The Practical Problems Faced by the University of East London in Meeting the Parking Restraints within PPG13

In increasing usage of its Docklands campus, the University of East London is subject to limits on parking provision, guidance for which is given in PPG13. Commuters balance opportunity costs when assessing their willingness to pay to commute. Staff members display opposing views with respect to their reliance on the car, but the car users both justify the need, which depends upon their home location and alternative provision, and articulate the difficulties in changing practice. The government is encouraging the use of car share schemes which could potentially be a viable solution. Compressed working weeks or home working depend upon the nature of teaching staff duties and must be supported by management and technology if a cultural change can be achieved that continues to provide a quality service for the students

A Study of Sustainability: Developing a Holistic Approach towards the Scope and Impact of Change

In this paper, the concept of sustainability is recognised to be the long term survival of societies. It is recognised that this is a multifaceted issue, involving numerous stakeholders competing for different outcomes in order to satisfy their disparate needs. These stakeholders include elements that involve an interdependent network of relationships that is vulnerable to change. It is thus evident that the whole question of sustainability is that of a complex problem, whereby inappropriate action could yield unintended consequences that render them at best ineffective and at worst, detrimental to progress towards a sustainable future. This paper seeks to establish an understanding of this messy problem at a holistic level and attempts to address sustainability by governments and institutions and various theories across a range of disciplines including those relating to Kondratieff’s long waves, social and technological determinism and stakeholder theory in an attempt to expose the web of factors that constitute this messy problem. Having identified the component parts, a systems map will be presented and developed in order to explore the relationships within the system in order to improve our understanding of the pressures that will be created in any move towards sustainabilit

Lessons for children’s rights from disability rights?

This chapter examines whether the field of children's rights can glean any useful insights from recent developments in the field of disability rights

Methodological Challenges Created by Complexity in Interdisciplinary Studies

The disciplines of sustainability and national culture are both well established complex areas of study. It is only relatively recently that researchers have started to study the manner in which cultural characteristics influence behaviours that contribute to a nations activities that can lead to a reduction of their environmental burden. Most initial research undertaken was positivist in nature, relying on statistical correlation between behaviours and frameworks developed by Hofstede or the GLOBE project (Caprar and Neville, 2012). However, Rogge, Dessein, and Verhoeve (2013) argue that research into subjects as complex as this should commence with work of a more exploratory nature. This research involved the development of four case studies with the intention of validating the findings of prior research. Maximum variation sampling resulted in the selection of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden and Japan. However, subsequent analysis revealed that the three European nations shared many similarities. Sample selection also appeared to be problematic in the prior research that was being validated, whereby it could be argued that there were instances where the sample itself influenced the findings. The case studies were developed using OECD standards as framework. The findings of the positivist studies could not be validated. It was found that the multifaceted nature of the two subject areas was incompatible with positivist studies when they concentrated on individual phenomena. This research found that interdisciplinary research compounds complexity which must be understood. Whilst generalisations can be made, precision should be handled with caution

Porphyrin and metalloporphyrin agents for the personalised treatment and imaging of cancers

The improvement of cancer medicine by utilizing the approach of personalised medicine has been investigated, principally, through the combination of diagnostic imaging (PET imaging) with treatment modalities (radiotherapy). Radiotherapy is key to both curative and palliative care and can be administered as adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy, with or without combination therapies. Over the last few decades, research has been carried out into “radiosensitizers” – molecules which enhance the effects of ionizing radiation. To date, the mechanism of action of porphyrin-based radiosensitizers is still disputed. In this thesis the mechanism of action has been probed by investigating the synthesis and biological evaluation of a small library of trans-A2-diphenylporphyrin-based radiosensitizers with the aims of improving the therapeutic effects of radiotherapy. A lead structure has been identified which contains the core motif of a porphine ring chelated to Cu(II) in the pyrrolic cavity, nitro groups in the 5- and 15-meso positions and hydrophilic aryl rings in the 10- and 20-meso positions of the porphine unit. This hydrophilic compound has been evaluated through clonogenic assays, FACS assays, comet assays, and immunofluorescence microscopy assays on HT-29 (p53 null) and HCT-116 (p53 WT) colorectal cancer cell lines. This porphyrin has been found to not only enhance the effects of ionizing radiation by a substantial margin, but also enhance the proportion of cells undergoing radiation-induced cell cycle arrest and increases the proportion of cells undergoing apoptosis as there mechanism of death. Using “click” chemistry, the radiosensitizer was conferred with a powerful imaging modality (PET imaging). The successful radiochemical synthesis of a conjugatable [18F] radiolabelled heterobifunctional prosthetic was optimised, and the “hot” conjugation procedure to yield the [18F] radiolabelled radiosensitizer was carried out.Additionally, the field of dual-therapeutics has been investigated. The Ru(II) arene 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane (RAPTA) family of chemotherapeutics has recently emerged with several key advantages over the use of traditional Pt(II) therapeutics, including fewer off-target side effects and fewer mechanisms of resistance. To date, only a few examples of dual-therapeutic porphyrin-Ru(II) conjugates exist. A water-soluble cationic porphyrin-[Ru(η6-arene)(C2O4)PTA] conjugate which retains its exquisite photochemical properties has been successfully synthesised. This novel conjugate was found to be readily internalized by HT-29 (p53 null) cancer cells, and MTT assays found that this unique conjugate is 2.5 times more cytotoxic in the “dark” when compared to the RAPTA species alone, while still acting as a photodynamic sensitizer when irradiated with white light. We attribute the extra decrease in cell viability to the natural ability of the cationic porphyrin to be internalised by the cancer cells. Herein, this thesis focuses on the synthesis of porphyrins as theranostic radiosensitizers, and porphyrins as theranostic dual-therapeutics with in vitro biological evaluation carried out to determine their efficacy and mechanism of action

Mental Health Act Guardianship and the Protection of Children

Re F (Mental Health Act: Guardianship) [2000] 1 FLR 192, CACourt of Appeal (30th September 1999). Evans, Thorpe, and Mummery LJJ. Judgment of the Court given by Thorpe LJ.This case arose as a spin-off from what on the face of it was a relatively straightforward application for care orders, made by the Social Services Department of the London Borough of Hackney (‘LBH’), in respect of eight siblings. The case is of interest to mental health lawyers by reason of the attempt of LBH to use creatively elements of the Mental Health Act 1983 (‘the 1983 Act’) regime to plug apparent gaps in the powers available to local authorities and the courts in theChildren Act 1989. This entailed the court’s consideration of various provisions of the 1983 Act, as they relate to persons with learning difficulties. This case will also be of interest to family lawyers, as the boundary between family law and mental health law, such as it is, was also considered by the Court of Appeal. Moreover, it is worth remembering that the backdrop to all judicial activity in the field of mental health law at present is the on-going root-and-branch reform of this area of law. As will be discussed below, this case adds to a growing number that highlightdeficiencies in the operation of the current regime as it applies to adults with learning difficulties. Finally, although there is little direct discussion to be found in the law report of the judgment of the Court of Appeal, this case raises broader issues of human rights; a topic that none can afford to ignore in light of the Human Rights Act 1998

Policing Care in the House of Lords

The rights and interests of carers, and those in receipt of care, are related, directly and indirectly, in myriad, complex and contradictory ways. For example, poor pay and working conditions for carers is more likely than otherwise to lead to demotivated staff, with a corollary negative impact also on the rights and interests of those in receipt of care. Likewise, a carer working in good conditions for good pay is more likely than otherwise to provide a better quality of care. Sometimes, however, it is not the case that what is good for the care recipient is good for the care provider; and when decisions as to what constitutes the ‘good’ are made by third parties, such as governments, there is always the possibility that the balance between the rights and interests of the two groups will be inappropriately drawn

A clash of conventions? Participation, power and the rights of disabled children

This paper considers the neglected topic of the relationship between the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, with regard to the participation rights of disabled children. It analyses key articles in both conventions and considers relevant General Comments from both convention committees (the Committee on the Rights of the Child or ‘CCRC’ and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities or ‘CCRPD’), and their interpretation by academic contributors. The paper argues that much work on this topic fails to develop an adequate 16 understanding of power relations, and that the ‘social model of disability’ which underpins the disabilities convention, when applied to ‘childhood’ (as opposed to ‘children’) suggests that the implications of that convention for the participation rights of all children, not only disabled children, are profound. This is because the disabilities convention rejects the relevance of tests of capacity and ‘best interests’ for disabled adults, for reasons which are equally germane to disabled children, and children in general. The paper concludes with discussion of the difficulties in implementing the insights derived from the analysis of the disabilities convention in substantive law in the absence of a right to freedom from age discrimination for children, and suggests other, less far-reaching, reforms that could be made this notwithstanding

Sustainable Development: The Nature of Change and the Influence of Cultural Traits

It is only in the last few years that researchers have started to investigate the impact of cultural characteristics on the approach nations take to addressing the demands of sustainable development. The basis of such work tends to resort to the use of frameworks that were developed by Hofstede and the GLOBE project. Rogge, Dessein, and and Verhoeve (2013) argue that research into subjects as complex as this should commence with work of a more exploratory nature. This thesis is multidisciplinary, and uses a variety of methods to provide that first exploration into the nature of this relationship. My review of literature reveals that there is general acceptance that paradigmatic change is necessary but that decision making, behaviour and politics all tend to “safer” incremental steps. Using systems theory to examine the nature of paradigm change I identify the potential scope of government influence. The remainder of my work concentrates on the development of case studies of Japan, Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom, focussing on the manner in which the governments concerned support small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) within the country in developing more sustainable practices. I use these case studies to identify the impact of culture. I find that the cultural dimension as defined in classic frameworks is not the pertinent issue, but the nation is likely to be sensitive to environmental demands if the environmental damage impinges on areas of their life that they value. If there are characteristics within the nation that provide for care and support then action is more likely to be taken. The other characteristics necessary to see through financing such action are perserverence and a long-term view. My other finding is that the use of statistical analysis and frameworks of cultural characteristics is problematic in that they both simplify a subject that should be understood in all its complexity