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Managing energy demand is essential to energy security and climate change mitigation. The industrial sector accounts for over a fifth of UK primary energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. Energy intensive industry is uniquely restricted in the way it uses energy and emits greenhouse gasses. In this thesis, the potential of radical measures to achieve significant energy demand reduction and emissions abatement in UK energy intensive industry is assessed. Adopted is a multidisciplinary approach combining thermodynamic and techno-economic analysis techniques. Bottom-up assessments are applied to key energy intensive sectors of industry to capture the diverse and interactive array of technological characteristics invisible from a top-down perspective. Detailed projection models are built to design and analyse technology roadmaps for the sectors out to 2050. In an illustrative roadmap assessment, the technological pathways of radical process transition and carbon sequestration were each shown to achieve about 80% abatement in 2050 from 1990 emissions levels. Radical process transition achieved greater abatement before 2030 and this was reflected in lower cumulative emissions over the full period. Higher risk is associated with carbon sequestration from its reliance on timely access to CO2 transport and storage technology to compensate for lower short-medium term abatement. Although, combining carbon sequestration with high levels of biomass combustion indicated the largest potential abatement to 2050. Abatement economics in the iron and steel sector are notably sensitive to resource costs and the carbon trading price. The carbon trading price influences relative production costs in favour of higher abating pathways, but increases absolute costs. This signals the need for supportive policy measures that accelerate technology development and deployment while mitigating the risk of the carbon trading price to competitiveness. Some carbon capture technologies reduce relative production cost even in the absence of a carbon price, but this excludes the cost of CO2 transport and storage. Meanwhile, radical process transition pathways have a higher dependence on the future prices of natural gas, electricity, and scrap. Future work should focus on expanding the economic appraisal to other sectors and to indirect costs, as well as incorporating wider material efficiency strategies and running different future scenarios.

Background: Dyspraxia, also included under the term Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), is a condition characterised by an impairment in motor skills function which impacts negatively on other aspects of daily living such as athletic capability, handwriting, self-esteem and social interaction. However, no effective therapy currently exists to address all of these issues within this group. The aim of the present study therefore was to investigate whether a complementary therapy, called Fascia Bowen therapy, would improve neuromuscular function and psychological wellbeing in males aged 8-11 (at Primary School) diagnosed with this condition. Methods: A group of 10 participants meeting the criteria of 15th centile or below in motor skills functioning, received a Fascia Bowen therapy treatment session from a qualified Fascia Bowen practitioner each week for 6 weeks. All participants’ motor skills function were assessed by an occupational therapist before and after the end of the intervention using the Motor Skills Assessment Battery for Children test (MABC-2). Additionally, parents, teachers and participants completed questionnaires measuring self-esteem, social skills, social interaction, behaviour and scholastic function before and after the intervention. Results: The participants showed significant improvement in neuromuscular function over time using the MABC-2. However, no significant changes were shown in the other measures of functioning. Although parents did provide some anecdotal reports about positive changes in real life, these were not reflected in the measures. The results suggest that while improvements were shown as significant in the motor domain, which was the focus of the therapy, the results did not translate to other domains of life over time. 13 Conclusions: Further research is necessary to test the efficacy of the treatment’s effects using a larger sample, a control group and a longer intervention timescale. A six week intervention period may not be sufficient to show significant changes in self-esteem, social skills, social interaction, behaviour and scholastic functions which have deep-rooted constructs developed over many years. These may therefore take a long time to change.

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Although issues linked to global environmental change and its role within peace, conflict andsecurity have been subject to social and political controversy for years, they are still notsufficiently respected by energy companies, trade unions, national governments andinternational institutions alike. Through applying the tools of a single instrumental case studylinked to the application of discourse analysis I, this study explores the process of securitizationof the environment in the extraordinary case of the resistance and occupation surrounding theHambach Forest, thereby countering the widely held assumption that collective action aimedat radically changing existing structures is not possible. The particular exploratory focus is puton the way this non-conventional environmental security discourse has been created within aredefined securitization framework. By challenging the traditional focus of securitizationtheory on top-down construction through elites, this study provides a broadened, bottom-upaccount of environmental securitization stemming from local civil society actors as nonpowerholdersthat effectively proclaim their recognition of the environment’s intrinsic valuefrom a grassroots level. Consequently, it argues for the significance of securitization as creativeprocess of alerting policy makers, political leaders and the broader society to the emergency ofclimate change and global environmental degradation symbolized through the specific case ofHambach Forest.

Nanotechnology has reached the status of the 21st century's leading science and technology based on fundamental and applied research during the last two decades. An important feature of nanotechnology is to bridge the crucial dimensional gap between the atomic and molecular fundamental sciences and microstructural scale of engineering. Accordingly, it is very important to have an in-depth understanding of the synthesis of nanomaterials for the use of state-of-the-art high technological devices with enhanced properties. Recently, the 'bottom-up' approach for the fabrication of nanomaterials has received a great deal of attention for its simplicity and cost effectiveness. Tailoring the various parameters during synthesis of selected nanoparticles can be used to fabricate technologically important components. During the last decade, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been envisioned for a host of different new applications. Although carbon nanotubes can be synthesized using a variety of techniques, large-scale synthesis is still a great challenge to the researchers. Three methods are commonly used for commercial and bulk productions of carbon nanotubes: arc-discharge, chemical vapor deposition and laser ablation. However, low-cost, large-scale production of high-quality carbon nanotubes is yet to be reported. One of the objectives of the present research is to develop a simplified synthesis method for the production of large-scale, low-cost carbon nanotubes with functionality. Herein, a unique, simple, inexpensive and one-step synthesis route of CNTs and CNTs decorated with nanoparticles is reported. The method is simple arc-discharge in solution (ADS). For this new method, a full-fledged optoelectronically controlled instrumen is reported here to achieve high efficiency and continuous bulk production of CNTs. In this system, a constant gap between the two electrodes is maintained using a photosensor which allows a continuous synthesis of the carbon nanostructures. The system operates in a feedback loop consisting of an electrode-gap detector and an analogue electronic unit, as controller. This computerized feed system was also used in single process step to produce in situ-decorated CNTs with a variety of industrially important nanoparticles. To name a few, we have successfully synthesized CNTs decorated with 3-4 nm ceria, silica and palladium nanoparticles for many industrially relevant applications. This process can be extended to synthesize decorated CNTs with other oxide and metallic nanoparticles. Sixty experimental runs were carried out for parametric analysis varying process parameters including voltage, current and precursors. The amount of yield with time, rate of erosion of the anode, and rate of deposition of carbonaceous materials on the cathode electrode were investigated. Normalized kinetic parameters were evaluated for different amperes from the sets of runs. The production rate of pristine CNT at 75 A is as high as 5.89 ± 0.28 g.min-1. In this study, major emphasis was given on the characterizations of CNTs with and without nanoparticles using various techniques for surface and bulk analysis of the nanostructures. The nanostructures were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, x-ray photo electron spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction studies, and surface area analysis. Electron microscopy investigations show that the CNTs, collected from the water and solutions, are highly pure except the presence of some amorphous carbon. Thermogravimetric analysis and chemical oxidation data of CNTs show the good agreement with electron microscopy analysis. The surface area analysis depicts very high surface area. For pristine multi-walled carbon nanotubes, the BET surface area is approximately 80 m2.g-1. X-ray diffraction studies on carbon nanotubes shows that the products are clean. Nano-sized palladium decorated carbon nanotubes are supposed to be very efficient for hydrogen storage. The synthesis for in-situ decoration of palladium nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes using the arc discharge in solution process has been extensively carried out for possible hydrogen storage applications and electronic device fabrication. Palladium nanoparticles were found to form during the reduction of palladium tetra-chloro-square planar complex. The formation of such a complex was investigated using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopic method. Pd-nanoparticles were simultaneously decorated on carbon nanotubes during the rolling of graphene sheets in the arc-discharge process. Zero-loss energy filtered transmission electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy confirm the presence of 3 nm palladium nanoparticles. The deconvoluted X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy envelope shows the presence of palladium. Surface area measurements using BET method show a surface area of 28 m2.g-1. The discrepancy with pristine CNTs can be explained considering the density of palladium (12023 kg.m-3). Energy dispersive spectroscopy suggests no functionalization of chlorine to the sidewall of carbon nanotubes. The presence of dislodged graphene sheets with wavy morphology as observed with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy supports the formation of CNTs through the 'scroll mechanism'.

“We are neither living nor dying, we are something in between” Since the beginning of history, the living and the dead have been separated. This has made it almost im- possible to co-live together under one roof. We, ‘the living’, have even created “deathscapes” which have set a clear boundary between us and them, ‘the dead’. In every society, with its own cultural norms and rituals, they act with the dead in their own way - some are buried, others are burnt, but what is common across all societies is that they are not evident in our lives anymore. Looking at it from an urban perspective, the dead occupy a big patch of land in every city. This acts as a burden, as it makes “forbidden spaces” where the living is not able to be part of it. However, in each topic, there is a lesson that can be learned from it. In this case, it’s a 6km stretch informally and formally built, with a rich history and poor squatters who have no choice except to dwell with the dead. This is City of the Dead, located in Cairo, Egypt. The extreme lack of housing has pushed a part of society to live informally in cemeteries, where they have learned to co-live in the same room as the dead; they’ve embraced the idea of sleeping next to the dead, working and playing on those deathscapes. But ever since the government announced that they will demolish those deathscapes as a part of demolishing all informal settlements in Cairo, the time has come to make a stand against this decision, instead learning from their “life hack” and applying it throughout the City of the Dead – creating a society where the dead and living are not separated, maximizing the lost potentials in cases such as City of the Dead and making them not looked down upon and marginalized. This thesis aims to design the city and improve the lives of people living in these cemeteries, dealing with each case with care and compassion.

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People in different environments encounter various mood disorders. The flattened internet perhaps offered chances for conveying more balanced therapy resources.  This study starts by considering the multiple environments of self-healing experience and focuses on groups in need of self-healing. The theories consist of the offline to online environments and the interaction between representations, the processes of co-design, and the application of cognitive therapy approaches and trauma design tools.   The methods include Research Through Design and Mixed methods research. Qualitative research included an interview attached to the questionnaire, and a workshop could make participants share, learn, and change. The methods are applied to execution and combine the theories' interpretation to contribute to the result. The design results give the target group a more free and less financially stressful way to heal themselves.  This thesis finds the requirements of adjusting changeable and chronic twisted cognition, combining the co-design process to incorporate the contribution of participants and the professional therapy resources. / <p>Examensarbetet är utfört vid Institutionen för teknik och naturvetenskap (ITN) vid Tekniska fakulteten, Linköpings universitet</p>

This study looks at political culture and socialisation responses to Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). It identifies political culture and socialisation as part of a process, the development of a political culture with specific attitudes, cognitions, and feelings towards the political system. Political culture and socialisation impart the knowledge of how to act politically, i.e. how to apply values in formulating demands and making claims on the political system. They form a connecting link between micro- and macro-politics. The study maintains that political orientations are handed down from one generation to another, through the process of political socialisation. Top-down and bottom-up influences come into play to augment a discourse on the global nature of political socialisation and the political culture of international societies with regard to IWRM and governance ideologies. It is argued that these international ideas become relevant in the national political agenda, civil society organisations and trans-national networks. The IWRM aspects of water as an economic good and a basic human right have become a two-edged sword in the South African context. The study reveals that politics stand at the epicentre of water problems, and that IWRM is a political-ethical issue which challenges power bases in many communities. The IWRM global norms of equitable, efficient and sustainable use of water resources have become a major problem in a water-scarce country burdened with economic inequalities and abject poverty. This is a pressing issue because there is an increasing demand for water to sustain the development necessary to redress the draconian ills of the apartheid past. This becomes evident in the fundamental legislative overhaul that has taken place since 1994, embracing a transformation culture that glorifies the norm of water not only as a fundamental human right, but also as a commodity that is necessary to sustain human dignity. It is here that water is politicised. Violent protests have erupted in reaction to perceived neo-liberal attempts to deny the poor their access to this resource. The political culture and socialisation responses as far as IWRM is concerned appear within fragmented lines, i.e. mainly black and poor communities embrace a culture of non-payment for services and resort to violent protests as a viable method to raise their concerns. In contrast, the white and middle-class communities manifest a tendency to form parallel local government structures; they then withhold rate payments and provide services for themselves through ratepayer associations. Finally, the study considers the South African context with regard to the manifestations of political culture, and how this influences water resources. It is evident that there is too much emphasis on politics at the expense of discussions on IWRM. Civil society organisations make very little attempt to encourage public participation in water management structures. It also appears that political elites who are disillusioned with civil society organisations tend to derail their efforts to educate the public on water management structures. / MA, Political Studies, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011