Over the past decade in the UK, the rise in salience to government of physical education and school sport-related policy interventions has been remarkable for the wide-ranging array of objectives that these interventions have been expected to realise. This thesis analyses and evaluates government's sports policy for PESS centred on the Physical Education, School Sport and Club Links (PESSCL) strategy and Physical Education and Sport Strategy for Young People (PESSYP). These strategies together arguably represent the most significant initiatives relating to physical education and school sport (PESS), shaping the possible forms of PESS could take in the 2000s. Drawing on Basil Bernstein's (1990, 1996) theory of the social production of pedagogic discourse as the main framework used to investigate the policy for PESS, this thesis discusses the complexities and inequalities of policy-making in terms of examining dominant physical cultural discourses embedded within PESSCL and PESSYP, and the main agents/agencies contributing to the policy for PESS and evaluation processes. In addition, this thesis adopted a grounded theory approach to look at patterns of evidence in a range of resources from policy documents, newspapers, official evaluation studies and interviews, analyses that were underpinned by the research aims and theoretical framework of the study. This thesis identifies a number of physical cultural discourses constructing and constituting policies and strategies for PESS, including discourses of sport, health, citizenship, lifelong participation, and Olympic/Paralympic legacy. Moreover, this thesis presents evidence, consistent with Goodson‟s (1990) thesis about the social construction of school subjects, of struggles and contestation among vying groups, in this case between the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England (i.e. within the Official Recontextualising Field) as well as between the Youth Sport Trust and Association for Physical Education (i.e. between agencies within the Official Recontextualising Field and Pedagogic Recontextualising Field respectively). Furthermore, the powerful recontextualising agents/agencies including the media contribute to the recontextualisation of the discourse in which PESS policies are embedded. Finally, this thesis questions whether the main official evaluation studies undertake "evidence-based‟ policy making and practice because the evaluation studies not only provide implausible evidence but they are also focused solely on "numbers‟, whilst pragmatic and critical voices are excluded from the process of evaluation. Building on these key findings, this thesis concludes with a discussion of the implications for PESS. In particular, I discuss the possibilities for PESS to realise authentic forms of physical culture in schools in the context of a dominant sport discourse and an ongoing reduction in the autonomy of the Pedagogic Recontextualising Field. Finally, this thesis suggests that there is an urgent need for promoting communication between policy makers from within the Official Recontextualising Field and researchers and educators from within the Pedagogic Recontextualising Field and practitioners in the Secondary Field in order to achieve sustainable policy development school physical education and youth sport that benefits all young people in the future.

Purpose - The aim of this research is to examine higher education (HE) internationalization in terms of international recruitment and academic collaboration with the focus on a single institution case study. The research investigates how the case study university conducts HE internationalization, identifies key implementation issues of HE internationalization, and develops an education-specific market entry dynamic framework. The discussion of the difference in the process of internationalization across faculties is also included. Design/methodology/approach - This research adopts the interpretivist philosophy and inductive approach, with focus of a single institution. Based on the positions and job responsibilities, the total of 20 interviewees from three key departments (Corporate, Department 2 and Faculty) were selected and 22 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The total of 329 pages of interview transcripts were analyzed. Other types of data collection include observation and secondary documentary data. The answers from each group were used in a comparative analysis, resulting in an overlap pattern structure that indicates the level of the university's internal integration. Data analysis strategies include content analysis, critical discourse analysis (CDA), colour coding, and categorization of meaning. Findings and contributions - The market entry dynamic framework is the main outcome of this research. This framework provides a number of education-specific modes of entry and programme delivery methods to guide institutions' internationalization. The implementation issues raised in this research indicate that the university's internal integration has a major impact on HE internationalization. These issues highlight the areas where the university needs to improve. Faculty-specific factors explain the difference in the process of internationalization across the four faculties at the case study university, and explain the reasons why the levels of internationalization are different among these faculties.

In January, 2009, I joined Bikes Across Borders, a local grassroots organization, on their yearly bike caravan to Mexico. The group works to promote bicycles, both here and in Mexico, as an environmentally and financially sound alternative to motorized transportation. Each winter, members ride bicycles they build out of salvaged parts to border cities in Mexico. They give these bicycles to maquiladora workers who would otherwise spend a large portion of their income on transportation. These workers make a fraction of what they would in the U.S. and live in shacks amid the pollution from the factories they work in. This is the story of one group’s attempt at making a difference in the lives of these workers. / text

In recent years, a growing number of human pharmaceuticals have been detected in the aquatic environment, generally at low concentrations (sub-ng/L to low μg/L). These compounds are characterised by highly specific mechanisms of action, high potency and prolonged activity in order to minimise dosing requirements and potential toxicity in patients. Among the various classes of pharmaceuticals, steroids and anti-steroids are widely used, as shown by the analysis of their clinical use carried out at the beginning of this Ph.D. project. Although the amounts used are much lower than the amounts of some other pharmaceuticals (e.g. analgesics), their ability to affect important physiological processes in fish (e.g. reproduction) at very low concentrations (ng/L) suggest that this class of compounds should represent a high priority for ecotoxicological research. In particular, this Ph.D. project addressed the question of whether or not dutasteride, a human pharmaceutical mainly used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia, may cause adverse effects in the teleost fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) by inhibiting the activity of both isoforms of 5α-reductase (5αR), the enzyme which convert testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The theoretical framework used to guide the design of the experimental studies was based on the combination of several conceptual approaches, including the study of the evolutionary degree of conservation and functionality of the drug target in non-target species, and the cross-species extrapolation of pharmacological and toxicological information generated during pre-clinical and clinical studies in mammals during drug development. The results obtained during the first phase of this Ph.D. project strongly suggested that DHT has a physiological role in the fathead minnow. In fact, 5αRs are evolutionary conserved in this species, 5αRs genes are expressed in tissues such as the testis, and DHT circulates in fathead minnow plasma at concentrations similar to those detected in humans. These findings represented the rationale for testing the effects of dutasteride in the fathead minnow. Dutasteride caused significant adverse effects in all the in vivo studies performed in order to evaluate its potential toxicity on fish, including early life stage and short term reproduction studies, and all the tested life stages were sensitive to the inhibition of 5αRs activity; however, none of the observed adverse effects occurred at concentrations of exposure lower than 32 μg/L (measured concentration). The results also showed that female fish are highly sensitive to disruption of the androgenic pathways, highlighting their utility for the evaluation of potential adverse effects caused by anti-androgens on fish. In conclusion, the results presented in this Thesis suggest that, at present, the potential presence of dutasteride in the environment does not represent a risk to wild fish populations, due to the high concentrations required to elict significant adverse effect (LOEC = 32 μg/L) and the low volume of drug prescribed every year (5.07 kg in UK in 2006). However, the high bioaccumulation factor of dutasteride suggest that further studies should be conducted to elucidate the role played by the bioaccumulation process in the toxicity responses observed in fish.

The toxicological screening of the numerous chemicals that we are exposed to requires significant cost and the use of animals. Accordingly, more efficient methods for the evaluation of toxicity are required to reduce cost and the number of animals used. Computational strategies have the potential to reduce both the cost and the use of animal testing in toxicity screening. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to develop computational models for the prediction of toxicological endpoints that can serve as an alternative to animal testing. In Paper I, an attempt was made to construct a global quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR)model for the acute toxicity endpoint (LD50 values) using the Munro database that represents a broad chemical landscape. Such a model could be used for acute toxicity screening of chemicals of diverse structures. Paper II focuses on the use of acute toxicity data to support the prediction of chronic toxicity. The results of this study suggest that for related chemicals having acute toxicities within a similar range, their lowest observed effect levels (LOELs) can be used in read-across strategies to fill gaps in chronic toxicity data. In Paper III a k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) classification model was developed to predict human ether-a-go-go related gene (hERG)-derived toxicity. The results suggest that the model has potential for use in identifying compounds with hERG-liabilities, e.g. in drug development.

This thesis attempts to reclaim the imagination, defined by Ann Berthoff as the "name for the active mind," by looking at brain biology as it relates to teaching and learning. The section titled "Keeping Biology in Mind: The Brain as Speculative Instrument" demonstrates how biological naturalism, a philosophy developed by John Searle, validates the concept of an ontologically subjective "I" and hence the creation of course materials based on David Kolb's experiential-learning model. In addition, it discusses how biologist James Zull maps the actual structure of the brain onto Kolb's model. Adding to this bottom-up theory of learning that emphasizes brain biology and subjective experience, this thesis discusses how the mind, through mental force, works in a top-down fashion to change the brain, and suggests that students can learn to take control of their own learning by applying mental force. The section titled "Keeping Affect in Mind: The Biology of Intuition" presents the aspect of affect known as intuition and how it fits into the discussion. The main premise of this thesis is that we can employ concepts of the brain and learning in the composition classroom to facilitate the teaching and learning of writing. The last section titled "Keeping Composition in Mind: Theory into Practice" is devoted to this premise on a practical level.

Historically studies have focused on either the terrestrial or aquatic environments independently. However, these systems are inherently linked through numerous pathways including organisms with complex life cycles. Both abiotic factors and predators of these organisms can influence connections by changing the number of prey moving across habitat boundaries and by changing the phenotype of prey. When the focal organisms are primary consumers, these effects may have important implications for ecosystem processes. My study investigated how terrestrial predators and abiotic factors affect the number and phenotype of herbivorous tadpole inputs into a tropical forest pond. I found that predators and abiotic factors altered survival and timing of hatching and these effects varied temporally. Thus, temporal changes in the relative importance of these threats from abiotic sources and terrestrial predators on prey with complex life cycles may potentially have implications for connections with and food web dynamics in adjacent ecosystems.

Swedish agencies are obligated to collaborate in order to fulfil their respective missions. One of the largest agencies, The Social Insurance Agency, collaborates with several agencies, employers and care providers. Collaboration that needs synchronous dialogues andexchange of information, requires people to coordinate calendars, but since the organizations’ technical systems are separated, problems occur. The meeting organizers have to face the time-wasting problem of searching for suitable meeting occasions, without access to the calendars of their external meeting participants. Meetings across organizational borders are, therefore, difficult to arrange. This study has enlightened this problem, using methods for deeper understanding of the user’s point of view, searching for alternative solutions and with an experimental approach evaluated four different alternatives, all with their own unique pros and cons. One solution based on a WebDAV/CalDAV concept is recommended, due to its potentials. It is superior to the other alternatives, because of its strength in functionality. Moreover, it has great potential to develop into a broader collaboration service, offering a digital work space with functions for document sharing, discussion boards etc. / Svenska myndigheter är skyldiga att samarbeta med varandra, inom ramen för sina respektive uppdrag. Ett exempel är Försäkringskassan, som samarbetar med flera andra myndigheter, arbetsgivare och vårdgivare. Samarbete som kräver synkrona dialoger och informationsutbyte försvåras av att de olika organisationernas tekniska system är separerade. Utan tillgång till deltagarnas kalendrar tvingas mötesarrangören lägga ner mycket tid i sökandet efter passande tider, och mötesdeltagarna behöver manuellt koordinera sina kalendrar. Möten över organisationsgränser blir därmed svåra att boka. I denna studie fördjupas förståelsen för problemet utifrån ett användarperspektiv, för att därefter söka efter på marknaden tillgängliga lösningar. Med ett experimentellt angreppssätt har fyra alternativ studerats, alla med sina respektive för- och nackdelar. Resultatet blir en rekommendation om att gå vidare med WebDAV/CalDAV som med sin funktionella styrka är det mest kraftfulla alternativet. Detta koncept kan, utöver mötesbokningsfunktionaliteten, utvecklas till en bredare samarbetstjänst för Försäkringskassan och dess externa parter, med potential att erbjuda digitala arbetsytor och funktioner för dokumentdelning, diskussionstavlor mm.

Student Number : 0318213N - MCCP research report - School of Psychology - Faculty of Humanities / The following study aimed to assess coping strategies in adolescents following a suicide prevention program conducted by the South African Depression and Anxiety Group. The study aimed to assess whether there was a change in coping strategies in adolescents following the suicide prevention program. Suicide ideation was measured using the Positive and Negative Suicide Ideation Scale (PANSI) and Coping Strategies was measured using the Coping Across Situations Questionnaire (CASQ). Data was collected on 74 individuals in Grade 11 (26 males and 48 females). It was found that positive suicide ideation was not significantly different for males and females before the intervention, while females scored higher than males on the negative suicide ideation scale, indicating that females have more thoughts about suicide than males. There was no significant difference between positive and negative suicide ideation scores for both females and males following the suicide prevention program. The results further indicate that Active Coping; Internal Coping and Withdrawal Coping were not significantly different for boys and girls in the pretest, as well as in the post test. A negative relationship appears to exist between post PANSI negative ideation and Active Coping, which means that individuals who use more active coping have fewer thoughts about suicide. Active Coping is strongly related to Internal Coping and moderately related to Withdrawal Coping. Also, Internal coping is moderately related to Withdrawal Coping. The implications are that caregivers and professionals can begin to assess individual adolescent suicide ideation levels through an understanding of the individual’s coping strategy. Further research should be conducted in other socio-economic regions and rural and urban areas could be compared to get a holistic view of coping strategies and suicide ideation levels in South Africa, as a country.

Although Latina/os are the largest minority group in California and enrolling in higher education in record-breaking numbers (Zarate & Burciaga, 2010), the graduation rate of this group is very low (Kewal-Ramani, Gilbertson, Fox, & Provasnik, 2007). A phenomenological approach was used in this study to explore the lived experiences of Latina/o students at a for-profit college in the Inland Empire. Students from different major fields of study described how they explored and sought college information, how they experienced both community and for-profit colleges, and described their levels of sense of belonging in both community and for-profit colleges. Students shared their experiences reflective of the serpentine pathway of college-conocimiento (Acevedo-Gil, 2017) and the influence of a sense of belonging (Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Hurtado & Ponjuan, 2005; Maestas, Vaquera, & Zehr, 2007) on their persistence in higher education. Findings indicate that Latina/o students have limited college choices, weigh criteria to choose a for-profit college after departing from community colleges to “transfer across,” and feel that they belong in the for-profit institution for reasons that included either feeling cultural congruity with other students, or simply experienced college community support from faculty/ staff. Recommendations include: instructors be assigned as mentors who are personable and exhibit genuine caring; for-profit colleges should be as financially accessible as community colleges for all students; and the personalization available in for-profit colleges should be implemented into the community colleges.