VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Exploring palaeoaridity using stable oxygen and carbon isotopes in small mammal teeth: a case study from two Late Pleistocene archaeological cave sites in Morocco, North Africa
Keywords: oxygen
carbon
isotope

Revised chronologies from Moroccan cave sites have raised questions concerning the timing of changes in human cultural behaviour in relation to past climate shifts. However, many of the inferences about past moisture regimes are based on external records. Therefore, this thesis aimed to develop a palaeoclimate record using oxygen and carbon isotope values (δ18O and δ13C) in Gerbillinae (gerbil) teeth from two Late Pleistocene cave sites, El Harhoura 2 and Taforalt, in Morocco. Since small mammals are not commonly used to construct proxy climate records, a modern isotope study was undertaken in northwestern Africa to understand the influences on the stable isotope composition of small mammal tissues in semi-arid and arid settings.
The results from the modern study show that δ18O composition of gerbil teeth is strongly correlated with mean annual precipitation (MAP), and therefore in arid settings reflects moisture availability. Predictably, the δ13C values of the gerbil teeth reflected C3 and C4 dietary inputs, but arid and mesic sites could not be distinguished because of the high variability displayed in δ13C. The δ18O isotope-based MAP reconstructions suggest that the Mediterranean coastal region of North Africa did not experience hyper-arid conditions during the Late Pleistocene. The δ13C values of the gerbil teeth show that C3 vegetation dominated in the Late Pleistocene, but there was a small amount C4 vegetation present at Taforalt. This indicates that small mammals are extremely sensitive to discreet shifts in past vegetation cover. Both the modern and archaeological studies demonstrated that the isotope values of molars and incisors differed. The results indicate that tooth choice is an important consideration for applications as proxy Quaternary records, but also highlights a new potential means to distinguish seasonal contexts. Comparisons of proxy climate records and cultural sequences at Taforalt and El Harhoura 2 show that Middle Stone Age occupations of both sites occurred during relatively humid and arid climate phases. The transition to the Later Stone Age appears to have taken place during a period of increased aridity, hinting that this cultural transition may be related to changing environmental conditions.
Quantitative regulation of inducible genes: comparing models of 'on/off' against continuously variable switches
Keywords: Immediate Early Genes
RNA
c-jun
Protein
transcription
c-fos
MAPK pathways

In order to respond rapidly and appropriately to their environment, cells activate internal signalling pathways, such as the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, which elicit appropriate responses through quantitative modulation of gene expression. Conceptually, gene expression may be regulated by a bistable switch or a continuously variable switch. The bistable switch considers the gene in either a stable 'on' state, where transcription happens at a constant rate intrinsic to the system, or a stable 'off' state, where transcription is not permitted. By contrast, the continuously variable switch considers gene transcription as a dynamic process, where the rate of transcription initiation varies with the intensity of the signal perceived. The work in this thesis focuses on the interface between the well-understood MAPK pathways and immediate-early (IE) genes and shows that a continuously variable switch would be more appropriate to convey quantitative regulation. Immunoblotting analyses of MAPK pathways after treatment of synchronised C3H 10T½ cells with the specific PP1 and PP2A protein phosphatase inhibitor, okadaic acid, revealed the presence of turnover of phosphorylation of transcription factor (TF) in the stress-activated MAPK pathways, suggesting dynamic regulation of these MAPK pathways. Analyses of the induction of IE genes c-fos and c-jun after perturbations of the turnover of phosphorylation by phosphatase or kinase inhibitors suggest that rather than static phosphorylation state dynamic turnover of phosphorylation may regulate IE gene induction. Finally, a simplified computational model of the interface is presented, which confirms that dynamic regulation linking rate of initiation to the turnover of phosphorylation of TFs would better convey quantitative responses.
Bibliographia Historica Byzantina: a historical and bibliographical description of the early editions of the Corpus Historiae Byzantinae (1556-1645)
Keywords: Zonaras
Gregoras
choniates
early modern history
Renaissance history
Byzantine historiography
chalkokondyles
book studies
Renaissance printing

This thesis is concerned with the editorial, printing and marketing history of four Byzantine historical narratives, published between 1556 and 1645, and soon collectively identified under the name Corpus Historiæ Byzantinæ (hereinafter, 'Byzantine Corpus'). The four Byzantine historians – Ioannes Zonaras, Niketas Choniates, Nikephoros Gregoras and Laonikos Chalkokondyles – enjoyed considerable popularity in early modern Europe, with a peak of interest in the second half of the sixteenth century. This thesis aims at highlighting how these four texts, despite being so popular in a number of early modern European countries (particularly in the German-speaking area, in Italy and in France), did not do so for the same reasons: in fact, depending on the country in which these books were printed, they were marketed, perceived and read in very different ways. This element is particularly relevant in light of the fact that the Byzantine Corpus represents the earliest predecessor of the Corpus Fontium Historiæ Byzantinæ, the modern resource for the study of Byzantine historical sources.
Chapter 1 analyses the early formation of the Byzantine Corpus and, in particular, the figure of Hieronymus Wolf, first editor of the Byzantine Corpus, often considered the 'father' of Byzantine studies; his relation with his patrons, the Fuggers of Augsburg; finally, his relation with his publisher, the Basel printer Johannes Oporinus. It then provides contextualised bibliographical and paratextual descriptions of the editiones principes of the Byzantine Corpus, all printed in Basel.
Chapters 2-5 reflect the same comparative approach, used to investigate how the later editions of the Byzantine Corpus were prepared and marketed in different European countries: each chapter provides a bibliographical and paratextual analysis of the subsequent German, Italian, French and Genevan editions respectively.
The Conclusions draw together all the information collected in the previous chapters and investigate three pivotal aspects of the Byzantine Corpus: i) the formation of the Byzantine Corpus and the individual popularity of each of the four Byzantine historians based on the frequency and popularity of both individual and collective editions; ii) the distinctive reasons of their popularity, analysed through a comparison of the different approaches with which editors and publishers have presented these texts to their respective audiences in Germany, Italy and France; iii) the reasons for the rise and decline in popularity of the Byzantine Corpus in the early seventeenth century.
Topics in quantum measurement of many-body systems
Keywords: Probe
Dynamics
Zeno
Quantum
State Engineering
Many-Body
Light
Optical Lattice
Cavity
Entanglement
Atom
Measurement
Information
Ultracold
Physics
Simulation

In quantum physics, measurement exhibits fundamentally different behaviour to the classical case, having direct effect on the observed system. As a result, the very act of observation in quantum systems plays a non-trivial role, and can be used as a method of controlling the dynamics of the system. With the rise of quantum technologies, understanding and exploiting these phenomena offers a great boon. Here, we investigate a selection of the possibilities offered by quantum measurement for characterising and manipulating many-body systems, with particular focus on ultracold atomic gases.
We first study how microscopic quantum structures can be used to indirectly probe larger systems. After deriving a general result, we consider the specific case of impurity atoms immersed in a quantum gas, and demonstrate that this enables density-related properties of the gas to be inferred from measurements of solely the impurity internal state. Following this, we explore how the backaction from measurement can be used for control of quantum systems. Utilising the quantum Zeno effect that results from persistent measurement of a quantum state, we show how fully-quantum many-body light-matter interactions enable the engineering of atomic states and dynamics through measurement of the light, leading to an abundance of interesting phenomena, including genuinely multipartite entangled states, long-range correlated tunnelling, and the quantum simulation of long-range and correlated interactions. The resulting structure imparted by the light on the matter can also be used to detect and measure atomic entanglement. Finally, we generalise quantum Zeno dynamics to the regime where the measurement timestep is finite, and demonstrate that the resulting system evolution can exhibit correlated processes.
Pioneers and progress: white Rhodesian nation-building c.1964-1979
Keywords: Settler Colonialism
Decolonisation
Symbolism
Rhodesia
Nationalism

The thesis explores the white Rhodesian nationalist project led by the Rhodesian Front (RF) government in the UDI-period of 1965 to 1979. It seeks to examine the character and content of RF nation-building, arguing that it is important to consider the context of wider global and regional trends of nationalism at the time. Thus, it places the white Rhodesia within wider ‘British World’ studies of settler societies within the British Empire, but also compares it to other African nationalist movements in the 1960s and 1970s. It studies white Rhodesian nationalism on its own terms as a sincere, albeit unrealistic, alternative to majority-rule independence, and considers how the RF adapted over the period in its continuing attempts to justify minority-rule in an era of global decolonisation.
Two thematic sections examine the RF’s nation-building project in systematic detail. The first section, on symbolism, considers Rhodesia’s processes of ‘symbolic decolonisation’. This involved white Rhodesians creating new national symbols not associated with Britain or the British Empire. Processes by which new national symbols were chosen are used as a lens to explore white Rhodesian debates about their ‘new’ nation after the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was taken in 1965. They reveal the ambiguities and complexities at the heart of the RF’s nation-building project; a project that was frequently exclusionary and hotly contested at every opportunity. The second section explores how history was used to help create and defend the nation, adding to studies of the use of history in nationalist projects. It considers a range of non-professional sites of history-making, demonstrating the complicated relationships between these different sites and the state’s wider nationalist agenda. It also explores how history was invoked to justify and defend minority-rule independence both before and after UDI.
The fourth ordeal: a history of the society of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt, 1973-2013
Keywords: Political Islam
Khairat al-Shatir
Organizational Behaviour
Organizational Ethnography
Organizational Anthropology
Egyptian Army
Decision Making
Muslim Brotherhood
Organization Studies
Egyptian History
Egypt
Social Movement Theory
Mohammed Morsi

This thesis is an internal organisational history of the Society of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt between 1973 and 2013. Based on memoires of Brotherhood leaders, as well as oral history interviews conducted in 2012 and 2013 with different rank-and-file members and dissidents, the thesis situates the life trajectories and personal experiences of these individuals within a larger national and international context. The purpose is to provide a historical account that is able to explain the reasons for the Brotherhood's cataclysmic failure of the summer of 2013.
In accounting for the fall, my key argument centres on the internal rivalry between two political factions representing different "schools of thought", or visions, about the kind of organisation the Brotherhood was supposed to be. Representatives of the respective coalitions competed against each other over hegemony and organisational resources, basing their claims on contrasting intellectual traditions, political cultures and organisational values that had co-existed, sometimes uncomfortably, within the ranks of the Society since the times of Hasan al-Banna. The adherents of the "Qutbist" school of thought put forward the idea of a closed, pyramid-shaped and exclusive organisation, while those closer to 'Omar al-Tilmisani's model aspired to a reformed Society that was open to outsiders, and where internal progression was based on meritocracy, transparency and some form of democracy. I argue that it is through the holistic analysis of the complex dynamics between internal organisational politics, the use of ideology, and the personal experiences of key organisational members, that we are best able to grasp the Brotherhood's failed experience in governance in 2013.
Internet use and health: a mixed methods analysis using spatial microsimulation and interviews
Keywords: health
spatial microsimulation
mixed methods
health service use
digital divide
health information-seeking
perceived health
internet use
e-health

Internet use is considered a lever for empowering patients, levelling inequalities and reducing healthcare expenditure. However, with digital inclusion, health provision quality and health system efficiency high on the UK and EU policy agendas, we need to better understand the relationship between Internet use and health outcomes to assess potential benefits and adverse effects.
This research addresses the question of how Internet use influences individuals’ health service use and their perceived health in the context of England. Focusing on health information-seeking, it analyses variations across different kinds of users, mechanisms between Internet use and both health outcomes, and the role of individual and contextual factors in this relationship.
To answer this question, this research uses a mixed methods approach. Quantitative data from the Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS), the English census and Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) was connected through spatial microsimulation based on output areas. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured, face-to-face interviews, primarily with former OxIS participants from output areas in the quantitative strand. The quantitative data was revisited based on emerging interview themes.
The results indicate that Internet use influences perceived health and health service use via various mechanisms based on the Internet’s content, mediation and connection affordances. However, the boundaries between users and non-users are blurry and outcomes vary for different types of individuals, classified here as learners, pragmatists, sceptics, worriers, delegators and adigitals. Age, education, socioeconomic status, long-term health conditions, and geographic context influence Internet use and health outcomes separately, while the social context shapes their relationship too.
These findings advance the theoretical understanding of Internet-based health outcomes, and provide practical implications for health professionals and policymakers with insights down to the local level. Moreover, this research demonstrates how novel insights for public wellbeing can be derived from qualitatively enriched secondary data in privacy-preserving and cost-effective ways.
The socio-ecological functions of fossoriality in a group-living carnivore, the European badger (Meles meles)
Keywords: Magneto-Inductive tracking
Climate change
Burrowing
Resource Dispersion Hypothesis

This thesis examines the role played by den use in socio-ecology, especially in leveraging group formation (i.e., the Fossorial Benefits Hypothesis; FBH), using badgers as a model species. In particular, I benefit from recent technological developments, facilitating detailed measurements of activity, energetic expenditure, ranging behaviour, and underground localisation, enabling the examination of hitherto intractable facets of badger socio-ecology, allowing a comprehensive investigation.
Group-living is theorised to evolve when the benefits of living with conspecifics outweigh the costs. While pack hunting, and allo-parenting play a specific role in fostering communal living, I demonstrate in Part I that continued cohabitation at natal dens can often acts as a precursive mechanism initiating cohabitation, that can persists into adulthood among small, omnivorous/insectivorous, den-using carnivores. In this context, I then consider the implications of delayed dispersal and reproductive suppression. This provides an evolutionary basis linking fossoriality and group-living in the Carnivora, where sociality is, in part, explained by burrow-dwelling.
Part II establishes that the energetic benefits of using fossorial dens as refugia from adverse weather provide a functional basis for persistent co-occupation of a common den by conspecifics. Badgers use setts strategically, with reference to their body-condition and their imperative to forage, to reduce energy expenditure and optimise their capacity for achieving minimal food security. This section also considers how badgers may compensate for ongoing rapid climate change.
Part III demonstrates that cohabitation at dens does not infer group collaboration or social structure; individuals may still act independently. Nevertheless, burrow use patterns were coordinated between badger group members, evidencing that dens act as social foci.
Collectively these lines of evidence support the FBH as a playing a causal role promoting spatial group formation and a complementary role driving persistent benefits of group-living in suitable resource-scapes; resulting in 'spatial' though not necessarily 'social' -groups.
Ducks and decussation: information in the avian brain
Keywords: tool use
crow
homing
abstraction
interhemispheric transfer
duck
pigeon
imprinting
corpus callosum
cognition

A vertebrate brain must acquire, store, and process vast amounts of information. For birds, the majority of the incoming sensory information is visual, and like all vertebrates – except eutherian mammals – their visual system is bifurcated, with each eye feeding incoming information to the contralateral brain hemisphere. As a result, the bird must integrate these two banks of information to produce unified responses. This arrangement raises several questions about how a bird acquires, manages, and represents incoming visual information, and this thesis explores three of these questions. First, two studies investigate information integration across the two brain hemispheres in a long-term and short-term assay of birds trained monocularly with one eye and then tested with the other. The first finds that over a long term learning task in pigeons, some interhemispheric transfer of learned information occurs, but that complete integration does not occur. The second, using imprinting in ducklings, shows that the eye occluded during training has no demonstrable access to the learned information for at least three hours. A third study demonstrates that New Caledonian crows hold tools laterally in order to prioritize visual contact with the tool by their dominant eye during foraging, offering a potential underlying cause of this previously unexplained behavioural laterality. The fourth study explores the nature of information itself in the avian brain, showing that the maternal imprint formed by a newly hatched duckling can include abstract concepts defining the maternal stimulus, rather than just memory for visual images. This extends relational concept learning to a new species and suggests a much broader phylogenetic distribution of this ability. Combined, the studies suggest that the avian brain coordinates action managing two somewhat independent banks of information, biasing body positions in monocular tasks to allow control by a preferred eye, and has hitherto unsuspected capacity for abstract concept formation.
Multi-gravity: can you have too much of a good thing?
Keywords: bi-gravity
multi-gravity
modified gravity
massive gravity

The ongoing quest to map the space of possible, consistent field theories, and to determine their properties, is extremely interesting from a purely theoretical perspective, as well as being a prerequisite for the phenomenological application of any such theories. To that end, this thesis is concerned with various theoretical aspects of multi-gravity theories—that is, theories which contain multiple, interacting spin-2 fields.
The analysis presented here will proceed by using the Stueckelberg trick to reintroduce the multiple copies of diffeomorphism invariance which the theory would possess if none of the spin-2 fields interacted, and it is discussed in detail how to apply this to multi-gravity, and in particular how this differs from massive and bi-gravity.
The structure of the interactions which arise from the helicity-0 modes of the massive gravitons is examined in the so-called decoupling limit. It is found that the structure these take in bi-gravity is generalised to that of multi-Galileons, although this is not always manifest; an extension of the so-called Galileon duality is used to probe this.
Multi-gravity theories can be elegantly described using graphs to encode the network of interactions between the different fields, and this forms the basis for the other two questions which will be covered. When the theory contains a cycle of interactions, it is explicitly shown how this leads to the introduction of a ghost-like instability which is not present otherwise, and how this lowers the cutoff of the effective theory. In the absence of cycles, the structural properties of the graph which represents a given theory continue to play a large role in determining the scale at which the effective theory breaks down. This is the final topic, which is studied in detail, and upper and lower bounds on this scale are derived which depend on various properties of the graph.