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This thesis examines the Scottish Conservative party between 1832 and 1868. It focuses on the party's organisation, structure, leadership, and attitudes. It begins by examining the social, occupational, educational, and religious background of its MPs, candidates, and peers. This reveals that the party's composition, while predominantly aristocratic, nevertheless boasted a range of distinctive and often competing interests. The thesis then explores the make-up, organisation and activity of the party on a local constituency level. This illustrates that the party was more inclusive and heterogeneous than might be assumed, and was very active in promoting itself through a wide variety of methods. The party thus had a notable impact on the wider social and cultural life of Scotland throughout the mid-nineteenth century. Following this, the structure and leadership of the Scottish party on a national level is examined. These could be a source of innovation and accomplishment, and their subsequent decline had a marked effect on the party's overall performance. Above this level, the party's role in parliament, governance, and in a British context is explored. It is demonstrated that the Scottish party maintained a modicum of distinctiveness even at Westminster. Moreover, its multifaceted role in Scottish governance gave it significant influence over Scottish society. Finally, the positions of the Scottish party on important political issues are examined, as are the underlying attitudes which determined these positions. The Scottish party contained many competing and overlapping factions, which held a hitherto unsuspected diversity of outlooks. Overall, this thesis illustrates that the Scottish Conservative party had a pronounced effect on many different facets of Scottish politics and wider society, and was itself more complex and more popular than is reflected in the existing historiography. It therefore counters the assumption that Scotland was almost hegemonically Liberal - a finding which has potential implications for scholarship spread across Scottish and British political, social, and cultural history.

Presents the thesis "An Apologetical Defense Of The Doctrine Of Creation," which was submitted to the faculty of the Department of Systematic Theology, Dallas Theological Seminary. Origin of the universe; Origin of life; Origin of man; Importance of the doctrine of creation for evangelical theology.

Annually, 11,500 men in the UK die of prostate cancer (PCa). PCa tumours are initially dependent upon androgen receptor (AR) signalling and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is highly effective in restricting tumour growth. However, ADT resistance and progression to castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is inevitable, usually occurring within three years. CRPC is considerably more aggressive, and metastatic CRPC remains incurable. One mechanism of ADT resistance is neuroendocrine differentiation (NED). NED is common in PCa tumours treated with ADT (30% of cases) and is associated with poorer survival. Prevalence of NED is rising and can be induced by other therapeutics including radiotherapy and chemotherapeutics. However, the precise molecular events underlying NED remain poorly understood. Therefore, an in-depth molecular investigation of NED was conducted using an in vitro system. The first objective was to establish a robust, in vitro model of ADT-induced NED using the PCa cell line, LNCaP. Extensive molecular analysis by qRT-PCR, Western blotting and confocal microscopy revealed the transcription factor, human achaete-scute homolog-1 (hASH1) as a potential key driver of NED. hASH1 localisation shifted from exclusively cytoplasmic to nuclear upon acquisition of NED morphology, concurrent with increased expression of the clinical biomarker neuron specific enolase (NSE) and decreased expression of prostate-specific antigen (PSA).Next, the effects of intermittent (I)ADT on the NED pathway were investigated. AD arrest resulted in reacquisition of epithelial morphology and resurgence of PSA expression. Interestingly, hASH1 was retained in the nucleus alongside NSE upregulation, indicating emergence of a potential 'hybrid' phenotype. After a second AD cycle, cells regained NED morphology and maintained hASH1 nuclear localisation. As hASH1 drives the development of GABAergic neurons and GABA has previously been implicated in PCa growth and invasion, a comprehensive characterisation of GABA receptor subunit expression in PCa cells was undertaken. Differential expression between androgen-sensitive and androgen resistant cells was discovered and indicated PCa GABAergic signalling may be modulated by androgen availability.

Reproduction is the only certain constant within animals and maintaining the integrity of this process is key to ensuring survival of the species. However, male fertility rates in the Western world are in decline and the use of assisted reproductive techniques rising (Makarow and Hojgaard, 2010). With emerging technologies such as nanotechnologies presenting both enormous benefits alongside new risks, there is a clear need to understand and manage these potential novel threats to male reproductive health. However, the animal burden associated with such research is extreme, therefore consideration of how to reduce, refine or replace animal use in the associated developmental and reproductive toxicity (DART) testing is paramount. This research aimed to assess the toxicity of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) in the male reproductive system and develop an improved testing strategy for hazard assessment of DART. Using a panel of highly representative ENM, assays to screen for toxicity in male testicular cell lines were established and optimised in vitro. Findings were then validated for reliability and reproducibility against those generated using similar test systems with cells from alternative organs of the body. Assessment of cell and endocrine function also provided a deeper understanding of cellular responses following acute sub-lethal ENM exposure. Comparison of outcomes in vitro to in vivo was enabled by appraisal of tissues from animals exposed orally to the same ENM. Through this, a new method by which to stage tubules for histopathological analysis was developed, and for the first time a truly thorough morphological and stereological examination of tissues for markers of effect provided. Assimilation of key findings made it possible to conclude that silver ENM are reproductive toxicants and potential endocrine disruptors. The accumulated results were also used to guide development of a novel Integrated Approach to Testing and Assessment (IATA) for male reproductive toxicity from ENM.