• The 2011 Egyptian Uprising: a new chapter among Egyptians in the UK?

      Al-sheikh, Rua Ghanim (University of BedfordshireUniversity of Bedfordshire, 2018-08)
      This thesis examines the reactions of Egyptians living in the UK to the 2011 uprising in their home country, in terms of belonging to Egypt, Egyptian identity, political participation and media use. The Egyptian revolution was a defining moment in the history of the country and several studies have focused on the effects of the unrest on Egyptians. Further studies are required to study the impact on the Egyptians abroad. This thesis focuses on studying the effects of the revolution on Egyptians living in the UK, including first and second generations. The study is qualitative research involving interviews and ethnographic work among Egyptians in the UK. The inclusion criteria of interviewees include Egyptians residing in the UK aged 18 and over who witnessed the 2011 uprising in Egypt or in the UK. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted, four ethnographic events were attended and data from two groups on Facebook were collected. The transcripts of the interviews, the ethnographic checklists, reports and the groups’ data were thematically analysed and studied. This study has revealed that the revolution acted as a catalyst for the sense of belonging and identity in three dimensions, namely, differences among the first and second generations, in terms of reaction to the revolution, in defining the terms homeland, sense of pride and notion of return, among other parameters. Political participation of the diaspora in response to the revolution was variable and the sense of hopefulness faded away over time to a sense of hopelessness. Offline participation, compared to online participation, was a feature expressed more among the second-generation diaspora. Media use by the diaspora was studied regarding the role of social and mainstream media as a source of information of the revolution. The study concluded that the exertion of the effect of the revolution on the diaspora during the early years faded away over time, witnessing an unexpected deviation with respect to changing events in Egypt. The study proposes a new framework for features of the second-generation Egyptian diaspora in the UK, which covers eight different areas emphasised in this study.
    • 3D animation visualization on commercial websites

      Simons, Alain (University of BedfordshireUniversity of Bedfordshire, 2012)
      3D technology became more and more a part of our live. Often we even don’t know it. 3D technology can be found back in medical applications, cinematographic, automotive design, etc... Only one technology seems to have missed the 3D train, namely the World Wide Web. Internet is still not overwhelmed with 3D content, still and animated. This project analyses the reasons, bottlenecks why 3D technology is so slow in conquering the World Wide Web. The research is focused on 3D visualization in commercial websites. Research is done after the difficulties to include 3D content in a HTML environment. By involving a complete website solution, the ISPN-system, a realistic and immersive environment is setup to research where and what kind of issues may occur. The development of the ISPN-system could be a case on his own eventual done in another Msc project or a PhD project. Main goal of the ISPN-system is to provide decent footage material (visual and data) to graphic designers and website developers. An inquiry will be conducted whether this has some sense.
    • Access and utilisation of primary health care services in Riyadh Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

      Alfaqeeh, Ghadah Ahmad (University of BedfordshireUniversity of Bedfordshire, 2015-06)
      The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) faces an increasing chronic disease burden. Despite the increase in numbers of primary health care centres (PHCCs) current evidence from the KSA, which is limited overall, suggests that access and utilisation of PHCCs, which are key to providing early intervention services, remain unequal with its rural populations having the poorest access and utilisation of PHCCs and health outcomes. There is a dearth (lack) of information from the KSA on the barriers and facilitators affecting access and utilisation of primary health care services (PHCS) and therefore this study aimed to examine the factors influencing the access and utilisation of primary health care centre (PHCC) in urban and rural areas of Riyadh province of the KSA. The behavioural model of health services use (Andersen’s model) provided the contextual and individual characteristics and predisposing, enabling and need factors which assist with an understanding of the barriers and facilitators to access and utilisation of PHCCs in Riyadh province. A mixed methods approach was used to answer the research questions and meet the objectives of the study. The converged qualitative and quantitative findings show that there are a number of predisposing (socio-demographic characteristics; language and communication and cultural competency) enabling barriers such as; distance from PHCCs to the rural residence, lack of services, new services, staff shortages, lack of training, PHC infrastructure, and poor equipment. Facilitators: service provider behaviour/communication, free PHCS, service provision and improvements, primary health care (PHC) infrastructure, manpower, opening hours, waiting time, and segregated spaces and need (increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, PHC developments in the KSA) factors influencing access and utilisation of PHCS. This study highlights important new knowledge on the barriers and facilitators to access and utilisation of PHCS in Riyadh province in the KSA. The findings have some important policy and planning implications for the MOH in the KSA. Specifically, the findings suggest: the need for clear documentation/guidance on minimum standards against which the PHCS can be measured; an audit of service availability at the PHCCs, regular patient satisfaction evaluations of PHCS, that the MOH take a parallel approach and continue to resource and improve buildings and equipment in existing PHCCs, the recruiting of more GPs, nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists and physiotherapists to meet patient demand and more Saudi health care staff, more targeted health education and interventions for the prevention of chronic diseases in the KSA and the need for an appointment system for attending the PHCCs. There is a need for further research into the barriers and enablers to accessing and utilising health care in Riyadh and the KSA overall. This research would be made easier with a clearer definition of rural and urban in the KSA context which would allow a greater comparability between urban and rural PHCS for future research, audit and evaluation as well as comparison with PHCS in other parts of the world. The Andersen model provided a useful conceptual model to frame this research and provided a structure for contrasting and comparing the findings with other studies that have used the Andersen model to understand the barriers and enablers to accessing and utilising health care services.
    • An access control system to improve security amongst randomly associated nodes in BYOD network

      Nwebonyi, Francis (University of Bedfordshire, 2013-05)
      The growth of mobile devices both in variety and in computational abilities have given birth to a concept in the corporate world known as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). Employees are allowed under this concept to bring personally owned mobile devices for official work. Though relatively new, it has gained up to 53% patronage among organisations, and it is expected to hit 88% in the near future. Its popularity is driven by the significant advantages it brings along such as reduced cost, employee satisfaction and improved productivity, to mention a few. However, as a relatively new concept, it also introduces new security challenges; for instance, the organisation looses the ownership of devices used for official work, to the employees. Implying that the employees own and manage the devices they use to work, including seeing to the security needs of such devices. With this development, protecting the corporate network becomes more challenging; outsmarting the usual traditional access control mechanisms, owing to the highly dynamic nature of mobile devices. Considering the fact that BYOD is also a type of pervasive/dynamic environment, this work studies similar dynamic environments, relating to how their security challenges are addressed, as bases to propose an algorithm for enhancing the security of BYOD via access control. Various access control mechanisms have also been adequately analyzed as a justification for the proposed approach.
    • Achieving reliable and enhanced communication in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs)

      Eze, Elias Chinedum; University of Bedfordshire (University of BedfordshireUniversity of Bedfordshire, 2017-08)
      With the envisioned age of Internet of Things (IoTs), different aspects of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) will be linked so as to advance road transportation safety, ease congestion of road traffic, lessen air pollution, improve passenger transportation comfort and significantly reduce road accidents. In vehicular networks, regular exchange of current position, direction, speed, etc., enable mobile vehicle to foresee an imminent vehicle accident and notify the driver early enough in order to take appropriate action(s) or the vehicle on its own may take adequate preventive measures to avert the looming accident. Actualizing this concept requires use of shared media access protocol that is capable of guaranteeing reliable and timely broadcast of safety messages. This dissertation investigates the use of Network Coding (NC) techniques to enrich the content of each transmission and ensure improved high reliability of the broadcasted safety messages with less number of retransmissions. A Code Aided Retransmission-based Error Recovery (CARER) protocol is proposed. In order to avoid broadcast storm problem, a rebroadcasting vehicle selection metric η, is developed, which is used to select a vehicle that will rebroadcast the received encoded message. Although the proposed CARER protocol demonstrates an impressive performance, the level of incurred overhead is fairly high due to the use of complex rebroadcasting vehicle selection metric. To resolve this issue, a Random Network Coding (RNC) and vehicle clustering based vehicular communication scheme with low algorithmic complexity, named Reliable and Enhanced Cooperative Cross-layer MAC (RECMAC) scheme, is proposed. The use of this clustering technique enables RECMAC to subdivide the vehicular network into small manageable, coordinated clusters which further improve transmission reliability and minimise negative impact of network overhead. Similarly, a Cluster Head (CH) selection metric ℱ(𝑗) is designed, which is used to determine and select the most suitably qualified candidate to become the CH of a particular cluster. Finally, in order to investigate the impact of available radio spectral resource, an in-depth study of the required amount of spectrum sufficient to support high transmission reliability and minimum latency requirements of critical road safety messages in vehicular networks was carried out. The performance of the proposed schemes was clearly shown with detailed theoretical analysis and was further validated with simulation experiments.
    • Activism and political participation: roles, relationships and dependencies

      Clark, Wayne Louis (University of BedfordshireUniversity of Bedfordshire, 1998-12)
      The past decade has seen an upsurge ofacademic and popular interest in the political activity undertaken by citizens. This thesis presents a predominantly qualitative analysis ofthe nature of voluntary political participation, and subsequently addresses a number of key concerns about the current state of democracy in Britain. It is argued that existing analysis of political participation tends to focus on quantitative questions such as the levels and socio-demographic composition of political activity, with little attention being given to the experiences of those citizens who engage with political organisations. The analysis utilises the theoretical work of JUrgen Habermas in order to consider the potential role of both state mechanisms of participation and structures of civil society within the development of rational and deliberative democracy. The primary research draws upon sixty interviews conducted within the British Labour Party, the British section of Amnesty International, two Tenants' Associations, one Residents' Association and an alternative lifestyle collective known as Exodus. Three main themes are addressed in the form of a comparative study. Firstly, the thesis considers the nature of the various organisations and their membership policies. Secondly, a typology ofpolitical participation and activism is presented. Finally, analysis is provided of the experiences ofthe respondents of the actual process ofparticipation. Addressing these themes enables the thesis to explore the nature of the discourse that occurs within spheres ofvoluntary political participation, and to provide some insight into the dialectical relationship that exists between structures of participation and the activity that develops within such contexts. It is concluded that a range of conflicting tensions currently inform voluntary political participation. These factors raise a number of serious questions about the role of civil society within processes of democratisation.
    • Acts of resistance: a reflexive inquiry into narrative group work with women who have experienced abuse or oppression

      Salter, Leah Karen (University of BedfordshireUniversity of Bedfordshire, 2018-03)
      This thesis presents a story (in three ‘acts’) about being and talking with women who were part of narrative informed groups that I have previously co-facilitated in two locales. One took place in a Welsh valleys community and the other in a British island community. ‘Acts of resistance’ (Allan Wade, 1997) speak to social justice, a movement or action, represented in different forms in all three acts. Firstly in Act One, I discuss the co-construction of group work as an intervention into (and a resistance against) the dominant discourses of individualised psychopathology. This is a story of how the shaping of group work (as an act of solidarity) supports a wider discourse of social justice rather than a ‘what to include in a group’ story. Inquiring into the group experience (by talking with women who were part of these groups) is illustrated in Act Two. As a reflexive inquiry it leans towards narrative inquiry and autoethnography to frame the talking with women, a process I have called conversational inquiry. Reflecting on this helped me shape a particular way of engaging with the transcripts from those conversations, a five-step process I have called a responsive, temporally framed narrative inquiry, also described in the second act. This brought forth the themes (themselves representing acts of resistance) of deconstructing roles and rules, doing solidarity, co-constructing preferred futures, ‘going on’ from legacies of abuse, challenging them and us thinking, unpacking power, doing justice, and research as (an act of) resistance. These themes are explored in Act Three. The thesis tells this story of my conversations with women and a reflection on my development (movement) towards becoming a practice-based researcher, drawing on theory, personal and practice experiences and what I have learnt through the course of the inquiry. This is demonstrated in the epilogue under the umbrella of becoming a reflexive researcher. It is partly retrospective in that I am reflecting on previous practices but it is also ‘of the moment’ as I make connections with my ongoing practice and current cultural/political contexts, keeping stories of resistance within a temporal frame. I am reflecting on practice (evidenced in my field notes and in a conversation with my supervisor) and my own narrative (perhaps best evidenced in my conversations with my mother). This is all part of the wider methodological story. The research question I held in mind throughout this was, ‘how might the exploration of collective narratives inform systemic practice, research and social action; and how might this loop back to personal and social responsibility for the systemic practitioner?’. Taken from Goldsmith at al. (2010), the questions I asked of my co-researchers were: · “What were/are we making together?” · “How were/are we making it?” · “What were/are we becoming?” · “How did/do we make better social worlds?” The inquiry has enabled me to expand my own understanding of what it means to be a reflexive practitioner and provides a contribution to the wider systemic and qualitative research communities as an example of practice-based research that offers:  A first hand, relationally sensitive account of how narrative approaches can support personal and collective transformation.  Examples of local practice that connect with a wider (global) social justice movement.  A demonstration of how systemic practices and research can live in recursive relationships with one another.
    • Actualised playgrounds: exploring preparatory phase rehearsal exercises

      Whitney, John (University of Bedfordshire, 2015-11)
      This project investigates how board games can be used in the development of a series of rehearsal exercises, which assist in the development of initial characters in preparation for later stages of a rehearsal process. Existing practice contextualises the project, and Stanislavski’s theories of If, Given Circumstance and Ultranaturalism are used to develop the approach. Through using the board game as one of Richard Schechner’s ‘actual’, its own meeting between performer and problem, we are able to springboard into theories of play, social drama and reciprocity. Johan Huizinga and Roger Callois’ theories of play assist with identifying indicators of tension and control that are used to manipulate the difficulty of the game, to explore whether this assists character development. The use of Victor Turner’s social drama demonstrates that it provides a schism in initial character development. The method is edited with the difficulty relaxed, allowing more opportunity to play within the ludic playground of character creation. Erving Goffman further develops the discussion, through discussions of reciprocity. The process leads to the system being established, whilst still providing a series of other outcomes including the identification of any issues performers may have and the creation of a collective ensemble for both character development and relationships building through issues of reciprocity. This will demonstrate that the project has potential beyond purely the rehearsal room.
    • Acupuncture’s efficacy in the treatment of psychological and somatic distress: an exploration of potential mechanisms from an attachment research perspective

      Bennett, Ashley (University of BedfordshireUniversity of Bedfordshire, 2016-09)
      This thesis examines the effectiveness of acupuncture therapy in the treatment of psychological and somatic distress in the context of medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). Also, it explores the role of psychological attachment and experiential avoidance in an effort to explain potential mechanisms of acupuncture’s effect. Existing literature demonstrates some level of effectiveness of acupuncture therapy for the treatment of depression, anxiety and somatic symptoms. However, a lack of experimental rigor in methodology means that existing results cannot be shown to be superior to a placebo and thus current treatment protocols for patients with MUS do not include a recommendation of acupuncture therapy. MUS are defined as any set of symptoms that cannot be explained by organic disease, these clusters of symptoms are theorised to be of psychological aetiology. Sufferers of MUS find themselves stuck in a perpetual loop of secondary care referrals with little or no treatment options being made available. Whilst there is some evidence that talking therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, are effective, their availability, efficacy and stigma mean they are often not desired by patients who suffer with MUS. Previous research has shown that insecure attachment predicts higher instances of, psychological and somatic distress, as well as MUS. Previous work undertaken by the author of this thesis also suggests that there may be a moderating effect of attachment in acupuncture therapy outcomes. In order to investigate acupuncture’s efficacy a double-blind randomised control trial was undertaken; 63 participants were randomised to receive either five treatments of genuine acupuncture or a non-penetrating sham form of acupuncture using the Park sham acupuncture device. A rigorous procedure ensured participant and practitioner blinding to group allocation. Primary measures of psychological (GHQ) and somatic (BSI) distress were taken at pre, post and follow-up time points (8 weeks). Secondary measures included general attachment (RQ), experiential avoidance (MEAQ) and client attachment to therapist (CATS). Results showed a significant effect of acupuncture over placebo in the reduction of both psychological (GHQ) and somatic distress (BSI). This therapeutic effect was maintained at 8-week follow-up. Further results showed moderation effects of secure attachment on somatic symptoms in the treatment group but not placebo group. Experiential avoidance also moderated somatic symptom outcomes in the treatment but not placebo group. A subsequent study utilising a quasi-experimental multi-centre methodology, which used identical measures to the previous experiment, revealed the same significant reduction of both psychological and somatic distress. This study consisted of 184 participants across five clinics, each participant receiving five sessions of acupuncture. Similar results were observed regarding moderation effects of secure attachment on treatment outcomes of somatic symptoms. Results also showed differences in moderation effects between participant with a MUS diagnosis vs. those without. Findings of both studies suggest acupuncture is an effective treatment for psychological and somatic distress, as well as MUS. The differences in attachment moderation effects between treatment and placebo may indicate acupuncture’s ability to elicit endogenous opioid release in the brain. However, further neurological studies are required to confirm this hypothesis.
    • The acute effect of commonly used preparation strategies on short term high intensity motor capabilities

      Fletcher, Iain M. (University of BedfordshireUniversity of Bedfordshire, 2011-07)
      The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate modalities used as components of pre event/training preparation, to try to develop an optimal preparation strategy for sports performers. It concentrates on the stretch modalities commonly used by athletes as part of a warm-up designed to prepare them for subsequent performance. Past literature suggests that static stretching as part of a warm-up leads to a decrease in performance when compared to an active warm-up or a warm-up including dynamic stretches. Not surprisingly this has led to a movement away from static to dynamic stretches by many athletes. The presented publications were conducted to clarify a number of issues raised by past research studies. A lack of ecologically valid studies is apparent; the static stretch protocols used in most of the early research in this area has failed to explore what sports performers actually use as part of their training, while there was a lack of research examining the effect of dynamic stretches on performance. Of particular relevance is the lack of research looking at the mechanisms behind the changes in performance linked to warm-ups incorporating dynamic stretches. Therefore, this group of publications attempts to systematically examine the effects on performance of manipulating the stretch component of an active warm-up, while exploring the potential mechanisms linked to any changes in performance. The general findings of this series of papers provides evidence that static stretches, as part of an active warm-up, are linked to a decrease in the acute performance of a range of physical capabilities; including sprint, agility, jump and maximal force output. The mechanisms behind these performance changes are multifaceted, with decreases in core temperature and heart rate, decreases in musculotendinous unit stiffness and a decrease in muscular activity, when compared to a general active warm-up established. In contrast when a dynamic stretch replaces the static stretch component and is incorporated within a warm-up, performance is enhanced when compared to an active warm-up. The mechanisms behind this seem to be less temperature related and more closely linked to the neuro-muscular system. Greater muscular activity is linked to dynamic stretches, causing an increase in peak force and rate of force development, compared to an active warm-up protocol. This effect seems to be enhanced the faster and more specific the dynamic stretches are to the chosen performance measure, while combining static stretches with dynamic stretches as part of a preparation strategy still leads to decreases in performance compared to an active warm-up combined with dynamic stretches. In conclusion, to maximise acute maximal performance in sports specific motor skills, an active warm-up combined with specific dynamic stretches is recommended to sports performers and coaches.
    • The acute impact of breakfast consumption and omission on postprandial metabolic responses in adolescent girls

      Morari, Victoria (University of Bedfordshire, 2019-12)
      Breakfast consumption (BC) frequency declines from childhood to adolescence and is associated with poor metabolic health. This research aimed to analyse whether BC versus breakfast omission (BO) affects substrate oxidation during rest in adolescent girls. Secondly, it examined whether BC vs BO influences postprandial and 5 h glycaemia and insulineamia. Lastly, it evaluated the effects of BC vs BO on Fatmax, MFO, rate of perceived exertion and physical activity (PA) enjoyment during an exercise bout performed 2 h after lunch. Seventeen breakfast consuming girls (13.2 ± 0.7 years old) were recruited. Two experimental trials were completed in a randomised counterbalanced order: BC and BO. A standardised lunch was provided three hours after breakfast (BC) or after breakfast omission (BO). Finger prick blood samples for the analysis of plasma glucose and plasma insulin and expired gas samples for the analysis of substrate oxidation were taken throughout the trials. An incremental 7-stage cycling test was performed 2 h after lunch for the determination of maximum fat oxidation (MFO) and intensity at which MFO occurred (Fatmax). OMNI Scale was used to evaluate the perceived exertion at the end of each cycling stage. PA enjoyment was evaluated after the cool-down using Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES). There was a significant main effect of condition (BC vs BO) for fat (p= 0.008) and carbohydrate (p< 0.001) oxidation after lunch. Fat oxidation was significantly higher during BO compared to BC, while carbohydrate oxidation was significantly higher during BC compared to BO. The main effect of condition for glucose and insulin incremental area under the curve (iAUC) (p= 0.509; p= 0.603, respectively) and total area under the curve (tAUC) for glucose and insulin (p= 0.738; p= 0.665, respectively) throughout the whole day was not significant. However, post lunch glucose and insulin iAUC (p= 0.05; p= 0.001) and tAUC (p= 0.05; p= 0.001) were significantly higher during BO compared to BC. There was no significant difference in MFO (p= 0.104) or Fatmax (p= 0.945) between conditions. Physical activity enjoyment was higher during BC vs BO with an almost significant difference (p= 0.055). The main effect of condition for perceived exertion (p= 0.307) was not significantly different. In conclusion, BC resulted in lower fat oxidation and lower second meal glycaemic and insulineamic responses. Ultimately, the findings of this study will assist in understanding further the effects of BC vs BO on adolescents’ metabolism. This may have important implications in prevention of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
    • Adaptation for knowing audiences – analysing fan on-line responses to fidelity and deviation in film adaptation

      Pearce, Samantha (University of Bedfordshire, 2014-07)
      Adaptation theory has historically viewed film as hierarchically and artistically inferior to the book, measuring the success or failure of an adaptation on the grounds of fidelity. More recent critics have challenged the possibility and the desirability of fidelity when adapting one medium to another, proposing other tropes to validate the adaptive process such as intertextuality and contextuality. By examining the online Twilight fan community as an example of a ‘knowing audience’, acquainted with both novel and adapted film, this thesis considers the tensions that exist between fidelity and deviation by analysing the fans’ responses to the altered ending of the film adaptation Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012). Having conducted a systematic cataloguing exercise of this online fandom, unprompted online fan discussion from a sub-set of key fan sites was analsyed, uncovering the startling reaction of fans to the film’s unexpected ending. This study identifies fan audiences as intensive readers, collaborators and viewers of adapted texts and suggests the creative and commercial advantages to be gained from a collaborative and open dialogue between adaptors and fans. It also challenges the assumed superiority of the novel and the author’s authority over canon and narrative, and reveals the unexpected added pleasure derived from a deviation from canon.
    • Adaptive application of forward error correction mechanism for reliable vehicle-to-vehicle communication

      Muhammad, Shehu Jabaka (University of BedfordshireUniversity of Bedfordshire, 2018-10-12)
      Recently, the intelligent transportation system (ITS), which provides vehicles with the capabilities to cooperatively and wirelessly exchange messages to circumvent, for instance, hazardous motorway traffic circumstances, have attracted an enormous amount of attention in academia and the automotive industry. Moreover, vehicular adhoc networks (VANETs) are considered to be at the centre of ITS, owing to the recent demands to minimise the number of injuries leading to fatalities, loss of lives and finances, consequent to the increased number of accidents on the highways. However, VANETs have many challenges, among which is the need for timely, reliable and scalable message transmission. Solving these challenges will require a shared media access control (MAC) layer that will guarantee timely, reliable as well as scalable communication of safety messages. This research investigates the application of error correction coding for reliable transmission in VANETs. An adaptive application of Forward Error Code (Adaptive FEC scheme) for reliable safety message transmission in VANETs is proposed. The solution combined Automatic repeat request (ARQ) with FEC at the MAC layer. The Adaptive FEC scheme used the existing channel condition, an estimate of the maximum number of transmissions and message type as an index into the code lookup ensemble (CLE) to get the optimum code (optCode) for current transmission. Furthermore, the proposed Adaptive FEC scheme also sets the transmission timeout delay RTT, encodes the message with the optCode and transmits. However, if the transmission timeout delay elapses before receiving an ACK/NAK, the scheme will go back to the initial stage for possible retransmission of the message. In this solution each transmission is self-decodable. Although the proposed Adaptive FEC scheme has shown remarkable performance, it needs improvement to minimise the incurred overhead due to the collision effect of the retransmission requests. To overcome the weaknesses of the proposed Adaptive FEC scheme, an Adaptive FEC-based Timely and Efficient Multihop Broadcast (Adaptive FEC-based TEMB) scheme is proposed for Reliable Inter-Vehicular Communication. The Adaptive application of error control and the utilisation of dynamic transmission range reduces the hops count between faulty vehicle and other nearby vehicles in a region on the motorway. Furthermore, in order to mitigate the hidden and exposed node problems, which will minimise the rate of collision in the network, a novel request to transmit (RTT) and clear to transmit (CTT) mechanisms is designed for the Adaptive FEC-based TEMB. In addition, a pre-emptive queuing mechanism is developed and applied to give the highest priority to the safety critical messages. This enables faster safety message transmission between the source vehicle and the destination vehicles. On the other hand, in VANETs, designing an efficient media access protocol poses a major challenge, as the number of vehicles is not known before transmission and could not be bounded. Thus, the scalability of the MAC approach has a significant effect on the operation of vehicular communication. Therefore, an investigation was conducted into the scalability issue of 802.11p and compared with Self-Organised Time Division Multiple Access (STDMA), using time-triggered and event-triggered safety messages. The proposed solutions’ performance is clearly demonstrated through detailed theoretical analysis which was further validated by results of the simulation experiments. The results of the theoretical analysis and simulation experiments show that our proposed schemes mentioned above outperformed the existing related solutions.
    • Adaptive intelligent tutoring for teaching modern standard Arabic

      Kseibat, Dawod (University of BedfordshireUniversity of Bedfordshire, 2010-06)
      The aim of this PhD thesis is to develop a framework for adaptive intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) in the domain of Modern Standard Arabic language. This framework will comprise of a new approach to using a fuzzy inference mechanism and generic rules in guiding the learning process. In addition, the framework will demonstrate another contribution in which the system can be adapted to be used in the teaching of different languages. A prototype system will be developed to demonstrate these features. This system is targeted at adult English-speaking casual learners with no pre-knowledge of the Arabic language. It will consist of two parts: an ITS for learners to use and a teachers‘ tool for configuring and customising the teaching rules and artificial intelligence components among other configuration operations. The system also provides a diverse teaching-strategies‘ environment based on multiple instructional strategies. This approach is based on general rules that provide means to a reconfigurable prediction. The ITS determines the learner‘s learning characteristics using multiple fuzzy inferences. It has a reconfigurable design that can be altered by the teacher at runtime via a teacher-interface. A framework for an independent domain (i.e. pluggable-domain) for foreign language tutoring systems is introduced in this research. This approach allows the system to adapt to the teaching of a different language with little changes required. Such a feature has the advantages of reducing the time and cost required for building intelligent language tutoring systems. To evaluate the proposed system, two experiments are conducted with two versions of the software: the ITS and a cut down version with no artificial intelligence components. The learners used the ITS had shown an increase in scores between the post-test and the pre-test with learning gain of 35% compared to 25% of the learners from the cut down version.
    • Administration and social change in the post-war British new towns: a case study of Stevenage and Hemel Hempstead 1946-70

      Homer, Andrew (University of BedfordshireUniversity of Bedfordshire, 1999-06)
      This thesis examines one of the major town planning projects of the post-war period, the British new towns programme. It is a comparative study of two 'mark one' new towns, designated after the passing of the New Towns Act in 1946, Stevenage and Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. The thesis provides a fully integrated study examining the inter-relationship of three factors: the experiences of the new town migrants; the effects of the planned environment of the towns; and the administrative framework within which they were constructed. The thesis examines two main areas: firstly, the consequences of social development policy within the British new towns and, secondly, the nature of social changes experienced by the new town migrants. The thesis outlines the dichotomy between the idealistic intentions of the Labour Government of 1945-51 and the new town planners, and the practical difficulties of putting their plans into practice. There were three main constraints to this idealism: finance, administrative difficulties and the views of the new town migrants themselves. The new towns programme was thus typified by constant struggle between these conflicting forces. Nevertheless, the thesis concludes that the programme was successful as it gave many of the new town migrants the opportunity to have a new home for the first time. The evidence suggests that the new towns soon became examples of thriving communities with ample opportunities for social interaction. However, it should be noted that this social intercourse was often despite, rather than because of, the actions of the government, the new town Development Corporations and the town planners. The thesis draws upon a wide range of sources, both primary and secondary material, published and unpublished. In the area of social development these include the original new town master plans as well as the papers of the Ministry of Housing and the Local Government held at the Public Record Office, Kew. The papers of the Development Corporations and local authorities, which are held at the Hertfordshire County Record Office, have also been used. Reference has also been made to the contemporary planning and sociological literature. Moreover, the discussion and evaluation of the social changes experienced by the population of the new towns is reliant upon records produced by the residents themselves. These include newspapers and newsletters published by the local residents' federations, and personal memoirs.
    • Adolescent materialism, parental and peer materialism, parental and peer support and adolescent well-being

      Sutton, Cordelia (University of Bedfordshire, 2013-12)
      Recent research highlights how the current materialistic culture of the UK has a detrimental effect on young people's lives. The present study aimed to investigate how parent and peer relationships impacts on adolescent materialism and wellbeing. A correlational design was employed, utilising standardised questionnaires, previously validated as appropriate tools for the topics and age of participants. Participants (N= 166) aged 13-15 were recruited from two secondary schools in South England. Adolescents completed measures of materialism, peer support, parental support, perceived peer group pressure, contingent self-worth and wellbeing. Parents (N=47) of participants completed measures of materialism and parental support. Parents' and perceived peers' materialism significantly predicted adolescent materialism, accounting for 51% of the variance in adolescent materialism. Several new findings to existing research on adolescent materialism are presented. Peer support moderated the effect of perceived peers' materialism on adolescents' own materialism. Pro-social behaviour predicted lower materialism, and additionally was a partial mediator of the relationship between perceived peer group pressure and adolescent materialism. Adolescent materialism predicted poorer well-being. Perceived parental support predicted higher well-being. Whilst higher materialism of parents and peers are associated with increases in adolescent materialism, social support may help reduce the negative consequences of adolescent materialism.
    • Adolescent-to-parent violence and abuse: abused parents' accounts

      Bell, Rebecca (University of Bedfordshire, 2018-09)
      Adolescent-to-parent violence and abuse (APVA); is an adolescents utilisation of "a pattern of behaviour that uses verbal, financial, physical or emotional means to practice power and exert control over a parent" (Holt, 2013, p. 1). As well as causing psychological damage to the parent and child it is a growing social problem which is largely absent from within both academic and social policy domains (Miles & Condry, 2014). This study sought to contribute to existing literature by examining parents’ accounts of APVA shared within online forums to identify themes of issues of significance to them via a thematic analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006). Data comprised thirty-two archived message ‘posts’ written by twenty-three (71.8%) mothers, four (12.5%) fathers, and five (15.6%) step-fathers describing the abuse that they experienced by their adolescent (93.3% male, 13.3% female). Findings formed three themes; the ‘emotional turmoil’, the ‘need to explain’, and ‘fractured relationships. The themes are discussed in relation to wider literature and recommendations for further study are suggested to address limitations.
    • Adult attachment and relationship quality in parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

      Yahya, Fatahyah (University of BedfordshireUniversity of Bedfordshire, 2012-07)
      This study aimed to explore the influence of adult attachment on relationship quality in parents of children with ADHD. A mixed methods design was used to address the research objectives. Study One (quantitative) explored the different pressures that having a child with ADHD places on parents with different attachment styles, and how the parents differ in their way of responding to such pressures based on their attachment styles. Two hundred and fifty four participants were employed: 101 parents of children with ADHD, and 153 parents of children without ADHD. Four established questionnaires were used: Connors Parental rating Scale (CPRS), Communication Pattern Questionnaire (CPQ), Experience in Close Relationship (ECR), and Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS). The results showed that parents of children with ADHD reported greater marital conflict and worse dyadic adjustment than parents of children without ADHD. Moreover, behavioural problems in children with ADHD correlated negatively with interpersonal relationship in the parental couple. Finally, attachment style moderated the impact of ADHD symptoms on interpersonal problems in the couple. On the other hand, Study Two (qualitative) explored parents’ experiences of how the disorganised behaviour of children with ADHD or the normal naughtiness of children without ADHD had an impact on the relationship. The differences between parents with children with and without ADHD with regard to their attachment styles were also studied. Forty eight participants extracted from the Study One were participated in this Study Two. The results through the thematic analyses indicated that parents of children with ADHD experienced the stress related to their children’s condition which was negatively affected their couple relationship. Not only that, the parents with different attachment styles experienced differently in both group. In considering both studies, the qualitative themes may explain how attachment insecurity moderates the impact of having a child with ADHD on relationship variables. The theme may be particularly important, as it may have a negative influence on the interpersonal communication of the parents with insecurity attachment. It is proposed that this research can make a contribution towards relevant intervention programs to facilitate support for parents of children with ADHD.
    • The advantage of using commercial mediation over commercial litigation

      Farooq, Bilal (University of Bedfordshire, 2012)
      Commercial litigation is the one oldest methods of resolving a dispute between parties, which dates back many centuries. The normal way to resolve a dispute was primarily through the courts, the way to the courts is principally through the lawyers. Many lawyers recognise that following the court route for every dispute would mean it would be too costly, of legal resources, of court time. As a result of commercial litigation becoming costly, time consuming method of resolving dispute, there has been much discussion and many attempts, not only to find ways of making the court process more accessible and affordable to ordinary people, but also to divert disputes away from the courts, into various recognised forms of alternative dispute resolution such as commercial mediation. This has led to many disputant over the recent years using other forms of dispute resolution, which are cost effective and to which people are to an extent satisfied. Therefore the emergence of other forms of dispute resolutions has led to commercial litigation once being a household name, and a famous renowned process for resolving disputes in the shadows of other dispute resolutions, which to an extent are more preferred and seem as the most suitable forms of resolving disputes. For example commercial mediation in comparison to commercial ligation can be see less cost effective, less formal, lets the disputants decide upon the outcomes, less rigid, whereas commercial litigation on the other hand it expensive, time consuming an emotional and distressful process and is more formal and not flexible.
    • Adverse childhood experience, psychological distress and offending: the role of emotional intelligence and related concepts

      Hart, Jacqui Ann (University of BedfordshireUniversity of Bedfordshire, 2014-04)
      Despite evidence to suggest that pathways from adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to psychological distress and offending are gender-specific, theory-driven research examining intervening factors in such pathways is rare. Utilising a mixed-method design, the research presented in this thesis aimed to provide further insight into gender-specific trajectories from ACEs to negative outcomes and to identify a suitable framework within which to conduct such research. It was anticipated that comparing and contrasting quantitative (Studies 1 and 2) and qualitative (Study 3) findings would help to inform interventions to reduce female offending. The literature review identified an attachment framework as appropriate and highlighted variables that warranted investigation. Cross-sectional, self-report data were obtained from a community sample (Study 1; N=153, 121 females) and women with a history of ACEs (Study 2; N=43). Analysis involved correlations, mediation analyses (using bootstrapping) and ANOVAs. Study 1 findings provided some support for unique gendered pathways to offending. In Study 2: secure attachment was significantly associated with fewer psychological distress symptoms and higher levels of emotional intelligence (EI) and emotional coping; a history of high (4+) vs. low (≤3) ACEs explained 10% of the variance in dysfunctional attitudes and posttraumatic stress; ex-offenders reported greater utilisation of a (potentially maladaptive) emotional processing approach to coping than non-offenders. Semi-structured interviews (Study 3) involving women with a history of ACEs and offending (N=5) were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings suggested a need for interventions to target emotion dysregulation in order to ameliorate the potential negative outcomes of chronic childhood adversity. The importance of context was also highlighted. Additionally, EI and an emotional coping approach were identified as factors that were beneficial in terms of the women’s psychological well-being. Overall, support was found for the use of an attachment framework in research that examines the negative sequelae of ACEs. Moreover, emotion coping and management skills were highlighted as useful targets for intervention in women ex-offender populations with a history of ACEs and associated psychological distress. Based on the findings reported in this thesis, recommendations were made with regard to future research in the field of ACEs, psychological distress and offending.