Leveller social networks and their sectarian dynamic: 1646-1658

This thesis re-examines the so-called ‘Levellers’ of the English Revolutionary period alongside concurrent sectarian activity. The period under examination is the years 1646 to 1658, commencing with the gradual emergence of Leveller rhetoric from within London’s tolerationist discourse, and ending with the death of Oliver Cromwell in 1658, which commenced a period of recalibration and unrest across the Protectorate. The thesis argues that there was very little of what could be considered a distinct political Leveller movement, as previous scholarship has suggested, rather that Leveller networks and discourse existed within sectarian circles across the nation. It is argued that the nature of Leveller activity was far more dependent on a godly belief system and discourse within sectarian congregations than has previously been acknowledged. Rather than the traditional Leveller leadership, this work foregrounds sectarian preachers and polemicists, and it is argued that the Leveller platform was dependent on preachers and congregational circles as its primary means of development. Individuals such as Samual Oates, Samuel Chidley, Samuel Hyland and Jeremiah Ives are presented along with others as lay-preachers who were crucial nodes for driving Leveller activity. The thesis suggests that a Christian underpinning of Leveller beliefs, such as Right Reason, or an emphasis on godly righteousness, have been overlooked in previous scholarship and that these are further signals of a fundamentally Christian foundation to Leveller arguments. While a Reformed two-kingdoms theory, the separation of the civil and spiritual state, was at the heart of Leveller campaigns, issues of a democratic legislature rarely featured. This thesis demonstrates that Leveller arguments which were found in both civilian and military circles often employed a millenarian position, relating to the anticipated Second Coming, and much of their Christian belief informed their desires for an egalitarian and tolerationist civil government. This thesis will utilise the language of social networks in their informal exploration, suggesting that Levellersim is best understood as moving through a series of interwoven networks, rather than a coherent and organised movement. A social network vocabulary is utilised to assist in the understanding of Leveller social connections and the ways in which Leveller arguments were transmitted among godly congregations and social affiliations. After re-examining the period of Leveller activity most discussed in previous scholarship, the period 1646 to 1649, the thesis continues its analysis of ongoing sectarian Leveller activity into the Commonwealth and Protectorate years. This thesis concludes by examining the presence of Leveller arguments and social networks within Fifth Monarchist congregations, suggesting that the two persuasions need not have always been mutually exclusive. Some ministers and polemicists within the Fifth Monarchy community, including John Rogers, Samuel Hyland and James Frese did promote Leveller ideas as a godly position in preparation for the rule of Christ’s directly appointed Saints

A holistic kinetic model for the hydrothermal carbonisation of lignocellulosic biomass

This research presents the first holistic kinetic model for hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) of lignocellulosic biomass, based on the composition of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. The model predicts product outcomes for hydrochar, gas and liquid residuals over a wide range of processing conditions: temperatures (200 – 260 °C), residence times (0 – 12 hours), and biomass-to-water ratios (1:4 to 1:50). Individual kinetic models for the macromolecular compounds were developed and validated with experimental data. The combination into a holistic model demonstrated accurate predictions of the solid phase (hydrochar), where 258 data points from 58 lignocellulosic biomass sources (49 different types, from 41 studies including this one) were processed. The accuracy of the holistic kinetic model was improved when considering the interaction effects between the macromolecular compounds in lignocellulosic biomass and by determining optimised distribution factors for the non-macromolecular fraction into the solid, liquid and gas phases. The finalised R^2 value for hydrochar was 0.966. Prediction of the gas phase was evaluated and a correlation determined, however, further developments with more experimental quantification of this phase is necessary to improve prediction capabilities, with the final model resulting in an R^2 of 0.120 for this phase. The finalised holistic kinetic model shows promise for predicting the hydrochar produced from several non-traditional lignocellulosic biomass types, presenting an advanced future application of this research

Visualising prison violence: exploring the micro-dynamics of violence in men's prisons using video data

The present thesis presents an exploratory study in the field of prison violence. Until recently, most research on physical violence, both in and outside of prison, has been concerned with background and causal factors as well as social and structural contexts, leaving out the actual moments of violent action. A novel research trend, Visual Data Analysis (VDA), emerging from one of the major theories of violence of recent times (Collins, 2008), draws on photos and video footage to shift the focus towards interactions and behaviour observable in violent incidents. The VDA method allows for studying the micro-dynamics of physical violence by means of video-footage. Employing CCTV and mobile device-footage of violent incidents from YouTube as empirical material in combination with focus group interviews with current prison officers and ex-prisoners, the thesis contributes to the micro-sociology of violence, particularly prison violence, by examining the strengths and limitations of video data sampled online - as a general method as well as in the specific context of prison violence research - thus addressing a gap in the field of VDA research. At the same time, it tests the applicability of Collins’ theory of violence to the prison setting, i.e., to a non-public context to which it has not previously been applied. By analysing interactional processes and expressions of emotion and discussing interpretations of these with individuals familiar with the prison setting, the thesis finds that audiences in prisoner-on-prisoner fights regulate both the severity and the course of the fights; where (co-prisoner) audiences exhibit enthusiasm through cheers and encouragements, fights are prolonged, a finding which echoes Collins’ (2008) observations of audience impact. The analysis further suggests that prison officers who exhibit anger or aggression through shouting, giving orders, or by invading prisoners' personal space provoke prisoners to exhibit similar behaviours or to use violence against the officers. Lastly, the study also shows that officers who exhibit fear through struggles to control bodily movements allow prisoners to take charge of the course of interaction, i.e., to gain or maintain emotional dominance, and to use violence, a dynamic resonating with Collins’ (2008) notion of how violent interactions are initiated. Based on the findings, the thesis is able to present implications of technical features for future video research drawing on online-sampled data, thus contributing to a furthering of the VDA method. The findings have also laid a foundation for (indicative) practical suggestions for prison officer training based on both Collins’ micro-dynamic approach and the VDA method. This highlights the potential of using video recordings of real-life incidents in the design of this type of training. The thesis concludes that Collins’ theory holds promising potential in furthering the understanding of the dynamics of (especially) escalation and de-escalation of potentially violent encounters – with or without the presence of audiences - between prisoners and between officers and prisoners, and thus for future development in the field of violence prevention and intervention in the prison context

The impact of Thiosulfate sulfurtransferase (TST) on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and the metabolic benefits of calorie restriction

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) affects 20-30% of adults in western countries and is closely linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes. Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), once solely perceived as toxic, is now recognised for its role in various physiological and pathological processes. H₂S donors have shown promise in treating fatty liver disease and reducing blood pressure in animal models, but their therapeutic use is hindered by challenges in H₂S pharmacokinetics. The sulphur oxidation pathway (SOP), which regulates H₂S levels through its disposal, has been underexplored as a potential route to therapeutic H₂S elevation. Thiosulfate sulfurtransferase (TST), a mitochondrial enzyme, is part of the SOP and metabolises H2S, indirectly, to prevent toxicity. Previous work leading up to this thesis showed that TST mRNA levels were upregulated during the early steatosis stage of MASLD in humans. Given the previously identified metabolic protective effect of adipose tissue TST elevation, I hypothesised that elevation of hepatic TST in early MASLD was a protective mechanism, counteracting declining liver function in MASLD. Improved metabolic health following calorie restriction (CR) is mediated in part through increased hepatic production of H₂S. Tst⁻/⁻ mice exhibited elevated systemic H₂S levels, therefore I hypothesised they may have an enhanced response to CR. In chapters 3 and 4, I tested the hypothesis that elevated hepatic TST expression in MASLD offered protection against MASLD development using a liver-specific overexpression mouse model (Liv_hTST). Male and female C57BL/6J and Liv_hTST mice were fed either a control diet or MASLD-inducing GAN diet for 20 weeks. Systemic and hepatic sulfide levels were measured, fat and lean mass assessed, and glucose tolerance evaluated. In vitro, HepaRG cells with TST overexpression were tested for lipid accumulation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial function. Results showed sex-specific effects on sulfide levels and glucose tolerance, with protective effects against fibrosis in male mice in vivo, and a worsening of the impaired lipid metabolism and mitochondrial function in vitro. This research addresses the gap in understanding of the protective role ascribed to elevated TST expression against steatogenic liver changes in MASLD and revealed novel sex-specific effects on systemic sulfide levels, glucose tolerance, and fibrosis. In chapter 5, I investigated whether Tst⁻/⁻ mice experienced enhanced metabolic benefits from CR due to their elevated systemic sulfide. Ten-week-old male and female C57BL/6J and Tst⁻/⁻ mice underwent 4-week 30% CR. Indirect calorimetry, glucose tolerance, H₂S production, and disposal (SOP) enzyme levels were assessed. Tst⁻/⁻ males had higher systemic but similar hepatic sulfide levels compared to C57BL/6J males, confirming previous work. CR did not affect sulfide levels but improved glucose tolerance in Tst⁻/⁻ males, despite their resistance to fat mass loss. Energy expenditure and substrate utilisation were similar between genotypes. Females were unaffected by the lack of TST and had lower levels of hepatic H₂S metabolism enzymes. Our findings suggested mechanisms beyond hepatic sulfide modulation mediate CR benefits. Understanding the novel role of elevated systemic H₂S and TST deficiency in maintaining fat mass and concurrent metabolic benefits with CR may inform H₂S -targeted therapeutic strategies in the future

Breeding for reduced methane emissions in livestock

This project examined the potential reductions in livestock methane emissions through breeding, and the policy levers that could motivate these changes. We explored the technologies that detect and measure methane, manage data and are used in the breeding process and examined their potential availability in Scotland in 2030 and 2045. We also identified the relevant policy levers and behaviour changes and considered what Government, the post-farm market, pre-farm gate actors and farmers can do differently to encourage methane reductions through breeding

Fragmented Governance in Somalia: Understanding Justice and Security through Galkayo and Kismayo

This policy brief examines justice and security in Somalia through the lens of fragmented peace-conflict spaces, drawing on the PeaceRep PA-X Local database analysis by Christine Bell and Laura Wise. Their research highlights how failed national peace processes have led to new sub-national dynamics of peace and conflict, necessitating more nuanced policy responses. Focusing on Kismayo and Galkayo, two key urban centers with distinct political and security landscapes, this brief explores their governance structures, justice mechanisms, and broader regional and transnational influences. Kismayo, under Jubbaland administration, exhibits centralised control with a structured security apparatus, whereas Galkayo remains a contested space requiring ongoing negotiation between Puntland and Galmudug authorities. Both towns also serve as strategic trade corridors, further shaping their justice and security dynamics. This brief, based on research conducted under PeaceRep Somalia and its predecessor, the Conflict Research Programme (CRP), underscores the importance of localised peace and security interventions. By understanding these fragmented spaces, policymakers can develop more effective strategies that go beyond elite-level settlements to foster sustainable stability and governance in Somalia

One location and two entrepreneurial ecosystems? A study in the digital and fashion entrepreneurial ecosystems (ees) in Egypt post the 2011 revolution

The overarching aim of this thesis is studying the processes of digital and fashion EEs in the context of emerging economies. By studying the processes of EEs, this thesis refers to studying the practices undertaken by entrepreneurs when they draw on local resources to produce high impact entrepreneurship (HIE). An EE is a set of interdependent domains that enable high impact entrepreneurship within a particular territory. The significance of this research stems from the scarcity of research studying EEs processes in emerging countries compared to developed economies. An implication of this gap is that questions as to Where do local entrepreneurs in emerging markets extract their resources from? and How do they allocate their resources for the functioning of ecosystems? remain unanswered. Therefore, the research questions of this thesis have been crafted to address such a gap. The three research questions are derived as to 1) What are the characterisations of digital and the fashion human capital, financial capital and market voids in Egypt? 2) What role does social capital (SC) play in mediating the voids for both ecosystems? and 3) What is the impact of the institutional voids on the effective functioning of the digital and fashion EEs? The entrepreneurial ecosystems theory postulates that high growth entrepreneurship requires resourceful domains of a mature financial domain, talent, dense networking, and easy information access. Nevertheless, those set of factors are only appropriate for developed economies while absent for emerging markets that are characterised by labour, financial capital and market voids. Those voids possess institutional arrangements of institutional voids that are fundamentally different from those of the developed economies; a gap which lends credence to studying the local dynamics of entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging markets. By welding social capital theory with that of institutional voids and entrepreneurial ecosystems, the theoretical framework suggests that an entrepreneur relies on his/her embeddedness within a dense social network of family and friends to fill regional voids. This means that entrepreneurs utilise social capital to access three specific resources of talent, funding, and information when alternative hubs of resources are scarce or absent. To answer the questions of this thesis, the researcher adopted a qualitative method by in-depth interviewing a total of 41 entrepreneurs divided between 31 digital and 10 fashion entrepreneurs operating in Egypt. Findings suggest that there are two industry-based ecosystems operating separately and that they are at their different growth stages within the same region. This is because both ecosystems varied in terms of the constituents of their voids and their reliance on social capital for funding and recruitment which impacted their growth cycles. Findings revealed that the digital ecosystem, though operating in a region of institutional void, is surprisingly and unexpectedly, operating strongly. Moreover, it is at its stage of growth to maturity compared to the embryonic fashion ecosystem. The digital EE is growing led by an active sector of incubators and accelerators, supportive policy intervention of ‘Digital Egypt’ and entrepreneur-led networking events. Also, active attempts by the digital entrepreneurs themselves such as self-education has helped in mediating the scarcity and the pricy digital talent whereas they resisted social capital for cultural reasons. On the other hand, the fashion entrepreneurs relied on social capital for funding and recruitment, as well as their efforts to mediate the severity of the voids of the fashion EE. However, lacking policy intervention, lacking awareness of incubators in business, resisting networking, and resisting access to external credit hampered growth attempts of the fashion ecosystem. Implications of research findings are that there is a desperate need for a strategic intervention to support creative ecosystems. An intervention could be through the financial inclusion of creative industries to acknowledge artwork as a type of business eligible for bank credit. Also, offering dual degrees within business education in schools of design and arts could perhaps raise awareness amongst the fashion entrepreneurs on the role of incubators for their business scale-ups. This could help fashion entrepreneurs grow, expand and diversify their operations, as well as improve their ecosystem functioning. Acknowledging that creative industries in the UK accounted for billions of pounds in revenue, this would contribute to the growth of the Egyptian economy

Mesoscale particle-based modelling of active nematic liquid crystals

Active matter --- materials with energy injection at local scales --- has developed rapidly in the past few decades, with applications ranging from the macroscopic scale of crowds and animal flocks, down to the mesoscale of bacteria colonies and active gels, and finally to the microscopic scale of sub-cellular fluids. Active fluids exhibit feedback loops that can drive or mitigate activity. For example, in the quintessential experimental active-nematic system of microtubule bundles interlinked with kinesin molecular motors activity has a sigmoidal dependence on the density of ATP fuel. Likewise, bundles of contractile nematic actin-myosin systems can form into dense jammed asters, locking in myosin molecular motors and jamming the actin, and bacteria have been shown to perform quorum sensing by inhibiting their motion upon receipt of a chemical secreted by other bacteria. Despite the rapid development of active matter theory and experiment, there are still significant gaps in our understanding: Notably, there are limited simulation methods suitable for studies at the mesoscale. For instance, despite many numerical studies investigating the behaviour of colloidal particles in athermal baths, there has been little work investigating how oriented active flows, such as active-nematics, affect the dynamics of colloids. To address these gaps, this thesis presents a particle-based mesoscale simulation method known as Multi-Particle Collision Dynamics (MPCD) for simulating active fluctuating nematohydrodynamics. It extends an existing algorithm for nematic fluids in MPCD to produce an active-nematic MCPD method (AN-MPCD) through the introduction of a local force dipole. Despite its simplicity, AN-MPCD reproduces key quantities of active-nematic turbulence, such as spontaneous flows and the continuous creation/annihilation of topological defects. This simple model exhibits pronounced density fluctuations, typical of active particle models. By de-coupling the magnitude of activity from the local density, or applying a sigmoidal modulation function with respect to the local density, we show that density fluctuations are strongly mitigated while key scalings of active-nematic turbulence persist. Analysis of the density-induced pressure gradients reveal that activity modulation suppresses the effect of density fluctuations on solutes in active fluids, at the expense of fluctuations in the active force. Finally, we employ the modulated AN-MPCD method to study anchored passive colloids in active nematics. Homeotropic colloids possess non-monotonic effective diffusion, giving rise to a critical activity for enhanced diffusivity. When the colloidal radius is comparable to the active nematic length scale, active turbulence causes a colloidal companion defect to unbind from the colloid, leading to a non-zero topological charge on the colloid-companion complex. This non-zero charge encourages oppositely charged defects to approach the complex, indirectly propelling the complex through the fluid and enhancing the effective diffusion. The development of the AN-MPCD method opens up a wide range of possibilities for the study of solutes immersed in active solvents, including passive colloids, polymers, and porous media, but can be extended further to novel systems of passive clusters in active fluids. It also opens the door to future studies of how the formulation of activity and spatial modulation can affect bulk active turbulence

Parental care and cooperation in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides

In species that provide parental care, individuals must choose how to split their resources between caring for their current offspring and investing in their own reproductive potential. These decisions are made based on factors that shift the balance of costs and benefits associated with allocating resources to current or future reproduction. For parents providing uniparental care such factors relate to the value of the current brood and the likelihood of future reproduction. Females and males that cooperate to provide biparental care, must also consider factors that may influence the contribution of their partner. In this thesis, I explore what affects the level of care parents provide for their offspring and how females and males that provide biparental care balance their relative contribution in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. I focus on four factors: previous reproductive allocation, nutritional state, social environment, and synchrony in the onset of care. First, I found that females provided the same level of care to a subsequent brood regardless of previous reproductive allocation and resource access, which suggests that neither affected future ability to provide care. Next, I found that females adjusted their level of care in response to both their own nutritional state and that of their partner and that these decisions were independent of their partner’s contribution, while males only responded to the contribution of their partner. Then, I found that parents provided a similar level of care regardless of the presence of female or male intruders. Finally, I found that males provided more care when the female and male started providing care asynchronously in comparison to when they started synchronously while females provided a similar level of care regardless

The ‘layered time’ of xenophobia and racial capitalism: comparing the everyday challenges and identities of African migrant women in Johannesburg and London

The literatures on xenophobia and its violence in post-apartheid South Africa and post-Brexit UK, while each providing a deep and important contextual analysis, lacks a broader examination of the everyday manifestations of anti-foreigner discrimination for different groups. Particularly, they lack the perspectives of African migrant women. Using a relationally comparative approach, this interdisciplinary study examines both the conceptual and context-specific literature on xenophobia and its relationship to racism in South Africa and the UK, drawing on primary qualitative, ethnographic and creative fieldwork with Congolese and Zimbabwean women in Johannesburg and London using both an intersectional and temporal lens. Comparing contexts, concepts and lived experiences, this study embeds African migrant women’s experiences of discrimination over time within scholarship, policy and practice. Theoretically, it contributes towards an expanded conceptual understanding of xenophobia in three ways. Firstly, by examining its relationship to racism in wider literature and specifically within the Congolese and Zimbabwean migrant literatures in both contexts, arguing for it to be conceptually understood as embedded within racism and as a form of structural discrimination. It then goes onto argue for xenophobia and racism to be grounded within a global and contextually specific understanding of racial capitalism. Secondly, by applying a framework of ‘layered time’ to the lived experience of xenophobia, to reveal the longer-term psychological and ontological effects of this multi-faceted form of discrimination on women migrants’ livelihoods and wellbeing. Thirdly, by analysing barriers to access for African migrant women in everyday areas of education, work, healthcare and housing through an intersectional lens. This analysis reveals that to attempt an accurate portrayal of women’s lives and to inform legal and rights-based responses, intersectional research must include not only how lives and livelihoods are affected by their multiple overlapping categories of structural identity, but also by individual choice, background and social networks. Calling for a transnational, temporal and racially capitalist analysis of xenophobia, this study emphasises the importance of exploring the mundane ‘everyday’ as well as sporadic eruptions of violence. It warns against the tendency to homogenise the lived experiences of African migrant women, highlighting the need to recognise their human complexities