Acute demyelination in children may be a monophasic illness or the sentinel attack of multiple sclerosis (MS) – a chronic inflammatory neurodegenerative demyelinating disease. MS risk is largely determined during childhood and vitamin D may protect against MS. The primary objective of this thesis was to evaluate vitamin D status in children presenting with acute demyelinating syndromes (ADS) as a potential contributor to MS outcome. The LIAISON “25 OH Vitamin D TOTAL” assay was validated to assess the biomarker of vitamin D status – serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations. Consecutive patients (<16 y) were enrolled at presentation with ADS and prospectively evaluated at 23 Canadian centres. MS was defined by a second clinical demyelinating event or by MRI evidence of new lesions over time. Cox proportional hazards regression models assessed risk of MS outcome as a function of serum 25(OH)D tertiles, accounting for factors associated with either MS risk or vitamin D status – age, sex, season, and HLA-DRB1*15 status. Of 211 children with 25(OH)D measured in sera obtained a median of 9 days from onset (interquartile range, 5 – 17 d; maximum 36 days), 20% (n = 41) were diagnosed with MS after 3.7 mos. (3.1 – 7.3 mos.). Risk of MS was lower in children with 25(OH)D levels in the highest tertile (≥ 74 nmol/L) at ADS versus those in the lowest tertile (<50 nmol/L) (HR 0.41; 95% CI 0.18 to 0.97, adjusted model). Children with higher circulating 25(OH)D concentrations at ADS have a lower risk of MS. Further evidence for a role of vitamin D insufficiency during childhood and adolescence contributing to MS risk comes from three MS patients with suboptimally managed pseudo-vitamin D deficiency rickets. Finally, a sun exposure questionnaire was validated in the latter part of this thesis for use in future research into determinants of vitamin D status and their association with risk of MS.

Acute demyelination in children may be a monophasic illness or the sentinel attack of multiple sclerosis (MS) – a chronic inflammatory neurodegenerative demyelinating disease. MS risk is largely determined during childhood and vitamin D may protect against MS. The primary objective of this thesis was to evaluate vitamin D status in children presenting with acute demyelinating syndromes (ADS) as a potential contributor to MS outcome. The LIAISON “25 OH Vitamin D TOTAL” assay was validated to assess the biomarker of vitamin D status – serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations. Consecutive patients (<16 y) were enrolled at presentation with ADS and prospectively evaluated at 23 Canadian centres. MS was defined by a second clinical demyelinating event or by MRI evidence of new lesions over time. Cox proportional hazards regression models assessed risk of MS outcome as a function of serum 25(OH)D tertiles, accounting for factors associated with either MS risk or vitamin D status – age, sex, season, and HLA-DRB1*15 status. Of 211 children with 25(OH)D measured in sera obtained a median of 9 days from onset (interquartile range, 5 – 17 d; maximum 36 days), 20% (n = 41) were diagnosed with MS after 3.7 mos. (3.1 – 7.3 mos.). Risk of MS was lower in children with 25(OH)D levels in the highest tertile (≥ 74 nmol/L) at ADS versus those in the lowest tertile (<50 nmol/L) (HR 0.41; 95% CI 0.18 to 0.97, adjusted model). Children with higher circulating 25(OH)D concentrations at ADS have a lower risk of MS. Further evidence for a role of vitamin D insufficiency during childhood and adolescence contributing to MS risk comes from three MS patients with suboptimally managed pseudo-vitamin D deficiency rickets. Finally, a sun exposure questionnaire was validated in the latter part of this thesis for use in future research into determinants of vitamin D status and their association with risk of MS.

Despite its imprecision, social capital is a powerful tool for examining how and why particular forms of social interaction lead to the health and well-being of communities, organisations, and even businesses. Community cohesion as a policy prescription emerged in the UK, following the social disturbances in certain northern cities and towns in the summer of 2001. The official reports into these disturbances identified lack of social interaction between different ethnic groups as a principal cause. Furthermore, social housing was seen as a key factor that could be used to prevent future disturbances. Accordingly, this research focuses on how the assets and forms of social capital act as good predictors of community cohesion, in the context of the New Labour government's aim to use social housing to build cohesive communities. Unless otherwise specified, references to 'the government' throughout this thesis apply to the New Labour administration that came to power in the UK on 2nd May 1997 and ended with the Coalition administration led by the Conservatives on 11th May 2010. This thesis makes use of the linearity between the goals of social capital and the policy aims of community cohesion to match forms of social capital to specific forms of social interaction, in six selected social housing schemes in Bradford. Bradford was one of the cities affected by the disturbances in 2001. Analysis of the forms of social interaction in the case study housing schemes shows that bridging and linking forms of social capital, which could lead to enduring cohesive communities, were mainly latent in the schemes. This suggests that the peaceful co-existence in the case study housing schemes today is, possibly, postponed social conflict in the long term.

This thesis explores the late-nineteenth century partnership between Bradford worsted manufacturers the Briggs brothers and the German merchant Ernst Posselt, and their subsequent foreign direct investment in a modern factory and workers’ community at Marki, near Warsaw, in Russian Poland. Protectionism and increasing foreign competition are discussed, among many complex economic pressures on British industry, as likely catalysts for this enterprise and the general historiography of the Polish lands is explored to reveal a climate of extraordinary opportunity for well-capitalised foreign industrialists in this period. This thesis provides fresh perspective on the role of the consular service in facilitating British foreign enterprise and, in context of the Bradford partners’ strategy for local integration through social networking and religious affiliation, presents unique findings regarding the character and operations of Warsaw’s elite commercial community in the late-nineteenth century. Through the development and domination of market and raw materials sources, this venture is shown to have monopolised worsted manufacture in the Russian Empire, using state of the art technology to create, and modern marketing techniques to promote, its product range and evolving image. Aspects of British and Polish social history are compared to assess the efficacy of introducing the model-community concept, in combination with a radical employment policy, to less industrially-developed Russian Poland. The instrumentality of an expatriate community of skilled Yorkshire foremen in diffusing British industrial technology throughout the Russian Empire is described, against a backdrop of political instability and social upheaval which dramatically impacted on business behaviour after 1905.

Sustainability and environmental responsibility is increasingly growing in importance. Solving the environmental problems of the planet will one day become the responsibility of future scientists. For this reason, and with the introduction of new chemical legislation (REACH) driving change it is essential that current students are given a broad introduction to sustainability and environmental responsibility in order to equip them as graduates for future practice in the chemical sciences. At the University of Bradford the aim is to teach sustainability and environmental responsibility by embedding it throughout the entire chemistry curriculum rather than teaching it in standalone lectures. Once this has been established within chemistry it is expected that this will potentially provide a template for other areas of laboratory science within the university. In order to achieve the aim of this project, students, staff and potential employers tookpart in surveys with a view to inform curriculum development. Examples of best practice were sought and used as guidance for the development of directed learning activities for use as post lab questions and utilisation of the twelve principles of green chemistry. Green chemistry metrics were applied to undergraduate experiments to test how well they would work in terms of ease of use, applicability and judging ¿greenness¿. It was found that these were not very effective for use within an undergraduate laboratory due to applicability and judging ¿greenness¿, however this work highlighted other areas for improvement. As a result of this work an environmental assessment metric system was developed for use within an undergraduate setting. / Ecoversity at the University of Bradford

This thesis explores the dynamics of narrative production and contestation within individuals’ stories and the collective stories of the communities in which they live. The research is focused on trying to understand the relationship between public stories constructed about place and community, and the stories told by the inhabitants of those places. A case study in the city of Bradford provides a focus for inquiry. A qualitative research design is utilised, combining theory with primary data collection and analysis. A narrative analysis of national, academic and local stories about Bradford is used to disaggregate collective narratives of the city and explore the relationship between popular, political and academic discourses. It provides a context for the analysis of in-depth interviews with a range of inhabitants from a selected geographic area within Bradford, centred on how their individual stories relate to the identified collective stories of Bradford. Analysis of the fieldwork data shows that individuals are often engaged in complex negotiations of public discourse in ways that may reinforce and contest existing stories, but also complement them with parallel stories that neither reinforce nor contest but construct a different narrative. It reveals and reflects on apparent contradictions within everyday storytelling, for example, how nostalgia can be displayed about harsh times of socio-economic decline, or how attitudes to change over time can be variably positive and negative depending both on the speakers’ positioning of themselves and of the interviewer, and the speakers’ purpose in the interaction.

No description available.

Yes / It is an increasingly acknowledged fact that one of the most effective ways universities in war-affected countries can be functionally relevant to the everyday needs and challenges of their immediate environment is by promoting peacebuilding through peace education. This paper explores the role of universities in fostering peace education in diverse post-conflict and conflict-prone countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, the research investigates the contending models and strategies (notably the Bradford Model and the Centralized Unitary Model) of conflict-sensitive peace education in the context of universities in post-conflict and volatile societies in Africa. The study also analyses the problems and challenges associated with promoting peace education in Sub-Saharan Africa and recommends policy-relevant intervention measures designed to strengthen the process. Data for the study have been generated from secondary sources, as well as a raft of conflict intervention, regional security and peacebuilding projects the researcher has taken part in across a number of conflict-prone and war-affected African countries (notably, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and South Sudan).

yes / This report is a summary of the views of a range of practitioners working in Bradford, Burnley and Oldham on the challenges of building community interaction in these three northern `cities¿ which experienced disturbances in 2001. Practitioners from a variety of professional backgrounds from each of the locations met in Burnley on January 12th 2007 to reflect together on the key challenges that they had faced since 2001 and the progress, or lack thereof, that has been made. Their observations were recorded and form the basis of this report. Despite the significant differences between the `cities¿ in their size, location and demographics, practitioners from the three locations seemed to broadly share the analysis of the progress made and of the threats to progress since the disturbances in 2001. Information-sharing between organizations in the `cities¿ has improved. Some organizations are able to move more quickly to reduce/prevent tensions building. More young women, particularly young Muslim women, are becoming involved at a community level bringing new perspectives and ways of thinking. Yet practitioners also identified a variety of conditions which continued to make the `cities¿ vulnerable to fresh disturbances in the future. Perhaps chief among these was the concern over the high levels of discontent expressed by young people in each of the locations. The relatively low levels of educational attainment and engagement, high levels of crime which young people can get `sucked into¿ and the low level of mixing between young people from different ethnic groupings were all seen as underlying factors which could lead to fresh disturbances. Added to this were serious concerns about the levels of racism in each of the `cities¿, a lack of equal opportunities and the pressures on particular communities from the press and the police. One participant articulated the basic question running throughout the practitioners¿ discussions, ¿We are probably ready to deal with the 2001 disturbances now, but are we ready for 2007?"

This thesis explores the late-nineteenth century partnership between Bradford worsted manufacturers the Briggs brothers and the German merchant Ernst Posselt, and their subsequent foreign direct investment in a modern factory and workers’ community at Marki, near Warsaw, in Russian Poland. Protectionism and increasing foreign competition are discussed, among many complex economic pressures on British industry, as likely catalysts for this enterprise and the general historiography of the Polish lands is explored to reveal a climate of extraordinary opportunity for well-capitalised foreign industrialists in this period. This thesis provides fresh perspective on the role of the consular service in facilitating British foreign enterprise and, in context of the Bradford partners’ strategy for local integration through social networking and religious affiliation, presents unique findings regarding the character and operations of Warsaw’s elite commercial community in the late-nineteenth century. Through the development and domination of market and raw materials sources, this venture is shown to have monopolised worsted manufacture in the Russian Empire, using state of the art technology to create, and modern marketing techniques to promote, its product range and evolving image. Aspects of British and Polish social history are compared to assess the efficacy of introducing the model-community concept, in combination with a radical employment policy, to less industrially-developed Russian Poland. The instrumentality of an expatriate community of skilled Yorkshire foremen in diffusing British industrial technology throughout the Russian Empire is described, against a backdrop of political instability and social upheaval which dramatically impacted on business behaviour after 1905. / The full text was made available on 29th Nov 2017