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Item Open Access The Immersive Interior(De Montfort University, 2021-02) Gration, JonathanThis thesis presents the result of a study into the ways Historic House Museums can develop layered narratives, using digital reconstructions to allow visitors more options when exploring their historic interiors. Using a mixed method approach, this research explores, for the first time, a newly developed dataset of 372 Historic House Museums, documented in over 85.000 images. This fieldwork employs an adaptation of Aby Warburg’s Mnemosyne methodology, to arrive at an authenticated set of parameters, that provide insight into how Historic House Museums function, what stories they tell, and how they tell them. A case study enriches the research, and links the findings from the dataset, with an applied example of how this information connects with the potential for interiors to tell more, and layered, stories. The case study selected for the research is the Great Hall at Boughton House in Northamptonshire, in the care of the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust and home to the Duke of Buccleuch. Novel contributions regarding the appearance of the Great Hall over time, have also emerged during this research, together with insights into how digital reconstructions and interactive engagement can be used to explore these. Based on the thematic analysis of the results from both the fieldwork research and the case study, an implementation strategy is proposed for Historic House Museums to start developing their narrative potential by using digital reconstructions as part of the ways to untangle the often-complex layered histories of their interiors. This study touches on the immersive nature of interiors, and how the sensory experience of the interior is not consistently being used to its best advantage. The potential role of digital engagement in promoting a sensorial engagement with the interiors is a recurrent theme. Throughout, a historical and curatorial perspective has been employed, looking at where and how digital reconstructions can fit into this practice. The results of the research can also be of benefit to the developers of digital engagement to acquaint themselves with a heritage field that has thus far seen very limited adoption of the potential these technologies have to offer.Item Open Access Studies on pro-oxidant cytochrome P450 enzymes as drug discovery tools and the discovery that they also have a dual function as antioxidants(De Montfort University, 2018-09) Alqahtani, AliThe baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a unicellular eukaryotic. It has been widely used for heterologous expression of proteins from human cells which are multicellular eukaryotes. Expression of human proteins in yeast has led to (a) production of biopharmaceuticals (b) generation of molecular tools that enable drug discovery involving screening of libraries of small molecular weight chemical compounds (MW < 500 Dalton). Since the intracellular architecture of baker’s yeast cells closely resembles that of human cells, it is considered as a model used for the production of human proteins, identifying and further clarifying complex human biochemical pathways that play vital roles in human cells. In this research, specific cytochrome P450s (CYPs) have been overexpressed in baker’s yeast with the following objectives in mind. (i) CYP1A1, CYP1A2, and CYP1B1 are enzymes highly up-regulated in lung cancers that are caused by inhaling or coming into contact with polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which exist in cigarette smoke, in the close proximity to petrochemical industries and in environments which are highly polluted (specifically in mega-cities). There is a need for identifying CYP1A1, CYP1A2, and CYP1B1 inhibitors that would prevent the conversion (mediated by CYPs enzymes) of PAHs to active carcinogens. Hence, these CYPs have been expressed in yeast to devise a cellular system which produces very high levels of CYP activities. This system has been validated using known CYP inhibitors. Hence, it can be used to identify potential inhibitors of CYPs from libraries of chemical compounds. (ii) CYP1A2, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 are major liver enzymes that are widely used to study drug metabolism (i.e. metabolism of medicines). These particular CYPs metabolise medicines into more polar substances through such reactions as hydroxylation etc. Hence, CYPs are thought to function as pro-oxidants, allowing addition of oxygen to unreactive carbon atoms. However, CYPs also act as electron sinks, indicating that it may inherently possess anti-oxidant properties. This has never been investigated before. This was probed using ethanol-treated yeast cells which are blocked in cell growth. In both yeast and human cells, ethanol is known to induce apoptosis which is generally triggered by reactive oxygen species (pro-oxidants) stemming from reactions between free electrons within cells and molecular oxygen, O2. Observations indicated that these CYPs do restore yeast cell growth that has been blocked by 5 % ethanol. (iii) Human Bax protein is probably the most dominant pro-apoptotic protein (inducer of apoptosis) existing within human cells. It has been widely used to understand the human features of apoptosis in yeast. Observations indicated that CYPs rescue the block of cell growth induced by Bax in yeast, again indicating that a CYP has the potential to act as an anti-oxidant too.Item Open Access Electrophilic Substitution and Diazo-Replacement Reactions of the Nitronaphthylamines and their N-Acyl Derivatives(De Montfort University, 1958-05) Wells, PeterN/AItem Open Access Item Open Access In Vitro Studies on Potential Mechanisms of Absorption Enhancement by Hvdroxybenzoates(De Montfort University, 1988-06) Huson, Andrew JohnVarious groups of workers (e.g. Nishihata et al 1980a,81ab,82ab) have demonstrated that derivatives of salicylic acid can enhance the absorption of normally poorly absorbed drugs. The work described in this thesis is an investigation into the possible mechanisms by which these adjuvants act. Various physicochemical parameters of the adjuvants were determined and related by linear, multiple linear and multiple non-linear regression analyses to their biological activities. No significant correlations were obtained between the physicochemical parameters of the adjuvants and their abilities to enhance drug absorption, or their own absorption, in the basic region. General trends were observed between adjuvant absorption in the acidic region and various physicochemical parameters or combinations of parameters. These findings supported the ideas put forward by Nishihata et al. (1981a) that adjuvant absorption in this region may be regulated by their lipophilicity. Adjuvant fluxes alone and in the presence of drug, were determined across various model membranes supported in Rotating Diffusion Cell (RDC) systems. Systems studied incorporating both adjuvant and drug did not mimic the in vivo system. Measurements of adjuvant flux alone, across simple lipid membranes, produced significant correlations with adjuvant absorption in the acidic region, but no correlations were found for adjuvant absorption in the basic region. Kinetic analysis of the adjuvant flux data and comparison with adjuvant absorption in the acidic region suggested that interfacial transfer is the rate limiting step in their absorption. This finding supports recent evidence that interfacial transfer may be the rate limiting stage in a number of biological processes. Overall, no conclusive evidence was found concerning the mechanism by which adjuvants enhance drug absorption or are themselves well absorbed in the basic region. Several possibilities related to lipophilic mechanisms would appear to have been discounted by these findings.Item Open Access Item Open Access A Framework for Designing Bioclimatic Homes in Hot Arid Climates: A Case Study of Ghadames, Libya(De Montfort University, 2017-06) Alabid, JamalSince the mid twentieth century, Libya, like the rest of the Arab world, has undergone rapid development due to the discovery of oil. This has led to many significant changes in almost every aspect of life, including housing forms. In the course of all these economic and political changes, the Arab world, and Libya in particular, is still searching for a national housing identity to conform with its traditional architecture, which is rapidly changing. This is because new models developed elsewhere do not fully address the issues and challenges of Libya’s current housing requirements. This research recognises the need to provide housing that would improve indoor living conditions and to promote the outdoor environment sustainably. Therefore, through a pragmatist paradigm, the data for this empirical research were collated from both primary and secondary sources: case studies, questionnaires, interviews, observations and archival data. The data generated were analysed using statistical analysis, content analysis, simulations and calibrations. In addition, experimental research was carried out to investigate occupants’ satisfaction with existing housing designs and professionals’ opinions on future housing development. The key findings showed that bioclimatic design solutions have the capacity to enhance human living conditions and protect the environment with a minimum use of resources, land, energy and less CO2 production. Other findings from the field surveys indicated that residents of the existing naturally ventilated housing in the old town of Ghadames were satisfied with the indoor thermal conditions even at indoor temperatures of 32˚C; this suggests that the PMV model may not be applicable, taking into consideration the measurements of the physical environment. Further findings derived from a range of simulations using EnergyPlus indicated that indoor comfort conditions are achievable in the proposed design of the bioclimatic house in a free-running system, leading to a 67% reduction in energy compared to the existing case-study houses. Participants in the surveys of this research conveyed a message of understanding and addressed the socio-cultural aspects and needs in today’s housing designs. These social and environmental aspects have been successfully transformed into a framework and design for bioclimatic housing that will have an impact on future housing development in hot arid climates. This research has also contributed to knowledge by developing a housing model that would enhance sustainable housing provisions and give an identity to Libyan architecture through a structured methodology that is robustly transferable to similar contexts.Item Open Access Revelation of new properties of pro-apoptotic human proteins, Bax and α-synuclein, using baker's yeast(De Montfort University, 2017-10) Akintade, DamilareApoptosis is a form of programmed cell death which is essential for growth of dividing human cells whereas, in contrast, it is deleterious for post-mitotic cells such as neurons. Bax and α-synuclein are two human proteins which play a role in the induction of neuronal apoptosis in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Human Bax and α-synuclein also induce cell death when expressed in baker’s yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this thesis, this particular yeast has been used as a model system to study (a) if pro-apoptotic Bax is able to activate an inactive cytochrome P450 (CYP) expressed in the absence of a P450 reductase (CPR), (b) the effects of co-expression of the two pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and α-synuclein, (c) if mitochondrial DNA-deficient petites spontaneously generated by α-synuclein expression in yeast can ultimately undergo cell death, and (d) the cellular consequences of rescue, from Bax-induced cell death in yeast, by novel anti-apoptotic proteins which had originally been identified in a human hippocampal cDNA library. A CPR abstracts electrons from NADPH and transfers to the active site of a CYP to provide a functional CYP. A yeast strain was genetically engineered to delete the endogenous CPR gene. A human CYP expressed in a CPR-null strain is inactive. It was queried if Bax, which induces apoptosis in yeast and human cells by generating reactive oxygen species (ROS), would substitute for the absence of CPR. Since the generation of ROS by Bax stems from an initial release of electrons, is it possible for these released electrons to be captured by an inactive CYP to make it active once again? Surprisingly it was found that Bax does activate three inactive CYP proteins confirming that it can compensate for CPR’s absence within yeast cells. Quite unexpectedly, the human α-synuclein gene had been identified as an inhibitor of pro-apoptotic Bax using a yeast-based screen of a human hippocampal cDNA library. The screen relies on human Bax killing 100% of yeast cells under certain inducible conditions. Numerous plasmids were constructed with different promoters, which allow expression of wild-type and Parkinson’s disease-related mutant α-synuclein genes, from (i) multi-copy 2µ (episomal) plasmids and (ii) integrative plasmids that compel expression of genes from chromosomal sites in varying copy numbers (1 to 3). All α-synuclein-containing plasmids were introduced, through transformation, into a yeast strain which already contained a chromosomally integrated copy of Bax. It is for the first time that it was observed that, depending on gene dosage, only wild-type α-synuclein is anti-apoptotic while mutant α-synuclein is not. The results also indicate that wild-type α-synuclein has a remarkable ability to manifest two contrasting effects depending on its level of expression: (i) normally, it would negate apoptosis but (ii) when overexpressed, it tends to induce apoptosis which is probably what happens in Parkinson’s disease. The human α-synuclein gene when expressed at low levels in yeast spontaneously forms mitochondrial DNA-deficient rho-minus petite cells. It has been published that petites are generally resistant to cell death. Since α-synuclein is known to induce apoptosis both in human neuronal cells and in yeast which contains functional mitochondria, it was queried if petites, formed by low level expression of α-synuclein, would undergo cell death when higher levels of α-synuclein were expressed. Although it has never been seen before, it appears that petites do undergo cell death leading to the conclusion that α-synuclein mediated cell death, at least in yeast, does not require functional mitochondria. Besides human α-synuclein, there were many other novel genes that were initially identified, which rescue Bax’s pro-apoptotic effects, in the yeast-based human hippocampal cDNA library screen. Three specific genes were chosen for further studies to confirm their role in inhibition of apoptosis. The genes code for proteins involved in protein (i) folding, (ii) secretion and (iii) translation. They were sub-cloned downstream of the constitutive PGK1 promoter (expression from which can occur in the presence of both glucose and galactose), on an episomal vector, and were co-expressed with a chromosomally-integrated Bax gene expression cassette driven by the GAL1 promoter (which is galactose-inducible but repressed in the presence of glucose). The anti-apoptotic proteins of the Bcl-2 family are known to negate the pro-apoptotic properties of Bax. However, the results with the three new genes show that (i) proteins need not belong to the Bcl-2 family to overcome Bax’s death-inducing effects, and (ii) novel anti-apoptotic proteins can be identified using a simple yeast assay. The findings presented here seem to corroborate indirect evidence, published in the literature, which hint that these proteins may be anti-apoptotic.Item Open Access VAT Introduction in a rentier Gulf Council Country (GCC). Mapping the process: Challenges and Measures, Applications and Implications— the case of Bahrain(De Montfort University, 2024-08) Yawer, MenaThe literature of taxation has extensively covered the study of tax designs, compliance problems and policies in various economies. While some have linked different disciplines to taxation to understand the impact of taxes on a country’s economic development, others have made direct connections between taxation and the social contract. Yet, a lack of empirical evidence persists regarding how to construct a tax administration in light of a nation's economic and societal characteristics, how these factors affect the creation of a tax system and are subsequently affected by the developed tax system and its associated process. One of which is the VAT, as there are no enough context specific studies that reflect differences between standard approach VATs and real-world VATs. This thesis provides a context specific study through investigating the establishment of the value-added tax (VAT) and its related process for the first time in one of the GCC member countries which is Bahrain. Given Bahrain’s rentier economy, examining the implementation process and its various phases occurs in the context of rentierism. The study identified stakeholders (actors) who have participated in the process and whom it has affected, to gain a thorough understanding of the process from their perspectives and better portray the implementation process through employing the ANT. The key stakeholders included: the Business sector, tax consultants, training and education institutions and the administration. The researcher utilised a constructivist paradigm to view and reflect upon the process, from the perspective of various stakeholders, employing a mixed qualitative methodology that relies on archival data and in-depth interviews (n=28). The results primarily demonstrate that establishing and implementing a tax system (VAT) required a distributed action derived by a socio-material assemblage. Thus, this thesis highlights the establishment and implementation of a tax system as an interconnected process that necessitates involving different human and material resources, to deliver a smooth process and an optimised system. The study reflected the differences between standard approach VATs and Bahrain’s real VAT application that met the country’s needs and characteristics. Further, while it was noted that the rentierism concept guided the design and implementation of the VAT, the approaches adopted by the state throughout the process have positively contributed to the system implementation, stressing the importance of state-society interactions in implementing the tax system and its positive reflections on the social contract.Item Open Access PETER WHITEHEAD: PERHAPS TOMORROW…? THE UNSEEN RUSHES OF SWINGING LONDON(De Montfort University, 2023-08) Chilcott, RobertThis PhD thesis integrates archival research with a practice-based approach to explore British film and cultural history during the long, transatlantic 1960s. It extensively utilizes previously undiscovered materials from the Peter Whitehead Archive (De Montfort University Leicester), as well as other collections such as the BFI National Archive and Contemporary Films. The thesis provides a critical analysis of Peter Lorrimer Whitehead’s films, particularly focusing on Tonite Let’s All Make Love in London (1967) and its voluminous unseen rushes. It also examines Whitehead’s constructed persona and its interaction with the broader 1960s socio-cultural and artistic milieu. The study, including a practical component - a new documentary interview featuring the previously unreleased footage - aims to scrutinize Whitehead’s thematic, aesthetic, and personal disruptions, reflecting his ongoing artistic struggle, driven by internal demons and narcissistic angst. Whitehead (1937-2019) was caught between his obsessions with Greek and Egyptian mythology, European cinema and literature (notably French writers/filmmakers such as Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jean-Luc Godard, and Alain Resnais), and his marginal position within British cinema (see Chibnall 2011 and Flanagan 2011). A central objective of this thesis is to challenge the reductionist view of Whitehead as merely a 'documentarian' of the 1960s scene. Instead, it argues that Whitehead was an outsider filmmaker aspiring to the status of European auteurs such as Godard or Robbe-Grillet. Chapter 3, for the most part, explores Whitehead as an unreliable and disruptive storyteller, whose narrative and myth are moulded to his conviction that things are destined to unravel, a belief reflecting the existential atmosphere of post-war Europe and its influence and impact on Whitehead’s worldview, his specific perception of life.Item Open Access Implications of the Abaya Garment on Practicality, Comfort and Culture of Contemporary Working Life in Saudi Arabia(De Montfort University, 2023-12) Almaawi, HayaDue to significant development reform in Saudi Arabia, women are increasingly entering the workforce and working in a wide range of roles traditionally held by men. This situation has implications for clothing in the workplace, where women wear the traditional abaya that may not always be appropriate for different working environments and tasks. This has placed women in situations where there is a new approach to clothing, together with the need for comfort, practicality and cultural considerations. Specifically, the abaya may not be practical or even safe in different job roles and may not be comfortable in certain environments or when performing certain job tasks. However, the abaya still needs to meet cultural requirements. The study presents guidelines for the development of a uniform abaya for female Saudi Customs officers working at an international airport in Saudi Arabia. The guidelines show how to derive requirements, use those requirements in the development of a uniform abaya, and evaluate the abaya through a wearer trial. The guidelines consider four dimensions, which are comfort, practicality, culture, and a fourth dimension, dignity and recognition, which were revealed during the requirements stage. In order to derive requirements and evaluate the uniform abaya against these requirements the study used interviews and questionnaires with a number of different parties, including female customs officers, airport staff, designers and manufacturers of the abaya. The study resulted in the development of a uniform abaya, which was worn by female officers. The results showed a very positive response from participants that the abaya uniform met the established comfort, practicality and cultural requirements. The positive results validated the guidelines as an approach to the development of female uniforms. The originality of the study is that it responds to female uniform needs in a rapidly changing Saudi society where there has been an absence of such study and any guidance for the design of comfortable, practical and culturally appropriate female uniforms.Item Open Access Learning from Genocide: A narrative study of guiding experiences at sites of mass atrocities in Poland and Bosnia(De Montfort University, 2024-08) Sadique, KimThe pedagogic purposes of memorial museums are to provide a moral education where visitors develop individual agency and responsibility to build a better future. However, personal transformation and active citizenship is underexplored in the literature. This study applied a critical social lens to explore the guiding experiences of visitors and educators at memorial museums situated in ‘authentic sites’, namely Auschwitz Birkenau State Museum, Poland and Srebrenica Memorial Centre, Bosnia. The original contribution of this thesis is in giving a voice to educators in, and visitors to, memorial museums which are seldom heard in the literature. In line with a constructivist approach, one-to-one narrative interviews were undertaken with 21 students and 8 educators (4 guide-educators and 4 survivor-educators) to explore their experiences. Emotions and their management were at the heart of this study; with students and survivor-educators noting the importance of working with and through emotions as a way to prevent affective disempowerment. Students discussed the centrality of both personal and dialogic reflection to make sense of what they saw and heard. Guide-educators drew attention to gaps in content in regard to the socio-political context in which genocide occurred and the prominence of victim perspectives and this appeared to be linked to the way they guided – through narration of the space rather than in the space, and this differentiation identified during the study presents new knowledge. Moreover, individual agency and ‘action’ were only evident in survivor-educator delivery. A further original contribution is demonstrated in the development of a comprehensive model of genocide education – A Pedagogy for Social Change that incorporates: evidentiary epistemologies; affective modalities; memory traces; reflective spaces; and empowered solidarities. If adopted and implemented, the model would support memorial museums and their educators to meet their objectives of a moral education leading to action and establish an empowerment solidary to support visitors becoming active citizens.Item Open Access Social Interaction and Affective Evaluations in Outdoor and Indoor Environments(De Montfort University, 2024-04) Tkacz, OlaIndividuals adjust their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in response to proximal and distal forces, but also in relation to other individuals with whom they interact. Evaluating the context of social interactions is central to making attributions about the actions of others, explaining our own behavior, and planning future actions. When evaluating the environment, researchers have pivoted between focusing on cognitive aspects such as their collative properties (e.g., visual complexity) and focusing on their affective qualities (e.g., valence, arousal, dominance). Likewise, there has been a traditional interest on stimulus-level features of natural and built-environments such as stressors (e.g., noise, crowding) and facilitators of social interaction and health promotion (e.g., greenery, light exposure, ample spaces). As individuals navigate cognitively overloaded environments with fixed- (e.g., buildings, fences), semifixed- (e.g., signs), and nonfixed-feature (e.g., other individuals) elements, unfocused interactions to negotiate encounters with strangers using subtle behaviors such as gaze, facial displays or gestures abound. In the present research project, we conducted four empirical studies to achieve four research aims. First, we analyzed the visual complexity (entropy, compression size, and fractal dimension) contained in the images of 20 outdoor urban areas of Leicester City and 32 indoor spaces of a Spanish university campus. Second, we explored the affective and interactive qualities of the outdoor and indoor environments by mapping them into bidimensional spaces of core affect (valence and arousal) and social interaction, while examining their stimulus-level features (i.e., greenery, resurfaced/renovated sidewalks and walkways, width of spaces, and natural lighting conditions). Third, we tested the explanatory power of population- and stimulus-level fixed and random-effects predictors on affective (core affect) and interactive (safety and the likelihood to interact with a stranger) evaluations of the outdoor and indoor environments. Fourth, we explored which facial behaviors, and moderated by which population- and stimulus-level fixed and random-effects predictors, were attributed to male and female interactants initiating a friendly, dominant, or undecided unfocused interaction. To achieve our research aims, we first analyzed the visual complexity of 52 images containing outdoor (n = 20) and indoor (n = 32) environments (Study 1). Then, 525 participants were tested online in 3 studies (n = 94, n = 130, and n = 301) using experimental designs with crossed random factors of subjects and stimuli, in which we modeled the variance of both subjects and stimuli (Study 2 = 20 trials, Study 3 = 32 trials, and Study 4 = 4 trials). In Studies 2-4, on each trial, participants were asked to observe an image with stimulus-level features (e.g., greenery, lighting, interactant sex) and then to provide categorical responses (e.g., facial displays, affective descriptors) and interval verbal ratings (e.g., 9-point Likert scales measuring core affect). In Study 2, the stimulus-level features were greenery, resurfaced/renovated areas, and the width of the sidewalk or walkway, with participants rating the core affect (valence and arousal) and interactive properties (safety and likelihood to interact with a stranger) as well as selecting an affective descriptor from a list for each outdoor area. Study 3 differed from Study 2 only in the nature of the indoor environments and in that participants did not evaluate the safety of each area. In Study 4, participants evaluated an unfocused interaction in which they negotiated an encounter with a stranger in a confined outdoor urban space. Participants were randomly assigned to an interactive situation (Friendly versus Dominant versus Undecided) in which they had to evaluate and rate the outcome of the interaction and to select a facial display from an array as the nonverbal lead sign in the interaction trajectory initiated by the interactant with the intention to either (1) allowing the participant to pass first (Friendly/Give way), (2) not allowing the participant to pass first (Dominant/Pass first), or (3) being undecided about who should pass first (Undecided). We found that visual complexity was similar across stimulus-level features in outdoor environments. However, in indoor environments, areas with good lighting conditions were more visually complex than areas with poor lighting conditions. In outdoor environments, greenery made participants feel good, safe, and calm, while being conducive to social interaction with a stranger. Likewise, resurfaced pathways made participants feel safe and more likely to interact with a stranger. In indoor environments, good natural lighting conditions made participants feel good, calm, and more likely to interact with a stranger. In both indoor and outdoor environments, open space had no significant effect on these evaluations. In Study 4, we found that smiling faces were the most prevalent lead signs in friendly interactions, whereas frowning faces were the most prevalent in dominant interactions. The appraisal of the interaction outcome (from extremely negative to extremely positive), the nature of the interaction (dominant or friendly), and the sex of the interactant (male or female) were the most important predictors explaining smiling and frowning selections.Item Open Access Intercultural communication in psychiatric diagnosis and psychiatric consultations in Leicester, UK(De Montfort University, 2024-03) Chen, JanisBackground: Psychiatrists' perceptions shape diagnostic interviews, impacting intercultural clinical service delivery. Diagnostic criteria, patient information, and cultural influences affect diagnostic consultation outcomes, but barriers in intercultural contexts reveal a gap in applying intercultural knowledge with limited academic exploration. UK psychiatrists follow ICD guidelines, yet ICD10/11 criteria lack strict neuroscientific grounding. To bridge these gaps, psychiatrists are encouraged to enhance cultural competence by acquiring proper cultural knowledge, skills, and awareness when conducting high-quality diagnostic consultation interviews. Aim: This research aimed to explore psychiatrists' perspectives on the cultural aspects of the quality of the diagnostic consultation process, serving as the foundational stage in understanding the evolving dynamics between psychiatrists and patients/families. Additionally, it aimed to examine how psychiatrists describe their incorporation of cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills in daily practice, along with their interpretation of clinical situations in diagnostic consultation interviews. Method: To understand psychiatrists' cultural competencies in clinical practice, a qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted, investigating the cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills of twenty purposefully selected psychiatrists within Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust through one-to-one, semi-structured interviews. Findings: This study highlights the importance of integrating Fuchs's theoretical framework (2010) and Aggarwal's intersubjective model of culture (2023) into constructing a British Intercultural Psychiatric Communication Formulation within British psychiatric practice. It identified four key experiential themes and their subthemes: 1) non-verbal and verbal behaviours, 2) identity of a professional psychiatrist, 3) mapping clinically significant information, and 4) reflectiveness. Conclusions: This research highlights a significant oversight in current guidelines that overlooks the cultural context of psychiatrists. It also identifies limitations in psychiatrists' exploration of intercultural communication knowledge in formulating diagnostic consultations, emphasising potential gaps in their understanding of cultural nuances. The study underscores the need to overcome barriers and enhance psychiatrists’ capacity to develop culturally sensitive diagnostic approaches for multicultural backgrounds.Item Open Access "People laugh, don’t believe it": Unveiling Male Rape Myths through a Mixed Methods Exploration of Professionals, Survivors, and Community Insights.(De Montfort University, 2024-03) Kambashi, NgosaResearch shows that misconceptions, or rape myths, about male sexual violence survivors are prevalent in England. These myths lead to adverse outcomes such as obstacles in reporting incidents, secondary victimisation, and hesitation in seeking medical and psychological support. Despite these known effects, studies on male rape myths, especially in England and Wales, are less comprehensive compared to those on female rape myths. Therefore, this doctoral research sought to understand better perceptions surrounding male rape myths (MRMs). The study utilised an exploratory sequential mixed methods research design to comprehensively explore MRMs, combining in-depth qualitative insights with generalisable quantitative factors. In the first phase (Study One), qualitative interviews were conducted with 13 professionals. The data was analysed using Willott and Griffin’s (1997) method for the Foucauldian discourse analysis. Willott and Griffin’s method allowed for identifying power dynamics, subject positions, discursive resources, interpretative repertories, and discursive practices. Study one unearthed three interrelated dominant discourses titled ‘Professionals’ Insights: Societal Myths, Acquaintance Rape Realities, and Legal Obstacles’, ‘Navigating Re-Traumatisation: Unequal Power and Support Challenges’. For mixed methods integration, the preliminary findings from study one informed phase two’s interview schedule, which was piloted with some professionals. The second phase (Study Two) had 9 male survivors; the same analysis from Study One was used to analyse Study Two’s data. Four dominant discourses emerged: ‘Bearing the Unseen Weight’, ‘Barriers: Institutional Power and the Complex Journey of Male Survivors’, ‘A Media Discourse: (in)Authentic Portrayal of Male Rape’, ‘Breaking the Silence: Disclosure and Support for Male Survivors’ and one negative case study. The third phase incorporated the qualitative findings from the first two studies to guide the design of the third quantitative study, specifically in selecting study variables and formulating acquaintance rape scenarios. Study three examined the extent to which rape myth acceptance, myth-consistent information, sexism, and sociodemographic factors predicted blaming attribution in response to acquaintance rape scenarios in a public sample (N=196). Findings suggested that myth-consistent information is a positive predictor of blame attribution, while male rape myth acceptance is a negative predictor of perpetrator blame. The implications, limitations and future recommendations were discussed for the study-level and overarching mixed-method study findings.Item Open Access The experience of discharge from acute hospital with short-term urinary catheters: a qualitative exploration of stakeholder perspectives.(De Montfort University, 2024) Gyesi-Appiah, EvelynBackground It is known that 82.4% of urogenital infections are related to urinary catheters (Abernethy, J. et al. 2017). Urinary catheters must therefore be removed as soon as possible after insertion according to Loveday et al. (2014) and Royal College of Nursing (2021). It is also known that the daily increased risk of developing bacteria in the urine is 3-6 % (Loveday et al., 2014), and 3-7% (Al-Hazmi, 2015; Clayton, 2017) and 9%. (Clawson, A. et al. 2022) for a patient with a urinary catheter, and this increases with the length of time the catheter remains in place. There is also, an average of 6 days to CAUTI, with the presence of urinary catheters (Perrin, K. et al. 2021). However, the prevalence of urinary catheters among in-patients is 20.7 % (Russo, P.L. et al., 2020). A series of research studies have concentrated on long-term urinary catheters, and the physical aspects of the effects of its presence on individuals, such as the rate of infections, length of stay (Barbadora et al., 2015; Daniels, K.R., et al., 2014; Holroyd‐Leduc et al., 2007; Perrin, K. et al. 2021; Clawson; A. et al. 2022) and urinary incontinence (Sier et al., 1987; Moody & McCarthy, 2015). However, there is little knowledge on the subjective interpretation, and the effect of when an individual leaves the acute setting, with a short-term urinary catheter, for it to be removed in the community, as well as the perception of the district nurses, care home nurses, and the family carers. This study considers the impact of short-term urinary catheters (STUC) on patients who were discharged home from the acute setting, for the STUC to be subsequently removed in the community, and the perspectives of the District Nurses (DNs), Care Home Nurses (CHNs) in the community, and the family carers. The research problem The aim of this research is to explore the experiences of patients, family carers and healthcare workers with regards to the community management of patients discharged from the acute hospital with short-term urinary catheters in situ. The objectives for the research study were, • To review and analyze the existing literature in relation to STUC and experiences in the community. • To identify patients with STUC (Short Term Urinary Catheter) inserted on 13 adult medical wards and discharged with the STUC into the community. • To explore the care of those patients in the community, who were discharged with the STUC in situ from the 13 adult wards in one acute setting. • To explore and understand the impact of the short-term urinary catheters on stakeholders including the patients, the district nurses, the care home nurses and family carers in the community, from their perspectives. Research method An Interpretive Description (ID) was adapted as the research methodology, and a purposive sampling was used in capturing the patients with STUC from 13 medical wards in the acute National Health Service (NHS) setting with a plan of leaving into the community with the STUC still in place. An open-ended semi-structured interview was used to obtain an in-depth information from 8 patients who were discharged from acute (NHS) setting with STUC, 3 family carers who were related to the participants with the STUC, and were involved in the care, 7 district nurses and 5 nurses in care homes. The experiences and perspectives of the study participants, in relation to the discharge of patients with STUC from the acute NHS hospital, and the care in the community were explored. An inductive analysis process was then used in synthesizing the data, to represent the voices of the study participants. It is also acknowledged that it is common and appropriate for sampling size to be constrained in small size ID research studies due to limits on time and resources (Thorne, 2016). Although there were time constraints in terms of time limit on ethical approval and the impact of the 2020 national COVID-19 outbreak, there was always the option of extension. This facility was used to ensure the information from the data was worthwhile and saturation point was achieved. The main findings The participants in the research study who had the STUC, felt they had not been part of the decision-making process towards the insertion of the STUC, and had not been adequately involved in the planning of their care. There was also, a lack of collaboration and breakdown in communication, in the discharge planning and handover of the individuals with STUC. The district nurses sometimes did not know the individuals had been discharged with the STUC. Other findings included a lack of clear plans and pathways for the care of the STUC in the community, inadequate training for individuals to independently care for the STUC in the community, and lack of adequate supplies to safely care for the individuals with the STUC on discharge. Some of the study participants described the STUC as a necessary evil, as it was sometimes needed however, they felt there were risks such as infections, restricted movement, and impact on their dignity and social life. There were anxieties related to urine bag with urine exposed and seen by the public, the urine bag becoming full in the night and overflowing, which led to disturbed sleep pattern in some cases, and nervousness in socializing. The feeling of loss of dignity and respect as urine leaked in a public place, was an embarrassment suffered because of the presence of the STUC. There was lack of communication and networking across the different levels of disciplines, and care settings involved in the safe delivery of care in relation to individuals with STUC. The findings from the study showed, that participants with the STUC were largely in an unknown place with the various aspects of their care, when discharged with a STUC from the acute setting. It also came across very strongly among the DNs and the CHNs in the community, the sense of silo and disjointed team working, and lack of collaboration, leaving the DNs and the CHNs team in the dark. The themes from the findings of the study participants clearly showed that, the processes involved in the discharge of the individuals with the STUC from the acute NHS setting, and their care once in the community, are indeed very complex and confusing. The individuals with the STUC were caught in the middle of this confused pathway. The review of the individuals for the need of STUC, and the consideration of other alternatives to the insertion of STUC was advocated by the study participants. Involving individuals in the planning and insertion of STUC when it is required and involving them in their own care came as a strong voice from the study participants. Improved communication and handover, and the provision of adequate equipment on discharge, if individuals happen to leave the acute setting with STUC were discussed as important to the study participants. The study makes recommendations for clinical staff to be empowered to monitor and remove STUC as soon as it is no longer required, by using a urinary catheter tool. The HOUDINI checklist is a patient safety guidance, and a Nurse-Driven Removal protocol (NDRP), a tool that has been developed to empower nurses and give them confidence to remove STUC, when it is no longer required (Ballard et al.2018). The RCN (2021) outlines the importance of monitoring the STUC using a nurse-led patient safety tool, the HOUDINI tool (Adams et al., 2012) for the prevention of risks associated with urinary catheters. Conclusion The author’s work established there is lack of involvement of patients and their family carers in the planning and insertion of STUC for individuals in the acute setting. There is lack of involvement and teamworking between stakeholders in the discharge planning of individuals with STUC, leading to communication breakdown, challenging transitioning and disjointed care delivery to the individuals with the STUC.Item Open Access The Effect of Microplastics and Nanoplastics on the Viability, Phenotype and Interactions of Colon, Lung and Macrophage Cells In Vitro(De Montfort University, 2023-11) Hackney, AmonHCT116 colorectal cancer and A549 lung cancer cell lines were incubated with microplastics and nanoplastics at varied dosage for acute (24 hr) and chronic (48 hr) periods before cell viability and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured. A549 lung cancer and MRC5 healthy lung cell lines were incubated with microplastics for an acute period before expression of autocrine motility factor (AMF) and cytokines were measured. A co-culture of A549, MRC5, and J774 macrophages were incubated with microplastics for an acute period before being prepared and imaged using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to observe any morphological changes, confocal microscopy to observe cell-cell interactions, and imaging flow cytometry to determine any internalisation of the plastics. When viability was assessed using MTT, many significant changes were observed in the colorectal and lung cancer cell lines, small but significant changes were seen following acute exposure low dosage, and larger significant reductions were seen in both cell lines following chronic exposure to high dosage. SEM revealed that microplastic exposure leads to changes in colorectal cancer cell phenotype, and some small changes in lung cancer cell phenotype. When ROS was measured using flow cytometry, a significant increase was observed in all three cell types following incubation with both sizes of plastic particles. Western blotting revealed that microplastic exposure is able to somewhat modulate the expression of AMF in both lung cancer and healthy lung cells, and their cytokine profile is also altered when assessed using microarray. Confocal microscopy revealed that changes in cell-cell interaction do occur following incubation with microplastics, however these changes were not significant. Imaging flow cytometry showed that positively charged nanoplastics are internalised the most by lung cancer and healthy lung cells, internalisation by macrophages appeared to be high visually but could not be accurately quantified. The changes in viability and ROS expression seen here confirm that microplastics and nanoplastics are able to induce potentially detrimental effects in human lung and colon cell types which may also have implications for cancer and other disease progression. The changes in colorectal cancer cell morphology seen here are indicative of a shift towards a more invasive, migratory phenotype. Internalisation of microplastics demonstrated in both lung cancer and healthy lung cells highlights the importance of understanding any physical effects which these polymers may have on the cytoskeleton and also spindle formation during cell division. Further work is still required to fully elucidate the mechanisms behind the changes induced by microplastics and nanoplastics in these cell lines, and also to translate these findings into an in vivo study.Item Open Access Automated identification of press variants in old documents(De Montfort University, 2023-01) Al-Ibaisi, MohammadCollation is the comparison of textual content to identify variations within the texts being compared. This involves comparing the texts word by word and character by character. Throughout history, collation has been used in a variety of application areas, using the naked eye, mechanical machines, as well as advanced automated collation methods that rely on software tools. The main objective of this research is to develop a fully automated system that can detect textual variations between copies of the same book. The system includes five main steps: pre-processing, segmentation, post-processing, feature extraction, and classification using a K-NN classifier. The post-processing step, includes a new technique to solve the character co-existence problem. It consists of counting the number of black pixels in all detected objects in the character image and eliminating objects with a small number of black pixels. This technique achieves an accuracy rate of eliminating unwanted objects from the character image of more than 90%. Another problem addressed in this research is detecting extra lines and extra words that may appear in the texts being compared. To solve this issue, a new technique was provided that uses the distance between the first and last black pixel to determine if there is an additional word. The testing was done using "The Tragedy of Hamlet" by William Shakespeare. The results showed that the integration of a K-NN classifier with feature extraction algorithms (Zoning, Template Matching, Crossings, Theta Distribution, Projection Profile) led to higher accuracy scores of character matching (classifying each character to the correct class) at 84% compared to the Calamari OCR system at 72%, and also a higher accuracy of textual variants detection at 88% compared to the Calamari OCR system at 73%.Item Open Access Security and Privacy in Unified Communication Architectures with Focus on Online Real-Time Meeting Scheduling and Joining(De Montfort University, 2024-07) Reisinger, ThomasUse of Unified Communication (UC) technology, including video conferencing, audio conferencing, and instant messaging, significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has become essential for digital activism and in broader societal contexts. For example, undetectability, anonymity, and genuine end-to-end encryption are not always provided by commonly used UC platforms. Digital activists unaware of the associated risks of using UC meetings to coordinate on-the-ground activities could be a target for autocratic governments. However, UC users often overlook the importance of security and privacy. This dissertation establishes the security and privacy threats associated with UC by systematically analyzing the security and privacy threats and mitigations in a generic UC scenario. A critical aspect of the dissertation involves a comprehensive examination of the existing security and privacy properties embedded within major UC market leaders. This research analyzes the deficiencies in current UC solutions for mitigating the identified threats and aligning them with the requirements of digital activists. Further, the study collects and analyzes the specific functional, security, and privacy requirements for users engaged in digital activism by using semi-structured interviews. Through a comprehensive analysis, the research identifies several gaps in existing UC systems’ security and privacy provisions. While confidentiality in communication channels is generally well protected through encryption, other security and privacy properties such as anonymity, undetectability, anonymous communication, transparency, and user awareness are mostly lacking on UC platforms. One such identified issue pertains to the security and privacy of meeting invitations via e-mail, a common component of UC platforms. The research proposes a viable solution to mitigate this weakness by presenting the novel Secure and Privacy Preserving Invitation (SEPPI) architecture. SEPPI ensures that meeting invitations are confidential and secure, while also maintaining pseudonymity via aliases and activities that cannot be correlated with participants (unlinkability). The security and privacy of SEPPI are analyzed, and a large-scale systematic user evaluation of a SEPPI prototype is conducted. The findings suggest that SEPPI achieves increased privacy and security at an acceptable cost to convenience. Overall, the thesis shows a trend toward convenient consumption of UC as a commodity and a lack of end-user awareness about exposing sensitive information, for example, via metadata. The identified security and privacy threats and provided mitigations should inform and guide the UC user in determining the selection criteria for choosing a platform, both in general and for sensitive communication.Item Open Access An Analysis of Grey Theory for Personal Affective Computing(De Montfort University, 2024-08) Felton, ElizabethAffective computing, the study of artificial intelligence for computing with mood and emotion, has been rapidly growing since its inception in the late 1990s, however model-based affective computing remains limited. This thesis proposes grey theory, in particular grey systems analysis, as a potential model for affective computing. This gives the novel advantage among affective computing methods of being able to apply grey incidence analysis, which returns important contributing factors to a given sequence. Grey modelling is applied to a novel affective dataset, collected using behavioural and mood data from 7 different participants. Grey incidence analysis is performed on this dataset using two different mood sequences (a series of emotion categories, and a series of valence values) alongside the behavioural factors. This gives each participant in the dataset a unique set of contributing behavioural factors to their mood, with the sequence of valence values providing better overall system performance. These unique contributing behavioural factors are compared to two other methods of measuring similarity; three correlation measures (including two non-parametric), and two spatial distance measures (cosine and Euclidean distance). This comparison proves grey incidence analysis capable of finding contributing factors where correlations and spatial distance measures are unable to, including with flag-type data used to represent missing values. This thesis is successful in proving grey systems modelling, and grey incidence analysis, can be applied to affective data and that useful insights into the contributing factors to a person's mood can be extracted. The next step from this research would be creating "behavioural prescriptions", where a person could be told to modify their contributing behaviours to have a positive effect on their mood. It was found in this thesis that this is not currently possible, given the lack of directionality in grey incidence analysis' degrees of incidence, however this is an avenue for further research.