The wildlife trade represents a significant threat to biodiversity, but may also provide opportunities for societal and economic benefits. To supply the trade, wildlife is often sourced from biodiverse developing countries where poverty rates are high. Ensuring a legal and sustainable trade is therefore critical not only for conservation and implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), but can contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals to reduce poverty in developing regions. This thesis investigates trade in live animals, with emphasis on socio-economic implications of wildlife trade chains, and how these interact with conservation and sustainable use in supply countries. An interdisciplinary approach utilises global analysis of wildlife trade data; social research methods to examine the trade in Madagascar; and a specialised questioning technique to explore sustainability of the trade at the end-user level. The findings demonstrate an increasing component of the reptile pet trade comprises animals from ranching operations, or captive-bred in consumer countries. Although this may take pressure off wild populations, it may have implications for biodiversity and benefit sharing in supply countries. In Madagascar, a small proportion of the export value of reptiles and amphibians reaches local collectors. Whilst being potentially profitable and providing additional cash income to some households, wildlife trapping is also unreliable, part-time and financially risky. Consequently, it appears to bring limited opportunities for poverty alleviation or incentives for conservation at the local scale. Value chain analysis reveals the informal and complex nature of the supply chain, making design and implementation of interventions to enhance the trade challenging. Findings suggest that initiatives may be most effective working at the local level to improve organisation and cooperative management of the trade. At the consumer end, mortality of pet reptiles varies between taxa but appears to be relatively low. This directly informs debate concerning exotic pet keeping in consumer countries, for which there are limited data concerning sustainability of wildlife supply chains. Together, these studies enhance knowledge regarding implications of the wildlife trade for livelihoods and conservation, and inform dialogue concerning wildlife trade policy and practice more generally.

From programming 'home-brew' games, to modifying the content of existing commercial titles, digital gaming can be regarded as a potential gateway into more serious uses of computers; welcoming some while repelling others. The socio-demographic makeup of computer science, games development and related areas of work are of interest to feminist scholars of culture. In light of skills shortages, industry is also interested in increasing women and ethnic minorities' participation in STEM fields. Representational inequalities within tech are regarded as a social issue not just because this area of employment can be highly lucrative, but also because control over tech can provide other forms of empowerment - including being able to influence and shape everyday communication technologies. However, the route into these industries has historically been shaped by a number of factors including formal computing education, the rise of hobbyist computing and a surrounding masculine 'geek' culture - and a sort of reciprocal relationship between hobbyist computing and digital games. This thesis interrogates the idea of games as a form of 'technological enculturation'; the notion of a causal link between gaming and careers in computing. I take the biographies of those working in the IT sector in southeast England and explore the role of gaming in the personal histories of what appears to be a predominantly white and male group. The thesis pays great attention to salient differences between technological platforms - something relatively underdeveloped in the existing literature on player cultures and in game studies more generally. Finally, I take a cross-generational perspective by comparing the experiences of adult IT workers with a cohort of teenage ICT students. Using a theoretical framework adapted from leisure studies and the sociology of Pierre Bourdieu, I explore how certain types of game-related activity - but not all gaming - are particularly conducive to producing young people who are a good 'cultural fit' for this particular set of professions. This has implications for how we think and talk about increasing participation in STEM, as well as the somewhat under-developed role of games and game-making in UK schools.

This research project was developed in practice through the production of artwork. Alternating between art and reflection, my aim was to develop a strategy for artistic research that was targeted towards the goal of an intergrative project supported through information technologies. This idea developed out of my position as an artist working at a distance, from a small isalnd (Malta). My problematic, therefore, was focused around the question of territory. This research endeavoured to investigate the notion of "territory" through theories of deterritorialisation and machinic connectivity.

Isometric exercise training has been shown to bring about beneficial reductions in resting blood pressure, however the physiological mechanism responsible remain equivocal. It is currently unknown whether isometric exercise training-induced reductions in resting blood pressure are associated with improvements in vascular endothelial function and structure. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the effect of an 8-week isometric exercise training intervention on resting blood pressure, conduit artery vascular endothelial function, artery diameter and blood flow patterns at rest. Fourteen healthy young males (mean age: 23 ± 4 years; body mass: 80.7 ± 11.0kg; height: 178.8 ± 6.2cm) completed 8-weeks of isometric bilateral leg extension exercise training at high intensity (105.4% 2-min torquepeak). Three exercise sessions were performed each week and each session consisted of four 2-minute isometric muscular contractions each separated by a 3-minute recovery period. Resting blood pressure was measured using brachial artery oscillometric methods at pre, mid and post intervention. Brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilatation and resting artery diameter and blood flow were assessed at pre, week 2, mid, week 6 and post intervention using high-resolution duplex Doppler ultrasound. Total peripheral resistance and cardiac output were determined at pre and post intervention using high-resolution echocardiography. A generalised estimating equation analysis was used to estimate the effect of exercise versus non-exercise intervention over time on resting blood pressure, brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilatation, artery diameter and blood flow, total peripheral resistance and cardiac output. Isometric bilateral leg extension exercise training reduced resting systolic blood pressure (training: 117 vs. control: 121 mmHg) (P=0.002) and resting mean arterial pressure (training: 88 vs. control: 91 mmHg) (P=0.001) following 4 weeks of exercise training compared to the control condition. Brachial artery flowmediated vasodilatation was increased (mid training: 8.65 ± 1.02% vs. mid control: 6.38 ± 1.14%) (P=0.011). Superficial femoral artery diameter, antegrade blood flow and antegrade shear rate were increased (all P≤0.05), whilst superficial femoral retrograde shear rate was decreased (P=0.013) following 2 weeks of exercise training compared to the control condition. There were no significant condition by time interactions observed in resting blood pressure, vascular endothelial function, artery diameter or blood flow patterns following 8 weeks of exercise training (all P≥0.05). Cardiac output was not significantly different following 8 weeks of exercise training (P=0.148). Total peripheral resistance was increased following 8 weeks of exercise training compared to the non-exercising control condition (P=0.054). Isometric bilateral leg extension exercise training can effectively lower resting blood pressure and increase conduit artery endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in healthy young men after 4 weeks with a concomitant reduction in resting blood pressure. These beneficial adaptations were no longer evident from mid to post exercise training in healthy normotensive young men.