Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) offer excellent improvements in wide range of physical and engineering properties at low filler content. Due to their outstanding properties such as large aspect ratio, high surface area, flame retardant and good optical clarity, HNTs polymer nanocomposites are widely used in automotive, coating, packaging and medical devices. The results showed that the incorporation of halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) into polyester significantly improved dynamic mechanical properties of the nanocomposites including the glass transition temperature (Tg), storage moduli, microhardness, tensile properties, flexural properties and impact toughness. The mechanical properties of polyester-based nanocomposites were degraded after water-methanol exposure. The maximum microhardness, tensile, flexural and impact toughness values were measured at 1 wt% of HNTs reinforcement and the results also showed that HNTs improved the liquid barrier properties of polymers due to an increase in the tortuosity path. Several deterioration effects are likely to take place concurrently after seawater exposure. Plasticization reduced the mechanical properties of the nanocomposites and microorganisms such as microbes entered through microvoids to further increase the deterioration in mechanical properties of the nanocomposites. Microbes can cause chemical degradation and the breakage of hydrocarbons using seawater molecules. Nanocomposite biodegradation is highly undesirable for material integrity as these are mostly used in structural designs of marine applications. Structural damage may result in premature weakening which is often translated into system failure and enormous economic losses. The influence of short-term water absorption on the mechanical properties of HNTs-multi layer graphene-reinforced polyester hybrid nanocomposites was also investigated. After short-term water exposure, the maximum microhardness, tensile, flexural and impact toughness values were observed in case of polyester-multi-layer graphene (MLG) nanocomposites. It was also found that synergistic effects were not effective at a concentration of 0.1 wt % in producing considerable improvement in the mechanical properties of the hybrid nanocomposites.

Inferring gene regulatory networks (GRNs) from time-course expression data is a major challenge in Bioinformatics. Advances in microarray technology have given rise to cheap and easy production of high-dimensional biological datasets, however, accurate analysis and prediction have been hampered by the curse of dimensionality problem whereby the number of features exponentially larger than the number of samples. Therefore, the need for the development of better statistical and predictive methods is continually on the increase. The main aim of this thesis is to develop dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) methods for analysis and prediction temporal biomedical data. A two stage computational bionetwork discovery approach is proposed. In the ovarian cancer case study, 39 out of 592 metabolomic features were selected by the Least Angle Shrinkage and Subset Operator (LASSO) with highest accuracy of 93% and 21 chemical compounds identified. The proposed approach is further improved by the application of swarm optimisation methods for parameter optimization. The improved method was applied to colorectal cancer diagnosis with 1.8% improvement in total accuracy, which was achieved with much less feature subsets of clinical importance than thousands of features when compared to previous studies. In order to address the modelling inefficiencies in inferring GRNs from time-course data, two nonlinear hybrid algorithms were proposed using support vector regression with DBN, and recurrent neural network with DBN. Experiments showed that the proposed method was better at predicting nonlinearities in GRNs than previous methods. Stratified analysis using Ovarian cancer time-course data further showed that the expression levels Prostrate differentiation factor and BTG family member 2 genes, were significantly increased by the cisplatin and oxaliplatin platinum drugs; while expression levels of Polo-like kinase and Cyclin B1 genes, were both decreased by the platinum drugs. The methods and results obtained may be useful in the designing of drugs and vaccines.

The influence of Multi-Layer Graphene (MLG) and nanoclay on the performance of epoxy based nanocomposites has been studied. First, the theoretical aspects of nano-fillers and their impact on mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of nanocomposites have been discussed. Then, nanocomposites were produced with varying weight fraction of nano-fillers (0.05, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 1.0 wt%). It was observed that organic solvent, if not completely removed, causes porosity which acts as stress raiser and deteriorates the mechanical properties. The influence of reinforcement morphology on the mechanical properties of epoxy nanocomposites was studied using two nano-fillers: MLG and nanostructured graphite (NSG). It was observed that mechanical properties of nanocomposites were higher when the filler had corrugated and fluted topography. Modeling and simulation of epoxy nanocomposites were carried out using finite element method. It was observed that graphene based nano-fillers are efficient in scattering and dissipation of heat flux thereby increasing the thermal stability of epoxy nanocomposites. The macro-topography of bulk samples of monolithic epoxy and nanocomposites was modified by treating the samples with the abrasive papers. It was observed that surface notches, when exceed certain depth, cause degradation in mechanical properties. It was further observed that tensile properties are more sensitive to topography than flexural properties.

Epoxy is one of the most adaptable and widely sold high performance material in the world because of its excellent mechanical properties, thermal stability, chemical and corrosion resistance, low shrinkage, low cost, and ease of processing, etc. Graphene shows good potential for the fabrication of high performance polymer nanocomposites because of its unique planar structure and its superlative mechanical properties, thermal conductivity and excellent electrical conductivity. The layered structure allows a large surface contact area with the matrix and thus leads to improvements in the properties. This work aims at exploiting the potential use of graphene as a filler to reinforce epoxy matrix and the preparation of homogeneously dispersed epoxy/graphene nanocomposites. To explore the maximum property enhancement of graphene in epoxy, dispersion is the key factor. However, in the preparation of epoxy/graphene nanocomposites, there still exist some challenges. One of the largest obstacles it that graphene tends to reagglomerate in liquid epoxy, which is due to the strong van der Waals force on the graphene surface. If not properly dispersed, the agglomerated graphene will act as a defect within the matrix and consequently lower the properties of the nanocomposites. Therefore, the dispersion of graphene and the processing techniques should be studied. In this work, epoxy/graphene nanocomposites had been made by different processing techniques. Different characterization methods had been applied to evaluate the reinforcement effect. By end of this work, graphene dispersion techniques and sample preparation methods have been optimized. Epoxy/graphene nanocomposites have been prepared with enhanced properties.

<p>Studien undersöker vilka signifikanta andra som är betydelsefulla för före detta missbrukares förändringsprocess och beskriver upplevelser av interaktionen med dessa signifikanta andra. Intervjuer med sex före detta narkotikamissbrukare genomfördes. Den teoretiska referensra-men som uppsatsen använder är en syntes av Beckers teori om avvikelse och Beger & Luck-mans kunskapssociologi, Syn-tesen förklarar före detta narkotikamissbrukare i förändringsprocessen. Tidigare forskning har redovisat vägen in i missbruk, missbrukares självpresentation och relationer.Resultatet visade att de signifikanta bestod av familjen, professionella, ex-missbrukare och vänner. Upplevelserna av interaktionen beskrivs och förändras i relation till tre tidsskeden i förändringsprocessen.</p>

Studien undersöker vilka signifikanta andra som är betydelsefulla för före detta missbrukares förändringsprocess och beskriver upplevelser av interaktionen med dessa signifikanta andra. Intervjuer med sex före detta narkotikamissbrukare genomfördes. Den teoretiska referensra-men som uppsatsen använder är en syntes av Beckers teori om avvikelse och Beger &amp; Luck-mans kunskapssociologi, Syn-tesen förklarar före detta narkotikamissbrukare i förändringsprocessen. Tidigare forskning har redovisat vägen in i missbruk, missbrukares självpresentation och relationer.Resultatet visade att de signifikanta bestod av familjen, professionella, ex-missbrukare och vänner. Upplevelserna av interaktionen beskrivs och förändras i relation till tre tidsskeden i förändringsprocessen.

This descriptive phenomenology had two purposes: first, to explore the experience of making decisions for women with advanced cancer; and second, to explore the experience for significant others and health care team members as women made their decisions. A plethora of research exists on making decisions during the cancer experience, including research regarding: 1) decision-making styles; 2) factors or determinants which play a role in decision making; 3) information: needs, seeking behaviours, and utilization; and 4) decision support technologies. However, a gap exists in the literature regarding the experience of making decisions. Conversational interviews were conducted with five women and three relevant others for each woman: her primary nurse, her oncologist, and one significant other. Women were also provided with the opportunity to journal in a diary or email their memories of decisions and the surrounding experience. Van Manens (1990) phenomenology guided the analysis of data. For the women, analysis centered on the four existentials of lived time, lived other, lived space, and lived body, revealing four themes of the lived experience of making decisions: 1) control, 2) influence, 3) normalcy, and 4) vulnerability. Phenomenological analysis on data from the significant others revealed three themes: 1) what used to be, 2) power shift, and 3) life on hold. Themes for the health care teams experience as women made decisions were: 1) emotional detachment, 2) discomfort, and 3) acquiescing. Understanding the perspectives from these lived experiences will assist the health care team to support women, and their significant others, through the experience of making decisions.

This descriptive phenomenology had two purposes: first, to explore the experience of making decisions for women with advanced cancer; and second, to explore the experience for significant others and health care team members as women made their decisions. A plethora of research exists on making decisions during the cancer experience, including research regarding: 1) decision-making styles; 2) factors or determinants which play a role in decision making; 3) information: needs, seeking behaviours, and utilization; and 4) decision support technologies. However, a gap exists in the literature regarding the experience of making decisions. Conversational interviews were conducted with five women and three relevant others for each woman: her primary nurse, her oncologist, and one significant other. Women were also provided with the opportunity to journal in a diary or email their memories of decisions and the surrounding experience. Van Manens (1990) phenomenology guided the analysis of data. For the women, analysis centered on the four existentials of lived time, lived other, lived space, and lived body, revealing four themes of the lived experience of making decisions: 1) control, 2) influence, 3) normalcy, and 4) vulnerability. Phenomenological analysis on data from the significant others revealed three themes: 1) what used to be, 2) power shift, and 3) life on hold. Themes for the health care teams experience as women made decisions were: 1) emotional detachment, 2) discomfort, and 3) acquiescing. Understanding the perspectives from these lived experiences will assist the health care team to support women, and their significant others, through the experience of making decisions.

This thesis describes thirteen published works which constitute an evolving programme of research into service user and carer participation in old age psychiatry. They share the common objective of extending knowledge and understanding of methodologies, benefits and challenges of service user and carer participation in old age psychiatry services. The publications contribute to knowledge in three areas. The copying of letters to users and carers, and requests for their feedback on the practice, was described as part of routine practice in old age psychiatry: this research addresses the area of „users and carers as recipients of communication‟. „Users and carers as subjects of consultation‟ is addressed by several publications: an evaluation of users‟ experience of electro-convulsive therapy and later development of a method of integrating feedback from users into practice; a similar method was applied regionally in service improvement in order to access users‟ and carers‟ views and use them to identify areas for improvement work, and nationally by a professional organisation to inform and develop its work programme. The third area of contribution is that of „users and carers as agents in control‟ and this is addressed in an initiative in higher education where users and carers were agents of control in designing, delivering and evaluating an MSc module on user and carer experience. The contribution of the publications is related to four overall objectives: ways in which users and carers participate in old age psychiatry services; the benefits and drawbacks of user and carer participation in old age psychiatry services; ways of conceptualising user and carer participation in old age psychiatry; and finally, potential areas for future research in user and carer participation in old age psychiatry.

Schizophrenia is a debilitating disease associated with deficits in a wide variety of cognitive, social and emotional domains. This includes deficits in facial affect recognition, which have been suggested to be linked to problems in judging social intentions and as leading to social withdrawal. A number of behavioural studies report a greater deficit in the recognition of negative emotions (particularly fear). a parallel strand of research has examined the neural substrates of facial emotion recognition using neuroimaging techniques, and has reported reductions in levels of amygdala activation to fearful faces in schizophrenia patients. These finding, have, in combination, been interpreted as indicating a negative emotion specific deficit in schizophrenia underpinned by aberrant functioning of limbic structures including the amygdala. The current thesis attempts to deconstruct this formulation from two perspectives, a psychometric or task conceptualisation perspective, and a neuroimaging perspective.