VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Centre and Locality: The Political Structures of Castile, 1275-1325
Keywords: Political History
Political Structures
Spanish History
Medieval Castile

This thesis examines the structures of politics in Castile in the fraught period between 1275 and 1325. Whereas these decades have frequently been viewed as the product of an inevitable confrontation between crown and nobility or as a chaotic caesura in Castile’s march towards statehood, this thesis argues that the interpretive keys to the period lie in the evolving relationships between central and local structures, which explain how diverse elements of society were drawn into new patterns of dialogue, cooperation and conflict. Through a combination of documentary, normative and narrative sources, the first part traces the interlocking development of noble (Chapter 1), urban (Chapter 2) and royal (Chapter 3) power in three separate zones: the northern regions of Burgos and Valladolid, the medial areas of Ávila and Cuenca, and the southern kingdom of Murcia. It argues that the different conditions in each of these zones produced different configurations of power which affected patterns of interaction with the centre. The second part turns to the royal centre, showing how legal and judicial changes (Chapter 4), strategies of office-holding and grant-making (Chapter 5) and the ideology of the royal service (Chapter 6) drew political society into a structure that was highly dependent on convincing and undivided leadership at the centre. The final part applies these structural insights to a discussion of the events of 1275-1325, arguing that the dynamics of the reigns of Alfonso X and Sancho IV (Chapter 7) and Fernando IV and Alfonso XI (Chapter 8) can only be understood if we give due appreciation to the weight that the centre had acquired over the preceding century and the strategies that various agents actually pursued when faced with structural crisis. In place of a narrative of chaos and disaggregation, therefore, this thesis posits one of integration and reciprocal development.
The origins of the Duchy of Aquitaine and the government of the Counts of Poitou (902-1137)
Keywords: Poitou
Aquitaine
government
Duchy
France

At the end of the ninth century the members of two rival families were struggling to gain possession of the county of Poitou. Although the comital appointment was in theory still royally controlled, Ademar (the candidate of King Odo) was unable to maintain his position in the county when Ebles (the descendant of former Carolingian counts) seized Poitiers in 902. After an attempt by King Lothair and Duke Hugh the Great to capture Poitiers in 955 there was no further royal intervention in the county; and Hbles and his descendants, even though they maintained contacts with the royal court, ruled independently in Foitou. The history of Poitou at this period is important because documentary material survives to link the Carolingian county, where the count was still merely a royal official, with the feudal principality which was later evolved. For instance Ebles held malli publici in due Carolingian form and where the Norman ravages had not been too great took over the local administration; both he and his son seem to have established their own viscounts. Lands and rights which had once belonged to the royal fisc, (including palaces and royal monasteries) provided the foundations of Ebles' power; and the significance of these usurpations nay be judged from the fact that the authority of the Count of Poitou was never go strong where it did not rest upon the débris of Carolingian public authority. The acquisition of the title of Duke of Aquitaine, for instance, did not bring its holder any such solid advantages as the acquisition of the county of Foitou.
Continued in thesis ...
The urban constitution: Handling complexity and disagreement through intelligent decision-making
Keywords: Constitutions
Judicial Review
Public Administration
Courts
Expertise

This thesis investigates the legal and theoretical foundations of English planning law. Based on an in-depth examination of planning legislation and related case law, and situating this subject in its wider administrative and public law context, I create a novel intellectual framework for explaining the social and political significance of law in land transformation. I argue that planning laws form an urban constitution, that is, a collection of statutes, doctrines, and values, all of which taken together constitute public institutions and administrative venues to handle complex planning problems and tackle disagreement stemming from land change. I maintain that the main way the urban constitution addresses these issues is through the promotion of a distinct mode of public reasoning, which I term administrative intelligence. This is a form of decision-making that allows public authorities to define, refine, and settle policy ends that are to be encouraged in land development through the application of expert judgement. I show how the urban constitution, mainly through legislation and court decisions, seeks to handle planning problems and disagreement by encouraging that mode of reasoning.
Scanning tunneling microscopy of Ni and Fe nanocrystals on SrTiO3
Keywords: Iron
ultra-high vacuum
nanocrystals
nickel
strontium titanate
surface science

The equilibrium crystal shapes (ECS) of Ni and Fe were investigated on three different terminations of SrTiO3 {(001), (110), and (111)}. Firstly, to investigate surface reconstructions, SrTiO3 substrates were subjected to various thermal cycles. SrTiO3 is capable of producing a multitude of surface reconstructions such as (2 × 1), (2 × 2), (√5 × √5) R26.6°, and c(4 × 2) on (001) termination; (4 × 1) on (110) termination; and (4 × 4) and (6 × 6) on (111) termination. On SrTiO3 (001) sample, Ni grew itself in the form of a truncated pyramidal shape with (001) as the top facet, four (110) side facets and one (001) base facet. This shape of Ni nanocrystals was also observed on a SrTiO3 (001) sample that was subjected to sputtering followed by annealing at 920 ºC for 1 h. On SrTiO3 (110) sample, Ni grew itself in the form of truncated huts with (110) as the top facet, two (111) side facets, two (001) side facets, and one (110) base facet. On SrTiO3 (111) sample, Ni grew in two forms: icosahedron and truncated octahedron. Point, edge and face orientations of icosahedrons were observed. The icosahedron had (111) facets while truncated octahedron had (111) top facet, three (111) side facets, three (001) side facets, and one (111) base facet. On SrTiO3 (001) sample, Fe grew itself in the form of truncated pyramid shape with (001) as the top facet, four (110) side facets, and one (001) base facet. On another SrTiO3 (001) substrate, Fe grew in the form of truncated square-shaped and truncated rectangular-shaped nanocrystals. A surface texture was also observed and was found sensitive to tip bias. On SrTiO3 (110) sample, Fe grew itself in the form of truncated huts with (110) as the top facet, two (111) side facets, two (001) side facets, and one (110) base facet. On SrTiO3 (111) sample, Fe grew in two forms: truncated octahedron and truncated hut. Wulffman simulations of the nanocrystals were generated and adhesion energies were calculated.
Repeating seismicity across the Earth-Moon system
Keywords: Planetary seismology
Moon
Repeating earthquakes
Earthquakes
Seismology
Planetary Science
Lunar
Geophysics
Lunar seismology

Repeating earthquakes are a unique seismic phenomenon where the same fault patch regularly fails. They occur in various settings and are useful geophysical tools to monitor and image the subsurface. However, we do not understand the underlying physics that generates repeating earthquakes. I focus on two subsets of these repeaters: in Parkfield, California and in the Moon.
I examine repeaters in Parkfield to test a model where the deficit between seismic slip and long-term slip on the fault is explained by partial ruptures. I find that partial ruptures can accommodate ~30% of the slip on the fault, but this is not enough to explain the slip deficit on the fault, and an alternative model may be required.
I use deep moonquake observations to constrain the tectonic stress in the moon. Some deep moonquakes appear to slip backwards relative to other moonquakes. There are two models for these backwards slipping events: a large tectonic stress or a large tidal stress. To discriminate between these two models, I apply principal component analysis to the waveforms of deep moonquakes. I find the tidal stress to be the main driver of deep moonquakes and place an upper constraint of 0.1 MPa on any tectonic stress in the lunar interior.
Finally, I align deep moonquakes to reduce the uncertainty of arrival times; the uncertainty can be up to ~10 seconds for P-arrivals and ~4 seconds for S-arrivals. This limits our ability to use this data to locate deep moonquakes. To reduce the uncertainty, I align deep moonquakes to a reference event using principal component analysis. The method aligns the P-arrivals of 20 - 40% of the real deep moonquakes to within 1.5 seconds of the reference event -- a significant improvement relative to the original absolute error.
Simulation of, and with, first generation quantum computers
Keywords: quantum computing
scientific simulation
high-performance computing
software design
algorithms

The year is 2022. Scientists and engineers inch ever closer to building a practical quantum computer. The excitement in the research community, that we might soon fulfil Feynman’s dream to leverage quantum mechanics in machines capable of exponentially quicker computation, is steadily growing. With promised revolutions in chemistry, condensed matter physics and machine learning, and an expected market of 1.8 billion USD by 2026, quantum computing fights for the spotlight amid international pandemics and climate catastrophe. But the journey ahead is not an easy one. Quantum computers, requiring precise control of extraordinarily delicate quantum systems, are unsurprisingly challenging to engineer and equally difficult to design. A demonstration of quantum advantage through the quantum solving of a practical problem faster than available classical means, remains a research ambition.
At the forefront of this research are classical computers: the machines which crunch the numbers in our calculations, which interface with our quantum experiments, and which render this very document. Without them, quantum computation would have remained a fanciful whim on Feynman’s chalkboard. Behind the rapidly growing repertoire of quantum algorithms lies an equally impressive and expanding corpus of classical simulation strategies.
This thesis is about utilising first generation quantum computers and predicting their behaviour using classical computers. It develops novel quantum algorithms to perform variational minimisation, Hamiltonian diagonalisation, and approximate circuit recompilation, all intendedly compatible with near-future machines. It also devises classical algorithms for efficiently simulating quantum variational algorithms, emulating quantum computers using high-performance supercomputing facilities, and showcases the author’s efforts in scientific software development. Incidentally, this thesis makes no direct use of current day quantum hardware facilities. We hope to convince the disappointed reader that such an endeavour is presently pointless.
Hellenism and productivity in the early Schelling
Keywords: F.W.J. Schelling
Greek religion
German philosophy
German Hellenism

This thesis explores F.W.J. Schelling’s conception of philosophical productivity during his early period in the context of Griechentum or German Hellenism. Schelling is a German Hellene and grows under the influence of Johann J. Winckelmann, considered the father of Griechentum. That Schelling understands philosophy as productive, means that he conceives of philosophy as a matter of producing intellectual intuitions and Hen kai Pan; in fact, these two are inseparable. For the production of intellectual intuition is according to the ambit of Hen kai Pan. That he does so as a German Hellene means two things: first, he formulates this conception of philosophy out of a direct engagement with Ancient Greek philosophical texts, primarily Plato’s; this is apparent especially in his early notes on Plato. In his engagement with the philosophical and religious doctrine of Hen kai Pan, Schelling inscribes himself in a tradition of philosophy that mostly consists of Ancient Greek philosophers; this doctrine informs his understanding of Wissenschaft and potencies. Second, this understanding of Ancient Greek philosophy is as philosophical as it is religious. Indeed, Hellenism undergirding Schelling’s conception of philosophical productivity entails a serious engagement with Greek religion, specifically Greek Mystery religions. A historiographical revision of Deutscher Idealismus and Jenaer Romantik, two contexts in which scholars generally place him, arises, and reveals the portrait of Schelling as a philologist, or, at least, a philosopher heavily informed by philology.
The role of natural killer T cells in atherosclerosis
Keywords: natural killer T cells
immunometabolism
immunology
imaging mass cytometry

Atherosclerosis is a multifactorial, chronic inflammatory disease of the arterial wall starting in childhood. It is characterised by the gradual formation of lipid-, connective tissue- and immune cell containing plaques. The interplay between lipids and the immune system has proven key in its development. Natural Killer T (NKT) cells are at the interface between lipid metabolism and immunity, due to their restriction to lipid antigen-mediated activation by antigen presenting cells (APC). Although considered pro-atherogenic in mouse, the mechanisms involved in NKT cell activation in humans remain elusive and their role in human cardiovascular disease requires further study.
In this thesis, I identify lipoproteins very-low-density- (VLDL) and low-density (LDL) as vehicles for lipid antigen delivery and subsequent activation of invariant NKT cells. In the circulation, model lipid antigens bind to VLDL and LDL. Subsequent uptake by APCs is LDL-receptor (LDLR)-mediated, demonstrated in vitro and in vivo in mouse models. As a consequence, LDLR-mutant APCs of patients with familial hypercholesterolemia are impaired in their ability to activate invariant NKT cells, validating this mechanism in a human context. Moreover, the relation of NKT cell plaque-abundance with clinical outcome, patient- and plaque characteristics was studied in a human cohort. NKT cell abundance in plaques is inversely associated with plaque vulnerability, suggesting a protective role for NKT cells in stabilisation of the human plaque. Evidence of APC-NKT cell interaction in human atherosclerosis is currently lacking. To this end, I applied Hyperion Imaging Mass Cytometry (IMC) to human atherosclerotic plaques to study the NKT cell niche, revealing spatial evidence in situ of close cellular interactions of macrophages and NKT cells.
In conclusion, this thesis defines the mechanism of lipid antigen delivery to APCs by circulating lipoproteins, and its fundamental role in invariant NKT cell activation. It proposes innovative imaging modalities to study the APC-iNKT axis in the human plaque, and associates NKT plaque-abundance with clinical parameters for the first time. These novel insights further our understanding of the interplay of lipids and the immune system, underlying atherosclerosis.
The 1915 anti-Moor pogrom and ethno-religious violence in Ceylon, 1853-1915
Keywords: identity formation
First World War
Moors
religious revival
Sinhalese
Ceylon
Sri Lanka
ethno-religious violence

The 1915 anti-Moor pogrom was the first major episode of popular ethno-religious violence in Ceylon. Between 29 May and 6 June 1915, Sinhalese-led violence targeted Moors (the largest Muslim ethnic group in Ceylon), and included murders, rapes, assaults, attacks on mosques and homes, and the destruction of over 4,000 shops. The spectre of ‘1915’ has in the last decade received renewed attention in the context of escalating anti-Muslim violence in Sri Lanka (Ceylon was renamed in 1972). Why did this violence take place between Sinhalese and Moors?
In my thesis, I re-open this neglected chapter in Ceylon’s history, critically re-examine the deeper roots of ethno-religious violence between Sinhalese and Moors, and present a historical narrative of cycles of intolerance and victimisation. I explore the role of colonial policies and discourse in bringing ethno-religious groups into conflict with each other, and reassess certain positions taken in the existing historiography on the pogrom, as well as popular narratives on the outbreak, spread and aftermath of the pogrom. I then examine the colonial state’s failure to pre-empt this violence in 1915 and its harsh belated suppression of the violence.
My research uncovers a longer-term history of ethno-religious violence and investigates the ethnic and religious sensibilities and identities that crystalised from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. To do so, I repeatedly shift lenses from the microscopic, to the local, to the global, in analysing Sinhalese-Moor contestation in the religious, economic, and social spheres, and the clash between indigenous practices and colonial legislation. In my treatment of the 1915 pogrom, I locate the violence within the global context (the Islamic revival, and later, the First World War for example), and shed light on broader historiographical questions pertaining to the history of British colonialism in Ceylon.
Bio-medical degeneration in Britain, 1850-1914: theory and evidence
Keywords: degeneration
heredity
Britain nineteenth century
medicine
Britain twentieth century
evolutionary biology

During the second half of the nineteenth century leading to the First World War, a belief emerged that European populations were manifesting a process of physical and biological decline. This belief was inspired by social changes caused by industrialization and urbanization and by the apparent rationales of evolutionary biology, which appeared to place conflict and competition at the center of species development. Degeneration was not a positive or clearly defined theory. It drew upon existing theories of heredity and disease to express a sense of discomfort about progress and the competition between nations. The persistence of degeneration was a product of a bio-medical environment in which knowledge was provisional and rapidly changing. Because of this, ideas about hereditary disease and decline could not be definitively refuted even as an understanding of disease pathology, heredity and epidemiology consistently improved. In the British national context, degeneration would be notable in two particular arenas – the impact of urbanization and the study of recruiting statistics as a proxy for assessing the health of the population. These avenues demonstrated not only the tenacity of ideas about hereditary physical decline over a sixty-year period but also the equally tenacious responses from physicians and public health experts who disagreed with the fundamental assumptions of degeneration. This thesis will address the conflicts about the content of degeneration theory and will examine the existing knowledge about heredity and disease that made the refutation of degeneration so challenging. It will also examine official investigations at the turn of the 20th century, inspired by revelations gained from the poor health of army recruits, to look more carefully at how a concrete study of a social problem led to a rejection of pessimistic conclusions about public health.
Reducing agriculture's environmental impacts through diverse producers
Keywords: sustainability
agriculture
environment

The world food system is characterised by millions of diverse producers yet approaches to increase productivity and environmental sustainability that are effective in light of this remain underexplored. Here I present data revealing that the environmental impacts and productivity of different producers are highly variable. I then present evidence that an effective approach to improve outcomes given this heterogeneity would require environmental and productivity monitoring by each producer and communication of this information up supply chains and through to consumers. With colleagues, I develop an environmental science toolkit to enable producers to monitor their environmental impacts and a filetype to represent agri-environmental data which would support producers to communicate their impacts. I then explore how an environmental impact labelling scheme could trigger the creation of this measurement and communication system while also incentivising substantial behavioural change. Overall, this thesis develops, and then starts delivering on, a sustainability and productivity solution for agriculture.
Imaging biomarkers for cardiovascular risk prediction with CT techniques
Keywords: cardiac imaging
coronary plaques
HRP
FAI

Title: Imaging biomarkers for cardiovascular risk prediction with CT techniques
Background: Coronary plaque formation, progression and rupture are still the major cause for myocardial infarction. Although many ways for the identification of high-risk plaques have been developed and evaluated over the last decade, they are still not able to forecast the development and rupture of an individual plaque precisely. With the increase of new techniques such as radiomics and the fat attenuation index (FAI), new risk stratification techniques for coronary plaques could be established.
Methods: The first part developed an automated coronary plaque segmentation tool for calcified and non-calcified plaque components. The second part compared statistical versus radiomics-based automated plaque classification approaches. These two parts aimed to facilitate an automated coronary plaque analysis on future big cohorts. In the last part, FAI around plaques (pFAI) was analysed and differences between individual coronary plaque categories were compared.
Results: After showing excellent results on intra- and interobserver analysis for the manual segmented dataset, a model for calcified plaque components achieved very good results, even outperforming metrics from the interobserver analysis. The radiomics-based approach for non-calcified plaque detection proved the feasibility of this method by showing good initial results. While an automated plaque classification based on two first-order statistical values has already worked well, radiomics were able to even outperform this in terms of accuracy and diversification of plaque types. Measured pFAI revealed significant differences between individual plaque classes based on their degree of calcification.
Discussion: Although the size of the manual labeled and segmented datasets was limited, meaningful models for an automated coronary plaque segmentation and classification were developed. Further, it was shown that FAI around different plaque types provides additional information on their inflammatory status and, therefore, eventually on their individual risk, which has to be investigated on plaque-specific outcome data in the future.