‘Criminality, Pure and Simple’: An Analysis of Violent Opposition to the Police in the 2011 English Riots

In 2011 five days of rioting spread across many English towns and cities. David Cameron, then UK Prime Minister, described these events as ‘criminality, pure and simple’, inhibiting serious examination of what happened and justifying harsh punitive sentences for rioters. This thesis explains and counters the naïve individualism that underpins the discourse of ‘criminality’; but further argues that such discursive acts are representative of a broader problem within the social order that is causally implicated the violence in 2011. In contrast to the popular and sociological approach of analysing the singular ‘riot’, ‘riot actions’ are conceptualised as the foci of analysis, and in turn argued as acts of resistance generated by the organisation and practice of power within the social order. Thus riot actions are conceptualised and function as a symptom and entry point by which analysis can better get under the skin of the social order and understand its failing. Arguing for violent acts against the police as symptomatic of the social order’s failure, the thesis examines instances of these in the 2011 and 1980s riots. The thesis explores and compares the involvement of race, exclusion, social identity, and police during and across these periods. It further examines how neoliberal forms of exclusion have shaped the possibilities of riotous actions, before performing a situational analysis of video footage of the 2011 riots. To facilitate this approach the thesis develops a theory of action/resistance through an account of the production of agency. The theory connects Bourdieu’s theorisation of habitus and disposition, utilises an expressive understanding of shame and self-esteem, and Butler’s notion of performativity. Thus we seek to understand how structured experiences, in particular social and economic exclusion, become meaningful to those excluded, and how this shapes violent acts as meaningful performances. The thesis argues that resistance is generated through power relations, which amongst many rioters, are failing to reproduce the sense of self-worth required for identification with and engagement in, the social order. From this standpoint, then, riotous resistance cannot be explained as distinct from the social order, which shapes agency’s ‘necessary scene’, but as rational and emotional responses to it. The emergence of neoliberalism and individualism in the 1970s and 1980s created an epistemological and thus ontological shift, reshaping how disrespect and disempowerment is experienced and understood by excluded groups. These shifts or emergences have diminished the capacity of socially and economically excluded groups to generate Politicised identities and forms of resistance. Consequently, rather than ‘criminality’ - a moral condemnation - the 1980s and 2011, saw an increasing emergence of individualised - rather than Politicised - forms of resistance against the social and political order. Individualised resistance to power within the social order is ‘performed’ through short-term goals that momentarily re- arrange these power relations with regards to the self and police. In these behaviours, structurally produced shame and anger are expressed, social identities are formed and realised through a common complaint and goal, and the self achieves value through attacking or confounding the police

Use of a fluorinated probe to quantitatively monitor amino acid binding preferences of ruthenium(ii) arene complexes.

In order to address outstanding questions about ruthenium complexes in complex biological solutions, 19F NMR spectroscopy was used to follow the binding preferences between fluorinated RuII(η6-arene)(bipyridine) complexes and protected amino acids and glutathione. Reporting what ruthenium compounds bind to in complex environments has so far been restricted to relatively qualitative methods, such as mass spectrometry and X-ray spectroscopic methods; however, quantitative information on the species present in the solution phase cannot be inferred from these techniques. Furthermore, using 1H NMR, in water, to distinguish and monitor a number of different complex RuII(η6-arene) adducts forming is challenging. Incorporating an NMR active heteroatom into ruthenium organometallic complexes provides a quantitative, diagnostic 'fingerprint' to track solution-phase behaviour and allow for unambiguous assignment of any given adduct. The resulting 19F NMR spectra show for the first time the varied, dynamic behaviour of organoruthenium compounds when exposed to simple biomolecules in complex mixtures. The rates of formation of the different observed species are dramatically influenced by the electronic properties at the metal, even in a closely related series of complexes in which only the electron-donating properties of the arene ligand are altered. Preference for cysteine binding is absolute: the first quantitative solution-phase evidence of such behaviour

The Limits of Entrapment: The Negotiations on EU Reduction Targets, 2007-11

In 2007, the EU decided to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20/30 per cent, something which was considered a proof of the EU's willingness to take on high targets independently of others. In the period 2009-11, the EU was debating but could not reach an agreement on stepping up to a 30 per cent reduction target. This raises the question: why did the EU go from being capable of adopting high targets independently of others to being incapable of agreeing whether it should increase its mitigation effort? It is argued that whereas actors sceptical of a high target could be rhetorically entrapped in 2007, such entrapment was impossible in the 2009-11 period. The lack of entrapment can be explained in terms of changes in the international and socio-economic contexts, which led to changes in the policy processes and the normative environment, which again made effective entrapment impossible

Evaluation of erectile potency and radiation dose to the penile bulb using image guided radiotherapy in the CHHiP trial

Background and purpose: The penile bulb (PB) dose may be critical in development of post prostate radiotherapy erectile dysfunction (ED). This study aimed to generate PB dose constraints based on dose-volume histograms (DVHs) in patients treated with prostate radiotherapy, and to identify clinical and dosimetric parameters that predict the risk of ED post prostate radiotherapy. / Materials and methods: Penile bulb DVHs were generated for 276 patients treated within the randomised IGRT substudy of the multicentre randomised trial, CHHiP. Incidence of ED in relation to dose and randomised IGRT groups were evaluated using Wilcoxon rank sum, Chi-squared test and atlases of complication incidence. Youden index was used to find dose-volume constraints that discriminated for ED. Multivariate analysis (MVA) of effect of dosimetry, clinical and patient-related variables was performed. / Results: Reduced treatment margins using IGRT (IGRT-R) produced significantly reduced mean PB dose compared with standard margins (IGRT-S) (median: 25 Gy (IGRT-S) versus 11 Gy (IGRT-R); p < 0.0001). Significant difference in both mean (median: 23 Gy (ED) vs. 18 Gy (no ED); p = 0.011) and maximum (median: 59 Gy (ED) vs. 52 Gy (no ED); p = 0.018) PB doses between those with and without clinician reported ED were identified. Mean PB dose cut-point for ED was derived at around 20 Gy. On MVA, PB mean dose and age predicted for impotence. / Conclusion: PB dose appears predictive of post-radiotherapy ED with calculated threshold mean dose of around 20 Gy, substantially lower than published recommendations. IGRT-R enables favourable PB dosimetry and can be recommended provided prostate coverage is not compromised

Evaluation of erectile potency and radiation dose to the penile bulb using image guided radiotherapy in the CHHiP trial

Background and purpose The penile bulb (PB) dose may be critical in development of post prostate radiotherapy erectile dysfunction (ED). This study aimed to generate PB dose constraints based on dose-volume histograms (DVHs) in patients treated with prostate radiotherapy, and to identify clinical and dosimetric parameters that predict the risk of ED post prostate radiotherapy. Materials and methods Penile bulb DVHs were generated for 276 patients treated within the randomised IGRT substudy of the multicentre randomised trial, CHHiP. Incidence of ED in relation to dose and randomised IGRT groups were evaluated using Wilcoxon rank sum, Chi-squared test and atlases of complication incidence. Youden index was used to find dose-volume constraints that discriminated for ED. Multivariate analysis (MVA) of effect of dosimetry, clinical and patient-related variables was performed. Results Reduced treatment margins using IGRT (IGRT-R) produced significantly reduced mean PB dose compared with standard margins (IGRT-S) (median: 25 Gy (IGRT-S) versus 11 Gy (IGRT-R); p < 0.0001). Significant difference in both mean (median: 23 Gy (ED) vs. 18 Gy (no ED); p = 0.011) and maximum (median: 59 Gy (ED) vs. 52 Gy (no ED); p = 0.018) PB doses between those with and without clinician reported ED were identified. Mean PB dose cut-point for ED was derived at around 20 Gy. On MVA, PB mean dose and age predicted for impotence. Conclusion PB dose appears predictive of post-radiotherapy ED with calculated threshold mean dose of around 20 Gy, substantially lower than published recommendations. IGRT-R enables favourable PB dosimetry and can be recommended provided prostate coverage is not compromised

A randomised assessment of image guided radiotherapy within a phase 3 trial of conventional or hypofractionated high dose intensity modulated radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

Background and purpose Image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) improves treatment set-up accuracy and provides the opportunity to reduce target volume margins. We introduced IGRT methods using standard (IGRT-S) or reduced (IGRT-R) margins in a randomised phase 2 substudy within CHHiP trial. We present a pre-planned analysis of the impact of IGRT on dosimetry and acute/late pelvic side effects using gastrointestinal and genitourinary clinician and patient-reported outcomes (PRO) and evaluate efficacy.Materials and methods CHHiP is a randomised phase 3, non-inferiority trial for men with localised prostate cancer. 3216 patients were randomly assigned to conventional (74 Gy in 2 Gy/fraction (f) daily) or moderate hypofractionation (60 or 57 Gy in 3 Gy/f daily) between October 2002 and June 2011. The IGRT substudy included a second randomisation assigning to no-IGRT, IGRT-S (standard CTV-PTV margins), or IGRT-R (reduced CTV-PTV margins). Primary substudy endpoint was late RTOG bowel and urinary toxicity at 2 years post-radiotherapy.Results Between June 2010 to July 2011, 293 men were recruited from 16 centres. Median follow-up is 56.9(IQR 54.3-60.9) months. Rectal and bladder dose-volume and surface percentages were significantly lower in IGRT-R compared to IGRT-S group; (p < 0.0001). Cumulative proportion with RTOG grade ≥ 2 toxicity reported to 2 years for bowel was 8.3(95% CI 3.2-20.7)%, 8.3(4.7-14.6)% and 5.8(2.6-12.4)% and for urinary 8.4(3.2-20.8)%, 4.6(2.1-9.9)% and 3.9(1.5-9.9)% in no IGRT, IGRT-S and IGRT-R groups respectively. In an exploratory analysis, treatment efficacy appeared similar in all three groups.Conclusion Introduction of IGRT was feasible in a national randomised trial and IGRT-R produced dosimetric benefits. Overall side effect profiles were acceptable in all groups but lowest with IGRT and reduced margins.Isrctn 97182923

Establishing a large prospective clinical cohort in people with head and neck cancer as a biomedical resource: head and neck 5000

BACKGROUND: Head and neck cancer is an important cause of ill health. Survival appears to be improving but the reasons for this are unclear. They could include evolving aetiology, modifications in care, improvements in treatment or changes in lifestyle behaviour. Observational studies are required to explore survival trends and identify outcome predictors. METHODS: We are identifying people with a new diagnosis of head and neck cancer. We obtain consent that includes agreement to collect longitudinal data, store samples and record linkage. Prior to treatment we give participants three questionnaires on health and lifestyle, quality of life and sexual history. We collect blood and saliva samples, complete a clinical data capture form and request a formalin fixed tissue sample. At four and twelve months we complete further data capture forms and send participants further quality of life questionnaires. DISCUSSION: This large clinical cohort of people with head and neck cancer brings together clinical data, patient-reported outcomes and biological samples in a single co-ordinated resource for translational and prognostic research