From the Outside Looking in: How an Awareness of Difference Can Benefit the Qualitative Research Process

While much has been written on the problems that can arise when interviewing respondents from a different social group, less attention has been paid to its potential benefits for the research process. In this paper we argue that, by being conscious of one’s outsider status , an interviewer can use it as a tool through which to elicit detailed and comprehensive accounts from respondents, and ensure rigorous and critic al analysis of the data produced

State funded Muslim schools?: equality, identity and community in multifaith Britain

In this thesis I explore the debate over the state funding of Muslim schools in Britain, examining the arguments used for and against by the stakeholders involved. Qualitative interviews were conducted with head teachers, politicians, Muslim parents and representatives from a number of stakeholder organisations, to identify their reasons for supporting or opposing state funded Muslim schools. This research is necessary because until now the opinions of those directly involved have not been systematically researched, resulting in assumptions and generalisations about their views. Muslim schooling has become an increasingly fractious and polarised issue, and only by analysing the actual arguments used by those directly involved can we gain insight into the complexities underlying this debate. This data also allows me to explore how the issue of Muslim schooling relates to broader sociological questions about the rights, responsibilities and forms of belonging appropriate for minority communities in multicultural societies. In the findings I begin by reporting that the main arguments used in favour of state funded Muslim schools were equal rights, a better society, strengthened identity and educational benefits. I then move on to question why, given these strong favourable arguments, so few Muslim schools are currently in receipt of state funding. I ask whether this is due, at least in part, to Islamophobia. I then utilise models of political philosophy to evaluate the arguments surrounding state funded Muslim schools, and find that discourses of equality, social cohesion and identity are employed by both opponents and proponents. It is therefore possible to argue either for or against the state funding of Muslim schools from a liberal, a communitarian or a multiculturalist perspective. Finally I assess alternative solutions to the educational difficulties faced by Muslims in Britain, and conclude with my opinion about whether there should be state funded Muslim schools

Nanoscale imaging and characterisation of Amyloid-β

In this work several novel Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) methods have been applied to the study of the amyloid peptide implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Amyloid-β (Aβ) undergoes a hierarchy of aggregation following a structural transition making it an ideal subject of studying with SPM. The application of SPM based techniques to biological samples has become increasingly common place. However, these techniques are not always immediately suitable for imaging delicate samples of proteins and adaptions must be made before imaging can be considered successful. AD is the most common form of dementia worldwide, and a growing concern for health authorities. As a result it has attracted the attention of a wide range of disciplines. There has been much work conducted which combines the main pathogenic peptide, Aβ , with Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) in order to elucidate more about its aggregation behaviour, however these techniques offer little more than structural comments, with only the most advanced forms of cryo-Electron Microscopy (EM) providing more details on the nanoscale. Presented here is a method for reliably and robustly producing samples of Aβ by capturing them at various stages of aggregation, as well as the results of subsequent imaging by various methods of AFM. Each of the AFM techniques studied provides additional “added value” to the data which can typically be collected by AFM; either nanomechanical, elastic, thermal or spectroscopical. By imaging samples of Aβ with Ultrasonic Force Microscopy, a detailed substructure to the morphology could be seen, which correlates well with the most advanced cryo-EM work. In addition this technique was ideal for detecting the most toxic from of Aβ, early aggregates, in a sensitive and non-destructive fashion robustly differentiating them from the underlying layer of another peptide (poly-L-Lysine) that was designed to reliably capture the Aβ aggregates. Early work investigating the potential for combining an established method of thermal AFM with a mid-IR laser system also shows promise for detecting the response of the protein. It was also the focus of this work to study the aggregation of Aβ using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), in order to confirm whether the technique could identify differences between populations throughout the aggregation process. This was applied in conjunction with potential therapeutics which target the early aggregates to prevent their accumulation, as well as block formation of fibrils. Ultimately this work aims to shows with care to the initial protocols used, physical techniques such as AFM and DLS can be added to the existing methods of monitoring aggregation. Synergistic use of these techniques can generate a clearer overall picture of the effect of metal ions/developing therapeutics on Aβ aggregation and provide more detail than classical biological techniques alone

Copper modulates zinc metalloproteinase-dependent ectodomain shedding of key signaling and adhesion proteins and promotes the invasion of prostate cancer epithelial cells

A disintegrin and metalloproteinases (ADAMs) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are zinc metalloproteinases (ZMPs) that catalyse the 'ectodomain shedding' of a range of cell surface proteins including signalling and adhesion molecules. These 'sheddases' are associated with the invasion and metastasis of a range of cancers. Increased serum and tumour tissue levels of copper are also observed in several cancers although little is known about how the metal might promote disease progression at the molecular level. In the current study, we investigated whether copper might regulate the ectodomain shedding of two key cell surface proteins implicated in the invasion and metastasis of prostate cancer, the Notch ligand Jagged1 and the adhesion molecule E-cadherin, and whether the metal was able to influence the invasion of the prostate cancer epithelial cell line PC3. Physiological copper concentrations stimulated the ZMP-mediated proteolysis of Jagged1 and E-cadherin in cell culture models whilst other divalent metals had no effect. Copper-mediated Jagged1 proteolysis was also observed following the pre-treatment of cells with cycloheximide and in a cell-free membrane system, indicating a post-translational mechanism of sheddase activation. Finally, the concentrations of copper that stimulated ZMP-mediated protein shedding also enhanced PC3 invasion; an effect which could be negated using a sheddase inhibitor or copper chelators. Collectively, these data implicate copper as an important factor in promoting prostate cancer cell invasion and indicate that the selective post-translational activation of ZMP-mediated protein shedding might play a role in this process.

Deployment of autonomous IoT drones for precision farming in an automated manner

Precision farming (PF), as described by European Commission, is a management approach that focuses on (near real-time) observation, measurement, and responses to variability in crops, fields and animals; it can help increase crop yields and animal performance, reduce costs, including labour costs, and optimise process inputs; all of these can help increase profitability; at the same time, PF can increase work safety and reduce the environmental impacts of agriculture and farming practices, thus contributing to the sustainability of agricultural production. Vehicles are becoming increasingly automated by taking on more and more tasks under improving intelligent control systems equipped with enhancing low-power monitoring sensor technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques. Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) (A-UAVs), as flying autonomous robots, with self-learning and self-decision-making abilities by executing non-trivial sequences of events with decimetre-level accuracy based on a set of rules, control loops and constraints using dynamic flight plans involving autonomous take-off and landing are taking their indispensable parts with little or no human in the loop to accomplish various automated tasks. PF is one of the most promising applications showing the benefits of using drones where a lack of human element in the farming industry is becoming evident. For instance, remote monitoring using Internet of Things (IoT) UAVs is safe, cost-effective and could be easily and frequently repeated, providing prompt information about livestock's population size and their instant location and health-related issues. The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has been developing intelligent IoT drones to execute numerous tasks in various disciplines (https://www.uclan.ac.uk/business/archive/lidz) for a decade within the concept of Automation of Everything (AoE) and Internet of Everything (IoE) using several supervised and unsupervised AI techniques. This research demonstrates how highly integrated technologies with drones can help the farming industry overcome challenging issues. Intelligent UAVs can overtake some of the labour-intensive tasks to execute PF. The integration of UAVs embedded with IoT and sensor-driven technologies into farming can improve productivity with substantial cost savings. IoT technologies instilled with AI techniques can lead to automated ways of performing daily routines in large farms. Within this perspective, in this event, several examples of PF-based IoT drones and their equipment, developed by UCLan, are demonstrated

IQ Collaboratory III: The Empirical Dust Attenuation Framework -- Taking Hydrodynamical Simulations with a Grain of Dust

We present the Empirical Dust Attenuation (EDA) framework -- a flexible prescription for assigning realistic dust attenuation to simulated galaxies based on their physical properties. We use the EDA to forward model synthetic observations for three state-of-the-art large-scale cosmological hydrodynamical simulations: SIMBA, IllustrisTNG, and EAGLE. We then compare the optical and UV color-magnitude relations, $(g-r) - M_r$ and $(FUV-NUV)-M_r$, of the simulations to a $M_r < -20$ and UV complete SDSS galaxy sample using likelihood-free inference. Without dust, none of the simulations match observations, as expected. With the EDA, however, we can reproduce the observed color-magnitude with all three simulations. Furthermore, the attenuation curves predicted by our dust prescription are in good agreement with the observed attenuation-slope relations and attenuation curves of star-forming galaxies. However, the EDA does not predict star-forming galaxies with low $A_V$ since simulated star-forming galaxies are intrinsically much brighter than observations. Additionally, the EDA provides, for the first time, predictions on the attenuation curves of quiescent galaxies, which are challenging to measure observationally. Simulated quiescent galaxies require shallower attenuation curves with lower amplitude than star-forming galaxies. The EDA, combined with forward modeling, provides an effective approach for shedding light on dust in galaxies and probing hydrodynamical simulations. This work also illustrates a major limitation in comparing galaxy formation models: by adjusting dust attenuation, simulations that predict significantly different galaxy populations can reproduce the same UV and optical observations.Comment: 26 pages, 15 figure

Carbon on the Northwest European Shelf: Contemporary Budget and Future Influences

A carbon budget for the northwest European continental shelf seas (NWES) was synthesized using available estimates for coastal, pelagic and benthic carbon stocks and flows. Key uncertainties were identified and the effect of future impacts on the carbon budget were assessed. The water of the shelf seas contains between 210 and 230 Tmol of carbon and absorbs between 1.3 and 3.3 Tmol from the atmosphere annually. Off-shelf transport and burial in the sediments account for 60–100 and 0–40% of carbon outputs from the NWES, respectively. Both of these fluxes remain poorly constrained by observations and resolving their magnitudes and relative importance is a key research priority. Pelagic and benthic carbon stocks are dominated by inorganic carbon. Shelf sediments contain the largest stock of carbon, with between 520 and 1600 Tmol stored in the top 0.1 m of the sea bed. Coastal habitats such as salt marshes and mud flats contain large amounts of carbon per unit area but their total carbon stocks are small compared to pelagic and benthic stocks due to their smaller spatial extent. The large pelagic stock of carbon will continue to increase due to the rising concentration of atmospheric CO2, with associated pH decrease. Pelagic carbon stocks and flows are also likely to be significantly affected by increasing acidity and temperature, and circulation changes but the net impact is uncertain. Benthic carbon stocks will be affected by increasing temperature and acidity, and decreasing oxygen concentrations, although the net impact of these interrelated changes on carbon stocks is uncertain and a major knowledge gap. The impact of bottom trawling on benthic carbon stocks is unique amongst the impacts we consider in that it is widespread and also directly manageable, although its net effect on the carbon budget is uncertain. Coastal habitats are vulnerable to sea level rise and are strongly impacted by management decisions. Local, national and regional actions have the potential to protect or enhance carbon storage, but ultimately global governance, via controls on emissions, has the greatest potential to influence the long-term fate of carbon stocks in the northwestern European continental shelf