RSS 1.0University of Bedfordshire e-theses
Recent Submissions
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Change management strategies in Jordanian electronic transformation: a senior management perspective at Greater Amman MunicipalityE-government is a critical strategic initiative that governments worldwide are rapidly adopting to enhance public service delivery. The successful implementation of e-services depends on the engagement of citizens and the private sector in digital transformation efforts. The Jordanian government, particularly the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), is committed to advancing e-government; however, change management among senior public officials remains a significant challenge. This study evaluates change management strategies and leadership practices in GAM’s e-government services, assessing their effectiveness in addressing transformation challenges. A qualitative research approach was employed, utilizing secondary sources (published reports, prior studies) and primary sources (interviews with GAM senior management). The findings reveal both strengths and obstacles in GAM’s e-transformation efforts. While mayoral support facilitated progress, a lack of clear sustainability and accountability measures remains a challenge. To address these gaps, the study proposes a conceptual framework for effective change management, highlighting the critical role of leadership, internal and external barriers, and sustainability concerns in e-government projects. This framework serves as a strategic guide for policymakers and organizations, contributing to improved digital governance and facilitating smoother public sector transitions to e-government. Keywords: E-government, digital transformation, change management, leadership, public sector innovation.
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Finding our voices: Bangladeshi women’s experiences of domestic violence and abuseThis thesis investigated and explored the challenges in accessing Bangladeshi women to talk about their experiences of domestic violence. The aim of the thesis had been to consider. a) Whether and how the voices of Bangladeshi women are heard within the context of domestic violence and abuse and whether women see themselves as victims of abuse. b) The challenges of hearing Bangladeshi children’s voices and whether mothers see their children as victims of abuse in the home. c) Factors that help or hinder Bangladeshi women and their children sharing their experiences of domestic violence and abuse. My research explored the impact and challenges of the societal, cultural, and community perceptions and the diversity of women’s experiences, through the lens of intersectionality and the positionality of the women. I heard directly from eight women about their lived experiences of different forms of abuse. This took place through face-to-face and online semi-structured interviews conducted in English and Bangla, using a framework to collect data through interviews, video, audio recordings and note taking processes. Accessing women for interviews was difficult as they were fearful of speaking about violence in the home and the repercussions this may bring for them and their wider families. This represented a break from what is considered as a societal norm for Bangladeshi women. There were challenges in the subsequent analysis in terms of translating and transcribing interviews from Bangla to English without compromising on the validity and originality of the women’s own expression of their experiences. I interviewed ten professionals within two focus groups who were mainly from a social care setting. I sought their views on working with Bangladeshi women experiencing domestic violence and abuse and what in their views, helped or hindered women of Bangladeshi origin seeking support from their agencies. The complexity of individuals experiences, their fears, and the community responses highlighted how the women perceive that they deserve to remain in an abusive relationship. The key findings of the research include the understanding and the importance of marriage within the Bangladeshi community and the role of the extended family as highly significant, both of which in turn limits women’s ability and willingness to seek support. It considered the strength women gain from their faith and giving forgiveness of their abusers as a way of healing themselves, and how they blame themselves for the abuse they have suffered. The thesis focused on the barriers and challenges they faced while they navigate the lack of understanding of their multiple identities of being a woman of colour cultural norms, language, and religious belief. The lack of recognition of abuse in a community which is patriarchal is a major factor in women not seeking, or finding, the support they need. The thesis highlighted the role of the extended family and the community pressures that force women to remain in an abusive relationship for much longer they wanted to. Women spoke about leaving being seen as a sense of individual failure and not protecting the name and honour of the family regardless of the women’s emotional, financial, or physical standing in the community. They highlighted how they want to protect the wider family in the UK and abroad, often by remaining in a marriage and suffering the abuse. I also argue that the social structure and inequalities created significant boundaries and limitations for these women, where undue responsibilities were placed on them for being the protector of children and saving the honour of the community and society at large as a woman. Lastly, I conclude my research and discussed how women see the lack of support from agencies and how this collides and intersects with in the choices they make about the abuse they experienced, and how their decisions to remain or leave an abusive relationship are based on who they are as a Bangladeshi woman and how they are seen within the wider society. My recommendations include the need to ensure Bangladeshi women’s experiences of domestic violence and abuse in research become more visible in research, which will require understanding and commitment on the part of researchers. Larger scale and longitudinal research is required that does not begin with the assumption that the community is problematic. Women must have a more prominent voice and opportunities to challenge current policies that do not recognise their specific needs or encourage and support them. This needs to happen through having others like them talking and involving women in support services nationally and locally and, most, within the wider social and faith community. I recommend that women should be able to speak about abuse without threats of alienation and retribution affecting their wider families. I recommend that there need to be government guidelines on destigmatising domestic violence and abuse within the faith community in having joint work tackling domestic violence and abuse. There needs to be more connection across services, including an acceptance that religious beliefs and practices can be used positively to support women victims of domestic violence and abuse. This will also require support through statutory guidance and policies that are accessible to the Bangladeshi community and help open discussion about domestic violence and abuse within the community in a way that is not associated with shame and dishonour.
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Upper Egyptian women and performanceThis thesis examines how Upper Egyptian women negotiate a space, through performance, in the public and private spheres of Egypt. The aim is to use my position as an Egyptian woman to produce an account of some of the different manifestations of patriarchy, which may be affecting Upper Egyptian women’s lives, and which can possibly be embodied in their performative practices. With this examination, I aim to bring to the surface the rich cultural heritage of Upper Egypt, where women are active participants, and which has been disregarded from mainstream Western performance discourses. Furthermore, I aim to contribute to a better understanding of the lived experiences of Upper Egyptian women and their distinctive and contextual negotiation strategies, which are both ignored and marginalised from feminist discourses. Accordingly, I attend their performative events as well as interview them to give voice to the situatedness of their lived experiences and to gain a better understanding. This allows for further insights in the various approaches that Upper Egyptian women adopt in responding to gender inequalities in the public and private spheres of Egypt. Finally, I aim to contribute to theoretical debates pertaining the understanding of agency from Western and non-Western post-structural feminist scholarships where I argue that an amended and fused version of both approaches generate a more textured and nuanced account pertaining the concept of agency, one that provides Upper Egyptian women's embodied experiences accommodation and more consideration.
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How ambiguous loss and postmemory affects the intergenerational memory of the lost men of the SS IsoldaThis thesis examines how creative practice contributes to a heightened portrayal of the emotional history of survivor and victim families, following the sinking of a Commissioners of the Irish Lights Tender, SS Isolda on 19th December 1940 by the Luftwaffe, off the coast of Wexford, Ireland. Six men died and their bodies were never found. Due to wartime censorship and Irish neutrality, the sinking was not reported in the media for five years. The emotional and practical impact of that silence and absence is examined, within a framework of faith, remembrance and grief. The thesis explains why not writing creatively to recreate the actual sinking is a more powerful way to show themes of absence and loss. Including factual reports, photographs, letters and newspaper articles, contributes to a polyphony of voices, intended to add veracity to the creative work. It explores the ethnographic, examining cultural tensions and class hierarchies of Emergency Ireland, the self-reflectiveness of metafiction and how the speculative combines to reanimate stories of the crew and their widows. There is a reflection on both ambiguous loss – the loss where there is no body and on postmemory, as drivers to explain why these stories remain important to families intergenerationally, even if the family stories can be unreliable. There is an examination of the liminality of faction/creative non-fiction and of a cumulative short story structure as an alternative to a linear novel.
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Tourism and the horizons of becoming: the gestation of an ongoing posthuman/post-qualitative inquiry agendaThis study is formed of two main strands. Firstly, this thesis intends to set up a future inquiry agenda where matters of becoming experienced by British Muslim women can be understood. The experiences of British Muslim women who travel internationally will be inspected in order to shed light on how their trajectories of becoming are constructed. Secondly, this thesis will attempt to evaluate the current thinking capacity of the Humanities / Social Sciences and the applied field of Tourism Studies when conceptualising mattes of becoming for these said British Muslim women. This inquiry is heavily guided by the post-humanist philosophies of Deleuze and Braidotti. These hallmark conceptualists will guide how this inquiry approaches and conceptualises becoming, the creation of new possibilities for thinking and in how awarenesses are generated in the understanding of the relationalities between faith / spirituality / mobility / travel / gender. Post-qualitative inquiry will shape the approach to methodology, which is highly emergent, indeterminate and warns against pre-assumptive decision making before the researcher has spent time understanding matters ‘in the field’. Continuing with the Deleuzian intuitions that run throughout this thesis, there are no final, concrete conclusions, instead the last half of this thesis deals with a range of critical implications and future prospects which have been generated in relation to the aims and objectives of this inquiry. Chapter 4, The Implications, explores 10 critical pathways inspired by the nomadic logic of Braidotti (2011) and Deleuzian philosophy to create new visions of subjectivity and more dynamic possibilities of thinking within Tourism Studies as an applied field. Leading on from this, Chapter 5, The Prospects, details 22 areas for possible future inquiry. These 22 possible ‘lines of flight’ dance across the main themes which have been explored in the thesis and display the potential rhizomatic, emergent directions this study could take. Finally, because the 22 areas of possible study are vast and wide ranging, the last chapter, The Recommendations, then go on to select 10 inquiry agendas with more specific areas of investigation which shed light on how the becoming of British Muslim women could be approached through future research. As stated above, this last recommendations chapter focuses on how a selection of these insights and implications can be taken forward to carefully curate a future inquiry agenda based specifically around (i) the inheritances of Islam, (ii) British Muslim women, (iii) matters of spirituality and pilgrimage, (iv) the power of tourism and travel, (v) matters of belonging, (vi) exercise of researcher awareness, (vii) acts of living and aspiration, (viii) deficits of hailed understanding within Tourism Studies, (ix) role and function of research institutions in Tourism Studies and (x) post-human orientations towards globalisation and mobility.
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Swarm robots based SLAM in weak environmental information applicationsIn SLAM, weak environmental information refers to the lack of indications of distinctive landmarks in sensor data. This brings difficulties to SLAM as it relies on the indications. Various approaches of dealing with weak environmental information have been reported. Single-robot-based ones require either large datasets (for running machine learning) or artificial landmarks both of which need the prior knowledge of the environments where robots explore. Multiple-robots-based/swarm-based approaches seem more promising as they rely on information sharing among robots rather than the prior knowledge. They are more robust when facing the failure of individual robots. In the collaborative swarm-based SLAM, individual robots run their own SLAM at local level and contribute to the development of a global map and to the estimation of their locations in the global map. The key to success is the collaboration among the robots. The existing collaboration mechanisms leave SLAM at both local and global levels completely to individual robots, leading to inconsistent global maps. They also require individual robots to have sufficient computational power. This research develops a novel collaborative swarm robot system tailored for global SLAM in weak environmental information scenarios. The system introduces four key advancements: (1) designing a coordination strategy to guide robots toward unexplored regions, improving exploration efficiency and coverage; (2) implementing cross-validation mechanisms to identify and eliminate redundant landmarks from local maps, ensuring data accuracy; (3) enabling individual robots to extend their perception by leveraging peer robots' sensory data, allowing relative localization and integration of local maps in sparse environments; and (4) creating a centralized global map framework to consolidate data from all swarm members, ensuring consistency in the overall mapping process.
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Millennials’ perception of environmental sustainability and its impact on purchase intention and actual purchase: a personal value perspectiveExtensive research has found that Millennials are more environmentally conscious than other age groups, implying they are likely to engage in sustainable practices. However, a gap exists between consumers' intentions and environmentally sustainable behaviour. In addition, research has shown that the intention-behaviour gap increases when consumers make food purchases. Nevertheless, the intention-behaviour gap regarding environmentally sustainable packaging with UK consumers has been insufficiently researched. Additionally, studies have observed consumer’s perception of food packaging; however, there is a gap in research regarding the perception of environmental sustainability in the food industry. Studies have demonstrated that personal values play a role in an individual’s environmentally sustainable purchase intention. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct research in environmental sustainability, to assess the influence of personal values on the perception of environmentally sustainable food packaging among Millennials. An extensive body of research has established that personal values are vital in an individual’s perception of environmental sustainability and purchase intention. However, there is a gap in knowledge regarding whether Millennials' values play a critical role in the perception of environmentally sustainable food packaging and purchase intention. Furthermore, the study will explore the circumstances that hinder consumers from fulfilling their beliefs that bridge or cause the intention-behaviour gap. Therefore, this study adopted Schwartz’s values to examine the interplay between values and the intention-behaviour gap among Millennials. The study was carried out using a mixed methods approach, and it was conducted in two phases. The first phase was an explanatory study which gathered quantitative data from 401 participants through a questionnaire assessing the relationship between personal values and their influence on intentions and behaviour. The study recruited participants via purposive and snowball sampling using social media channels such as Facebook and Nextdoor, the data was analysed using several statistical analysis techniques. The explanatory study revealed that in most cases, personal values influence intention but guide behaviour to a degree. However, one finding was an exception, as the data shows that Universalism led to eco-friendly behaviour in one instance. It was expected that other values, such as Benevolence would lead to eco-friendly behaviour; however, this was not the case. Moreover, the empirical data from the questionnaire showed that there was not a significant difference between Millennials' income, gender, and eco-friendly behaviour. Likewise, the empirical data revealed no significant difference between the level of education and eco-friendliness, except for one finding, which found that Millennials with a degree qualification or above were likely to engage in eco-friendly behaviour. Similarly, the empirical data revealed 4 no significant difference between ethnicity and eco-friendly behaviour; except for two findings, which found that Black African and Black Caribbean were more eco-friendly than other ethnicities. The second phase was an exploratory study, which gathered data from thirty participants via convenience sampling for follow-up interviews, to understand the underlying factors that cause the intention-behaviour gap and was analysed using thematic analysis. Furthermore, the study revealed that several predominant factors were causing the intention-behaviour gap, i.e., Availability, Price, Greenwashing, Carbon footprint, Clarity, Lack of knowledge, Taste and Product quality. This study contributes to knowledge as it confirms that the findings corroborate the results from a wider body of research across numerous research fields, thus showing the robustness of this study’s findings and fortifying the existing body of research among Millennials. Furthermore, the study’s empirical results challenged Schwartz's theoretical perspective, revealing an intricate relationship among Millennials' values, perceptions of environmentally sustainable packaging, and behaviour. Moreover, empirical data showed that values work together simultaneously rather than in isolation. Therefore, the findings revealed that values moderately influence Millennials' intentions and guide behaviour to some degree. The empirical data provides insight into the practical implications of this research, as it is vital to consider personal values and the predominant factors which cause the intention-behaviour gap when marketing and during product development.
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A semi-decentralised framework to enhance credit card fraud detection in a privacy-preserving manner using machine learning approachIn today’s world, financial institutions rely massively on Internet banking to efficiently make services available to customers. Due to the increase in credit card use, the number of frauds has also escalated. Research has been done using state-of-the-art techniques to effectively avoid credit card fraud. The proportion of fraudulent and legit transaction in financial (credit card) data is unbalanced, and Data produced per second from the banking system are substantial in number, diversified, and heterogeneous. Therefore, the conventional methods of fraud detection have been proven to be challenging to tackle all the challenges. Adapting machine learning techniques to credit card fraud detection reduces many obstacles, as illustrated in the literature. Although machine learning techniques are efficient in credit card fraud detection, there are some additional challenges researchers must face, the imbalanced data is one of them. The researchers proposed collecting large amounts of data to balance the data distribution. One of the ways to address the issue of imbalance is to share data from different institutions or organisations. But due to Different regulation, the challenge is the data sharing by banks and financial institutes to access to the continuous stream of real-time data to learn the new heterogeneous patterns. The research was conducted to understand how data can be collect from different institutions without breaking different regulations like GDPR, or Data Protection Act 2018 in a privacy-preserving manner. This study introduces a framework that merges federated learning with other machine learning algorithms to improve credit card fraud detection, while also maintaining the privacy of data across the collaborating institutions. In the research analysis, different machine learning models such as random forest (RF), logistic regression (LR), multilayer perceptron (MLP), artificial neural networks (ANN), support vector machine (SVM), and decision tree (DT), were used. Along with these classical models, the research also experimented with the combination of Federated learning framework. The research also analysed the model's performance with and without the combination where it’s been found that ANN, random forest and XGboost performed well. The contribution of the research is a combined approach to integrating the machine learning model with the decentralised approach of the federated learning framework. In this approach, data are trained locally and only the trained model from the individual device is combined on a central server while keeping data privacy. The secure aggregation encryption method used by the FL framework ensures the end-to-end model transmission privacy between the clients and the server, thus following GDPR. The future scope of the contributed framework will allow banks and financial institutes to share the data collaboratively to train the machine learning model for effective CCFD. The initial experiment and results show that the performance of the artificial neural network, random forest and XGboost performed well in combination with federated learning provides better results than the other machine learning algorithms.
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Discovery of single cells physical properties through cell manipulationIn recent years, the study of cancer cells and cancer has been one of the most popular and urgent problems in scientific research. These precise information of living cells such as adhesion force and Young's modulus in the physical properties of cells are believed to be helpful in more clearly classifying different types of cancer cells and distinguishing them from benign cells, and the mechanical factors of cells can predict the location of metastasis, which can help to understand the metastatic characteristics of cancer cells in a more in-depth way, which is of great importance in the diagnosis, analysis and treatment of cancer cells. The focus of this thesis is on the manipulation and information acquisition of cancer cells and healthy cells at the nanoscale to achieve innovation in data processing methods, databases and the availability of new drug development methods. In this thesis, Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles were synthesised using co-deposition and tested for biocompatibility and toxicity, confirming that it can be used in biological experiments. Subsequently, its concentration was investigated in relation to the tendency and trajectory of the cells in a magnetic field. A correlation between the movement of the cells and the concentration of the magnetic nanoparticles was observed and found by using atomic force microscopy in concert with a magnetic field. Based on cell proliferation characteristics, 3D models of different numbers of cells were constructed to simulate stress and strain based on the application of a constant external force, and the results were compared with three classical contact models (Hertz-Sneddon model, JKR model and DMT model), and it was found that the Hertz-Sneddon model had the best fit in the region near the nucleus. II This thesis proposes a new data processing method based on a large amount of data. On this basis, three types of cells from human liver, one type of cancer cells from human lung and two types of cells from human skin were studied. It was found that the shape of the cells is likely to be the basis for determining the origin of the cells, and the physical properties of the cells are also likely to be the basis for determining whether the cells are cancerous or not. It should be noted, however, that if the physical properties of the cells are used as a basis for determining whether the cells are cancerous or not, they must be considered in conjunction with the origin of the cells and with reference to the time of culture and the cell cycle. Astragalus polysaccharide was extracted from dried astragalus and used to study the effect of different concentrations of astragalus polysaccharide solutions on human immortalised hepatocytes HL-7702 and human HCC SMMC-7721 at different culture times. Their morphology and characteristic physical information were obtained by MTT experiments and using AFM, and the efficacy of APS was found to correlate with culture time and concentration. At low concentration and short culture time, it promoted the proliferation of benign cells and inhibited the growth of malignant cells. When both the concentration and incubation time of APS were increased, Young's modulus and cell adhesion were altered. Meanwhile, APS could induce early apoptosis in human hepatocytes and hepatocellular carcinoma cells.
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Equipping Milton Keynes with the skills required for sustained growthMilton Keynes was designated as a New Town in 1967 with a population of around 60,000 (Milton Keynes Council, 2011), and was originally allocated for housing and employment. For the last 30 years it has been one of the fastest growing United Kingdom cities in terms of economic output and employment, resulting in labour productivity being higher than the national average and with more growth forecast ahead. The global and United Kingdom economy will be changing, and many of these changes and disruptors cannot be anticipated. The purpose of this research study is to make sure Milton Keynes is equipped for current and changing needs through exploring, in a real-world setting, interpretations by senior managers of the links between investment in skills and the contribution to enhanced organisational and macro-economic performance. With a particular focus on Milton Keynes, employer attitudes and behaviour towards developing a skilled workforce will be investigated in order to enhance understanding and knowledge of the skills element of human capital and understand better the correlation between these interdependent components. In order to do this, the study focuses on answering four key questions: 1. To what extent is there a problem in Milton Keynes businesses with recruitment related to skills and training? 2. Do employers in Milton Keynes understand the links between investing in skills and training with business performance? 3. What are the attitudes and behaviours of employers in developing a skilled workforce? 4. What role does human capital play alongside technology for employers? This was achieved through assessing current local, national, and international reports and literature. In addition, real-time insight provided a summation of what is actually happening on the ground, through primary data collected through a business survey; methodologies employed include a questionnaire (sample size 1428 Milton Keynes organisations), as well as focus group methods using quantitative and qualitative approaches. Also included were 15 one-to-one interviews with businesses in Milton Keynes. All three methods provided a rich amount of data and insight from direct sources. This research was carried out as there was not enough evidence or reports in existence which looked at Milton Keynes in isolation, how it is performing and why. The contribution made to knowledge through the undertaking of this study has exposed a lot of direct information and findings from Milton Keynes businesses using different methods. A study in this detail over this period of time has never been undertaken before and therefore provides a unique insight, with rich information upon which to make recommendations and form conclusions directly relevant to Milton Keynes. This work provides a unique contribution to policy development and challenges theories such as that of Becker (1964) and Jacob’s (1961, 1969), suggesting that they should be revised to encapsulate other factors that play just as significant a role in business performance as education and skills development. This thesis reveals that factors such as macro-regional location, entrepreneurial activity and local infrastructure play a significant role in attracting highly skilled individuals, as opposed to the mere presence of a higher education institution. Therefore, a revised theory may wish to revisit the link between higher education institutions in a town or city and their link with business performance and productivity. Interestingly, employers in Milton Keynes do appear to acknowledge skills gaps. However, while those skills gaps may prevent businesses from reaching their full potential, it does not appear to hinder productivity. One of the most prominent findings of this thesis is that employers seem to only seek to take action to rectify a skills gap once the problem does look to affect productivity, otherwise employers were previously aware of this issue but not taking action. Another interesting finding is that in the focus group many employers often spoke about the need to attract skilled professionals, as opposed to investing in training and development or education. Through a combination of the literature and the results produced by primary research, one could argue that the construction of a higher education institution in Milton Keynes may not be necessary to equip Milton Keynes with sustainable skills, nor will it improve business performance. However, with employers dissatisfied with the local skills base and frequently considering the problem to stem from individuals “not having the right skills”, as well as a large number of employers who do not have any formal links with education institutions in Milton Keynes – it would be wise for employers to consider building closer partnerships with schools and education institutions. That way, they could have more of an influence on the skills being taught in schools as well as growing the local skills base that are equipped with the “right” skills to succeed in and contribute to the local economy. This rich source and analysis of data provides insights into a roadmap and strategic direction that policy makers in Milton Keynes could exploit in order to identify better the issues highlighted in this thesis work. This presents the opportunity for Milton Keynes to lead the way in terms of strategic planning in relation to the skills agenda, and create a future plan, based on this work which can be an exemplar of best practice. It is planned that this report will be circulated to several organisations with direct influence on the ability of Milton Keynes to deliver solutions which will help businesses to grow and flourish and resolve the skills gaps emerging from the research. One of these will be the central Government departments responsible for funding of skills, education and for helping businesses
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An investigation into mature students’ intention to pursue higher education in the UKWhilst there has been growing attention paid to the paradox around the concept of employability and widening participation agenda, insufficient attention has been paid to intentions of mature students enrolling in the UK higher education. The focus of this study is mature students domiciled in the UK. The empirical literature reviewed presents limited evidence around factors that influence the intention to pursue higher education in the UK. These factors form the key issues for the tertiary education authorities to acknowledge. Hence, this research identified these factors. To achieve this a two-stage literature review process was implemented i.e., critical review of literature followed by systematic review (PRISMA application). The factors identified are personal development, employability, student engagement and financial support. An adapted model based on a newly established theoretical framework Theory of Reasoned Goal Pursuit (TRGP) tested significant relationship between the identified factors to attitude, intention, control belief, perceived control behaviour and enrolment (actual behaviour). TRGP is a newly established theoretical framework based on well-established Theory of Planned Behaviour and Goal System Theory. TRGP has only been applied to health research to predict the intentions for certain health behaviours. The adapted model could be implemented in future research to predict various key behaviours. In this current study this model has generated evidence around mature students’ intention to pursue higher education. Quantitative research methodology was applied, and 349 participants (mature students) data was collected which was then tested using the statistical tool SPSS AMOS extension. This study adopts CB-SEM (Covariance based structure equation modelling) for its ability to effectively test the model developed featuring complex relationships. The current body of knowledge around application of CB-SEM confirms that incorporating confirmatory factor analysis could enhance the reliability and validity of the study. With a focus on generalisability, CB-SEM's requirement for a large sample size aligns with the essence of quantitative research. The assessment of model fit, a critical function enabled by CB-SEM, ensures the empirical viability of the hypothesised model. This study included a theoretical foundation to achieve a model fit and fit indexes served as supplementary information. This study found significant relationship between procurement goal and control belief, the mediating relationship between procurement goal, control belief and attitude are significant. Control belief and perceived control behaviour also indicated significance. This study contributes to knowledge by filling the gap in relation to mature students intention to pursue higher education in the UK and confirms the link between employability, personal development, student engagement and financial support and mature student’s intention to pursue higher education in the UK. This study provides recommendation the factors considered could build a solid evidence base for development of future higher education policies specially around enrolment, entry requirements and assessments in providing student loans and the adapted model is applied to test various other behaviours. It reveals that there is a gap between HEIs and government agenda due to lack understanding around mature students’ intention to pursue higher education in the UK.
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Prevalence of frailty among older South Asians living in the UKFrailty is a geriatric syndrome that is common among older people and is commonly assessed by two tools: Frailty Phenotype (FP) and Frailty Index (FI). The health determinants such as age, sex, lifestyle and socioeconomic status (SES) along with the incidence of certain illnesses vary with a person’s ethnicity. With the continuous increase in the older SA population living in the UK, the study to find the difference in the prevalence of frailty between SAs and Whites is important. This will help to take the right intervention on time to prevent further frailty-related deterioration, and to maintain the quality of life in later life. This also helps to ensure the national services thus designed are reachable and beneficial to the migrant SA population. This PhD aims to determine whether SAs aged over 65 years living in the UK differ from White British people of the same age in the development and life course of frailty. This PhD study has three objectives with a separate quantitative research approach. A systematic review was conducted to find the prevalence of frailty among overall SAs despite their geographical location. The study showed a high level of frailty among SAs including among females. Moreover, this study found there were no previous research studies about frailty among SA living in the UK. To fill this research gap and meet the PhD study aim, a cross-sectional prevalence study was conducted using eFI as an assessment tool. The eFI data along with IMD and IDAOPI as components for SES were extracted from GP surgeries data that are under AT Medics in East London. This study presented the prevalence of frailty as higher among ethnic minorities particularly SAs compared to Whites. The study also presented the relation of frailty to SES as the lower the SES higher the prevalence. This study consisted small population from London and could not be generalised to all SA population living in the UK. Another retrospective longitudinal study was conducted to find out the prevalence of frailty among SAs living in England using the ELSA dataset. However, due to missing data and limited participation of SAs in the ELSA study, the population of SAs were changed to Asians allowing existing data on migrant populations to be studied. This study found the prevalence of frailty higher among Asians than Whites. Moreover, this study studied the relation of covariates: age, sex, physical activity, diet, smoking, g intake, social isolation, loneliness, and SES to the prevalence of frailty among the Asian migrant population. This PhD study included the first-ever systematic review with a meta-analysis conducted among SAs about frailty. Moreover, this study provided a novel contribution of knowledge using secondary data sources that showed SA living in the UK have indeed higher levels of frailty incidence compared to Whites. Moreover, the study also presented the need for more studies to answer the research question. The study clearly showed the lack of representation of SAs in national-level older age research studies and shows the need for inclusion in future studies.
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A review of the successes, barriers and implementation of a heating network in Cambridgeshire – a case studyAn area of focus for local authorities (LAs) to reduce their carbon footprint and meet net-zero carbon targets is reducing domestic heating carbon usage, currently responsible for 18% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. Swaffham Prior, Cambridgeshire (SP), was chosen as a case study due to it being a rural heat pump network scheme, not on the gas network which used renewable energy and had the objective of reducing fuel poverty. I identified contributing factors that led to successful implementation of the scheme through publicly available information and conducting an interview with the LA sponsor. The financial commitment of the LA was crucial as a small community didn’t have resources to fund the build and low household density didn’t attract commercial investment. The ownership by the Community Land Trust (a voluntary committee of residents) was key to gaining residents’ trust, initiating and driving progression of the scheme. The Swaffham Prior scheme can be replicated if funding and underwriting of project costs is available by a public body (LA or central government). Land provision by LAs or social housing providers is key for financial success. Another success factor was that no upfront costs were required by households in connecting to the network so it’s inclusive irrespective of income.
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Impact of data protection and privacy on e-government adoption in NigeriaThis study examines the impact of data protection and privacy on e-government adoption in developing countries. Data were gathered using focus groups and interviews in an empirical setting to understand better, the impact of data protection and privacy on adopting e-government in Nigeria. Interviews were conducted with senior government employees, including directors, higher technical officers, and programme analysts. Qualitative method helped to emphasise the context of e-government adoption and subjective experiences through semi-structure interviews that enabled an in-depth knowledge of e-government adoption in Nigeria. The flexibility of grounded theory provided data- driven insights making it easy to code the collected data from participants (see Chapter 4, Section 4.7.4). Grounded theory method was used to analyse the research data. The study established the existence of data protection and privacy concerns in Nigeria by analysing current data protection and privacy practises on e-government services and by identifying specific Nigerian features impacting the adoption. The study concluded that data protection and privacy are essential for Nigeria to successfully adopt e-government, as e-government demands data protection and privacy regulations and active e-government public awareness. Other major challenges were identified, including needing more technical skills and a technological gap. Although some Nigerians find e-government cost-effective and convenient, others prefer the conventional method of delivering government services because they are more concerned with their privacy and personal information when using e-government services. They feel uncomfortable using e-government applications, as they know they can always count on getting physical help from someone in the ministry. With Hofstede dimension theory, it was established that cultural factor is part of the causes of reluctance to e-government adoption as traditional or manual methods of service delivery are heavily preferred in many communities. However, this can be mitigated by promoting cultural shift through educational initiatives and awareness to establish the benefits of e-government services. The research concludes with a framework as a recommendation for policymakers in e-government and data protection regulatory enforcement organisations. The framework is directed towards addressing issues from the research findings concerning data protection and privacy within the Nigerian e-government adoption. It encompass the enforcement of existing data protection regulations, increase in public education and awareness, enhancing government websites, provision of targeted training for citizens and government employees. Future researchers will have a great chance to learn more and expand their scope of study into the use of e-government in developing countries.
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The relationship between Islamic leadership and public sector practices in Jordan: a new dynamic Islamic leadership modelThis research aims to develop a dynamic Islamic leadership model that is culturally specific to the Islamic setting and based upon empirical evidence from the Islamic setting, the context of the public sector in Jordan. The current literature review covers the pervious Islamic leadership studies and some of the most prevailing non-Islamic leadership styles along with a focus on the Islamic doctrine and general managerial principles emanating from it. The critical review of the relevant literature led to an in-depth comparison between the characteristics of the previous Islamic leadership models which resulted in producing evident knowledge gaps. Consequently, a new framework has been created based on an initial consideration focusing on the most five culturally significant and specific characteristics for the Islamic leadership that were identified from the previous Islamic leadership models. The adopted methodology of the current research is established on the Constructivism ontological philosophy and the epistemological philosophy of Interpretivism. A primary case study has been conducted in a chosen two case studies from the Jordanian public sector as a qualitative method has been employed to obtain answers to the study’s research question and fulfil the objectives of the research. The semi-structured interview has been utilised as the primary strategy for the data collection. Twenty-four semi-structured interview questions were constructed for the collection of the primary data based on the developed framework that focused on the chosen five culturally significant and specific characteristics for the Islamic leadership. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted that targeted managers and employees from the chosen two case studies of the Jordanian public sector to provide the researcher with the opinions and perceptions of the two key parties (managers and employees) that form the concept of the Islamic leadership. The current study implemented the thematic analysis technique due to the flexibility this technique provides that suits the inductive data analysis approach adopted by the current study and allows the focus on specific meanings through the interpretation of the participants’ perceptions. The findings of this research produced rich information regarding the culturally significant and specific characteristics for Islamic leadership. Initially, the findings revealed that these Islamic characteristics are at the forefront of the Islamic leadership characteristic as they are indeed widely practiced by the managers in the Jordanian public sector. These culturally significant and specific characteristics for Islamic leadership constitute five of the key six themes that form the new dynamic Islamic leadership model generated from this study’s findings. Further in-depth analysis of the findings revealed a significant contribution that differentiates the current study from the previous Islamic leadership models, which is represented in the sixth theme “Motivated by the Islamic doctrine and principles” that is perceived as the core of the new dynamic Islamic leadership model. The analysis of the findings established that the new dynamic Islamic leadership model is grounded on the sixth main theme “Motivated by the Islamic doctrine and principles” as this theme constitutes the crux around which all the previous five main themes (the culturally significant and specific characteristics for Islamic leadership) are built. The five main themes are interlinked with the sixth main theme “Motivated by the Islamic doctrine and principles” through linkages represented in a set of Islamic managerial principles emanated from the Islamic doctrine. The current study bridges the identified knowledge gaps and produces a novelty of work through adding value and contributing to the existing body of knowledge and practice. The limitations of the current research are presented in targeting the public sector of Jordan as the Islamic setting at which the empirical study is implemented, while further research could focus on other Islamic countries and other sectors as the findings might differ or add on to the one’s of the current research. The time-limited nature of the current research signifies that it could not cover all of the culturally relevant characteristics for the Islamic leadership as some of these kept out characteristics might add on and enrich the current contributions.
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Left to their own devices: exploring interactional practices in an online group speaking taskWhile Interactional Competence (IC) has been a facet of models of competence for as long as communicative competence has existed (Hymes, 1974), a psycholinguistic approach (Van Moere, 2012) has tended to dominate speaking testing, particularly online speaking test delivery (Roever & Dai, 2021). The psycholinguistic approach views speaking abilities as residing within the individual. Online tests are often monological and poorly reflect interactional abilities (Roever & Ikeda, 2021). In contrast, a sociolinguistic-interactional view emphasises speaking as a contextualised, social act. This perspective “relocates speaking abilities in the interaction between people” (Van Compernolle, 2021, p. 193). This emphasis on interaction creates a problem however: how to measure individual contributions to a shared action (McNamara, 1997). This dilemma is seen in the rather abstract, detached nature of assessment criteria which could be enhanced via detailed Conversation Analytic (CA) interactional insights (Kley et al., 2021; Youn, 2023), specifically how orderliness pervades talk (Pekarek Doehler, 2021a, 2021b, 2018; Hall, 2023, 2018; Thompson & Couper-Kuhlen, 2005). This mixed-methods study aimed to investigate interactional practices used in an online, triadic, scenario-based task involving 56 candidates of varying language proficiency (below-B2, B2, and C1). Expert raters assessed candidates, and their ratings were analysed using Many-facet Rasch Measurement (MFRM) to account for rater tendencies. Qualitative analysis produced a glossary of 12 turn-taking and 10 repair practices, based on established CA studies (Wong & Waring, 2021). CA-derived coding, Mann Whitney mean comparisons, and Spearman Rho correlations were used to explore the relationship between interactional practices and proficiency level. The findings show quantitative differences in certain practices between proficiency levels (e.g., preliminary moves as a B2 and C1 differentiator), alongside general qualitative differences in how these practices were used across proficiency levels. The findings raise interesting questions as to how technology can be better leveraged to assess IC in future and how we might gain a better level of granularity in assessing the “observable artefact” (Waring, 2018) of IC. Several suggestions are made regarding future exploration of test discourse using a CA-derived coding approach to provide constructive engagement with scale development, rater training, task design and empirical elaboration of the CEFR for online interaction.
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Differences in team sport players’ repeated sprint performance, physiology and biomechanics between temperate and hot environmentsRepeated sprinting is defined as a minimum of three sprints with a mean recovery duration interspersed by less than or equal to 60 s of recovery time (Taylor et al., 2015; Sirotic and Coutts, 2007). These occur frequently in team sports, which are played around the world, often in hot environments (Girard, Brocherie and Bishop, 2015). At present, there is an abundance of research exploring the physiological strain of repeated sprinting in the heat (e.g. Almudehki et al., 2012; Drust et al., 2005; Kilduff et al., 2013), but data on the biomechanical alterations is limited (Girard et al., 2017). Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of heat on team sports players’ physical performance, physiological strain and biomechanical variables during repeated sprint performance when compared to a temperate environment. Six male recreational team sports players completed four trials; one V̇O2MAX test, one familiarisation and two randomised, counterbalanced experimental trials of the repeated sprint protocol (CON: 20C 50% rH and HOT: 35C 50% rH). For the experimental trials, participants completed a warm-up, followed by the repeated sprint protocol on a non-motorised force plate instrumented treadmill, which consisted of four blocks of six 6 s sprints, with 30 s recovery between each sprint and five-minute recovery between each block. Rectal temperature, heart rate, RPE, thermal comfort and thermal sensation were all taken and the beginning and end of each block and spatiotemporal characteristics (Optojump) and angular kinematics (Quintic 2D motion analysis) were recorded for every sprint. All physical performance variables were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in HOT compared with CON. Rectal temperature, skin temperature, sweat loss, TC and TS were all significantly higher (P < 0.05) in HOT compared with CON. Average step length and peak propulsive horizontal force were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in HOT, whilst peak plantar flexion and hip and ankle range of motion were significantly larger (P < 0.05) in HOT compared with CON. Peak hip flexion, peak plantar flexion angular velocity, peak hip flexion angular velocity, peak knee flexion angular velocity and peak dorsi flexion angular velocity were all significantly higher (P < 0.05) in CON compared with HOT. Considering the performance decrements found in the hot condition, practitioners should be aware of the biomechanical causes of these, particularly as a decreased step length reduces the propulsive horizontal forces. The shorter steps lengths observed in the heat can be explained by the lower force production of the muscles, with heat decreasing the number of muscle fibre units recruited, creating less propulsive force. Therefore, strategies need to be developed to maintain step length in the heat or be able to increase step frequency to compensate for the decrements in step length to maintain running velocity. Further research is required to support the understanding of the underpinning cause for the change in step length in the heat.
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Political uncertainty in public-private partnership projects (PPPs): a flexible risk mitigation framework for Jordan's challenging landscapeAim and scope: this study provides an in-depth understanding of risks associated with the politically unstable region within the specific context of Jordan. By exploring the risk factors associated with the politically unstable region, this study aims to establish a flexible risk mitigation framework to help the PPP partners mitigate the impact of these risks. The previous literature discusses risks related to PPP projects primarily from two internal dimensions: risks arising from poor practices of PPP workers and risks arising from government actions, policies, and instability. Contrarily, the present study spotlights risks generated by the politically unstable region; it explores and identifies risks associated with the PPP projects from a managerial-political dimension and presents a flexible framework to mitigate these risks. Methodology: this study follows the qualitative methodology. The study is influenced by the ontological philosophy of constructivism and the interpretivist epistemological approach. The semi-structured interview mechanism is adapted for primary data collection, which is supported by multiple sources of secondary data. The interviews targeted Twenty-Three senior managers of project partners (public and private partners) in two case studies in Jordan. The thematic analysis method used in this study allows the interpretation of interviewees’ perceptions. The flexibility of this method suits the abductive approach of data analysis adopted in this study. Findings: The findings revealed significant knowledge gaps concerning the risks of the politically unstable region associated with the Jordanian unique context. The flexible framework of the current study identified several risk factors that affect PPPs in Jordan caused by the unstable politics in the region; these risks matched with practical risk mitigation strategies that increase PPP partners’ flexibility in mitigating the influence of the identified risks. The findings revealed the reserve account technique applied to mitigate the risk of delay in paying the private partner dues. Notably, the limited role of the public partner in managing and mitigating the consequences of the politically unstable region risks is also revealed. Limitations: risks of the politically unstable region associated with the PPP projects in the Jordanian context can evolve over time and differ in other contexts. This study, conducted at a specific time (operation phase), might not capture the full spectrum of risks that could emerge during the PPP projects’ lifecycle.
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A privacy-preserving approach to effectively utilise distributed data for medical disease detectionPneumonia is one of the fatal diseases that causes the death of around 4 million people yearly. Previously, several researches have been done to detect pneumonia using state-of-the-art machine learning methods. However, the challenges involved in medical image detection are high in spatial resolution, heterogeneous in visuals, and complex in pattern. To overcome this challenge, a large number of datasets is needed that can be achieved by utilising data through collaborative sharing platforms from hospitals and medical institutes. But general data protection and regulation (GDPR) and data protection act (DPA) 2018 do not allow institutions to share customer data with third-party companies. With the restrictions imposed due to UK (EU) rules and regulations, the major challenge for researchers is the accessibility of data. As a result, a method to access the appropriate amount of data for machine learning models is needed to make an accurate prediction while maintaining privacy. In research, a hybrid approach of machine learning models and a federated learning framework has been proposed to use distributed data in a privacy-preserving manner. In the experiment, the chest radiographs is used to detect pneumonia disease by distributing the data to a different number of clients (simulation) and training the model individually. Data are trained locally on the client in the distributed system federated learning framework, and the trained model is shared with the central federated learning server. The benchmark of best performing models has been performed on malaria and brain tumor dataset. The research has also highlighted the significance test between the models performance in federated learning framework. The research contribution includes the hybrid framework of federated learning and the CNN based pre-trained models that allows access to the distributed data in a privacy preserving manner. The test analysis have been performed using machine learning algorithms that include convolutional neural network (CNN) based pretrained models of Alexnet, DenseNet, Residual Network (ResNet50), Inception, and Visual Geometry Group 19 (VGG19) in the pneumonia dataset. research will allow hospitals and medical institutes to collaborate while using data mutually. This thesis gives the clear pathway of the effective approaches that can be adopted to enhance diagnosis, improving the healthcare. It also gives state-of-the-art methods for different medical image detection, limitation and future potential. The benchmark analysis gives clear reflection of the potential effectiveness of findings and future scope. I have selected algorithms by performing experimental analysis for effective classification as they are state of the art methods. Due to the complexity of medical images (especially X-ray images), I need a vast number of datasets (images) to train the model correctly and precisely. Novel aspects of the research are to develop the hybrid framework for individual algorithms with federated learning while ensuring data privacy by using a secure aggregation encryption method that promises the privacy. The preliminary result showed that ResNet50 and desnenet perform well in contrast to others in the federated learning framework. It answers research questions of mutual data collaboration while keeping privacy intake and knowing what machine learning models can be used in medical image detection. I have also demonstrated the future scope of research that will allow hospitals and medical institutes (including national health services (NHS) bodies) to share live stream data for effective machine learning modelling in a privacy-preserving manner. This thesis reflects the hybrid approach of using CNN-based pre-trained models in a federated learning framework for medical image detection and is a novel contribution to the scientific knowledge, as best of information.
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Role of the α3 and α1α2α3 domains of zinc α2 glycoprotein in health and obesityZinc α2 glycoprotein (ZAG) is a 42kDa adipokine with a class I MHC fold containing three domains; α1, α2 and α3. Fatty acids bind to its α1α2 groove. ZAG expression is inversely related to body fat mass and ZAG regulates lipolysis through an unknown mechanism. The ZAG: fatty acid crystal structure revealed ZAG tetramers and an unexpected α3 fatty acid binding site. The first aim of this thesis was to express recombinant E. coli ZAG α3 to investigate fatty acid binding using fluorescence, and tetramer formation using microfluidic diffusional sizing (MDS) in physiological conditions. Attempts at expressing and purifying α3 protein were not successful. A pET23a-α3 construct inhibited E. coli growth. pGEX-2TK GST–α3 and pGEX-2TK GST-3–HIS constructs expressed soluble proteins in E. coli, but the proteins degraded. A pET16b construct containing ZAG with an engineered thrombin cleavage site between its α1α2 and α3 domains produced inclusion bodies but refolded incorrectly. A second aim of this thesis was to optimise the use of the new MDS based Fluidity One-M instrument by measuring the affinity of Zagy-1 antibody binding to recombinant E.coli ZAG. The Zagy-1: ZAG affinity (KD) was 12 pM. This affinity was unaffected by ZAG denaturation, ionic strength and presence of fatty acid. The Zagy-1 antibody was used to measure ZAG concentrations in human plasma from sixteen obese patients’ pre and 9-months post Roux-En-Y surgery by ELISA. Patients underwent significant weight loss (p=<0.0001) and the concentration of ZAG increased after Roux-En-Y surgery (p=0.0684), demonstrating its role in body mass regulation.
