Within Higher Education, a substantial amount of research has explored black students’ experiences within post 1992 universities (Elevation Networks 2012; BITC 2010; RfO 2011; Leathwood 2004; Read et al. 2003). Research indicates that British African Caribbean men (BACM) are well represented in higher education (Richardson 2010). However, when the type of universities these students attend is examined, research indicates that substantially more black students attend post-1992 universities than ‘old universities’ (Bhattacharyya et al. 2003; Elevation Networks 2012). In 2010 less than one per cent of all Oxbridge students were black. Between 2010 and 2012 less than five per cent of all students entering Russell Group and Oxbridge universities were British African Caribbean (Boliver 2013). Only limited research has explored the outcomes of ethnic minority students studying at Russell Group universities (Fielding 2008; Richardson 2008) and much of this has been quantitative rather than qualitative. Furthermore, minimal research has explored the experiences of black students and black men in particular through their experiences of attending elite UK universities. This dissertation explores the counter-narratives of the few British African Caribbean men who have successfully attended and graduated from elite universities in England and Wales. This research examines these students’ recognised as well as unrecognised, resources and capitals to gain an understanding of the factors that have assisted them in their matriculation to, and graduation from, elite universities. It is hoped that these findings will be beneficial in helping staff involved in the admission processes at elite universities to gain a better understanding of areas that need improvement in order to increase the numbers of British African Caribbean male students attending elite universities. Lastly, this research hopes its findings will be beneficial in influencing more black men in future generations to aspire to attend elite UK institutions.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was the high point of class struggle in the twentieth-century. For the first time in world history, a social movement predicated on the overcoming of class exploitation succeeded in gaining state power. In the days and weeks following October 1917 insurrection, a self-declared Marxist government set about the task of constructing a socialist society. However the Russian Revolution was more than the mass political mobilisation of class resentments. In addition to proletarians and peasants, the Bolsheviks also mobilised national minorities, for whom October represented the opportunity to put an end to centuries of national oppression. The Bolshevik promise, therefore, entailed not just class solidarity, but national self-determination and internationalism as well. In the very moment of revolution, however, these sentiments were put to the test as mass outbreaks of antisemitic pogroms spread across the vast regions of the former Pale of Settlement. The pogroms posed fundamental questions for the Bolshevik project, since they revealed the nature and extent of working class and peasant attachments to antisemitic and racialised forms of consciousness. This dissertation has two broad aims: first, it sets out to offer the most comprehensive analysis to date of the explosive articulation between antisemitism and the revolutionary process. It reveals, for example, the extent to which class struggle and anti-bourgeois discourse could overlap with antisemitic representations of Jewishness, often with devastating consequences. Second, it offers the most comprehensive analysis to date of the Soviet government attempt to arrest this articulation between antisemitism and revolutionary politics. Contrary to existing understandings, the dissertation argues that the ‘Bolshevik’ campaign against antisemitism was led not the Party leadership, as is often assumed, but by a small grouping of non-Bolshevik Jewish socialists who worked in the Party and Soviet government throughout 1918 and 1919. Having brought into focus an almost entirely overlooked moment in the history of Jewish experiences of, and responses to, antisemitism, the dissertation concludes by reflecting on how this reframing of the Russian Revolution might offer insights for anti-racists and socialists engaged in struggles for social justice today.

People of Black African heritage in the UK have increased susceptibility of being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) compared to the general White population. Nutrition is central in halting T2DM and the progression of complications such as cardiovascular diseases. However, little is known about the factors influencing the diet of women of Black African heritage with T2DM. In addition, clinical and public health conceptions of the problem tend to be individualistic in orientation. This study is an exploratory and in-depth inquiry into food choice and the implications of dietary change for women of Black African heritage who self-manage T2DM by diet alone. Eight participants were recruited using purposive sampling. Recruitment sites included Black and Minority Ethnic charities in Norfolk and Suffolk. Data was derived from direct observation using the ‘Accompanied Shopping Task’, combined with a ‘Think Aloud Technique’ called a ‘Product Choice Reasoning Task’. In-depth interviews were undertaken and transcribed verbatim. Framework Analysis was used to provide a procedure to manage data analysis, which was informed by the PEN-3 public health cultural model which moves beyond overly individualistic conceptions of the issues. The study showed that six participants prioritised the disease and used what I have called a ‘Disease Focused Approach’ to self-manage T2DM. Two used a ‘Family Focused Approach’, as family played a crucial role in T2DM self-management. All participants undertook T2DM self-care by following a culturally appropriate diet. Their least preferred options for managing T2DM were medical therapy and physical activity. The study showed that although food choice is influenced by many factors, culture was particularly important. Moreover, participants showed greater knowledge than had been anticipated about the role of nutrition to prevent progression of T2DM. Results are explored and presented for three main domains of experience for the participants: first, food shopping and decision-making; second, diet choice and lifestyle; and third, the interface with health services. For each of these the culture was found to be of paramount importance. The implications of the findings are presented in relation to the importance of culturally appropriate advice; culturally sensitive service provision; and the significance of household composition in managing the illness, especially for people with T2DM who have young children living at home.

The media and current literature portray white working class boys as educational failures with restricted life chances. To date, no mixed methods research has been conducted to explore these commonly held views. This study serves as a starting point, taking what we know about achievement and exploring this from the perspective of WWCBs. A two-phase sequential mixed methods exploratory design was used with purposive sampling. All participants were in key stage 3, recorded as white British, in receipt of free school meals and attending a comprehensive secondary school. Participants were categorised as low or high/average attaining, based on their current attainment levels. In phase 1, the School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised (McCoach, 2002) was used to measure participants’ attitudes on five factors known to be associated with achievement. This data was then analysed using an independent samples T-test. Phase 2 included low attaining pupils only and, using semi-structured interviews, explored the boy’s views and beliefs about schooling. In phase 1, the low and high/average groups did not significantly differ in their academic self-perceptions, attitudes towards school, attitudes towards teachers, goal valuation or self-regulation and motivation. Phase 2 used thematic analysis to explore the interview data of six year 9 boys and identified four over-arching themes: feeling valued in the learning relationship, academic self-perceptions, choosing one’s own path and misalignment. The quantitative phase results indicated that the academic attainment of the participating white working class boys (WWCBs) was not significantly mediated by factors measured by the SAAS-R, and commonly believed to affect achievement. The findings from the qualitative phase supported these findings and generated alternative factors that highlighted the importance of considering the reciprocal nature of education and the effect of relationships on learning. The data suggests a unilateral within child view may not be sufficient in understanding why working class boys underachieve.

This thesis aims to explore how older (60-87 years) South Asian migrant (SAM) women anticipate and approach old age and ageing experiences across the life course. It draws attention to the ways in which older SAM women construct and (re)negotiate gendered roles across the intersections of gender, ethnicity and age in order to sustain quality of life. In addition to subjective experiences of the life course, this thesis examines how older SAM women (re)negotiate collective cultural identities in the place of migration and settlement. A qualitative feminist constructionist approach, utilising a transnational life course perspective, has guided the theoretical underpinnings for this research. Moreover, a two-part method has been used, presenting a multi-sited ethnography and life course interviews. Data elicited from the study included ethnographic observations, an ethnographic interview, a reflexive research and observation diary and 16 in-depth life course interviews. The study analysed data using thematic analysis and elicited themes via a thematic analysis network. In this research, key findings reveal that older SAM women’s experiences of age and ageing intersect with gender roles, responsibilities and obligations that are in turn influenced by positions of authority across the matriarchal hierarchy. Gendered roles, such as, the daughter, wife, becoming a daughter-in-law and mother, mother-in-law and older woman are influenced by cultural values and norms overlaid by patriarchal ideologies. Furthermore, thematic readings show that older SAM women construct, (re)negotiate and access cultural identities in the place of migration through culturally prescribed scripts themed around gender, family and a migrant identity in order to publically display and sustain loyalties to a past homeland, across the life course. Methodological findings indicate that in order to produce ethical research it is important to recognise the spaces in which the researcher and participant negotiate boundaries, as the researcher’s identity does effect the research process. Recommendations from this research suggest that in order to gain a better understanding of older SAM women’s experiences of old age and ageing, a multi-dimensional theoretical approach to age is required. Moreover, this approach needs to take into account the fluid and overlapping constructs of transcultural, transnational and translocational positionalities which additionally embrace insider/outsider binaries.

This thesis examines the experiences and the attitudes of Bradford females who have Pakistani Mirpuri heritage. The study has involved people of different ages ranging from sixteen to thirty-five and older women aged in their forties and beyond. The women explore their relationship with their parents, the biraderi (their extended family), career and educational aspirations, involvement with religion and culture and how these fit into their personal identities. The data was gathered incrementally over three stages. Each stage was equally important, and themes emerged at each stage, which were then explored further. The data comes out from a number of questionnaires, which were followed by interviews. The research evidence creates consistent pictures and provides an insight into the lives and experiences of Bradford females, of Pakistani Mirpuri origin. The concern was to explore the notions of their sense of personal identity in the face of conflicting cultures and conflicts between culture and religion. The research evidence shows that younger women believed they did share a close relationship with their parents. At times this relationship was tested. The evidence shows that an area of major inter-generational tension was where parents were trying to control the behaviours of younger women by using cultural interpretations of Islam. This was particularly mentioned by younger women in relation to education, careers, and marriage and on issues of freedom generally. The relationship of younger women, with the biraderi (kin) is not as close as their parents' relationship with it. Younger women are leading independent lives and have high career and educational aspirations. The majority of the respondents felt their parents had supported their aspirations. The evidence shows that younger women feel comfortable with the freedom they have. They wanted to be able to fulfil their education and career aspirations and socialise with friends. The younger women felt they understood Islam and followed religion more than culture. They felt they were able to distinguish between culture was and where parents were confusing religion and culture. The majority of women in this study described having multiple identities and were comfortable with this. Being British did not mean they had to compromise them as Muslims. The thesis demonstrates that Pakistanis are not homogonous and that there are many differences based on gender, cast and sect. At the core, however, is the sense of personal identity and the use the women made of their religious beliefs, not as a sign of the subjection to their inheritance but a symbol of their sense of personal independence.

In zebrafish, the ventilatory response to hypoxia first develops at 3 days post-fertilization (d.p.f.) before O2-chemoreceptive neuroepithelial cells (NECs) of the gill appear at 7 d.p.f. This indicates the presence of extrabranchial chemoreceptors in embryos and a developmental transition to primarily gill O2 sensing. This thesis examined the skin NECs, which reach peak density in embryos but decline as gill NECs appear. Exposure of embryos and larvae to chronic hypoxia prevented the loss of skin NECs, shifted peak basal ventilation to a later developmental stage, and induced a hypoventilatory response to acute hypoxia. Chronic exposure to hyperoxia rapidly diminished skin NECs, shifted peak ventilation to earlier stages and eliminated the response to acute hypoxia. Administration of the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine degraded nerve terminals that contact skin NECs and reduced both basal ventilation frequency and the hypoxic ventilatory response. Thus, skin NECs are candidates for extrabranchial O2 chemoreceptors in developing zebrafish.

Tritium is a radioisotope of hydrogen and a component of emissions from the nuclear industry. It is also a radioisotope of concern for human and environmental health. The near future could see an increase in tritium production as experimental fusion reactors initiate first plasma. The greatest risk pathway is human ingestion of edible plants grown near sites of tritium emissions as they can acquire high levels of organically bound tritium (OBT). Recent studies at a tritium Beta-light facility in Pembroke, Ontario, Canada characterized by tritiated hydrogen gas (HT) emissions have identified high OBT:HTO ratios that are not consistent with current tritium transfer models. This suggests that there is an unidentified physical, chemical, or biological mechanism generating OBT in plant tissue. Laboratory experiments have been undertaken using deuterium gas (D2) as an analogue for atmospheric HT in controlled plant exposure experiments, and compared the observations with short-term exposures at the SRBT facility. While the deuterium results did not uncover a hidden pathway or enrichment mechanism, the SRBT exposures showed elevated tissue free water tritium (TFWT) in stems and leaves in the presence of atmospheric HT, and lacking HTO in both soils and surrounding air. This study proposes that hydrogenase activity in microbial communities hosted within the laminar boundary layer on the leaf surface, are responsible for HT oxidation to HTO that contributes directly to leaf waters used in photosynthesis.

Interindividual differences in animal behaviour that are relatively consistent over time and context are referred to as animal personality. Personality has been recognized throughout the entire animal kingdom, in an array of species like molluscs, arthropods, fish, birds and mammals. The personality of non-human animals has been suggested to vary along five different axes, or continua; boldness-shyness, avoidanceexploration, activity, sociability and aggressiveness. Having a relatively fixed personality may seem nonadaptive compared to infinite behavioural plasticity so the individual would be able to respond adaptively to any changes in the environment. There can be physiological limitations to the phenotypic expressions of any trait, including behaviour. Variation in neuroendocrinology may thus explain why animals have personality. A candidate neurochemical that potentially proximately influences and forms personality, is serotonin (5- HT), one of the most omnipotent neurotransmitter of the animal body. In the many realms of the serotonergic system, there may arise individual differences which forms a proximate basis for differences in personality. In this review paper, I discuss the impact of the serotonergic system on a few different personality traits. Depending on the individual’s motivational state, serotonin can dampen or enhance aggression. Serotonin correlates negatively to anxious traits. Feeding behaviour is affected by serotonin in seemingly opposing directions. Overall, serotonin seem to underlie many behaviours that describe animal personality.

Recent studies suggest that patients identified by the Rome III criteria for functional constipation (FC) and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) are not distinct groups. Previous studies have shown that patients with IBS-C exhibit no or limited 5-HT response to meal ingestion, with plasma concentrations remaining similar to those under fasting conditions. The aim of this study was to determine whether patients with FC show a similar 5-HT response to meal ingestion as patients with IBS-C, and to investigate any relationship to gastrointestinal transit and visceral sensitivity. 23 female IBS-C patients, 11 female FC patients and 23 healthy female volunteers (HV) were recruited. Platelet depleted plasma 5-HT concentrations were measured under fasting (2hrs) and fed (4hrs) conditions. Within 2 weeks, oro-caecal (hydrogen breath test) and colonic (radio-opaque markers followed by X-ray) transit, along with rectal sensitivity (barostat) were determined. The main findings of the study are: 1. The FC patients had no 5-HT response to meal ingestion, as previously seen in patients with IBS-C, compared with healthy volunteers. 2. Patients with FC had abdominal and bowel movement associated symptoms as well as delayed colonic transit (whole gut transit), similar to that seen in IBS-C compared with healthy volunteers. 3. The mean pain threshold in patients with FC was similar to that seen in healthy volunteers, with more patients with hyposensitivity or insensitivity in this group compared with IBS-C and no patients with hypersensitivity. 4. Patients with FC had a shift towards higher fasting and postprandial PDP 5-HT levels, unlike patients with IBS-C, compared to healthy volunteers.This study show that based on symptoms, IBS-C and FC patients have more similarities than differences. However, although patients with FC had a similar 5-HT response to a test meal, they had different fasting 5-HT levels and some different physiological findings on assessment of visceral sensitivity with barostat.