This thesis is based on 18 months ethnographic fieldwork in and around the National Heath Service (NHS) in Greater Manchester, UK, between 2011 and 2012. The fieldwork focused on practices and experiences of cancer care and the care of other related diseases (e.g. brain tumour, post surgical pain and cancer related mental illnesses) and primarily involved in-depth interview-based case studies with patients, carers and clinicians, as well as participant observation at hospital outpatient clinics and a local cancer centre. Over the past thirty years, the English NHS has been through numerous market- based structural reorganisation programmes broadly aimed at increasing provider competition and patient choice within the health service. At the same time, various new ways of configuring medical knowledge and reforming the ‘traditional clinical interaction’ have grown in influence in NHS care practices. This thesis seeks to record the ways in which new managerial technologies, clinical tools and medical and healthcare rationalities (e.g. risk medicine, patient pathways, diagnostic categories and the logic of patient choice) introduce new ways to experience disease and treatment. Following Das (2015), among others (see Biehl and Moran- Thomas 2009), I do not treat these abstract forms as dominating forces that over-determine experience and practice. But instead, I attend to how broad structures and rationalities become embedded in practices, experiences and biographies of illness and care. In particular, I focus on what is required for care to be accessed (or ‘activated’) in a context permeated by these competing systems of value and meaning.

Smartphones are innovations that currently provide immense benefits and convenience to users in society. However, not all the users of society are accepting and using smart phones, more specifically, for this research study older adults (50+) are a demographic group displaying such an attitude. Currently, there is minimal knowledge of the reasons that older adults adopt and use smartphones. Bearing this in mind, this research study aimed to identify, examine and explain the adoption and usage of smartphones in the UK within the 50 years old and above population. For this purpose, a conceptual framework, a Model of Smartphone Adoption (MOSA) was formed drawing factors from the theories of Unified theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the Diffusion of Innovations theory (DoI) and Technology Acceptance Model 3 (TAM3). Seven variables from the theories were brought to consideration, which were Observability, Social influence, Compatibility, Effort expectancy, Facilitation conditions, Performance expectancy and Perceived enjoyment. For the research method, a quantitative approach was selected to examine and apply MOSA that involved the data collection method of an online questionnaire survey that resulted in 204 completed replies during the pilot phase of this research and 984 in the final phase. The collected data was analysed using SEM-PLS where the results found that six of the eight formed hypotheses were supported, and the factors of Compatibility, Effort expectancy, Facilitation condition, Performance expectancy and Perceived enjoyment were important for the adoption of smartphones. From these results, it was understood that older adults used smartphones because they have enough knowledge, time and money to use. They also think that smartphones are easy to use, provide benefits including enjoyment and are compatible with their lifestyles. In terms of usage, older adults frequently used the basic features of smartphones such as making a phone call, SMS, email, and browsing. Older adults are also likely to use their devices for seeking information about their health and for appointments with their doctors; however, from this research it was found that more than half of the 50 years old and above adults did not use smartphones for health and well-being purposes. The contributions of this research are viewed to be the identification and understanding of the factors that encourage or inhibit smartphones use within the older adult population. Secondly, this research can inform smartphone manufacturers and developers of factors pertinent for the design of computing devices and applications specific to silver surfers. Finally, this research can enlighten policy makers when forming decisions that encourage the adoption and use of smartphones within the older adult population. Regarding limitations, these existed in the form of finance and time. To overcome the limitations, this research recommends further studies that apply qualitative research and/or to provide a comparison between western and eastern countries.

The significance of flows of temporary, skilled labour migrants under conditions of globalization is widely acknowledged. Using a case study of elite cricket professionals moving from the UK to Australia for a maximum duration of 6 months, out and return migration flows and processes are examined. In doing so, this thesis exposes migration motives, notably in relation to career progression and personal development, and the processes and regulations that control temporary sojourns. Furthermore, the discussion reveals important social, cultural, economic and familial impacts of undertaking temporary, skilled, international migration. Using this case study of a sport-led migration, a largely under-researched occupational sector in migration studies, a number of theoretical, conceptual and empirical contributions are provided, which advance knowledge of skilled, international migration. First, utilising Bourdieu's (1986) notions of capital as an analytical framework, the comparative importance of migration motives are emphasised. Second, it is shown that migration can be viewed as a normalised aspect of a skilled worker's career trajectory, and that desired outcomes can be achieved during increasingly temporary stays overseas. Third, a three phase model of the migration flow is adopted to enable the development of professionalization and migration within cricket to be examined. It is asserted that cricket, as a professional sport, has changed under conditions of globalization, alongside smaller scale developments initiated by both employers and intermediaries, and the migrant cricketers. It is concluded that these connections will have salience for the other skilled occupations identified in Salt's (1997) typology of highly-skilled migrants.

One of the most important threats for many firms today, despite their nature of the operation, size and longevity, is insolvency. Existing empirical evidence has shown that in the past two decades, business failures have occurred at a higher rate than any time since the 1930s. Many business failure studies have been conducted over time using financial ratios as inputs and traditional statistical techniques. Some of these studies examined whether cash flow information improves the prediction of business failure. Most recently, researchers have employed discriminant analysis to perform business failure prediction. The recent changes in the world caused by unstable environments where many firms fail more than ever, there is increasing need to predict business failure. To this date, there have been limited previous studies conducted on failure prediction for UK firms. Even in other countries, there has been a small amount of research done in the field of firm failures. Therefore, this study investigates the extension of Altman’s (1968) original model in predicting the health of UK firms using discriminant analysis and performance ratios to test which ratios are statistically significant in predicting the health of the UK firms .a selected sample containing 90 failed and 1000 non failed on UK industrial firms from 2000 – 2013. The main purpose of this study is to contribute towards Altman’s (1968) original Z-score model by adding new variables (Cash flow ratio). The study found that cash flow, when combined with Altman’s original variables is highly significant in predicting the health of UK general firms. A J-UK model was developed to test the health of UK firms. When compared with the re-estimated the Altman’s original model in the UK context, the predictive power of the model was 82.9%, which is consistent with Taffler’s (1982) UK model. Furthermore, to test the predictive power of the model before, during and after the financial crisis periods; results show that J-UK model had a higher accuracy to predict the health of UK firms than the re-estimated Altman’s original model. Finally, the study proves that liquidity, profitability, leverage and capital turnover ratios are significant ratios in predicting failure. Liquidity and profitability have the highest contribution to the results of both re-estimated Altman’s original model and J-UK model. This study has implications for decision makers. Regulatory bodies and practitioners have to take into account the ratios, which contributed highest to the model in order to serve as early warning signals for corrective action.

The main goal of this thesis is to set up a vital and pertinent marketing strategy for LEDON Lamp GmbH to enter the UK market with its innovative product. In order to approach the problem correctly, a review of the existing theoretical literature was performed, based on which a thorough secondary and primary research was carried out. The findings include a detailed description of LEDON Lamp GmbH and the UK market, the characteristics of the main competitors, their products and other competing technologies, the possible distribution channels and it also includes a part dealing with the characteristics of British consumers. Furthermore, the research findings are analysed using the tools introduced in the theoretical part of the thesis. Based on those findings and the analysis performed, a market entry strategy and a complete marketing mix are introduced.

Im Kapitel 2 geben wir einen Überblick über alle Evolutionären Algorithmen mit der oben beschriebenen Reproduktion und Selektion. Als Mutation haben wir einen Diffusionsprozeß angenommen. Im eigentlichen Sinne zählt die zuerst behandelte Boltzmann-Strategie nicht zu den Evolutionären Strategien, da es im engerem Sinne keine Reproduktion und Selektion gibt. Aufgrund der ähnlichen Struktur der dynamischen Gleichungen wird sie aber im erweiterten Sinne mit dazugezählt. Danach führen wir die Darwin-Strategie ein, welche ein klassisches Beispiel für eine evolutionäre Strategie ist. Eine Analyse dieser beiden Strategien hat ein gegenläufiges Verhalten beim Überwinden einer Barriere ergeben. Da dieser Fall eine Standardsituation auf Fitnesslandschaften ist, führen wir eine Mischung der Darwin- und Boltzmann-Strategie ein. Dabei entsteht die Gemischte Strategie, die sich schon in vielen Computerexperimenten bewährt hat. In den nächsten beiden Abschnitten behandeln wir die Frage nach einer Anpassung der Mutationsstärke (äquivalent mit der Schrittweite) und leiten erstmalig die Gleichung für die Veränderung der Schrittweite bei einer Darwin-Strategie her. Die Grundidee für diese adaptive Darwin-Strategiestammt von Schwefel, der sie in der Folgezeit ausgiebig untersucht hat. Ein ähnliches Problem tritt auch bei der Boltzmann-Strategie auf, die als freien Parameter für die Schrittweite eine reziproke Temperatur besitzt. Eine "Abkühlung" führt zu einem Hängenbleiben der Strategie in den lokalen Minima. Dabei setzen wir voraus, daß die Abkühlung so langsam vor sich geht, daß dabei das globale Minimum gefunden wird. Diese Strategie wird als "simulated annealing" bezeichnet. Wie wir uns denken, ist die Wahl der Abkühlung das eigentliche Problem. Rose fand einen evolutionären Ausweg aus diesem Dilemma, indem er jedem Individuum der Gemischten Strategie eine Temperatur gab, die auch der Selektion ausgesetzt wurde. Dadurch konnte die Strategie ihre Abkühlungskurve selbst finden. Im letzten Abschnitt dieses Kapitels gehen wir noch der Frage nach einer einheitlichen Darstellung der dynamischen Gleichung nach. Dabei ergibt sich eineverallgemeinerte Wärmeleitungsgleichung, die auf einem metrischen Raum definiert ist. Die Wahl der Metrik und Koeffizienten listen wir für alle Strategien auf. Die Bedeutung dieses Ergebnisses liegt in der späteren Klassi kation begründet. Den größten Teil der Arbeit bildet das Kapitel 3, welches sich mit dem Vergleich der Strategien beschäftigt. Dazu führen wir verschiedene Maße zur Messung von Geschwindigkeiten der Strategien ein. Diese Maße bestehen vorrangig aus Kombinationen der Erwartungswerte von Polynomen der Fitnessfunktion sowie deren zeitliche Ableitungen. Wir behandeln und berechnen diese Größen anhand von zwei Beispielen: der Parabel und des Doppeltopfes. Beide Fälle stellen zugleich dieeinfachsten Probleme für eine Optimierung dar. Für die Parabel ist es wichtig, daß wir die Geschwindigkeit der Strategie messen. Die einfachste Größe, die dies beschreibt, ist die zeitliche Änderung des Erwartungswerts der Fitness. Sie ist die Geschwindigkeit der Strategie auf der Fitnesslandschaft. Als weitere interessante Größe betrachten wir die Varianz der Verteilungsfunktion der Individuen auf der Fitnesslandschaft. Sie gibt Auskunft über die Variabilität der Individuen bezüglich der Fitness. Diese beiden Größen werden im Fall der Parabel für die Boltzmann- und Darwin-Strategie explizit berechnet. Dabei ergeben sich ähnliche Ergebnisse, die für diesen Fall nicht erstaunlich sind, da die Strategie immer dem Gradienten der Fitnessfunktion folgen. Das zweite Beispiel ist der Doppeltopf. Hierbei interessiert uns vor allem die Wahrscheinlichkeit, daß die Strategie von einem Topf in den anderen wechselt. Dazu starten wir im lokalen Minimum und versuchen in das globalen Minimum zu gelangen. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit dafür ist durch das Integral über die Wahrscheinlichkeitsverteilung 1 gegeben. Deren zeitliche Ableitung läßt sich als Strom von Suchern durch die Barriere interpretieren. Eine Untersuchung dieser Größen für die Boltzmann-und Darwin-Strategie erbringt das Ergebnis, daß die Boltzmann-Strategie auf achen Fitnessland-schaften schneller als die Darwin-Strategie ist. Andererseits ist die Darwin-Strategie auf stark zerklüfteten Landschaften schneller als die Boltzmann-Strategie. Das gegenläuge Verhalten beider Strategien beim Problem des Doppeltopfes legt die Idee der Mischung der Strategien nahe. Nun fragen wir uns natürlich, ob eine Mischung wirklich den gewünschten Erfolg zeigt. Im nächsten Abschnitt wird daher erneut der Doppeltopf behandelt. Dabei zeigen wir, daß die gemischte Strategie für fast alle Parametersätze das globale Minimum findet. Desweiteren werden Kriterien für die Wahl des Mischungsparameters angegeben. Im letzten Abschnitt dieses Kapitels beschreiben wir die Simulationsalgorithmen der Boltzmann- und Darwin-Strategie. Im Kapitel 4 beschäftigen wir uns mit den mathematischen Eigenschaften von Schrödinger-Operatoren. Dabei steht der Zugang über das Spektrum zusammen mit den Eigenschaften des sogenannten Wärmeleitungskerns am Anfang im Mittelpunkt des Interesses. Wir zeigen, daß die Geschwindigkeit der Strategie mit solchen Eigenschaften wie Spektraldichte im Zusammenhang steht. Andererseits ist das Spektrum auch in der Quantenmechanik anwendbar. Durch die Bestimmung der Änderung der Autokorrelationsfunktion in Bezug auf die Erwartungswerte der Fitness wird über eine Hierarchie das gesamte Spektrum aufgebaut. Eine Diskussion des Einflusses einer Deformation der Fitnessfunktion auf das Spektrum rundet diesen ersten Abschnitt ab. Gerade die Diskussion dieser Beziehung zu den Korrelationen sowie die Diskussion der Deformation der Fitnessfunktion sind neu. Der Hauptteil des Kapitels ist der Klassifikation von Schrödinger-Operatoren durch die Untersuchung der topologischen Eigenschaften des Lösungsraums gewidmet. Zuerst führen wir das Problem auf ein algebraisches Problem zurück, was gleichzeitig eine Vereinfachung der ursprünglichen Fragestellung bedeutet. Eine Charakterisierung der Äquivalenzklassen ist mit Hilfe der Singularitätstheorie möglich. Dabei treten als kleinste Einheiten der Fitnesslandschaft 6 Singularitäten auf, d.h. falls zwei Fitnesslandschaften die gleiche Zerlegung der Landschaft bezüglich der Singularitäten besitzen, so verhalten sich die Strategien ebenfalls gleich. Damit ist ein Zusammenhang zwischen der Struktur der Fitnesslandschaft und dem Verhalten der Strategien gefunden. Als weitere Anwendung dieses Ergebnisses erhalten wir eine Charakterisierung des Grundzustandes von Schrödinger-Operatoren. Aufbauend auf den mathematischen Ergebnissen des letzten Kapitels wird in Kapitel 5 die Klassifikation der Strategien durchgeführt. Dabei erhalten wir das wichtige Resultat, daß zwei Fitnesslandschaften, die lokal aus den gleichen Singularitäten (siehe Tabelle 4.5) bestehen dasselbe Verhalten der Evolutionären Strategie implizieren. Dieses Ergebnis wurde zuerst nur für die Darwin-Strategie erhalten, um es dann auch auf die anderen behandelten Strategien auszudehnen. Im letzten Kapitel der Arbeit wird noch der Frage nach derVeränderung der Mutationsverteilung nachgegangen. Bisher haben wir dafür eine Diffusionsnäherung benutzt, die aber im allgemeinen in Computerexperimenten nicht verwendet wird. Lassen wir diese Einschränkung fallen, so wechselt die Beschreibungsweise von partiellen Differentialgleichungen zu Integro-Differentialgleichungen. Eine Angabe der Lösung ist über die Methode des iterierten Kerns möglich. Am Beispiel der Gauß- bzw. Cauchy-Verteilung werden die Standardprobleme Parabel und Doppeltopf studiert. Die Ergebnisse erbrachten für die Gauß-Verteilung ein ähnliches Ergebnis wie für die Diffusionsnäherung. Dagegen sind die Eigenschaften der Lösung für die Cauchy-Verteilung im Falle des Doppeltopfes von denen der Gauß-Verteilung verschieden. Eine Darstellung der einheitlichen Beschreibung dieser Strategien sowie ein Ansatz zur Klassifikation beenden das letzte Kapitel. Am Schluß der Arbeit befinden sich 4 Anhänge, welche die umfangreichen Rechnungen und Formeln enthalten. Im Anhang A berechnen wir eine wichtige Invariante von Fitnesslandschaften, die über den Einfluß von Zwangsbedingungen auf die Optimierung die Aussagen treffen. Danach analysieren wir im Anhang B die Gegenwertprobleme der Boltzmann- und Darwin-Strategie, um eine alternative Möglichkeit zu den Berechnungen des Kapitels 3 zu erhalten. Der Anhang C ist der vollständigen Berechnung des Stromes für den Fall eines stückweise quadratischen Doppeltopfes gewidmet. Im Anhang D schließlich ist eine Zusammenstellung der Formeln für die Gemischte Strategie am Beispiel der Parabel und des Doppeltopfs zu finden.

There is a high prevalence of child sexual abuse (CSA) in India and the UK (Laccino, 2014). However, there is a lack of research on culturally-specific aspects of psychotherapy offered to child and adolescent survivors of CSA in both these countries. Therapeutic interventions with sexually abused children raise complex concerns due to the heterogeneity based on the developmental stage of children; varied impact, presenting difficulties and needs; and characteristics of abuse, age, gender, ethnicity and cultural factors. Numerous therapeutic interventions for CSA have been documented, with varying theoretical constructs, structure, content and outcome (Reavey & Warner, 2001), ranging from cognitive behavioural, psychoanalytic, humanistic and feminist paradigm (Misurell, Springer, & Tryon, 2011). Most of these approaches do not provide sufficient guides to therapy (Reavey & Warner, 2001). Few of these are widely studied and clinically accepted, while most lack empirical evidence. Although existing studies conclude that therapy is better than no treatment, there is lack of consensus on treatment characteristics important in child and adolescent sexual abuse therapy (Hetzel-Riggin, Brausch, & Montgomery, 2007). Further, little is known about culturally-specific holistic and coherent responses to CSA. A Constructivist Grounded Theory (Charmaz, 2006) study was conducted to investigate therapeutic approaches practiced by professionals in India and the UK with child and adolescent survivors of CSA, and to understand the factors that govern the choice of an approach or model adopted. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 32 professionals (16 each in India and the UK) from different settings including statutory, voluntary and private sector. NVIVO 10 was used for data management and analysis of the digitally recorded and transcribed interviews. Although there is a growing emphasis on evidence-based therapies, with most empirical studies focussing on traditional forms of psychotherapy, the actual practice of the professionals interviewed reflected a more fluid, flexible, multi-modal, ecological and integrative approach to CSA-therapy. The findings indicate that the therapeutic interventions progress through four different phases, based on the goals identified by professionals. The goals in turn are influenced by the socio-cultural context, structural factors, and/or trauma understanding of the professionals. Four phases identified in the study are: 1. Social Action Framework, with the goal to identify silenced and invisible children, particularly in a culture of silence and suppression in India; 2. Stabilisation and Resilience Building Framework, found to be practiced in India and the UK, with the goal to ensure safety and build the foundation for ensuing phase of therapy; 3. CSA-Trauma Resolution Framework, where the goal is to uncover the sexual abuse details to facilitate recovery and reintegrate the traumatised child, more visible in therapeutic practice in the UK; and 4. Maintenance and Relapse Prevention Framework, with the goal to prevent relapse and protect from revictimisation and future developmental difficulties. These phases may be mutually exclusive, follow a linear trajectory, or there may be a back and forth movement from one phase to the other. These four phases were integrated to construct a culturally relevant, ecological-based theoretical model of CSA therapy with child and adolescent survivors.

The role of water freight as a sustainable mode of transportation often receives special attention in logistics and transportation. Due to rising environmental concerns UK national policy supports an increase in the amount of freight movements on commercial waterways. Within this context this research investigates the potential for water freight in the South West (SW) UK especially in Cornwall and Devon (CAD). This study is exploratory and following literature searches Delphi methods were selected with which to gather primary data. The research required three rounds of Delphi surveys. Following this, a focus group with the members of the 'Maritime and Waterborne Innovation Group' in the SW UK was conducted to measure the trustworthiness of the Delphi findings. The Delphi study achieved consensus on eight statements. Results indicated that the presence of an extensive coast line with accessibility to several coastal ports is conducive to the effective management of water freight movements in the region. The focus group discussion provided fuller explanations, suggestions and statements of issues which require further exploration for the development of water freight. This study reveals the latest information and possibilities and helped to articulate the importance of using water freight in SW UK. The results of this research also have many implications for the rest of the world where water freight is either in its infancy or aiming to increase its usage. The suggestions, observations and information collected during the Delphi study and from the focus group participants will assist in formulating strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of water transportation within a region or a country.

The techniques currently used to model risk and manage the safety of the UK railway network are not aligned to the mechanism by which catastrophic accidents occur in this industry. In this thesis, a new risk modelling method is proposed to resolve this problem. Catastrophic accidents can occur as the result of multiple failures occurring to all of the various defences put in place to prevent them. The UK railway industry is prone to this mechanism of accident occurrence, as many different technical, operational and organizational defences are used to prevent accidents. The railway network exists over a wide geographic area, with similar accidents possible at many different locations. The risk from these accidents is extremely variable and depends on the underlying conditions at each particular location, such as the state of assets or the speed of trains. When unfavourable conditions coincide the probability of multiple failures of planned defences increases and a 'risk hotspot' arises. Ideal requirements for modelling risk are proposed, taking account of the need to manage multiple defences of conceptually different type and the existence of risk hotspots. The requirements are not met by current risk modelling techniques although some of the requirements have been addressed experimentally, and in other industries and countries. It is proposed to meet these requirements using Bayesian Networks to supplement and extend fault and event tree analysis, the traditional techniques used for risk modelling in the UK railway industry. Application of the method is demonstrated using a case study: the building of a model of derailment risk on the UK railway network. The proposed method provides a means of better integrating industry wide analysis and risk modelling with the safety management tasks and safety related decisions that are undertaken by safety managers in the industry.

In recent years the creative industries have become a focus of policy and academic discussion across the world. However, much of the existing literature has concentrated on national perspectives or on social and economic regeneration strategies in large cultural cities while data and understanding at the local level is more limited. This thesis aims to help redress this imbalance by focussing on the smaller and less established context of Urban South Hampshire on the central south coast of England. Longitudinal case studies are used to explore two key research questions, firstly, what are the needs, motivations and experiences of people hoping to develop careers and businesses in the sector; and secondly, how can local initiatives and public sector interventions support creative industries development. While some guidance is available to assist local and regional decision-makers there are few studies which follow the evolution of specific interventions over time to evaluate their effectiveness and inform future sectoral strategies. Although the urban bias of the creative industries is well documented this thesis argues that under the right conditions and with the right policies and initiatives towns and smaller cities can offer a more welcoming, affordable and socially cohesive creative milieu in contrast to the highly competitive environments of major cities. Demand for specialist initiatives with a dual focus on nurturing creative practice as well as promoting enterprise and business skills is also highlighted. This is especially relevant at the cultural-end of the sector which is becoming increasingly exposed to market pressures in part due to recent cuts in public sector spending. The thesis also argues that creative individuals are seeking new spaces to exist within the sector which allow them a level of creative autonomy over their practice while also enabling them to develop sustainable careers and successful businesses.