VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Development of tissue and imaging biomarkers of rotator cuff tendinopathy
Keywords: rotator cuff
ultrasound
supraspinatus
orthopaedics
tendinopathy
shoulder

Rotator cuff tendinopathy accounts for the majority of cases of shoulder pain, however, the aetiology and pathophysiology of the condition is poorly understood and treatment interventions for the condition have been introduced on an empirical basis, guided only by unproven theories of biological and structural changes in and around the affected tissue.
This thesis explores changes in the provision of surgical interventions for rotator cuff tendinopathy, showing a rapid, sustained increase over the last decade. Investigation into the use of ultrasound as a clinical and research tool led to the development of an independent learning method for surgeons using the modality for shoulder imaging and highlighted the technological limitations of contrast enhanced ultrasound in assessing the microvascularity of the supraspinatus tendon.
Development of a novel biopsy method for sampling the supraspinatus tendon permitted collection of tissue samples from several cohorts of individuals with rotator cuff tendinopathy. These studies, for the first time, described tissue changes across the whole spectrum of pathology suggesting the possibility of an early inflammatory phase of the condition followed by tissue senescence and reduced viability as pathology progressed. Paired samples taken before and after treatment identified reduced tissue activity in response to glucocorticoid therapy and a potential healing response from the supraspinatus tendon following surgical repair. Significant deterioration in tissue activity and viability was shown as age increased in a large cohort of individuals, highlighting the major impact of ageing as a factor in the onset and progression of rotator cuff tendinopathy.
The techniques introduced provide standardised, reproducible methods for further evaluation of rotator cuff tendinopathy and the development of novel therapeutic interventions.
The rule in Re Hastings-Bass
Keywords: Fiduciary
Trusts
Trustees
Powers

The rule in Re Hastings-Bass is an equitable control on the exercise of powers by trustees. It has developed without satisfactory explanation of its doctrinal basis, resulting in uncertainty as to its scope and application. In Pitt v Holt [2011] EWCA Civ 197 the Court of Appeal began to remedy these defects by deciding that the rule is founded on a trustee’s duty properly to consider the exercise of a power.
This thesis argues, first, that Pitt is right to understand the Re Hastings-Bass rule as premised on the duties of trustees, and not on the exercise of a power producing an unintended result. This accords with the reasoning of earlier cases on the rule, and is also consistent with House of Lords authority on fiduciary powers and judicial non-interference in trustees’ decision-making. This duty is not a ‘fiduciary’ duty, or an aspect of the trustee’s duty of care, but is an independent incident of the office of trustee.
Secondly, this analysis of the Re Hastings-Bass rule facilitates exposition of its important features: the concept of ‘relevant consideration’ must be carefully circumscribed; the purported exercise of a power in breach of the rule is voidable, not void; the rule does not apply to purely personal powers, or to administrative powers; there are no special rules for pension trusts or the use of the rule to mitigate liability to taxation; trustees can usually avoid a breach of duty by taking professional advice; and in some circumstances, those professional advisers can incur liability to the trust beneficiaries.
Finally, the relationship between the Re Hastings-Bass rule and fraud on a power is examined. It is argued that the analogy between the two doctrines is not sound, and that there is reason to doubt aspects of the orthodox account of fraud on a power.
An architectural approach for reasoning about trust properties
Keywords: CSP
system architecture
provenance
Z
trusted computing

The need for trustworthy system operation has been acknowledged in many circles. However, establishing that a system is trustworthy is a significant challenge. While trusted computing proposes technical mechanisms towards this end, less attention is directed towards providing a basis for trusting such systems. Consequently, it is not clear: (i) how such mechanisms influence the overall trust in a system; (ii) the properties and assumptions upon which trust is based; and (iii) the evidence necessary to reason about these properties. This can be attributed to a number of factors including: (i) the complexity of modern systems; (ii) a lack of consensus on a definition of trust; and (iii) a lack of a systematic approach for identifying and using evidence to reason about trust-related properties.
This dissertation presents research towards addressing these challenges. We argue that an architectural approach provides effective abstractions for making trust properties and assumptions explicit and reasoning about a system's ability to satisfy these properties. We propose a framework for identifying, categorising and mapping trust-properties to aspects of a system that could be used to reason about these properties. Guided by this framework, we propose and develop models for representing knowledge about a particular aspect and using it to reason about trust-properties.
A semantic model, based on the semantics of Z, is developed to characterise building blocks of trustworthy systems and to demonstrate how the system's constituents determine its trustworthiness. An abstraction model based on formal verification is developed to reason about the impact of the system's construction and configuration on its trustworthiness. Finally, two complementary models for capturing the runtime aspects of the system are developed. A trace-based model enables analysis of runtime evidence in the form of event logs and a provenance-based model captures operations on the system as a provenance graph. The models are validated on a trusted grid architecture, a password manager and a trustworthy collaborative system.
Alloys-by-design: applications to polycrystalline nickel superalloys for turbine disc applications 
Keywords: Nickel
Superalloy

The nickel-based superalloys have been a key enabler to the development of modern gas turbine engines. Since their introduction the chemical complexity of these alloys has increased significantly, with current generation nickel-based superalloys usually containing over 10 different elements. It is this combination of alloying additions that is responsible for the superior high temperature properties these alloys exhibit.
Traditionally, alloy design has invoked considerable use of trial-and-error based approaches involving costly and exhaustive processing backed up by empirical property testing. In this work a computational materials design approach is developed. This method links physically-faithful composition-dependent models with thermodynamic calculations to understand material behaviour. By doing this it is possible to consider large compositional design spaces and isolate alloys expected to have optimal performance for specific applications.
The scope of this research has been to apply the computational model to the design of a polycrystalline nickel-based superalloy for turbine disc applications in next generation jet engines. The design trade-offs encountered when developing the new alloy are highlighted. Alloy compositions which are predicted to be optimal for turbine disc applications are isolated. These alloys have been manufactured using a scaled down version of the commercial production method. The newly manufactured alloys have been characterised using microstructural evaluation, mechanical testing and corrosion testing. The experimental results have been compared with modelling predictions in order to determine the capability of the computational approach.
Ignition systems for lean burn gas engines
Keywords: flame
flow
Ignition
reciprocating
gas
discharge
spark
engine
plug

This thesis describes an experimental investigation into ignition systems, their effects on the combustion process, and how the discharge is affected by the prevailing pressure, temperature and flow. The work is divided into four main areas, a comprehensive literature review, engine testing for ignition system suitability, non-flow rig testing (including erosion) and flow rig testing.
The literature review concluded that the most practical ignition system for lean burn gas engines will continue to be based on the spark plug, but in the medium to long term, laser ignition may become viable.
The measurement of the HT voltage and current is not straightforward, and appropriate methods have been identified.
Capacitive and inductive ignition system types were compared in lean and diluted conditions on a single cylinder research engine of modern design at different engine loads and speeds. It was found that the most beneficial ignition system was an inductive ignition system, although that for some conditions, capacitive systems induced better engine performance with a fraction of the stored energy of the inductive alternative.
Non flow tests showed that the early part of the spark discharge is sensitive to pressure and temperature effects, and as a consequence, the latter stages of the discharge are also affected. A correlation has been developed, for use with conventional nickel electrode spark plugs, to predict breakdown voltage as a function of pressure, temperature and gap.
Experiments were carried out at elevated pressures in a stream of flowing air with capacitive and inductive ignition systems. Different electrode designs and orientations were also compared. It was shown that when exposed to a flow field, the discharge can be stretched which results in a shortened spark duration; in some cases the electrode can shield the discharge from flow field effects.
This work showed that flow through the spark gap is a hindrance to the spark process, especially for longer duration systems. However for flame kernel growth, the literature review identified that flow is beneficial, serving to convect the kernel away from the electrodes, reducing the heat transfer from the flame.
Analysis of the glow voltage history in the pressurised flow rig has been used to develop a correlation relating the voltage, current, flow velocity, pressure and time. This correlation was used to analyse the velocity records from the spark plug in a firing engine. The predicted velocities and turbulence intensity were in agreement with independent measurements.
Music, place, and mobility in Erik Satie's Paris
Keywords: bohemia
Erik Satie
urban geography
Paris

Erik Satie (1866-1925) lived, worked, walked, and died in Paris. The key locations of his career – all within a single urban region – are well known and well researched. Yet he has often been presented as an eccentric individualist far removed from any social or geographical context. This thesis seeks to address – and redress – the decontextualisation of Satie’s career by re-imagining his music and biography in terms of the places and mobilities of turn-of-the-century Paris. To that end, it draws on a range of documentary and fictional material, including journalistic and scholarly reception texts, illustrated musical scores, chanson collections, contemporary visual culture, and cinematic representations of the people, place(s), and period(s) in question. These diverse primary and secondary sources are discussed and interpreted via a set of on-going debates at the intersection of historical musicology, cultural history, and urban geography. Some of these debates can be traced through existing research on the geography of music. Others are more local to this project and derive their value from suggesting alternative approaches to familiar problems in the study of French musical modernism. The main aim throughout is to develop a better understanding of the relations existing between Satie’s musical life, his compositional strategies, and the changing urban environment in which he plied his trade. Chapters One and Two focus on the working-class suburb of Arcueil and the ‘bohemian’ enclave of Montmartre. Chapters Three and Four are organised thematically around issues of musical humour and everyday life. By using the particular example of Satie’s Paris, the thesis proposes that more general avenues of enquiry are opened up into music and the city, thus demonstrating the potential benefits of incorporating the urban-geographic imagination into historical musicology more broadly, and bringing musicological thinking to bear on inter-disciplinary discussions about space, place, and mobility.
On their own initiative: how politicians use direct democracy in the United States
Keywords: governors
initiatives

The central purpose of this thesis is systematically to show why politicians use direct democracy in the US. By identifying multiple situations in which politicians make use of direct democracy, the argument that they use it for some gain is made irresistible and the reasons underlying this behaviour are brought out. Politicians are shown to use direct democracy in three arenas: before launching a candidacy for state-wide office, whilst running for state-wide office and whilst in government. Politicians are shown to do so to expand their public profile, to change campaign agendas, and at the level of the institutions of state government, to bypass another branch of government. These effects are shown using statistical tests of the occurrence of behaviour by state legislators and candidates in the first two instances. Multilevel models are used in the last two instances, to identify when state legislators and governors used direct democracy in battles over lawmaking between the branches of government. A test for the use of the legislative referral by state legislatures is particularly timely and has not been considered before. These uses together lay the groundwork for a new theory of the effects of direct democracy institutions on state government policy. The tests of policy responsiveness in later chapters reject existing theory that might provide an explanation of both why politicians use direct democracy and with what effects on state government and show on responsiveness increasing effect.
Liver-stage vaccines for malaria
Keywords: malaria
vaccines
immunology

The development of an efficacious P. falciparum malaria vaccine remains a top priority. Pre-erythrocytic vaccine efforts have traditionally focussed on two well- known antigens, CSP and TRAP, yet thousands of antigens are expressed throughout the liver-stage. The work described in this thesis aimed to assess the ability of other pre-erythrocytic antigens to induce an immune response and provide protective efficacy against transgenic parasites in a mouse model. Research undertaken in our laboratory has demonstrated the ability of prime-boost viral vectored sub-unit vaccination regimens to elicit high levels of antigen-specific T cells. Eight candidate antigens were therefore expressed individually in the viral vectors ChAd63 and MVA. Two antigens, PfLSA1 and PfLSAP2, were identified that confer greater protective efficacy in inbred mice than either CSP or TRAP. PfLSA1 was also able to induce almost complete sterile efficacy in outbred mice, suggesting this vaccine should be assessed in a clinical trial. Immune responses to the candidate antigens were also assessed in human volunteers following their first exposure to controlled malaria infection. The antigen TRAP was further characterised by epitope mapping in volunteers vaccinated with ChAd63-MVA ME-TRAP. However, no functional T cell assay exists to measure inhibition of P. falciparum liver-stage parasites. An improved murine in vitro T cell killing assay was developed, and preliminary experiments were conducted that demonstrate the potential and promise of a P. falciparum T cell killing assay. Such assays will not only allow mechanistic studies to be undertaken, but could also change the way we screen pre-clinical liver-stage vaccines.
Presmooth geometries
Keywords: Zariski Geometries
Model Theory
Presmooth Geometries
Zilber's Trichotomy
Trichotomy Theorem

This thesis explores the geometric principles underlying many of the known Trichotomy Theorems. The main aims are to unify the field construction in non-linear o-minimal structures and generalizations of Zariski Geometries as well as to pave the road for completely new results in this direction.
In the first part of this thesis we introduce a new axiomatic framework in which all the relevant structures can be studied uniformly and show that these axioms are preserved under elementary extensions. A particular focus is placed on the study of a smoothness condition which generalizes the presmoothness condition for Zariski Geometries. We also modify Zilber's notion of universal specializations to obtain a suitable notion of infinitesimals. In addition, families of curves and the combinatorial geometry of one-dimensional structures are studied to prove a weak trichotomy theorem based on very weak one-basedness.
It is then shown that under suitable additional conditions groups and group actions can be constructed in canonical ways. This construction is based on a notion of
geometric calculus'' and can be seen in close analogy with ordinary differentiation. If all conditions are met, a definable distributive action of one one-dimensional type-definable group on another are obtained.
The main result of this thesis is that both o-minimal structures and generalizations of Zariski Geometries fit into this geometric framework and that the latter always satisfy the conditions required in the group constructions. We also exhibit known methods that allow us to extract fields from this. In addition to unifying the treatment of o-minimal structures and Zariski Geometries, this also gives a direct proof of the Trichotomy Theorem for "type-definable" Zariski Geometries as used, for example, in Hrushovski's proof of the relative Mordell-Lang conjecture.
The higher nobility in Scotland and their estates, c. 1371-1424
Keywords: kinship
estates
Scotland
baronies
families
regalities
nobility
noble institutions

Few studies relating to the nobility of medieval Scotland have been carried out. Those which have mostly fall into two categories: studies of individual nobles and single noble families, or studies of noble institutions, generally over a long time-scale. With the exception of parts of the work of Professors Ritchie and Barrow on the twelth century, there are no general surveys of the Scottish nobility during a short period. This thesis is an attempt to provide such a survey. It gives an account of the top layer of Scottish noble society in the early Stewart period, that is between 1371 and 1424. A broad view of the nobility, noble estates, and noble institutions has been taken, which is intended to be complementary to other studies of more restricted subjects.
The topics dicussed in the thesis have been largely determined by the nature of the sources. The material available for the study of the Scottish nobility in this period consists almost entirely of charters, especially those issued by the crown. Hardly any documents of a more ephemeral nature have survived. In particular (with two slight exceptions) there are none of the account rolls and similar estate records which historians of the English medieval nobility have used to such effect. Because of this, the thesis has a strong topographical and institutional bias. It is possible to say what lands the nobility held and how they held them, but not to describe in any great detail what they did with them, how they were run, or what they were worth.
Active visual scene exploration
Keywords: active vision
camera control
surveillance
computer vision
information theory

This thesis addresses information theoretic methods for control of one or several active cameras in the context of visual surveillance. This approach has two advantages. Firstly, any system dealing with real inputs must take into account noise in the measurements and the underlying system model. Secondly, the control of cameras in surveillance often has different, potentially conflicting objectives.
Information theoretic metrics not only yield a way to assess the uncertainty in the current state estimate, they also provide means to choose the observation parameters that optimally reduce this uncertainty. The latter property allows comparison of sensing actions with respect to different objectives. This allows specification of a preference for objectives, where the generated control will fulfil these desired objectives accordingly.
The thesis provides arguments for the utility of information theoretic approaches to control visual surveillance systems, by addressing the following objectives in particular: Firstly, how to choose a zoom setting of a single camera to optimally track a single target with a Kalman filter. Here emphasis is put on an arbitration between loss of track due to noise in the observation process, and information gain due to higher accuracy after successful observation. The resulting method adds a running average of the Kalman filter’s innovation to the observation noise, which not only ameliorates tracking performance in the case of unexpected target motions, but also provides a higher maximum zoom setting.
The second major contribution of this thesis is a term that addresses exploration of the supervised area in an information theoretic manner. The reasoning behind this term is to model the appearance of new targets in the supervised environment, and use this as prior uncertainty about the occupancy of areas currently not under observation. Furthermore, this term uses the performance of an object detection method to gauge the information that observations of a single location can yield. Additionally, this thesis shows experimentally that a preference for control objectives can be set using a single scalar value. This linearly combines the objective functions of the two conflicting objectives of detection and exploration, and results in the desired control behaviour.
The third contribution is an objective function that addresses classification methods. The thesis shows in detail how the information can be derived that can be gained from the classification of a single target, under consideration of its gaze direction. Quantitative and qualitative validation show the increase in performance when compared to standard methods.