The Two Faces of Collaboration: Impacts of University-Industry Relations on Public Research

We analyze the impact of university-industry relationships on public research. Our inductive study of university-industry collaboration in engineering suggests that basic projects are more likely to yield academically valuable knowledge than applied projects. However, applied projects show higher degrees of partner interdependence and therefore enable exploratory learning by academics, leading to new ideas and projects. This result holds especially for research-oriented academics working in the ‘sciences of the artificial’ and engaging in multiple relationships with industry. Our learning-centred interpretation qualifies the notion of entrepreneurial science as a driver of applied university-industry collaboration. We conclude with implications for science and technology policy.University industry relations; Collaborative research; Contract research; Academic consulting; Science technology links; Engineering

Norepinephrine-evoked renal regulation of sodium homeostasis in salt-sensitive hypertension

Hypertension affects 1 in 3 adults and is the single greatest risk factor for premature death. Salt-sensitive hypertension occurs in approximately 50% of hypertensive patients and results in a 3-fold increase in the risk of adverse cardiovascular events. However, the pathophysiology of salt-sensitive hypertension remains to be fully elucidated. There has been increased interest in the interaction between the sympathetic nervous system and the kidney and how that interaction mediates sodium excretion to drive the development of salt-sensitivity. Previous studies show that sympathetic over-activity increases expression of the sodium chloride cotransporter (NCC) resulting in increased NCC-mediated sodium reabsorption, and the development of salt-sensitive hypertension. In this thesis, I show the effect of increased norepinephrine (NE) and high salt intake in salt-resistant vs. salt-sensitive rat phenotypes on blood pressure regulation, NCC activity, and the adrenoreceptor-mediated regulatory kinase network signal transduction pathway. A high salt diet 1) exacerbates NE-induced hypertension in salt-resistant Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats and 2) results in hypertension in Dahl salt-sensitive (DSS) rats. In contrast to salt-resistant phenotypes (SD & Dahl salt-resistant), dietary sodium-evoked suppression of NCC expression and activity is prevented in salt-sensitive rats (SD-NE infusion & DSS) - I show that this occurs through a failure of a high salt intake to suppress renal OxSR1, SPAK, and WNK1 (NCC regulatory proteins). I demonstrate that α1-adrenoreceptors are responsible for mediating the salt-sensitive component of hypertension and restore dietary sodium-evoked suppression of the NCC via a predominant OxSR1 pathway. Chronic β-adrenoreceptor antagonism significantly reduces blood pressure in NE-mediated hypertension. How the body senses salt remains unknown, but my data show that selective removal of the afferent renal nerves prevents dietary sodium-evoked suppression of NCC expression and activity resulting in salt-sensitive hypertension, suggesting that the afferent renal nerves play an important role as a sodium-sensing mechanism. Overall, these data demonstrate that attenuated afferent renal nerve feedback drives renal efferent nerve release of NE to prevent the downregulation of the NCC via an α1-adrenergic receptor-gated WNK1-OxSR1 signal transduction pathway to evoke the development of salt-sensitive hypertension

Non-Gaussian Covariance of the Matter Power Spectrum in the Effective Field Theory of Large Scale Structure

We compute the non-Gaussian contribution to the covariance of the matter power spectrum at one-loop order in Standard Perturbation Theory (SPT), and using the framework of the effective field theory (EFT) of large scale structure (LSS). The complete one-loop contributions are evaluated for the first time, including the leading EFT corrections that involve seven independent operators, of which four appear in the power spectrum and bispectrum. We compare the non-Gaussian part of the one-loop covariance computed with both SPT and EFT of LSS to two separate simulations. In one simulation, we find that the one-loop prediction from SPT reproduces the simulation well to $k_i + k_j \sim$ 0.25 h/Mpc, while in the other simulation we find a substantial improvement of EFT of LSS (with one free parameter) over SPT, more than doubling the range of $k$ where the theory accurately reproduces the simulation. The disagreement between these two simulations points to unaccounted for systematics, highlighting the need for improved numerical and analytic understanding of the covariance.Comment: v2 - 10+9 pages, 6 figures; minor changes + data analysis and conclusions updated. Version accepted for publication in PR

Connecting Identity and Place: Refugee Relocation Facility

architecture\u27s place in the global flow of people, identity, and the city can no longer be taken for granted. Architecture must consider the current conditions, the past histories, and future prospects of its relationship to identity and place within the changing city

Prognosis of resected, early-stage, lung adenocarcinoma patients

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death worldwide; despite recent treatment developments survival rates remain poor and are closely related to the patient’s clinical stage. Even among patients with early-stage lung cancer, which is amenable to surgical resection, prognosis is highly variable; some go on to live disease-free for many years whereas others quickly recur. Although post-operative chemotherapy is available it has associated morbidities and it is unclear which patients would benefit; therefore, there is a need for more effective stratification of patients. The adenocarcinoma sub-type of lung cancer is known to be morphologically heterogeneous however the majority of observed growth patterns, assessed by light microscopy, can be characterised into one of five formations: lepidic, papillary, acinar, solid and micropapillary. The morphology of each tumour has been proposed as a marker of prognosis and several studies have published a link between the most prevalent growth pattern and prognosis; suggesting those with predominantly solid or micropapillary tumours to have the least favourable outcomes. Indeed, it is now recommended that the proportion of each growth pattern and the predominant growth pattern should be reported for all resected lung adenocarcinomas; although no differential treatments have been recommended based on this assessment. The aim of this study was to determine whether combining the analysis of clinicopathological; morphological; and candidate protein, molecular genetic and transcriptomic characteristics in a single cohort of 208 early-stage, resected, adenocarcinomas with clinical follow-up could be used to identify a subset of patients at high risk of recurrence. Comprehensive morphological analysis was carried out including the presence, proportion and number of individual growth patterns; the predominant growth pattern as well as features previously associated with tumour grade (the presence of large numbers of mitotic figures, apoptotic bodies, inflammatory cells, prominent nucleoli, pleomorphic tumour cells, dyscohesive tumour cells and large amounts of necrosis and scar tissue within the tumour). In addition, gene expression was assessed using a panel of 31 cell-cycle related genes, EGFR and KRAS mutation status was determined, and EGFR and TTF1 protein expression investigated. In this study the predominant growth pattern defined by histopathology showed no ability to identify a group of patients with a poorer prognosis either in univariable or multivariable analysis. Univariable analysis identified nodal status [hazard ratio of N1 compared to N0 was 2.16 (95% CI 1.48 to 3.16, p< 0.0005)], clinical stage [hazard ratios of stage IIa and IIb compared to stage Ia were 3.15 (95% CI 1.73 to 5.73, p< 0.0005) and 2.22 (95% CI 1.10 to 4.48, p= 0.025) respectively], the presence of a significant amount of the papillary growth pattern [the hazard ratio of those with less than 8.5% papillary pattern was 0.657 (95% CI 0.44 to 0.98, p= 0.035)], and overall tumour grade score (including an assessment of necrosis, mitosis, apoptosis, nucleoli, scar tissue and inflammatory cells) [hazard ratio 1.71 (95% CI 1.14 to 2.56, p= 0.008)] as significantly associated with prognosis. Multivariable analysis using Cox’s proportional hazards model identified clinical stage (p< 0.0005), the presence of a significant amount of the papillary growth pattern (p= 0.048) and the presence of large numbers of mitotic figures (p=0.029) and apoptotic bodies (p= 0.015) as independently associated with disease specific survival; although after correction for type I errors only clinical stage remained significantly associated with prognosis with patients with stage Ia disease having a significantly better outcomes [hazard ratio 0.418 (95% CI 0.20 to 0.86)]. Classification and regression tree analysis (CART) was used to further explore the data and to develop decision trees for the prognostication of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma patients. Receiver operating characteristic analysis based on 5- year survival showed a minimal improvement in the area under the curve between a model utilizing currently available clinicopathologic characteristics only [nodal status and lesion size, (area under the curve 0.704, 95% CI 0.631 to 0.777)] and one including growth pattern characteristics [area under the curve 0.725, 95% CI 0.654 to 0.796]. The greatest improvement in prognostic accuracy was observed when gene expression analysis was included in the analysis [area under the curve 0.749, 95% CI 0.673 to 0.825]; however even this showed very little impact compared to routinely used clinicopathologic variables. This analysis suggests that the recommended characterisation of lung adenocarcinoma histology is not a robust predictor of patient outcomes; even a broader model which also included indicators of tumour grade and molecular characteristics was unable to identify a model sufficiently robust to implement into clinical practice and thereby potentially alter patient treatment. Currently routinely collected clinical characteristics; including nodal status, size and clinical stage; continue to provide the most robust method of prognostication and detailed and time-consuming morphological analysis offers no significant benefit to the patient

Shame, mental health and substance use: an exploration of psychological processes and interventions

Volume One presents three research papers focusing on understanding interventions and change processes for people with severe and enduring mental health problems. The first paper is a meta-analysis evaluating the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for people with severe and enduring mental health problems. The second is an empirical study examining the role of shame and psychological flexibility in the relationship between mental health and substance use in people with severe and enduring mental health problems. The third is a report written to disseminate the research findings to the research participants and health care professionals

A question of impact: Exploring knowledge utilisation within the UK low carbon innovation system

Successful innovation requires organisations to promote the utilisation of both technology and knowledge amongst the diverse actors who operate within innovation eco-systems. Many of these programmes utilise public funds to drive innovation and engage stakeholders. These public funded programmes come under increasing scrutiny to demonstrate impact as a return on research investment. Knowledge generated within the UK low carbon energy innovation system has the potential to facilitate the achievement of national and supra-national emission targets. Research and practical application in this field has historically centred on technology transfer whilst under-emphasising the crucial role of knowledge within this complex, socio-technical innovation system. This paper presents the results of a qualitative case study undertaken within a knowledge intensive public-private partnership as a component of its knowledge management strategy. The study aimed to explore the perceptions of staff relating to the organisation’s knowledge activities prior to a planned stakeholder engagement event. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were undertaken, and thematic network analysis applied to reveal four major themes. The analysis shows that wider system influences affect how actors perceive their role within the innovation system. Implications for the organisation’s managers are herein suggested which could add value to the organisation and increase knowledge utilisation amongst stakeholder groups. Implications include: clarifying utilisation objectives; tailoring knowledge activities; and introducing ongoing feedback cycles. This paper provides a foundation for future empirical work, which aims to compare knowledge utilisation within different organisational structures and identify best practice within the UK low carbon innovation system

A topography of knowledge transfer and low carbon innovation

The growth of the knowledge economy and the changing relationship between science and society, have triggered the emergence of a ‘new role’ for universities as catalysts for innovation within national innovation policy frameworks. The Triple Helix concept of knowledge generation and innovation introduces triadic relationships between government, academia and industry. These often incorporate state driven aims of innovation development and diffusion for greater societal and economic benefit as conditions of the funding programmes. This concept is witnessed in the UK low carbon energy innovation system, where collaborative relationships are formed to develop new technologies for application by industry and society. The dynamics of the Triple Helix model bring many challenges to policy makers and those engaged in knowledge transfer relationships, stemming from the inherent nature of knowledge and the complex human interactions involved with inter-organisational knowledge transfer. Low carbon innovation has an increased need for inter-disciplinary knowledge transfer where specialised pools of knowledge are brought together for the purposes of innovation, in environments typified by uncertainty and unclear user impacts. Obstacles are compounded by the complexity of defining knowledge transfer processes and the debate surrounding the transferability of knowledge. Significant additional challenges exist within low carbon innovation, where influencing technology adoption by the public is seen as a multifaceted problem with no easy solution and requires innovation outputs to be transformed to societal outcomes. This paper aims to explore the nature of these challenges through a review of the literature on knowledge transfer, the continuing transition of academia, government and industry within knowledge generation frameworks and the specific dilemmas faced by the low carbon innovation system. This literature review provides a foundation for future research which aims to explore the concept of knowledge transfer within the UK low carbon innovation system and gather empirical data pertaining to the optimisation of collaborative project performance