VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Verification pathologies: an analysis of ceasefire verification missions in Angola, Mozambique and Kosovo
Keywords: KVM
Verification
Ceasefire Verification Mission
ONUMOZ
Kosovo Verification Mission
UNAVEM II
Verification Pathology

The UN and other international organisations (IO) routinely deploy ceasefire verification missions (CVM) in support of international peacekeeping. The positive contributions CVMs can make are reliant on understandings by the conflict parties and by the international community that CVM reporting is impartial, the product solely of data gathered and analysed in a manner that is rational and objective. This thesis examines this assumption by asking, 'To what extent can factors other than monitoring data affect the content of ceasefire verification reports?'
The research constitutes a series of plausibility probes on groups of factors that could theoretically affect a CVM's output so as to result in some non-trivial change to the international effect that output would likely have. Factor indicators and counter-indicators were derived and applied to three typical cases from a universe of 68 post-War CVMs: the UN Angola Verification Mission II (1992), the UN Operation in Mozambique (1992-4), and the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission (1998-9). Sources (many previously unpublished) were drawn from archives in New York, Prague and Oxford, and from private collections, and supplemented with interviews with former CVM participants and expert commentators.
The thesis demonstrates that the following 'verification pathologies' can substantially affect ceasefire verification reports: productive language and proscriptions in the CVM mandate and the ceasefire agreement(s); organisational dysfunction in the CVM, the conducting IO and the nexus between them; certain processes upon which CVMs are based; certain CVM procedures; moderation or suppression of information by the conducting IO in pursuit of its strategic purposes; manipulation by powerful actors. The thesis offers ways in which those who conceive, design and conduct CVMs could seek to moderate the influence of these pathologies, and urges a more critical reading of CVM outcomes and consequent historical events.
Model theory of Shimura varieties
Keywords: Categoricity
Transcendence properties
Shimura varieties
Open image theorems

The purpose of this thesis is to provide model-theoretic structures to study Shimura varieties. Two main problems are studied.
Transcendence Properties of j. This part is aimed at proving a general transcendence property for the j function in the spirit of Schanuel’s conjecture. Such a result was proven for the exponential function by M. Bays, J. Kirby and A. Wilkie, and it relies heavily on the Ax-Schanuel theorem. An analogue of Ax-Schanuel for the j function was proven by J. Pila and J. Tsimerman, and this allowed to adapt the strategy used for the exponential to j.
One concrete consequence of the main transcendence result is:
Theorem. Let 𝜏 ϵ R be j-generic. Suppose z1,...,zn ϵ H+ and g ϵ GL2(Q(𝜏 ))+ are such that z1,...,zn; gz1,...,gzn are in different GL2(Q)+-orbits (pairwise). Then:
t.d.(j(z); j'(z); j"(z); j(gz); j'(gz); j"(gz)/𝜏) ≥ 3n:
The term j-generic is analogous to that of being exponentially transcendental. Using o-minimality, we prove that all but countably many values for 𝜏 can be used.
We also analyse a modular version of Schanuel’s conjecture and prove that there are at most countably many essential counterexamples to this conjecture.
Categoricity of Shimura Varieties. Let p : X+ → S(C) be a Shimura variety. We associate with it a countable two-sorted first-order language and analyse the complete first-order theory it determines. The question of interest in this part of the thesis of whether or not this theory is categorical. One immediate issue is that the theory cannot determine the size of the fibres of the map between the sorts, so we restrict our analysis to the models with the smallest possible fibres.
Categoricity for Shimura curves was established by C. Daw and A. Harris. From their result, it is immediate that some form of arithmetic open image condition is needed for the categoricity of general Shimura varieties. Our goal is to postulate the correct open image condition and prove that it is equivalent to categoricity. This open image condition is not known in general, however, using known cases of the Mumford-Tate conjecture, we obtain unconditional categoricity of two well-known Shimura varieties: A2 and A3, the moduli spaces of principally polarised abelian varieties of dimension 2 and 3, respectively.
Advanced accelerator interaction region optics for LHC operation and future hadron colliders
Keywords: Accelerator Interaction Region
Large Hadron Collider
Accelerator Optics
LHC
Future Circular Collider

In order to further probe our understanding of the structure of matter and the universe, physicists constantly strive to create particle colliders that reach higher energies and luminosities. Improved technologies can partly help to fulfil these goals, however, novel experimental interaction region (EIR) optics and methods are also essential to this cause.
This thesis covers several optics issues and solutions applicable to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), its High Energy (HE-LHC) upgrade as well as the Future Circular Collider (FCC-hh). A key tool presented in this thesis is an optimisation method to produce short final focus triplets that produce large integrated gradients whilst having an aperture sufficiently large to sustain the beams and radiation shielding.
The optimisation method uses a thin lens solution as a first approximation for the required quadrupole strength. This solution is outlined in the thesis, it has a large range of potential applications. This is demonstrated by using it to optimise the dynamic aperture of the Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAcility (NICA), which is severely impacted by quadrupole fringe field effects.
An optimised triplet for the FCC-hh is integrated into the EIR and the resulting optics as well as the general impact it has on the machine is presented in this thesis. It also presents how the LHC EIR can be modified for the HE-LHC, including the implementation of an optimised triplet. Dynamic aperture studies of the HE-LHC with triplet field errors were also performed in the scope of this work.
Finally, a ballistic alignment optics for the LHC will be presented as well as a method that uses singular value decomposition to measure the offset of modulated quadrupoles. It will also be illustrated how this method can be used to improve the accuracy to optics measurements. These efforts can be used to improve the stability and luminosity of the LHC.
Epigenetic modification of the frataxin gene for the treatment of Friedreich’s ataxia
Keywords: SUV4-20
H4K20
Histone methylation

Friedreich's Ataxia (FRDA) is a recessive neurodegenerative disease caused by the partial silencing of the frataxin gene (FXN). Long GAA triplet repeat expansions in the first intron of FXN are responsible for the reduced levels of frataxin, an essential mitochondrial protein involved in iron-sulphur cluster biosynthesis. The precise mechanisms of FXN silencing remain unclear, but in the last few years, epigenetic silencing of FXN was reported to have a major role in the development of FRDA. The presence of expanded GAA repeats has been shown to induce a repressive heterochromatin environment at the FXN locus, with increased levels of methylated histones H3K9me2/3, H3K27me3 and H4K20me3, as well as reduced acetylation of histones H3 and H4, demonstrating epigenetic repression of FXN.
In this thesis, first HDAC3 and G9a were targeted by siRNA-mediated knockdown to increase overall acetylation and reduce methylation and promote transcription of FXN. Using a human FXN-GAA-Luciferase (FXN-GAA-Luc) repeat expansion reporter model of FRDA, HDAC3 knock-down was shown to increase FXN mRNA levels with no effect on protein, while G9a knock-down did not show an effect on either FXN mRNA or protein levels.
Next, the Structural Genomics Consortium epigenetic compound library set was screened in the FXN-GAA-Luc reporter model of FRDA to identify compounds that can restore FXN expression. Amongst the hits was a group of compounds targeting methyltransferases which increased frataxin protein expression, assessed by the FXN-GAA-Luciferase assay. Concentration-response curves and direct siRNA-mediated knock-down of the targets showed that the methyltransferases SUV4-20 play an important role in the silencing of FXN. The specific inhibitor of SUV4-20, the probe A-196, was then tested in FRDA patient-derived fibroblasts and was able to increase the expression of mature FXN protein by 1.5-fold in the FRDA line GM04078. When A-196 was tested for its ability to modify a wide range of cellular phenotypes in FRDA patient cells, such as altered mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondrial ROS generation, it showed only modest effects that did not reach statistical significance. Therefore, in collaboration with Oxford SGC, more stable and potent A-196 analogues were synthesized and tested in the FXN-GAA-Luciferase reporter cell line, and two new variants were found to increase FXN protein expression.
In summary, the work has defined SUV4-20 as a novel therapeutic target for FRDA and identified compound A-196 as a potential small molecule candidate for hit-to-lead development as a new drug for this fatal disease.
Moral manoeuvres: cybersecurity in Egypt and the Gulf states
Keywords: norms
cybersecurity
cyber security
Egypt
Arab Gulf states

Cybersecurity is a complex and contested issue in international politics. The existence of radically different conceptions of cybersecurity is recognised by many scholars in International Relations (IR), but rarely explored outside the cyber ‘great powers’: the US, the EU, Russia and China. This thesis investigates cybersecurity in Egypt and the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a region between two poles of internet governance that has close military and security ties to the US and Europe and authoritarian features more reminiscent of Russia or China. Given this hybrid position, the research question of this thesis is: how can we explain the nature of cybersecurity in Egypt and the Gulf states? This question is not merely academic, as it directly affects the creation of international agreements, laws and institutions, as well as corporate and state surveillance practices.
The thesis argues that cybersecurity is primarily an expert discourse incorporating both technical and value claims. The content of this discourse – who cybersecurity protects from what – is ambiguous due to both professional incentives and technological characteristics. Relevant actors use this ambiguity to perform what I call ‘moral manoeuvres’: altering values and technical concepts within this professional discourse for their own ends. I identify four separate moral manoeuvres, which I call alignment, appropriation, manipulation and elision. These manoeuvres are performed by human rights NGOs, government organisations, international surveillance suppliers, and the wider cybersecurity industry respectively. The overall result of these moral manoeuvres is the preservation and even amplification of contradictions and ambiguities present in expert cybersecurity discourses. This thesis makes three original contributions to IR: first, it provides a more nuanced account of the construction of security domains than critical theories of securitisation; second, it explains struggles over values in cybersecurity better than alternative accounts of ‘cyber norms’; and third, it presents detailed empirical data on an important region and issue area with few existing treatments.
Improving biologically inspired protein structure prediction using satisfied predicted contacts
Keywords: Protein structure

The number of published protein structures is vastly outnumbered by protein sequences - this gap is only increasing as sequencing technologies continue to advance. Experimental methods of protein structure determination are costly and slow; computational protein structure prediction could be a solution.
A major problem with current methods of protein structure prediction is the large amount of computational time needed to generate an accurate structure for one protein. For some cases, notably smaller proteins, structures can now be reliably and accurately predicted. However, for a large number of proteins, especially longer proteins, the computational cost means that structure prediction remains infeasible using current methods.
SAINT2 is a sequential, fragment-based de novo structure prediction method that has been demonstrated to be faster and comparably successful at predicting correct structures than other methods. The aim of this study is to increase the number of protein families that SAINT2 can predict correct structures for by utilising predicted contacts in a unique way.
This thesis finds that in some cases, evaluating the long-range satisfied predicted contacts in a partial model can give an indication as to the final model quality. Discarding partial models predicted to lead to an incorrect final structure leads to overall enrichment of the decoy pool for these proteins. However, it is still unclear how to identify cases that our new version of SAINT2 would be better at predicting.
We also find that during extrusion, correct and incorrect models can satisfy and break predicted contacts differently. Correct models may be forming stable sub-structures early on in extrusion, whereas incorrect models appear to be breaking contacts throughout extrusion. It may be possible to identify incorrect predicted contacts based on their rank by satisfaction in models. This may lead to an increase in model quality if contacts predicted to be incorrect are down-weighted in further SAINT2 runs.
Hope, help, duty and disappointment: Romanian mobility and its discontents
Keywords: Precarity
Favours
Discontent
Romania
Neoliberalism
Migration

This thesis sets out to explain a paradox: how is it that Romanian migrants voice a discourse of mutual avoidance and mistrust, when conationals’ help underscores every level of their journeys? The argument proposed here is that, contrary to the dangerous naturalisation of Romanian suspicion under tropes of Balkanism, this sense of disunity is constructed everyday by a neoliberal configuration which transfers social security onto personal connections, but which precisely in doing so comes to turn connections into the idiom of voicing discontent.
To illustrate this, the thesis draws upon a year of multi-sited fieldwork conducted with Romanian migrants in a North London neighbourhood, and in a Carpathian village. Situating their departure within a discussion of the country’s tortuous post-socialist transition, I show how the sense that there was nothing left at home gave rise to the widely shared hope that anything was possible abroad. For many of those who left, however, hope was not a frictionless return to Europe, but a journey made possible only by Romanian acquaintances who were called upon, much like in the imaginary of socialist informal economies, to arrange housing, legal status, or work in the UK. It is at this intersection of hope and help, where the duty to care for others and the concern to engineer one’s own mobility come to clash, that discontent also emerges.
Focusing thus on the sociality of informal help which propels Romanian migrants’ journeys, this thesis seeks to enrich the migration literature by reaffirming the figure of the migrant as a moral subject endowed at once with interest and affect. Looking at the formation of mistrust, another ambition of this project is to draw attention to the dangers of personalising mobility, in a political economic configuration where state-based social security is increasingly eroded.
Selective permeabilisation of the blood-brain barrier during brain metastasis via TNFR1
Keywords: Blood-brain barrier permeabilisation
Brain metastasis

The presence of an intact, impermeable blood-brain barrier (BBB) during the early stages of metastatic colonisation significantly limits early detection and effective treatment of brain metastasis. Systemic tumour necrosis factor (TNF) administration transiently permeabilises the metastasis-associated vasculature, whilst retaining the integrity of the surrounding the BBB. This approach enables both the enhanced detection of metastatic colonies with contrast-enhanced MRI and the improved delivery of therapeutically relevant molecules to the tumour site. The aim of this thesis was to unravel the mechanism underlying the TNF-induced BBB breakdown.
TNFR1, but not TNFR2, is upregulated on tumour-associated vasculature in experimental models, human brain metastasis resections and endothelial cells co-cultured with metastatic tumour cells (breast, lung or melanoma) or stimulated with relevant tumour cell conditioned media.
Treatment of an endothelial monolayer with either TNF or a TNR1-selective mutein increased permeability, which was eliminated in TNFR1-silenced endothelial cells stimulated with TNF. TNFR2 silencing did not alter TNF-induced endothelial permeability.
In vitro studies revealed that the blockade of the Ras/PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling cascade, alongside components of the RhoGTPase family and NFκΒ pathway prevented the TNF-induced permeabilisation of the brain endothelium. On the contrary, targeting of the MAPK pathways had no effect on TNF-induced permeabilisation.
The results of this study suggest that TNF-induced BBB permeabilisation is TNFR1-mediated and involves activation of the Ras/PI3K, the Ras/ RhoGTPases and NFκΒ pathways. These findings support the concept that TNFR1-targeted agents may provide a sensitive and specific means to selectively and transiently modulate the BBB at sites of brain micrometastasis.
Completeness of the ZX-calculus
Keywords: quantum computation
graphical calculus

The ZX-calculus is an intuitive but also mathematically strict graphical language for quantum computing, which is especially powerful for the framework of quantum circuits. Completeness of the ZX-calculus means any equality of matrices with size powers of n can be derived purely diagrammatically.
In this thesis, we give the first complete axiomatisation the ZX-calculus for the overall pure qubit quantum mechanics, via a translation from the completeness result of another graphical language for quantum computing– the ZW-calculus. This paves the way for automated pictorial quantum computing, with the aid of some software like Quantomatic.
Based on this universal completeness, we directly obtain a complete axiomatisation of the ZX-calculus for the Cliord+T quantum mechanics, which is approximatively universal for quantum computing, by restricting the ring of complex numbers to its subring corresponding to the Cliord+T fragment resting on the completeness theorem of the ZW-calculus for arbitrary commutative ring.
Furthermore, we prove the completeness of the ZX-calculus (with just 9 rules) for 2-qubit Cliord+T circuits by verifying the complete set of 17 circuit relations in diagrammatic rewriting. This is an important step towards efficient simplification of general n-qubit Cliord+T circuits, considering that we now have all the necessary rules for diagrammatical quantum reasoning and a very simple construction of Tooli gate within our axiomatisation framework, which is approximately universal for quantum computation together with the Hadamard gate.
In addition to completeness results within the qubit related formalism, we extend the completeness of the ZX-calculus for qubit stabilizer quantum mechanics to the qutrit stabilizer system.
Finally, we show with some examples the application of the ZX-calculus to the proof of generalised supplementarity, the representation of entanglement classification and Tooli gate, as well as equivalence-checking for the UMA gate.
African Literary Journals in French and Portuguese, 1947-1968: politics, culture and form
Keywords: politics
Présence Africaine
Casa dos Estudantes do Império
anti-colonial writing
postcolonialism
literary journals
poetry
space
form
Mensagem
comparative literature
gender

This is a study of two literary journals published in Europe in the years around African decolonization: Présence Africaine in Paris, and Mensagem in Lisbon. Drawing on close reading, archival research and work in postcolonial and critical theory, the thesis offers the first substantial engagement with the connections between the two journals.
The study considers how the body of thinking these journals represent can inform contemporary literary-critical postcolonial scholarship and makes a number of theoretical propositions. First, the study argues for the significance of the literary journal as a key form in the conjuncture of African decolonization. Second, it proposes (and demonstrates) a historically and geographically contingent understanding of the relationships between literature, culture and politics. Third, through its interrogation of multi-scalar anti-colonial literary geographies, the study makes an empirical and theoretical contribution to comparative, multilingual and ‘transcolonial’ scholarship in francophone and lusophone postcolonial studies. Finally, I make a further empirical contribution to the study of African and anti-colonial literary history by bringing forward the place of women at both institutions and analysing their writing.
Very little academic work has treated French and Portuguese language anti-colonial literary practice comparatively. If anything, postcolonial work in both languages has been more concerned to delineate the historical and theoretical distinctiveness of francophone and lusophone literary histories from a dominant body of anglophone postcolonial theory. As this research emphasizes, however, much anti-colonial African publishing and writing in French, Portuguese and English deliberately deployed translation and multilingual modes of ‘lateral and associative’ (Boehmer, 2005) intertextuality as a way of countering state-backed exceptionalist arguments about the French and Portuguese languages and colonial projects. This intertextuality is manifest in literary journals.
Methodologically, this study both compares the two journals and also figures them as part of shared transnational literary and anti-colonial networks. I propose modes of comparative reading capable of dealing both with the specificity of Portuguese and French colonial and anti-colonial histories and with the continuities between European colonial-capitalist practices. This comparative mode addresses both the particularities of African writing in French and Portuguese and the multilingual intertextuality these journals display.