VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Migration, poverty, and violence in Mexico: the role of casas de migrantes
Keywords: Mixed Migration
Poverty
Violence
Mexico
Humanitarian Aid
Transit Migration
Humanitarianism
Migration
Migration Industry

Throughout the past three decades, poverty, violence, and assistance/care have emerged as three interrelated and self-reinforcing dynamics in the migration process in Mexico. However, the study of migration in Mexico has mostly focused on migrants’ journeys or structural dynamics such as violence, neglecting a more systematic analysis of the relationships between migrants, humanitarian actors, contexts, and effects generated by their interactions. The role of poverty in migration processes and how humanitarian organizations function as migration intermediaries also remain underexplored in migration studies.
This study contributes toward filling this gap on the bases of an interdisciplinary theoretical framework and qualitative research conducted along migration routes in Mexico. The project explores different dynamics in the migration process by analysing the interactions between migrants and casas de migrantes (migrant shelters) in Mexico. It incorporates semi-structured interviews that include a multidimensional poverty measurement; in-depth interviews with migrants, humanitarian organizations, and other actors; and participant observations. Methodologically, casas de migrantes are an object of inquiry, the place where the interactions with migrants occur, and the space where the dynamics of poverty, violence, and assistance/care converge.
This study demonstrates how poor migrants use casas de migrantes as one of several resources to cope with hardship and precariousness during their journeys. At the same time, the study reveals how violence plays a significant role in migrants’ journeys, leading them to seek safety in shelters. Thus, the main contributions of this research are the conceptualization of casas de migrantes as a type of humanitarianism that I call ‘humanitarianism from below’, and an understanding of the significant role the casas de migrantes play as migration intermediaries, which makes them part of the humanitarian governance architecture of migration in Mexico.
William Lithgow's Totall discourse (1632) and his science of the world
Keywords: seventeenth-century
Lithgow
Totall
discourse
travel-writing
travel-writers
Protestant

This thesis is an examination of William Lithgow (1582-1645?), and travel and travel writing in the early seventeenth century. Lithgow’s chief work, The Totall Discourse of the rare Adventures and Painefull Peregrinations…. (1632), is notable for its outspoken treatments of Roman Catholicism in Europe and Palestine, its melancholy assessments of Mediterranean civilisation, its remarks on combined English and Scottish colonial enterprises in Ireland, and its ‘eye-witness’ descriptions of the Spanish Inquisition. The four main chapters of this study examine these episodes along Lithgow's itinerary and highlight characteristics of his self-presentation in each: Italy (Protestant/Catholic antagonism), the Mediterranean (tensions between the use of sources and first-hand observation), Ireland (responses to colonialism), and Spain (‘fictionality’ in contemporary travel narratives).
To establish the likely reasons and sources for Lithgow’s narrative style, the thesis examines several calamitous events before, during, and after his travels; his religious upbringing and educational background; and his response to and adoption of other texts and generic models -- fictional and nonfictional, classical and contemporary, Catholic and Protestant. Unlike better-known English travel writers, such as Moryson, Coryat, and Sandys, Lithgow substantially rewrote and reissued his account twice -- the 1614 edition of his first journey was rewritten in 1623, then further descriptions of his second and third journeys were added to the ‘Totall’ 1632 edition. Changes to successive editions suggest his increased preoccupation with appearing as a divinely-countenanced Protestant pilgrim and with presenting his endeavours as the pursuit of the ‘science of the world’, or the careful compiling of first-hand observations and information from other sources. By focusing on his long-neglected work, the thesis examines how Lithgow refashions his narrative and his narratorial persona, considers the similarities and differences between the Totall Discourse and other works, and seeks to qualify the author’s reputation as ‘lying Lithgow’.
Hybridisation of high penetration photovoltaic, anaerobic digestion biogas power plant and electrical energy storage
Keywords: Levelized cost of energy
Electrical energy storage
Clearness Index
Hybrid energy system

This thesis presents the development of methodologies for the hybridisation of an energy system with a solar Photovoltaic (PV), an Anaerobic Digestion biogas power plant (AD) and an electrical energy storage (EES). This includes the system sizing and operating regime. The key aspect is to evaluate the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) for the system and the generation assets.
The challenge arises in analysing the economic projections on PV and EES hybrid systems. EES does not produce electricity as it is not a conventional generation source. Commonly, the cost of a generating asset or the power system is evaluated using LCOE. Levelized Cost of Delivery (LCOD) has been proposed to calculate the LCOE for the EES.
A deterministic approach for sizing an off-grid PV and EES with AD biogas power plant to meet a proportional scaled-down demand of the national load has been implemented. The aim is to achieve a minimal LCOE for the system while minimising the energy imbalance between generation and demand due to both AD and PV generator constraints.
To reduce the amount of irradiance data and to provide a standardised methodology for PV system design and analysis, feature extraction technique has been used to discover Clearness Index (CI) patterns and to construct centroids for the daily CI profiles. Fuzzy C-Means with Dynamic Time Warping has been used for daily CI profiles’ classification.
An operating regime has been proposed for the hybrid system, and the EES degradation cost has been considered via a capacity fade model.
The work presented in this thesis has been supported with case studies from real-life solar irradiance and national load data. The proposed methodologies have contributed to a more efficient and cost-effective method for PV-AD-EES hybrid system sizing and operation.
Peer-to-peer use of the target langauge in MFL classes: an investigation into pupil perceptions
Keywords: MLT2018
Modern Foreign Languages
MLT

This investigation evaluated pupil perceptions about speaking with their peers in the language that they are being taught, referred to as the Target Language (TL). The Research Questions examined the impact of an intervention which increased the frequency of Pupil TL use on the challenges, facilitators, and potential learning gains of Pupil TL speech. It also considered pedagogic implications for developing speaking activities.
The sample consisted of 96 Year 10 students of French in an English secondary school, where the development of pupil TL speech had been identified as a priority. Pupils spoke in the TL for between three and five minutes during each lesson, over 12 weeks. Speaking was supported by a Graphic Organizer which was devised collaboratively. Baseline data was obtained through questionnaires, and was compared with Post-Test Questionnaires and Delayed Post-Test Questionnaires. Feedback was collected immediately following activities and Group Interviews were conducted.
Findings suggest that pupils perceived learning gains of: greater lexis recall; increased understanding of the TL: and that learning gains in TL speech supported TL writing. Indications from the data and from literature suggest possible grammatical learning gains, however pupil recognition of this is not evident. According to pupils, the Graphic Organizer supported lexis acquisition. The findings further suggest that pupils showed interest in the ludic and interactional functions of speech, although teachers may prioritise the transactional function of speech. Pupils also reported feeling increasingly supported by their peers, which may reflect increased affiliation and enhanced collaborative co-construction of knowledge.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”: can cooperative learning help raise achievement for students in secondary RE?
Keywords: Religious Education
MLT
MLT2018

Young people from low-income backgrounds are less likely to succeed than their more affluent peers (Andrews et al, 2017). Educational performance has been identified as one of the main obstacles preventing people from escaping poverty, nevertheless children from low-income backgrounds still fail to achieve their potential (ESRC, 2012). This has created an ‘attainment gap’ between pupils from low-income backgrounds and their peers. Whilst it is emphasised that there is no one solution to raising the achievement of disadvantaged learners, various factors are highlighted in helping achieving these aims, including: a focus on achievement for all pupils (not just disadvantaged pupils); high expectations for all; an emphasis on a ‘keep up’ not ‘catch up’ culture; targeted intervention where there is a knowledge or skills gap; and pupils sitting on mixed tables for access to good role models for behaviour, self-esteem, organisation, independence and vocabulary. An intervention was formulated centred on Robert Slavin’s Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) cooperative learning technique. The intervention focused on preparing Year 8 pupils for starting the new Religious Studies GCSE course in Year 9, by mastering the skills and questions required. This process was completed over two learning cycles, throughout a 12-week time period. The findings of this study provided mixed results. An initial period of adjustment hindered STAD pupils’ progress. During the last cycle of the intervention, pupils completing STAD were seen to achieve more highly than their control class counterparts. However, overall the control classes achieved more successfully than those completing STAD. Progress for disadvantaged pupils was also variable. Overall, the findings indicated that there was no ‘one size fits all’ approach between classes, and a variety of pedagogical methods has been recommended in order to respond to the needs of all pupils. No previous research appears to have been done regarding the use of STAD within Religious Education; this research aims to contribute to this gap in literature.
Can increasing students’ engagement with DIRT Feedback impact on their progress in science at KS4?
Keywords: Science
MLT
MLT2018

Research was carried out with a year 10 Chemistry class (n=26) in a comprehensive Academy in Oxfordshire over the first four months of 2018. This class was chosen due to their lack of engagement with DIRT feedback sessions prior to the study. The purpose of this intervention was to identify DIRT feedback techniques which students engaged with and using end of topic test data, assess the impact this had, if any, on their progression in science at KS4. Students were exposed to a four-step cycle of written, peer, verbal and self-feedback on their work and through lesson observations and collaborative analysis of students’ work, students’ engagement with each of these feedback tasks was assessed.
The study revealed that judicious written feedback provided by the teacher resulted in the most engagement from the participants of this study. Students involved in this research engaged least well with peer feedback despite collaboration with colleagues on writing success criteria and suggested prompts for students to use in their feedback on peers’ work. The most significant findings of this research were that 77% of students scored higher in the following end of topic test and that 92% agreed or were neutral that responding to teachers’ written feedback helps them to progress in science.
In terms of the implications of this research, it would be interesting to collaborate with other departments at the Academy to explore in more detail how they carry out DIRT feedback sessions and what strategies they use to get students to engage with feedback. Within the science department, the imbedding of crib sheets, collaboration when writing comments on students’ work and teachers using a variety of feedback techniques would have a positive impact on student engagement with DIRT feedback sessions.
Incorporating faded worked-examples into the mathematics classroom: exploring gender and socioeconomic effects with two Grade 9 groups from South Africa
Keywords: MLT2018
MLT

Cognitive load theory details how instructional processes can be adapted to reduce unnecessary strain on working memory and improve academic performance. A main component of this theory, the worked-example effect, specifies how the use of worked-examples allows for greater learning gains compared to traditional problem-solving practices for students of low prior knowledge. This project explored the use of faded worked-examples in mathematics with two Grade 9 groups from South Africa. The aim was to explore if students of varying prior knowledge level, socioeconomic status and gender were differentially affected by completing faded worked-examples. A participatory research approach was conducted with teachers from two schools of different socioeconomic standing. Faded worked-examples were used as the medium of instruction and results on subsequent isomorphic test questions were analysed to assess the efficacy of the intervention. Surveys were also used to explore student perceptions towards the use of faded worked-examples as a learning tool. The results suggest that all students can complete faded worked-examples; however, female students were able to do so more accurately than males. Female students also outperformed males in the post-test, regardless of prior knowledge level and socioeconomic status. Most students indicated that faded worked-examples helped them learn how to simplify algebraic fractions, with more female students indicating so. Students from a low socioeconomic background also found the use of faded worked-examples more beneficial than their higher socioeconomic counterparts. Consequently, the use of faded worked-examples may improve the mathematics performance for female students and those of a low socioeconomic status. These results allude to the possibility of gender differences within cognitive load theory and worked-example research, which has not previously been documented.
How does playing with grammar impact on pupils’ writing? – A mixed methods research project into the efficacy of contextualised grammar tasks
Keywords: MLT
MLT2018

This research and development project explores the impact of a contextualised approach to teaching grammar upon the writing skills of year 7 pupils at a comprehensive school in Kent. The approach required pupils to imitate complex sentence structures whilst writing creatively. The intervention took the form of starter tasks that were delivered at the beginning of English lessons for three months. I hypothesised that through frequent opportunities to write with this process of creative imitation, pupils would internalise the complex sentence structures and grammatical formations, developing their use of sentence structure and grammatical accuracy in their own writing.
A controlled trial method was used to produce quantitative data measuring the progress of an intervention group against a control group. Collaboration with another English teacher aided the delivery of the intervention as well as moderating the marking of the baseline and post-intervention tests. Furthermore, through interviews with this teacher and the department, I was able to explore other teachers’ perceptions of the intervention which, in particular, provided valuable ideas regarding how the intervention’s design could be improved and differentiated. Following the controlled trial, focus group interviews were held which revealed that the intervention’s efficacy could be partly attributed to its tendency to motivate pupils. However, these interviews also found that pupils were cognitively disengaged from the concept of grammar.
The results of the controlled trial suggested that the intervention had had an overall positive effect upon the grammatical proficiency of pupils’ writing, and was particularly effective for pupils who had performed below average in the baseline test. Further empirical research needs to be conducted to corroborate this project’s findings across different school contexts.
A liquid crystal device for speckle reduction in coherent light
Keywords: electrohydrodynamic instability
dynamic scattering

High coherence in laser light causes spatially distributed interference called speckle. In applications such as holographic projection, this undesirable side effect degrades image clarity. The current methods of speckle reduction, such as a rotating ground-glass diffuser, require additional bulky moving parts. In this thesis an alternative technology is presented based upon a compact chiral nematic liquid crystal device. A spatially-random, time-varying phase modulation of the incident light is achieved through the electrohydrodynamic instabilities that are induced by an alternating electric field.
Presented within is a study of material and device properties as a function of speckle reduction and transmission, as well as the electric field conditions required for peak performance. These properties are investigated experimentally and through optical simulation. It is shown that a chiral nematic with short pitch (𝑝 ≈ 250 𝑛𝑚), moderate birefringence (1.5 ≤ Δ𝑛 ≤ 2.0) and minimal rotational viscosity provide maximum speckle reduction while optimising transmission of light through the device. A glass cell thickness of 20 µm is preferred for maximum speckle reduction and cell lifetime, with minimal hysteresis. Increased cell temperature is found to improve speckle reduction and transmission, while slightly reducing the electric field amplitude required for peak performance. This is expected to be largely due to a significant reduction in viscosity with increased temperature. Additional scattering particulates are shown to only improve speckle reduction in materials with low birefringence (Δ𝑛 ≪ 0.2). The ionic dopant CTAB is shown to reduce the threshold for EHDI but has no consistent influence on speckle reduction or field amplitude for peak performance. Furthermore, it is shown that CTAB molecules undergo an irreversible electrochemical reaction at the electrodes, limiting or completely preventing a cell from exhibiting further EHDI.
In this thesis, through material and device optimisation, a LC diffuser is fabricated that is capable of reducing speckle contrast to 𝐶 = 0.07 with transmission of just over 50%.
Metabolomic characterisation of acidosis in severe falciparum malaria
Keywords: Pathophysiology
Metabolomics
Plasmodium falciparum
Gut microbiota

Severe falciparum malaria is a potentially lethal parasitic infection for which the treatment remains suboptimal as the pathophysiology is incompletely understood. Acidosis is the strongest predictor of death, caused by an accumulation of acids of which some are known, such as L-lactate, while others remain unidentified. The aim of this thesis was to further characterise metabolic acidosis in severe falciparum malaria by establishing the identity and source of the unidentified non-lactate acid load.
A prospective observational study was conducted among patients with falciparum malaria from Bangladesh to establish the identity of metabolites associated with acidosis through a metabolomic analysis of plasma of 152 participants (Chapter 3). Patients with acidosis had significantly elevated levels of organic acids in their plasma that could be traced to a potential microbial source, either parasitic or bacterial. Additionally, dysregulation of plasma free amino acids was observed. The clearance of newly identified microbial acids was impaired in fatal cases.
Follow-up studies were conducted by performing an in vitro metabolomic analysis of the liquid culture medium of Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 strain parasites with the aim to determine if parasites produce any of the microbial acids identified in patients with severe malaria (Chapter 4). There was no evidence for the release of microbial acids by Pf 3D7 in vitro suggesting their source is unlikely to be parasitic.
Alongside of this, a prospective study was done to determine factors related to plasma free amino acid dysregulation (Chapter 5). Amino acids were simultaneously quantified in the plasma of 295 participants in relation to clinical syndromes. It was observed that amino acid abnormalities were part of widespread fluctuations in nitrogen balance, whereby the direction of change was related to the severity of malarial disease and the presence of hyperlactataemia, reflecting underlying tissue hypoxia.
Finally, the role of the gut microbiota was further investigated as a potential source of microbial acids in 86 participants, including cases with severe falciparum malaria acidosis, by measuring soluble markers of gut integrity in plasma and sequencing the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene in faecal DNA (Chapter 6). Patients with malaria had signs of impaired gut barrier function with elevated levels of plasma D-lactate linked to an enrichment of lactate-producing species in the gut microbiota.
In conclusion, acidosis in severe falciparum malaria is associated with microbial acids and plasma free amino acid derangements. Microbial acids are not produced by Pf3D7 in vitro but instead might derive from the gut microbiota. These findings point towards a leaky gut as a possible source of previously unidentified acids in severe falciparum malaria acidosis with potential implications for treatment.
Protein phosphatase 6 function and regulation throughout the cell cycle
Keywords: aurora A
cancer
cell cycle
protein phosphatase 6

Faithful cell division is a basic requirement for the generation of all living cells. Essential to this task is the correct formation and maintenance of bipolar mitotic spindles, which segregate the duplicated genome in mitosis. This process is dependent on the balanced and concerted activities of Aurora A and PLK1 kinases. Integration of function between these two kinases is partially explained by Aurora Amediated activation of PLK1. Further regulation is conferred by the heterotrimeric protein phosphatase 6 (PP6), which counteracts Aurora A autoactivation. How the activity of this phosphatase is regulated in space and time remains poorly understood. The results presented here demonstrate that PP6 is functionally stratified into three distinct pools based on the regulatory SAPS subunit, which confers binding-mediated substrate specificity. This property allows only PP6-SAPS2 and PP6-SAPS3 to dephosphorylate Aurora A. Furthermore, SAPS subunits confer unique regulatory properties to the holoenzyme. Uniquely, PLK1 binds to and phosphorylates PP6-SAPS2 in mitosis, inhibiting its activity against Aurora A. The combined action of PP6-SAPS2 and the constitutively active PP6-SAPS3 establishes feedback control between PLK1 and Aurora A activation during mitosis, and during a G2 DNA damage checkpoint. Concordantly, PP6 is important for normal cell cycle progression in non-transformed cells. Thus, this work firmly establishes the features conferring specific properties to PP6 holoenzymes and uncovers the first known mechanism of PP6 activity regulation.