In this article we present a review of the structure of the proton and the current status of our knowledge of the parton distribution functions (PDFs). The lepton-nucleon scattering experiments which provide the main constraints in PDF extractions ar
e introduced and their measurements are discussed. Particular emphasis is given to the HERA data which cover a wide kinematic region. Hadron-hadron scattering measurements which provide supplementary information are also discussed. The methods used by various groups to extract the PDFs in QCD analyses of hard scattering data are presented and their results are compared. The use of existing measurements allows predictions for cross sections at the LHC to be made. A comparison of these predictions for selected processes is given. First measurements from the LHC experiments are compared to predictions and some initial studies of the impact of this new data on the PDFs are presented.
The analysis of $W$ production and the search for anomalous single top production is performed with the H1 detector at HERA with an integrated luminosity of 0.5 fb$^{-1}$, consisting of the complete high energy data from the HERA programme. Productio
n cross section measurements of single $W$ production, as well as $W$ polarisation fractions in events containing isolated leptons and missing transverse momentum are also presented. In the context of a search for single top production an upper limit on the top production cross section $sigma_{epto etX} < 0.16$ pb is established at the 95% confidence level, corresponding to an upper bound on the anomalous magnetic coupling $kappa_{tugamma} < 0.14$.
