VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Basil Bunting's late modernism : from Pound to poetic community
Keywords: Ezra Pound
20th century poetry
political literature
Basil Bunting
modernist poetry
poetry
modern poetry
modernism

This study examines Basil Bunting's development as a poet from his meeting with Ezra Pound in Paris in 1923, through his collaborations with Pound, Louis Zukofsky, and other members of the Objectivist circle in the 1930s, up to his meeting with Allen Ginsberg and Tom Pickard in 1960s Britain against a backdrop of social activism and modernist revival. In particular, it seeks to query the critical commonplace that Bunting was a sceptic interested solely in the autotelic form of poetry, and to argue that his revival at the time of the long poem Briggflatts in the sixties should be read historically - as a case study that shows the Poundian tradition of praxis and orality acquiring a newly communitarian, leftist emphasis in the context of post-war Anglo-American poetry. The study draws extensively on unpublished manuscripts and letters held at the Basil Bunting Archive, Durham University, the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas (Austin), and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Seismic analysis of knee elements for steel frames
Keywords: earthquake
dynamics

The 1994 Northridge and 1995 Kobe earthquakes, which were moderate in seismological terms, showed that many buildings were subjected to demolition or very expensive repairs because of severe damage in principle members, mainly in the column-beam connections. As a result, the development of dissipative systems was encouraged, which limit the damage parts to easily replaceable elements, in case of moderate earthquakes. One such system is the knee braced frame. Knee braced frames are a modified form of cross bracing in which the brace is cut short and connected to the mid point of a knee element spanning between the adjacent beam and column. The key component is the knee element, which controls both the initial elastic stiffness of the frame, and the onset of yield and subsequent energy dissipation. The knee elements are required to ensure energy absorption through repeated large deformations without suffering collapse or instability. This thesis describes the development of different knee element designs and their performance assessments. It is shown that the dissipative mechanism of the web yielding in shear is advantageous because it is independent of the moment distribution and it does not affect the connections and extends the dissipative zones to all its lengths. Extensive finite element modelling and experimental testing have been undertaken. In the shear yielding mode excellent performance was achieved using standard hot rolled sections, modified by the addition of web stiffeners to prevent localised buckling failure. Weakening of the knee element's webs so that it yields very early in an earthquake has potential benefit, but is shown to be unsafe as it promotes premature failure of the element. A knee element model for non-linear dynamic analysis of an entire building has been developed. Time history analyses showed that knee braced frames with the developed knee element have a large global ductility and an outstanding performance. Results obtained with different pushover analysis methods (Eurocode 8, FEMA-356 and ATC-40) have been compared to those obtained wit the time history analyses. Moreover FEMA-356 method, which includes a more accurate representation of the structure's significant post-yield stiffness, gave the closest agreement with the time history analyses and is recommended for the design of knee braced frames.
'Cloth, cull and cocktail: anatomising the performer body of "Alba"'
Keywords: Scottish studies
Fine art
performance art

Where and how can the live experience 'being there' be positioned in Scottish live art culture? Such transformatively liminal corporeity is situated in three examples of performative objects intrinsically linked to readings of Scottish identity. By collating a 'blood culture imprint' of 1970s performance art with Scottish live artist Alastair McLennan's positioning of the artist body as art, the thesis presents a revised understanding of how and where the live can be placed within Highland Gaelic culture. The specificity of this frame is intrinsically linked to the 'blood culture imprint' of Culloden and as such presents a liminal outworking in the three examples chosen which collectively portray an object body in the form of a textual anatomy of 'Scotland' or 'Alba'. Using contemporary live art discourse, the ontological origins of performance art in Scotland are situated as potentially live within the transfixed frame of the thesis itself, thereby positioning the authorship and readership of its contents as a revivifying act per se, reflecting the theoretical argument. I will argue that despite a seeming lack of performance art tradition in Scotland, this 'blood culture imprint' of the 1970s can be used to define Culloden and post- Culloden culture as necessarily animated by instances of live art. The examples chosen are James Clerk Maxwell's first colour photograph of a tartan ribbon, scalping survivor Scotsman Robert McGee's cabinet card and James MacPherson's Ossian repositioned as a post-genocide numinous wish text. Each performative object betrays its ontological origins, displaying a textual anatomy which argues that collating a performer body of 'Alba' can demonstrate a fundamental and historical performance culture.
The secular liturgical office in late medieval England
Keywords: liturgy

This thesis challenges existing preconceptions about the textual uniformity of the late medieval English Office liturgy. The received narrative is that all breviaries of the same liturgical Use are in large part identical. This study demonstrates that all complete, surviving manuscript breviaries and antiphonals of each secular liturgical Use of medieval England (dating from s.xiii – s.xvi) do share a common textual ‘fingerprint’ particular to each Use. But this is in large part restricted to the proper texts of universal or popular observances. Other features of these service books, even within the sources of the same Use, are subject to significant variation, influenced by local customs and hagiographical and textual priorities, and also by varying reception to liturgical prescriptions from ecclesiastical authorities. Distinct regional patterns, especially in the kalendar, are a principal result. Rubrics (giving details of ritual) and lessons (at Matins) in particular suggest that the manuscripts are witnesses to textual subfamilies, and that these represent succeeding stages of the promulgation of the major Uses across England. The identification of the characteristic features of each Use and the differentiation of regional patterns have resulted from treating each manuscript as a unique witness, a practice which is not common in liturgical studies, but one which gives the manuscripts greater value as historical sources. The unique character of each allows it to be situated in its temporal and intellectual context and indeed to illuminate that context. For instance, properties of individual manuscripts can be compared with other evidence for the prescription of liturgy in England in order to assess the efficacy of ecclesiastical orders of this nature. A descriptive catalogue of 115 manuscripts and transcriptions of their liturgical kalendars provide both a resource for further research and a proof of concept of the methodology.
Novel synthetic routes towards trans-THFs and application towards the FG fragment of pectenotoxin-4
Keywords: trans-THFs
Pectenotoxin-4

trans-2,5-Disubstituted tetrahydrofurans (THFs) are a common structural motif in a multitude of biologically active natural products. This thesis explores new synthetic routes for their synthesis and subsequent application towards the C31-40 fragment of pectenotoxin-4.
Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter reviews methods for the synthesis of trans-2,5-disubstituted tetrahydrofurans with a special emphasis on those that have been applied towards the synthesis of natural products.
Chapter 2: Results and Discussion The Acyloin Coupling Reaction towards trans-THFs A brief overview of the acyloin coupling reaction is followed by description of the aim for this part of the project, using this process as a key step towards trans-THFs. Work directed towards the stereoselective protonation of the bis-enolate intermediate formed during the acyloin coupling is discussed. The exploitation of A1,3 strain was the most effective strategy found to control the diastereoselectivity in the protonation of the bis-enolate intermediate.
Desymmetrisation Using Sharpless Asymmetric Epoxidation towards trans-THFs Strategy developed towards the synthesis of a 2,5-disubstituted 3-hydroxy trans-THF is studied. The optimisation of the synthesis of meso-hepta-1,6-diene-3,5-diol was examined and subsequent desymmetrisation using the Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation was explored.
Approaches towards the FG Fragment of Pectenotoxin-4 The previous synthesis of the FG fragment was reviewed. Details of the retrosynthesis to be employed for the preparation of the southern hemisphere of pectenotoxin-4 are discussed. The desymmetrisation strategy previously explored was applied towards forming the F ring of pectenotoxin-4. The C31-40 carbon skeleton was successfully formed in 12 steps using a convergent synthesis. The elucidation of an X-ray crystal structure requires further exploration to confirm the relative and absolute configuration of the THF formed.
Chapter 3: Experimental Full experimental procedures and characterisation of compounds are reported.
A performance-oriented account of money awards for breach of contract
Keywords: mitigation
damages
compensation
specific performance
remoteness
loss
Contract remedies
contract theory
performance interest

It is generally accepted that the award of contract damages in English law is governed by the expectation principle. This principle provides that following an actual or anticipated breach of contract the innocent party is entitled to be put into the position that he or she would have occupied had the contract been performed. There is significant ambiguity over what ‘position’ means in this context. The conventional understanding of the expectation principle is that it stipulates the appropriate measure of loss for an award of compensation. This thesis challenges this understanding and proposes a new performance-oriented account of awards given in accordance with the expectation principle.
The thesis is in two parts. Part I outlines and challenges the orthodox understanding of awards given in accordance with the expectation principle. Chapter One outlines the orthodox account, and explains the traditional interpretation of loss in this context. Chapter Two mounts a doctrinal challenge to the orthodox account, demonstrating the existence of many awards for breach of contract that do not reflect the actual loss suffered by the innocent party. Chapter Three highlights the conceptual difficulty of the orthodox account and outlines the problems with conventional terminology, proposing stable definitions for important legal concepts.
Part II advances an alternative account of contract damages that draws a distinction between two different kinds of money awards. The first is an award substituting for performance. The second is an award compensating for loss. Chapter Four outlines the account’s foundations by defending the existence of the right to performance and the existence of the proposed distinction. Chapter Five explains the quantification and restriction of money awards substituting for performance. Chapter Six explains the nature of money awards compensating for loss. Finally, Chapter Seven defends English law’s preference for awarding monetary substitutes for performance rather than ordering specific performance.
The limits of community participation: examining the roles of discourse, institutions, and agency in the promotion of community participation in Thailand
Keywords: Thailand
Community Participation
Development Programme

This thesis is a study of how community participation is understood, enacted, produced and governed in the context of an organization that promotes community participation. The contribution of this thesis is to shed light on the frequently found gap between the expectations and the reality of community participation.
In examining how community participation is promoted, the thesis focuses in particular on actors such as community leaders and development workers, and the interactions between them. The thesis applies a multi-disciplinary theoretical framework, which is built through combining theoretical approaches that include discourse analysis, institutional analysis, and the actor-oriented approach. The framework accommodates the examination of the roles of various types of social factors in shaping the workings of community participation. These include the idea of community, social relations in communities, and the agency of actors who are promoting the approach. This thesis conducts a case study of the Council of Community Organisations (CCO) programme in Thailand, which is a large-scale promotion of community participation in development and governance. The case study examines the operation of the programme from national to local level, and explores several localities where the programme is being implemented.
The exploration of the CCO programme illuminates pathways through which the approach’s inner mechanisms can constrain it from fulfilling the expectations. The thesis identifies how the idea of community, through its association with the sense of collective identity, tends to distort community participation from achieving empowerment. Moreover, the social relations in communities, generally characterised by inequality and diversity of interests, frequently constrain the approach from achieving effective mobilisation of collective action. Such a constraint is often accentuated by adverse incentives that community leaders face when they become part of development interventions. Finally, it is found that the deficiencies of community participation are likely to persist. This is because the actors who are promoting the approach usually manoeuvre to gain advantages from their roles in ways that reinforce the influence of the aforementioned factors.
Factors influencing damage to cerebral white matter in the elderly
Keywords: homocysteine
MRI
MMA
vitamin B12
folate
White matter hyperintensities

BACKGROUND: White matter hyperintensities (WMH) appearing on magnetic resonance images (MRI) occur in the non-demented and demented elderly. Age is an established risk factor associated with WMH. Other possible risk factors include sex, smoking, hypertension, biochemical markers and genotypes associated with B vitamin status, and APOE ε4 status. WMH have been associated with an increased risk of depression and cognitive dysfunction.
OBJECTIVES: To investigate factors associated with WMH 2 to 5 years later in healthy elderly. Measures of cognitive impairment, depression, and brain volume were also evaluated in relation to WMH.
METHODS: 155 healthy volunteers (60 to 90 years) were included (49% women). Participants completed approximate yearly examinations including a medical history, cognitive assessment, depression survey, T1 and T2-weighted MRI, blood samples measuring markers and genotypes associated with B vitamin deficiencies, and APOE ε4 status. Associations were investigated by Pearson correlations, followed by linear regression, adjusted for age and sex.
RESULTS: Age was positively associated with WMH. Other significant prospective risk factors included systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). DBP and total WMH were positively associated in hypertensive, but not normotensive participants. Elevated homocysteine was positively associated with WMH within the top tertile. No other factors were significantly associated with WMH. Baseline WMH were negatively associated with follow-up (3 to 5 years) cognitive assessments of executive function and processing speed, and positively associated with depressive symptoms. Furthermore, WMH were positively associated with ventricular cerebrospinal fluid volume and negatively associated with percent brain volume change and grey matter volume, but not white matter volume.
CONCLUSIONS: Age is the most striking risk factor associated with WMH; other significant factors include SBP and DBP. Baseline WMH were associated with decreased performance on tests of executive function, processing speed, and increased depressive symptoms. These data suggest that WMH is not a benign process of aging considering the positive associations to hypertension, cognitive impairment, and depression.
Act your age: reading and performing Shakespeare's ageing women
Keywords: women
ageing
Shakespeare
performance
old age

This thesis provides the first study of the representation, performance, and reception of Shakespeare’s ageing women in early modern and present-day England. It contributes an exposition of the physiology and theory of early modern ageing, drawing on this original material to make an argument for the ageing woman as a source of anxiety within the plays as they were originally staged, and as they are performed and received today. It finds the old and ageing woman in Shakespeare’s drama to be represented as physically and verbally excessive; the thesis also identifies a corresponding urge in the plays and in their reception towards the ageing woman’s containment and control. This containment is exercised in the text, the rehearsal room, the theatre, and the public space of performance reviews.
My introduction determines my methodology and establishes the terms of reference for the project. The first chapter defines early modern old age and delivers a study of the early modern literature and theory of the ageing body. Each of the four subsequent chapters explores an ageing female character or characters through the lens of a theme: magic, motherhood, sexuality, and memory. The characters studied are drawn from The Merry Wives of Windsor, Macbeth, The Winter’s Tale, Coriolanus, King John, All’s Well That Ends Well, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, and Richard III. Some brief concluding remarks complete the thesis.
The larger project of the thesis is a cultural study. Throughout, I am keen to learn how characters are talked about as well as written and performed. My effort to understand the work which Shakespeare’s older women are asked to carry out in the present day defines my methodology: I draw on prompt books, production recordings, reviews, costume, photographs, programmes, and interviews with actors and directors to aid my investigation, juxtaposing these with close study of the written plays and the early modern culture and knowledge which underpins them. The word count, exclusive of bibliography but inclusive of all footnotes and an appendix, is approximately 92,000.
The role of mechanical loading in osteoarthritis of the knee
Keywords: validation study
finite element modelling
subject-specific
osteoarthritis
knee

Medial osteoarthritis (OA) and lateral OA have distinct characteristic cartilage lesion locations and knee flexion angles associated with lesion development. These types of OA are suggested to be caused by loading when the knee is in extension and mid-range flexion, respectively.
This project used subject-specific finite element (FE) models to investigate contact conditions within the extended and flexed knee. A method of creating subject-specific FE models by combining geometry (derived from magnetic resonance imaging scans) and load cases (calculated from motion analysis data) collected from the same subject was developed. This model creation method was validated by comparing experimentally-measured pressure data to contact data calculated by FE models.
Models of normal knees in three subjects were created first. Models with larger subject-specific loads had larger displacements and higher stresses and contact pressures. Contact occurred over most of the articulating cartilage surfaces, both in areas of typical cartilage lesions and outside areas of typical cartilage lesions.
Parameters in the normal models were then altered to reflect three mechanical changes hypothesized to lead to OA: increased loading, globally decreased cartilage stiffness, and locally decreased cartilage stiffness. Increased loading led to increased displacements, stresses, and contact pressures. Contact shifted anteriorly in the extended knee models to locations of typical medial OA cartilage lesions; contact remained stationary with elevated stress magnitudes in the flexed knee models. Globally decreasing cartilage stiffness had limited effects on contact results. Locally decreased cartilage stiffness led to locally increased displacement and strain and locally decreased stress and contact pressure. Contact again shifted anteriorly in the extended knee models.
Potential mechanisms of OA initiation were then proposed. Increased weight or locally decreased cartilage stiffness increased strains within the cartilage. High strains can damage the cartilage matrix fibres, further decreasing cartilage stiffness and eventually leading to cartilage lesions and OA.