VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Enablers and constraints of creation and sharing of knowledge assets : a case of NGO policy advocacy
Keywords: knowledge
information ecology
Max Boisot
NGOs
knowledge assets
social learning
social learning cycle
knowledge management

This dissertation aims to develop and validate a conceptual framework about the enablers and constraints for the creation and sharing of knowledge assets. Knowledge assets are understood as a subset of dispositions to act that is embedded in individuals, groups or artefacts and that allows us to economise the consumption of resources for a given amount of effort (Boisot 1998). The creation of knowledge assets within organisations is seen as a knower-dependent, social and non-linear process of learning that builds on information. Enablers and constraints can be found at any part of this learning process and differ from one information environment to another. The theoretical framework integrates Boisot's Social Learning Cycle (SLC) with an Information Ecology model in order to identify the potential enablers and constraints within specific information environments.
The empirical setting chosen for this research is a group of leading international nongovernmental organisations (INGOs) and their domestic NGO partners, pursuing a policy advocacy strategy in the context of a high-level international donors conference. Policy advocacy refers to a set of activities directed towards influencing decision makers in a way that contributes to benefiting disadvantaged populations. Advocate INGOs and their domestic NGO partners (advocacy communities) gain influence by becoming alternate sources of information to decision makers (Keck and Sikkink 1998); their ability to create and share knowledge assets is then critical.
The research is based on an in-depth case study and qualitative analysis techniques (Eisenhardt 1989; Yin 1989; Marshall and Rossman 1995), focusing on two levels: Intra-organisational and inter-organisational. The collection of data covers a one-year period (February 2003 to February 2004).
The focus on a complex information environment, represented here by transnational advocacy communities, proves valuable in expanding existing theory about the dynamics of the creation and sharing of knowledge assets in and between organisations. The data collected suggests that most constraints are of internal nature and are centred on the value exploiting stage of the SLC. Constraints associated with organisations' cultures, individuals' information processing preferences, and politics are prominent.
The crown and judicial venality in the Parlement of Toulouse, c. 1490-1547
Keywords: Courts
State
16th Century
Toulouse
Law
Venality
Judges
Sixteenth Century
Magistrates
France
Corruption

Notoriously, the French monarchy began to exchange judicial posts in its courts of law for cash to raise emergency funds in the early sixteenth century. The fact that all sorts of royal posts subsequently became venal or hereditary is a familiar aspect of ancien régime France, yet very little work exists on the genesis of this institution. This thesis traces the meanings, practices, and effects of 'venality' between 1490 and 1547. It does so by studying the relationship between the crown and the second most important law court of the kingdom, the Parlement of Toulouse. Traditional interpretations of office sale have tended to explain the phenomenon as a tale of royal hypocrisy, and have prioritised research on the Parlement of Paris. In contrast, this study argues that the study of a provincial court forces us to reconsider the chronology, techniques, and outcomes of early venality. A considerable amount of unexploited archival and printed material exists on office sale. By approaching it through the lens of legal culture, this thesis proposes an investigative model not only capable of explaining why venality emerged, but also why it was so vilified. Existing studies of office sale have tended to ignore legal talk and legislation as misleading or dissimulative. By paying particular attention to law and language, however, this study argues that the sale of judicial offices was a deeply ambiguous theme in the first half of the sixteenth-century that was open to constant interpretation. It was this very slipperiness that allowed a variety of actors to engage with it. Early office sale prolonged late medieval practices, but also heralded unprecedented changes, influencing the formation of the early-modern state. By studying the phenomenon, this thesis offers a rich and multifaceted picture of the relations and functioning of the crown and its tribunals.
Enzyme-material composites for solar-driven reactions
Keywords: Enzyme
Electrochemistry

Using sunlight to drive chemical reactions has long been one of the goals in developing sustainable processes. Previous research has focused on solar fuel production in the form of H2, but this thesis demonstrates that solar-to-chemicals processes can be constructed to produce more complex compounds, using hybrid systems composed of enzymes and inorganic materials.
Tetrachloroethene reductive dehalogenase (PceA), an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of tetrachloroethene (PCE) to trichloroethene (TCE) and subsequently to cis-dichloroethene (cDCE), was shown to accept electrons from both graphite and TiO2 electrodes. Irradiation by UV light onto PceA-adsorbed TiO2 particles led to the selective production of TCE and cDCE, which was not possible without PceA as a catalyst.
Ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase (FNR) is a key enzyme in photosynthesis, as it receives energetic electrons from Photosystem I and produces NADPH as an energy carrier for downstream 'Dark' reactions involving CO2 assimilation. This thesis presents the discovery of FNR activity on indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes which led to direct electrochemical investigation of the properties of FNR, both in the absence and presence of its substrate, NADP+. The FNR-adsorbed electrode, termed 'the electrochemical leaf', rapidly interconverts NADP+/NADPH, and this was coupled to a downstream NADPH-dependent enzyme, thus demonstrating a new approach to cofactor regeneration for enzyme-catalyzed organic synthesis. The NADP+ reduction by FNR was also driven by light using a photoanode made of visible-light responsive semiconductors.
Creating spaces for peace? Civil society, political space, and peacebuilding in post-war Burundi
Keywords: Civil society
Peacebuilding
Political space
Africa
Burundi

This thesis examines civil society, political space, and peacebuilding in post-war Burundi by critically engaging with international discourses and considering the extent to which they reflect the experiences and perspectives of activists on the ground. It is based on qualitative research with civil society groups and the individuals that work for them in Burundi. Fieldwork took place over five months between July 2014 and April 2015. This was a period of crisis in which civil society faced mounting restrictions, from the introduction of legislation that banned public gatherings, to the harassment and intimidation of prominent activists. The thesis analyses the extent to which civil society groups were able to navigate these constraints to create and maintain spaces for peace that transform dominant social norms which produce violence and repression. It also considers the factors that frustrated these efforts, from the sustained influence of past violence and trauma, to the climate of fear and uncertainty that emerged following the 2015 elections, and the divisive elite politics that continues to disrupt everyday peace in Burundi.
It finds that emerging policy discourses on political space fail to engage with the historical, political, and discursive nature of government restrictions in Burundi, and the temporal and relational dimensions of violence, especially the ways in which it shapes the everyday lives of activists and their ability to challenge the institutions and structures within which violence is reproduced. The research situates these experiences in historical context – a process that enables it to consider broader questions about the evolution of civil society and the extent to which it becomes embedded in post-conflict contexts once international funding and attention decreases and external peacebuilding activities conclude. Civil society groups in Burundi received significant support from the international community in the post-war years, yet increasing restrictions suggest that the Burundian government has not accepted the presence of certain organisations which it views as a threat to its political authority and legitimacy. This leads the thesis to argue that curbs on civil society should be seen as part of a broader pattern of resistance to international peacebuilding in Burundi.
Mathematical models for the glass sheet redraw process
Keywords: thin viscous sheet
glass
mathematical modelling
asymptotics
industrial mathematics

In this thesis we derive mathematical models for the glass sheet redraw process for the production of very thin glass sheets. In the redraw process, a prefabricated glass block is fed into a furnace, where it is heated and stretched by the application of draw rollers to reduce its thickness. Redrawn sheets may be used in various applications including smartphone and battery technology. Our aims are to investigate the factors determining the final thickness profile of a glass sheet produced by this process, as well as the growth of out-of-plane deformations in the sheet during redraw. Our method is to model the glass sheet using Navier–Stokes equations and free-surface conditions, and exploit small aspect ratios in the sheet to simplify and solve these equations using asymptotic expansions.
We first consider a simple two-dimensional sheet to determine which physical effects should be taken into account in modelling the redraw process. Next, we derive a mathematical model for redraw of a thin threedimensional sheet. We consider the limits in which the heater zone is either short or long compared with the sheet half-width. The resulting reduced models predict the thickness profile of the redrawn sheet and the initial shape required to redraw a product of uniform thickness. We then derive mathematical models for buckling of thin viscous sheets during redraw. For buckling of a two-dimensional glass sheet due to gravity-induced compression, we predict the evolution of the centreline and investigate the early- and late-time behaviour of the system. For a three-dimensional glass sheet undergoing redraw, we use numerical solutions to investigate the behaviour of the sheet mid-surface.
Synthesis and properties of oligonucleotides containing triazole backbone linkages and 2′-modifications for therapeutic applications
Keywords: Antisense nucleic acids

Antisense oligonucleotides are short strands of DNA, which bind to their complementary mRNA target to prevent protein translation. Although conceptually appealing, for their practical use as drugs, these oligonucleotides must have better cellular uptake, resistance to enzymatic degradation, and target selectivity. In this work, new synthetic chemistry is established to prepare a novel group of chemically modified oligonucleotides. The anionic phosphodiester backbone is partially replaced with a neutral triazole and, at the same time, the 2′-position of the ribose sugar is functionalised with pyrene, anthraquinone, or guanidine moieties. Being unnatural, the triazole backbone is inherently resistant to enzymatic degradation, while the reduced negative charge potentially improves cell penetration. The limitation of introduction of a triazole backbone into the antisense strand is its destabilising effect on the duplex formation with their complementary target. In this study, the 2′-modifications are used to restore the lost duplex stability and they have been found to be very efficient stabilising moieties. To evaluate the viability of this strategy, reporter gene assays based on spliceswitching model are used. Promisingly, these modified oligonucleotides have successfully shown antisense splice-switching activity, suggesting there is further scope for their improvement.
Targeting alarmins to accelerate healing
Keywords: Stem cells
Fracture
Cell cycle
Immunology
Tissue regeneration

Promoting tissue repair in adults represents a major unmet medical need. Tissue regeneration relies on the activation of quiescent endogenous stem cells and whilst considerable progress has been made, novel therapies based on stem cells have thus far failed to translate to routine clinical practice. Much attention has focussed on administrating exogenous stem cells expanded or altered in vitro. However, this approach faces several major limitations, including poor engraftment, high cost and importantly, the necessity for immunosuppression for allogenic cells. An alternative strategy that overcomes these shortcomings is to promote repair by harnessing the regenerative potential of endogenous stem cells. This thesis focussed on the role of alarmins, the upstream group of mediators released immediately following injury, in promoting tissue regeneration. I show that the alarmin HMGB1 accelerates tissue regeneration in various systems by transitioning multiple stem cell types from the quiescent G0 to the GAlert state. Firstly, in vitro screening of candidate alarmins with human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells showed that only pre-treatment with HMGB1 improved osteogenic differentiation. Using an optimised murine fracture model, I found that local administration of HMGB1 accelerated bone regeneration via the CXCL12-CXCR4 axis, whilst healing was impaired in inducible Hmgb1-/- animals. Cell cycle analyses revealed that HMGB1 transitioned the skeletal stem cell from G0 to GAlert. In this intermediate phase, the cell is more metabolically active and efficiently enters the cell cycle when exposed to activating factors. This effect also extended to other types of stem cells, including murine haematopoietic and muscle stem cells, as well as human haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, and MSCs. Using murine models, HMGB1 accelerated recovery from injury to these tissues. Finally, treatment with a single systemic dose of HMGB1 two weeks before injury also accelerated bone, haematopoietic, and muscle regeneration, which was indicative of an acquired pro-regenerative signature. These findings document that the HMGB1-GAlert pathway results in a dynamic and adaptive multi-tissue regenerative response, and suggest that exogenous HMGB1 may be of therapeutic benefit in diverse clinical contexts, including trauma, chemotherapy, and elective surgery.
Quality of life, social interaction and cognitive stimulation therapy: understanding the perspectives of people with dementia and their carers
Keywords: Dementia
cognitive stimulation therapy
Quality of life

Dementia is a progressive condition that can profoundly affect the lives of individuals and their families. With no known cure for the disease, the focus has shifted towards promoting well-being and enabling individuals to maintain an optimum quality of life. Understanding of the perspectives of both people with dementia and their carers in this area will provide greater insight into to the provision of dementia care services.
The first paper systematically reviewed the literature exploring the level of agreement between self and family-proxy ratings of patient quality of life. Twenty-six studies were identified for review. The overall level of agreement between ratings was low. Patients were found to consistently rate their quality of life as higher, compared to family-proxy ratings. A range of factors influencing this discrepancy were identified: neuropsychiatric symptoms, cognition, awareness of disease, caregiver burden and stress, relationship factors, activities of daily living and sociodemographic characteristics. The need for further interventions to address these factors is highlighted, as well as implications for future research.
The second paper aimed to explore people with dementia and their carers lived experience of social interaction and communication after attending a Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) group. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis revealed six superordinate themes. These captured the difficulties faced by people with dementia in accessing social opportunities and the positive experience of being in the CST group. Several challenges experienced by carers were highlighted and the subsequent impact this had on their emotional well-being. Improvements for people with dementia were noticed in areas of social communication, confidence and emotional wellbeing, with no noticeable change in memory. Carers expressed a desire for on-going support and intervention following the group. These findings have important implications for future research, dementia care and increased carer support.
Does the use of the Internet further democratic participation? A comparison of citizens' interactions with political representatives in the UK and Germany
Keywords: WriteToThem
Abgeordnetenwatch
online participation
political participation

This thesis explores the implications of the Internet for democracy, re-evaluating the various claims and counter-claims that have been made for the Internet's democratic potential. Based on a framework to measure democracy that emphasises popular control and political equality, it assesses whether the Internet gives a greater and more representative share of the population the opportunity to participate in the political process by focusing on use of the Internet to contact political representatives. The analysis combines secondary analysis of population surveys with original data collected in two online surveys from more than 14,000 users of successful contact facilitation platforms in the UK (WriteToThem.com) and Germany (Abgeordnetenwatch.de) that enable sending messages to representatives.
The results show that in both countries the Internet in general has only marginally increased the number of people engaged in contacting. At the same time, contact facilitation platforms as specific online applications have attracted large numbers of people who have never before contacted a representative. While all online means of contacting primarily amplify traditional participatory biases, such as for gender and education, they can at least selectively engage traditionally under-represented parts of the population, for example young people or low-income groups. The processes that shape these patterns are identified by developing a basic theory of contacting and using the similarities and differences between the findings for the two countries. It demonstrates not only that participation continues to be dominated by traditional determinants that cannot be completely overcome by technology, but also that Internet applications can shape participation patterns – if designed to appropriately adapt to the context in which they operate, which is rarely the case. This highlights the need to think carefully about how online platforms can be used, building on the – albeit limited – gains identified here, to strengthen them as a means of ensuring democratic participation.
Perspectives on recovery and recall to hospital in forensic mental health
Keywords: Qualitative research
Forensic mental health

People who are mentally unwell and have committed a criminal offence are cared for by forensic mental health services. Their treatment is provided in secure hospitals so that any risks to the public are minimised. The complex nature of the mental health difficulties experienced by this clinical population means that they are typically treated in secure hospitals for several years, incurring high economic and personal costs. The need for meaningful approaches to treatment and management of these individuals is therefore paramount. The first paper systematically reviewed eighteen qualitative research papers that explored stakeholder perspectives on the personal recovery approach to care in forensic contexts. Principles of personal recovery were perceived to be meaningful and applicable in forensic contexts if adaptations were made to overcome inherent barriers such as restrictions due to risk management. Methodological quality of the reviewed studies was limited by shortcomings in the transparency of study procedures. The second paper explored the experiences of a significant subpopulation of forensic service users who were discharged to the community subject to conditions including ongoing monitoring, then recalled back to a secure hospital due to a relapse in their mental state or other indicators of increased risk. Using grounded theory, a theoretical model was developed of how these individuals make sense of being recalled. This was found to be a recursive process influenced by their perceptions of events before their recall, during the recall itself, and their subsequent experiences.
Domestic interiors: gender, ethics, and friendship in Jordan
Keywords: Gender
Ethics
Jordan

This thesis draws on 34 months of participant observation in a working-class neighborhood of Amman, Jordan to ask whether and how gender, specifically femininity, can serve as a framework for ethical self-cultivation. It describes the relationships between morality, progress, and gender in contemporary Jordan, where progress is viewed as important and inevitable but also amoral, and morality is associated with the past, which is the opposite of progress. Women are uniquely affected by these oppositions because they are expected to both preserve the morality of the past and embody progress, defined as maximizing their own self-interest through consumption, education, employment, and participation in public life.
In this confounding context, women must be deliberate about how they choose to define and inhabit proper femininity, and the work of defining and inhabiting demands creative and productive engagement on their part. They respond by participating in a bounded public that not everyone can enter, and by making and maintaining a distinct temporality inside their homes that is distinguished from the temporality of urban life outside the home. They observe and work on their bodies in a complex and highly elaborated way, differentiating intuitive knowledge (authentic) from social knowledge (instrumental) and biological (medicalized), and they approach friendship as an arena for establishing boundaries between oneself and others, and for dealing with the social ramifications of the individualized approach to self-cultivation that is available to them.