Background: The ICD-11 classifies posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (CPTSD) as two distinct diagnoses. Few studies have tested the validity of ICD-11 CPTSD in non-Western settings, particularly in Asia. Objective: This study assessed the factorial, concurrent, and discriminant validity of CPTSD symptoms with four samples of young adults from mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan. Method: Young adults aged 18–24 years were recruited by convenience sampling and provided their data anonymously online....

Sexual health is a concept in which the definition adapts to fit the current “sociocultural, historical, and political climate” (Coleman, 2011:19). As we see our society becoming more concerned with the idea of consent within sexual relationships, we also see a shift in our sexual health definition. Movements such as the “#metoo” campaign highlight the way in which consent in sexual relationships is now being discussed in more public forums including health policy and practice....

Healthy mangroves are important for the provisioning of ecosystem goods and services that contribute to human wellbeing. Productive fisheries have been associated with healthy mangrove forests which function as nursery habitats for juvenile reef species. The threats facing mangroves and other nearshore habitats like seagrass beds are still high. Despite these threats, the rate of loss for instance for mangroves is on the decline due to increased global awareness. Replanting and reforestation of degraded areas...

The purpose of this research is to explore the connection between management techniques and leadership techniques that influence collaboration in projects. The specific objective of this study is to identify the way in which (project) managers and leaders can positively influence the cooperation of each project member. It is not the task of this study to examine individual factors, risks or barriers that influence project success, and this study is unable to encompass the entire...

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has many disabling symptoms due to weakened signal propagation in the central nervous system. Manual therapeutics are often seen to have a positive effect on these symptoms with limited information as to why. The purpose of this project was to investigate a spinal mobilisation intervention, objectively measuring the changes it may be causing to muscle quality and movement patterns as a contribution to research in MS therapeutics. Methods: A series of...

For delivery of practice-based degrees in performing arts, universities often seek to employ lecturers with a strong professional profile which is considered to add value to the student experience. The transition from performing arts to academia is a major event in the development of social identity and this study was designed both to explore the social identities of staff who have transitioned from performing arts careers to academic roles in higher education and to examine...

In the past few years there has been a rise in people trying to find more meaningful ways to experience a country and its local culture when travelling, such as non-commercial homestays. Non-commercial homestays refer to the encounters where food and accommodation are offered by the host in exchange for a few hours of daily work by the guest. Due to the complicated nature of this encounter where the private and the public arena overlap,...

BMW was first founded in 1916 and has more than 100 years of history within the global automotive industry (Lechner, 2020). There have been many events that have presented the business with extraordinary challenges (Krüger, 2019), but the current challenges BMW face are different. Following an extensive period of prosperous development and flourishing commercial success, the business is fundamentally redefining BMW (Zetsche, 2019). Simultaneously, many changes are occurring from substantial application of new technologies to...

This PhD explores the relationship between Instagram branded content and millennial women’s self-image. Since Facebook bought Instagram in 2012, an abundance of branded content has appeared on consumers’ personal Instagram feeds. The most prominent Instagram users are females, aged 18-24 who engage with Instagram on a daily, or even hourly basis, following peers, influencers, and brands for style inspiration. Our understanding in how such branded content influences millennial women’s self-image is yet to be explored....

Scotland’s historic and contemporary representation of capital punishment remains relatively unexplored in existing scholarship. This study aims to determine how capital punishment was presented to Scots in eighteenth and nineteenth century press publications. This research explores the representation and function of execution broadsheets from the National Library of Scotland’s collection through thematic analysis. Furthermore, in applying a case study approach this study analyses the press representation of two notorious capital convicts in the early nineteenth...

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the role of managerial support and occupational stigma in the employee turnover process amongst non-managerial employees (crew members) in the quick service sector. Guided contextually by the Decent Work Agenda and framed theoretically by the Resource-Based View, this sequential explanatory mixed-method study was conducted with the employees of a large quick service operator in Guyana. The entire population of crew members was surveyed via questionnaire, whilst a...

Service quality (SQ) has been a key driver of profitability in commercial vehicle dealerships and is bound to remain so in the increasingly dynamic and competitive context of the automotive sector. Current approaches to optimising SQ in this highly complex environment are mostly unsustainable in spite of an abundance of strategic initiatives. System dynamics (SD), a modelling and simulation methodology, could prove valuable in exploring the dynamically complex SQ process and in facilitating effective solutions....

This thesis aims to demonstrate children’s engagement with 3D printing technologies in 3D printing workshops through a large study of children. This will provide qualitative and empirical evidence which supports the benefits of making for children and advocates the use of 3D printing technologies within educational settings. This thesis challenges the common narrative that making is a fundamental human trait. It proposes that making should be understood on a spectrum between making for necessity and...

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest public health threats and has been conceptualised as a slowly emerging disaster. Studies have suggested that wild birds contribute as a reservoir and dispersal route of AMR, and proximity to anthropogenic activity has been associated with higher prevalence of AMR. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and diversity of extended-spectrum β-lactam (ESBL) resistant coliforms in wild bird populations in Scotland across a gradient of anthropogenic...

This thesis provides a critical reflection on my original contributions to knowledge in the field of nursing practice and nurse education over the last decade. Collectively my eight selected papers demonstrate an ongoing and incrementally developing conceptual approach. This culminates in the presentation, within my final capstone paper, of my original recombinant innovation. In this paper, application of the innovation is articulated through a compassionate craftsmanship relational model, which fuses multivalent ideas from the fields...

The aim of this research is to gain an understanding of the experiences and perceptions of workplace equality and diversity issues amongst digital leaders in higher education. The participants interviewed for this study are digital leaders working in universities in Scotland in 2019. The study provides a snapshot of data which has been interpreted to provide an understanding of the experiences and attitudes towards workplace equality, diversity and inclusion. It is the first study of...

This thesis focuses on the development of original design ‘ideation’ processes (the formation of ideas or concepts) set within the context of both commercial museum and exhibition design contracts and product design pedagogic research. Taken together the published works that accompany this submission explore the impacts on productivity and creative problem solving when working away from a physical fixed studio or office-based environment. They also examine the significance of 'shared place' when working directly with...

The purpose of this research is to investigate sonification techniques suitable for astronomers to explore exosolar planetary data. Four studies were conducted, one with sonification specialists and three with exosolar planetary astronomers. The first study was to establish existing practices in sonification design and obtain detailed information about design processes not fully communicated in published papers. The other studies were about designing and evaluating sonifications for three different fields of exosolar astronomy. One, to sonify...

Mental health problems have been estimated as the biggest challenge facing global health in recent years (Vigo et al., 2016) and has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic (Usher et al., 2020). One novel approach to addressing this mental health crisis is the emergent ‘surf therapy’ paradigm which combines surf instruction/surfing and structured individual and/or group activities to promote psychological and physical well-being (International Surf Therapy Organisation, 2019). While surf therapy has been associated...

A key challenge facing organisations adopting large-scale Agile delivery methods is that of quickly and effectively learning new ways of working. This thesis posits that fundamental historical, cultural and behavioural aspects will affect the transition, learning and development of new working practices. Activity Theory (AT), a Practice Theory based approach, was selected as an organisational learning approach to examine these elements and was applied to a small Initial Study. The application process and results obtained,...

Purpose: Both industry and researchers have been discussing the need to close the learning skill gap in new product adoption for years. New business designs focusing on subscription models enabling online purchasing and cancellation of products in every country have changed the rules of the game. In this research, today’s usage of eLearning in organisations has been investigated and barriers and challenges are discussed. The guiding question is: How shall organisations adopt a product if,...

There is a limited amount of research in professional Rugby Union to minimise the high injury risk associated with the sport. Given that injuries are sustained when workload is performed, the monitoring of player loads, and how these loads may relate to injury is of importance. This thesis presents an investigation of various external workloads and how these workloads may influence injury risk. Firstly, training volume and match exposure data were assessed. Players with the...

Despite great advancement in the diagnosis and treatment of many cancers, mortality rates remain high and the incidence of some forms of cancer is increasing. Early diagnosis is recognised as an important factor to increase survival but there is currently a lack of reliable biomarkers of disease. The focus of this research is the development of a new molecular probe for the putative cancer biomarker legumain (asparaginyl endoprotease) which is overexpressed in a wide variety...

The 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) includes a new diagnosis of complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). The International Trauma Interview (ITI) is a novel clinician-administered diagnostic interview for the assessment of ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the ITI in a Lithuanian sample in relation to interrater agreement, latent structure, internal reliability, as well as convergent and discriminant validity. In total,...

Background: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an effective therapy to reduce the risk of hospital readmission after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) diagnosis. Despite this, half of eligible individuals do not engage. The reasons for this are complex and include patient-level barriers such as beliefs about being already active. Indeed, up to 40% of eligible individuals report meeting physical activity (PA) guidelines prior to attendance, yet little is known about how this influences CR engagement decisions....