was designed to explore whether this was borne out. A post-modernist theoretical approach was used, drawing on Bourdieu’s theories of structured inequalities and influenced by Actor Network Theory’s perspectives on networks. Using qualitative methodologies a case study was undertaken within one local area, linking a range of elements in an iterative process, with data from one phase interwoven in the next. Thirty-nine semi-structured interviews with professionals from social work, education and health settings drew on material developed from focus group discussions with child and parent service users and were supplemented by analysis of legal and policy texts and of 30 case records and site-based observations. Initial findings were discussed in parent and professional focus groups. In a second stage analysis of a subset of the data, these findings were explored further and situated within research and academic debate on professional practices and theories of childhood and of rights. Three broad configurations emerged from the data, reflecting differing professionals’ constructions and practice interpretations of children's rights. Some participants interpreted children's rights as an essential ‘golden thread’ underpinning their practice; others took a more selective ‘pick and mix’ approach; and in a third perspective, children's rights were positioned as ‘uncomfortable accommodations’ in relation to interpretations of professional role and of family life. These varying dispositions and related interpretations of professionals’ regulated liberties were associated with perspectives on childhood, rights knowledge, professional setting, personal dispositions and relational practices. The findings are necessarily tentative and a causal relationship cannot be inferred. Three overarching themes emerged across these configurations. These related to: a common rights language and framework; children’s longer-term welfare rights; and conceptualisations of the role of rights within relationships. The absence of a common rights framework to support professional and interprofessional discussions of children’s rights was evident across all settings, as was a professional focus on the immediate and lack of attention to children’s longer-term welfare, civil and social rights. Participants indicated that providing information about children's rights and exploring rights-based relationships in work with parents and carers was very rare and often avoided. The study proposes that in order to address children's rights in a more consistent and holistic way professionals need opportunities to explore theories of human and children's rights using a broad common framework such as the UNCRC. In integrating children's rights within professional practice increased attention is needed to children’s longer-term welfare and development rights and to providing children and adults with information about, positive modelling of and opportunities to explore the place of rights in children’s key relationships

The Beautiful Risk of Peace in Education: an application of the Everyday Peace Indicators methodology in four English secondary schools

Schools need peace and peace needs schools. Peace has the potential to re-engage increasingly hardening, standardising and commodifying English schools with the human dimension of education. The qualities and practices associated with peace have the potential to transform individual and thereby collective quality of life. Peace needs schools - the prime societal sites of learning - in order for its ideal to be made real. This study sets out to bridge the worlds of everyday school reality with high peace theory. This study investigates whether and how the ideal of peace can be made real in four English secondary schools. This study is motivated by the desire to contribute to peace practice by applying an innovative methodology for capturing everyday peace in schools. My original contribution to methodological knowledge is to offer a schools-adapted version of the Everyday Peace Indicators methodology that can potentially fulfil multiple research and praxis functions. Equally, this study is motivated by the desire to contribute to peace theory by providing empirically-derived conceptions of everyday peace in schools. My original contribution to theoretical knowledge is to offer an empirically-derived analytical framework for understanding what everyday peace means in the school context. In order to elicit and understand localised conceptions of peace, I develop an adapted version of the Everyday Peace Indicators methodology and apply it in four English secondary schools. The process within each school results in a set of Everyday Peace in School Indicators which are ranked and discussed by student and staff participants. Grounded in the notion of peace as contextual, dynamic and relational, the study explores what conceptions of peace emerge within each of the schools, how those conceptions are understood by the student and staff participants in relation to their lived reality and how the conceptions speak to existing peace and peace education theory. From a methodological perspective, the adapted Everyday Peace in Schools Indicators process was valued by participants for three main reasons. First, the open and engaging participatory nature of the process; second, for challenging them to think about the priorities and practices in their school afresh, through the lens of peace; and third, for translating high-level values into realisable actions. Participants identified ways to publicise, translate, practise and prioritise the conceptions of peace that emerged within their school. The implications of these findings are that the Everyday Peace in Schools Indicators process designed for this study offers potential uses as a research methodology, a peace-building intervention or as a peace education evaluation methodology. From a theoretical perspective, the conceptions of peace that emerged within the four schools contain common core elements, as well as local distinctions. The conceptions of peace from the four schools are synthesised into an analytical framework comprising three categories of peace. Personal peace contains the three dimensions of positive feeling, freedom to be oneself and connection with the teaching and learning function of school. Relational peace comprises the two dimensions of relationships and routine social behaviours. Institutional peace comprises the dimensions of the school environment, curriculum and systems. These three categories of peace are understood as being in dynamic and dialectical relationship with one another. In addition to this synthesised analytical framework for understanding everyday peace in schools, the study offers a synthesised definition of peace. The implications of these theoretical findings for future research in peace and peace education are threefold. First, the findings from this study suggest empirical support for recent peace theory that conceptualises peace in terms of engagement towards difference. Secondly, the synthesised analytical framework of peace can serve as a reference for ongoing definitional debates on the concept of peace. Finally, the study provides an empirically-supported rationale for the concept of peace to be understood as the dynamic process of imagining its ideal forms in actualised real forms