Recent results at the LHCb and B-factory experiments have suggested that rare processes in B →Vγ and B → V ℓ¯ℓ decays, where V is a vector meson, show some deviation from Standard Model predictions. Although these anomalies are not yet at the level to constitute a formal discovery, they are certainly suggestive of potential New Physics effects in flavour-changing neutral currents. However, explanations within the Standard Model cannot yet be ruled out. This thesis contributes to the understanding of such anomalies in two ways. Firstly, the angular distribution of the B → KJ (→ Kπ)ℓ1¯ℓ2 decay is derived, for the full dimension-six effective weak Hamiltonian, using a generalisation of the helicity formalism to effective theories mediating b → sℓ1¯ℓ2 transitions. This approach sheds light on the origin of the underlying structure, and in the process extends the general angular distribution to decays in which the two leptons in the final state, ℓ1¯ℓ2, are not necessarily identical. An additional benefit of the derivation of the angular distribution presented in this manner is that it lends itself to a moments analysis of the decay. It is shown how the angular distribution changes in the presence of new operators, predicted to be vanishingly small in the Standard Model. Such operators could be sizeable in the presence of New Physics, but using a moments analysis enables the contribution of such operators to be assessed. Secondly, an analysis is presented of the three-particle vector and axial meson distribution amplitudes. It is shown that the distribution amplitudes of both particles are, up to QCD corrections, nearly identical. These results are applied to a new calculation of the long-distance charm loop contribution to radiative B → Vγ decays, and it is shown that the approximate symmetry can be exploited to provide an improved theoretical control in the search for New Physics contributions to right-handed currents in radiative decays.

Al alloys have been extensively used for producing structural and functional products. It is well known that a grain-refined as cast microstructure generally facilitates high quality finished products in the downstream processing stages. Chemical inoculation by Al-Ti-B grain refiners was widely used in the industry to refine Al alloys. However, the corresponding grain refining mechanism is still under dispute. In this study, the influence of solute elements on the grain refining of Al alloys in the presence of potent TiB2 inoculants was investigated in order to understand the grain refining mechanism of Al alloys by Al-Ti-B grain refiners. Firstly, an effective Al-Ti-B grain refiner, which contains potent TiB2 particles and negligible impurities (particularly Ti), was obtained by a settling experiment. The effectiveness of the grain refiner was verified by its inoculation in commercial purity Al (CP-Al) due to the significantly refined microstructure. Based on its compositional analysis, the grain refiner was found to contain little free Ti (only 600ppm) and other impurities (100ppm Fe, < 100ppm Si), and this refiner was referred to as Al-1.54TiB2. Secondly, with fixed addition of the Al-1.54TiB2 grain refiner, the effect of individual solute elements including Ti, Si, Fe, Sn, Zn, Cu, Mg, Mn, Cr and Zr, and the combined effects of Fe-Si, Fe-Cu and Fe-Ti on the grain structures of high purity Al (HP-Al) were investigated. It was found that, there is no direct correlation between the growth restriction parameter Q and the grain size when a fixed addition of Al-1.54TiB2 is present. The effects of solute elements on the grain structures of a final casting should consider both solidification kinetics and thermodynamic conditions. A theoretical columnar-equiaxed transition (CET) prediction model based on the analysis of a newly-established growth restriction coefficient β, which has considerations on both the thermodynamic and kinetic conditions, is presented for grain structure prediction. Finally, a poisoning (i.e., grain size coarsening) mechanism by Zr or Si addition in Al alloys containing TiB2 particles was studied. It was found that, for Al-Zr samples, a Zr-rich atomic mono-layer exists at the TiB2/Al interface to replace the originally present Al3Ti atomic monolayer. This was suggested to be the reason for Zr poisoning. For Al-Si samples, the Al3Ti atomic monolayer, which originally existed at the TiB2/Al interface, was found to have apparently disappeared, and this was likely to be the reason for Si poisoning.

Bordetella pertussis e Bordetella parapertussis são os principais agentes causadores da coqueluche no homem. O óxido nítrico é fundamental para o controle de diversos processos fisiopatológicos. Neste trabalho analisamos sinais moleculares envolvidos na produção de NO em macrófagos derivados de medula óssea murina (BMDMO) infectadas por Bpertussis e Bparapertussis. Nossos resultados mostraram que BMDMO de C57BL/6 estimulados com Bpertussis não sintetizaram níveis significativos de nitrito, ao contrário da infecção com Bparapertussis. BMDMO de C57BL/6 infectados por Bpertussis e Bparapertussis produziram níveis elevados de arginase e de TGFb e esta produção foi dependente de TLR4, porém a produção de NO pelos BMDMO de C3H/HeJ infectados com Bparapertussis foi independente deste receptor. A adição exógena de PT em BMDMO infectados com Bparapertussis reduziu a quantidade de NO sintetizada. Concluímos que TGFb e arginase contribuem para o controle da produção de NO durante a infecção in vitro de BMDMO com Bpertussis e este mecanismo depende de LPS envolvendo TLR4 e PT. / Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis are the main etiologic causes of human whooping cough. Nitric oxide (NO) is crucial for several physiopathologic events. Herein we analyzed the molecular signals required for NO production by murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM) infected with Bpertussis or Bparapertussis. Our data show that BMDM obtained from C57Bl/6 mice was not able to produce measurable levels of nitrite when stimulated with Bpertussis while infection of these cells with Bparapertussis induced high levels of nitrite. Arginase and TLR4-dependent TGF-b were produced in response to infection with either Bpertussis or Bparapertussis. NO production by BMDM obtained from C3H/HeJ mice occurred after Bparapertussis infection in the absence of TLR4. Addition of pertussis toxin to the C57Bl/6 BMDM cultures infected with Bparapertussis decreased NO levels. In conclusion, TGF-b and arginase play a role controlling NO production by BMDM during in vitro infection by Bpertussis. This effect depends on the presence of LPS-TLR4 and PT signaling pathways.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a strict human pathogen and the causative agent of the sexually transmitted disease, gonorrhea. Gonococcal (GC) diseases remain one of the most reported sexually transmitted infections (STI) worldwide, representing a significant threat to reproductive health and burden on global health systems, accounting for 541,987 disability adjusted-life years in the year 2011. Infection by N. gonorrhoeae also increases the likelihood of patient acquisition and transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Unfortunately, antibiotic treatment to gonococcal diseases is being threatened by the rapid spread of resistance to third-generation cephalosporins, the remaining treatment option used in clinics. The urgency of the situation is compounded by the relative lack of immunological protection conferred by previous infection by the bacterium. In response to the emergence of multidrug resistance, renewed energies are being directed towards the development of an effective, broadly protective vaccine. Difficulties in vaccine development arise from a lack of known correlates of protective immunity; there is no known broadly cross-protective immunity to GC and a truly reflective animal model has not been available. Nonetheless, previous studies have indicated that porins, neisserial major outer membrane proteins, are promising vaccine candidates. PorB makes up over 60% of the bacterium's outer membrane content and is involved in solute and ion exchange, invasion of target host cells, and evasion of host immunity. Porins from both the gonococcus and the meningococcus have been shown to have immunostimulatory activity, boosting B and dendritic (DC) cell proliferation and maturation in the absence of an exogenous adjuvant as mediated by TLR2 and MyD88. Importantly, as a potential vaccine candidate, PorB has relatively low antigenic variability, and can induce bactericidal antibodies. Gonococcal PorB was purified from a genetically modified strain, MS11delP3, which lacks another outer membrane protein, RMP, which is known to induce bactericidal blocking antibodies. PorB was formed into pure protein micelles, termed proteosomes, to protect the integrity of the native trimeric structure. Our study demonstrated that gonococcal PorB is able to stimulate both human embryonic kidney (HEK) cell line that overexpresses TLR2 and mouse primary macrophages (similar to the meningococcal PorB). To test PorB's immunogenicity, mice were immunized three times at two week intervals with PorB and porin specific IgG levels were measured. Unfortunately, PorB elicited lower levels of porin specific IgG than what was expected, which may be due to technical issues. We are currently investigating various possibilities. In addition, further immunization studies shall be carried out to better contextualize these results.

In this thesis I put forward a new definition of anthropocentrism based on a thorough overview of use in the literature and via analogy with other centrisms, such as androcentrism. I argue that thus clarified anthropocentrism is unjustified and results in problems for nonhuman animals and that any nonhuman ethic should wish to avoid. I then demonstrate how important nonhuman ethics theories are anthropocentric on this definition, and do not address anthropocentrism, in a way that results in these problems for nonhumans. I therefore propose a nonhuman ethic that aims to be less anthropocentric. I do this by first considering morality in light of evolution and second by looking at nonhuman moral codes. I draw upon both of these to set out a less anthropocentric nonhuman ethic and show why this account is at least as viable as, and less problematic than, the current theories as well as outlining its beneficial implications for nonhuman animals and the field. I conclude that anthropocentrism and approaching nonhuman ethics in the manner I have is therefore important for considering nonhuman issues, and that the theory I have put forward is advantageous.

This work aims to look into the question of authenticity and inauthenticity within the Muslim discourse. How muslim can Muslims really be? Within the Muslim world the concept of authenticity is usually coupled with questions of adherence to the canonical and historical. Despite the fact that the Qur’an addresses the individual in a very direct manner, little emphasis seems to be focused on personal authenticity within contemporary Muslim circles. Muslim societies are understood to be communally based with less emphasis on the individual (Lewis : 2007) and yet inner searching has been very much a part of Muslim culture though this may now have shifted significantly in engaging with, what is argued here, as the increasing mundanization (Drane : 2000) and rationalist approaches to religion generally and specifically to Islam. This work sets out to explore what, if any, inauthenticities have arisen within the Muslim discourse that might have given rise to this. In attempting to think through these questions, various contemporary manifestations of global management culture are explored, the development of rationality within Muslim intellectual history and contemporary theological positions within Islam are brought up for examination. Throughout these enquiries any resulting connection with inauthenticity and rationalism is sought out. Has this management paradigm reached the religious sphere? Has there been a McDonaldization of Islam? How can these be effectively countered? Much of the analysis and discussion that takes place is through a dialectical perspective between classical Islamic and existentialist thought. One of main aims of this research is to demonstrate ways of thinking through to potential personal authenticity despite the obstacles mentioned.

This thesis is centred on the second chapter of the second book of Heinrich Suso's Horologium Sapientiae, the chapter entitled De Scientie Utilissima Homini Mortali quae est Scire Mori, in its three Middle English translations. Two of these are here edited for the first time: the first, here entitled The Lichfield Translation, from Lichfield Cathedral MS 16, and the second, To Kunne Deie; from Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodleian 789 and Glasgow University Library, Hunter 496. Suso's life and works are briefly described together with the date of the entry of the Horologiun Sapientiae into England and the production of the three Middle English translations drawing on this work, one of which is a re-working of the Horologium incorporating the Scire Mori. chapter, the other two (those here edited) translations of this chapter alone. The circulation and ownership in England of the Horologium Sapientiae and of the three translations are also outlined. There follows a detailed examination of the Scire Mori chapter in its three Middle English forms, which endeavours to demonstrate how the text recommends meditation upon death as an efficacious method by which to promote repentance. This argument is further extended by a consideration of the manuscript context in which the three translations appear. The liturgical rites surrounding death as they appear in the Sarum Manuale are also examined in order to shed further light on the way in which the experience and spectacle of death were conceptualised in medieval spirituality. Finally, the conclusions reached in the course of these considerations are examined in the light of recent critical works on medieval attitudes towards death. Detailed descriptions of the eighteen manuscripts containing Middle English translations of Suso's Horologium Sapientiae form one Appendix to the thesis; a second comprises brief descriptions of manuscripts written in England containing the work in Latin.

Dada is often dismissed as an anti-art movement that engaged with a limited and merely destructive theoretical impetus. French Existentialism is often condemned for its perceived quietist implications. However, closer analysis reveals a preoccupation with philosophy in the former and with art in the latter. Neither was nonsensical or meaningless, but both reveal a rich individualist ethics aimed at the amelioration of the individual and society. It is through their combined analysis that we can view and productively utilise their alignment. Offering new critical aesthetic and philosophical approaches to Dada as a quintessential part of the European Avant-Garde, this thesis performs a reassessment of the movement as a form of (proto-)Existentialist philosophy. The thesis represents the first major comparative study of Dada and Existentialism, contributing a new perspective on Dada as a movement, a historical legacy, and a philosophical field of study. The five chapters analyse a range of Dada work through a lens of Existentialist literary and theoretical works across the themes of choice, alienation, responsibility, freedom and truth. These themes contribute to the overarching claim of the thesis that Dada and Existentialism both advocate the creation of a self that aims for authenticity through ambiguity.

Review of The Troubles and Their Aftermath: James B. Johnston's Memories of Northern Ireland by James B. Johnson

Influenza A virus (IAV) infection is a serious respiratory disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Annual vaccination is the most effective way to prevent infection and its potentially severe complications; however, the vaccines currently offered have several drawbacks that limit its availability and protective efficacy. Influenza virus-like particles (VLPs), which lack viral genetic material and are non-infectious, represent a promising vaccine candidate. Previous reports have shown VLPs are more immunogenic than subunit or recombinant proteins, and confer protection upon lethal challenge. A critical component of this protection is mediated by influenza HA-specific neutralizing Abs produced by memory B cells and plasma cells, the cellular products of the germinal center (GC) reaction. While preliminary studies have examined the humoral immune response to VLP vaccination, the current study is the first to characterize the GC response in secondary and tertiary lymphoid tissues. Mice were vaccinated with influenza VLPs using three immunization routes: subcutaneous (s.c.), intramuscular (i.m.), and intranasal (i.n.) and the GC response was assessed over time. Robust GC reactions were induced in the dLNs regardless of vaccination route, though the largest response was generated with VLPs s.c. The pattern of isotype expression was remarkably similar between routes, with IgM+ and IgG2+ B cells representing the majority of the GC B cell population. Mucosal immune responses in the upper (nasal) and lower (lung) airway were measured in mice vaccinated i.n. Marked GC reactions were induced in the nasal-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT), while the pulmonary response was relatively modest and short-lived compared to infection with IAV. Within the GC B cell population, IgM+ and IgG2+ B cells made up the majority, similar to the dLN response. Importantly, the pattern of isotype expression induced by VLPs mimicked the response induced by natural IAV infection, and suggests that VLPs contain the necessary innate immune agonists to induce a TH1 biased response.