VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Applications of process-oriented design
Keywords: process-oriented
csp
goroutine
concurrency
occam
golang
process
go

Concurrency is generally considered to be difficult due to a lack of appropriate abstraction, rather than inherent complexity. Lock-based approaches to mutual exclusion are pervasive, despite the presence of models that are easier to understand, such as the message-passing model present in CSP (Communicating Sequential Processes). CSP provides a rich framework for building and reasoning about concurrent systems, but has historically required a change of programming language or paradigm in order to work with it. The Go programming language is a modern, imperative programming language that includes native support for processes and channels. The popularity of this language has grown and more and more people are being exposed to the fundamental ideas of CSP.
There is a gap in the understanding of how a restrictive formal model can interact with and support the development of concurrent programs in a language such as Go. Through a series of case studies and analysis, we show how the CSP concurrency model can be used as the basis for the design of a concurrent system architecture without requiring the program to be written entirely as the composition of processes. It is also possible to use the CSP process algebra to build abstract models and use model-checking tools to verify properties of a concurrent system. These models can then be used to guide the decomposition of a system into a more fine-grained concurrent system.
This thesis bridges the gap between the development of CSP-style concurrent software and the formal model of CSP. In particular, it shows how it is not necessary for a program or programming language to conform to rigid structure in order for CSP to be a useful tool for the development of reliable and easy to understand concurrent systems.
Functionalization of endohedral fullerenes and their application in quantum information processing
Keywords: radical pair
ESR
quantum information processing
N@C60
Endohedral fullerene
porphyrin
electron spin resonance
electron-elctron coupling

Quantum information processing (QIP), which inherently utilizes quantum mechanical phenomena to perform information processing, may outperform its classical counterpart at certain tasks. As one of the physical implementations of QIP, the electron-spin based architecture has recently attracted great interests. Endohedral fullerenes with unpaired electrons, such as N@C60, are promising candidates to embody the qubits because of their long spin decoherence time. This thesis addresses several fundamental aspects of the strategy of engineering the N@C60 molecules for applications in QIP.
Chemical functionalization of N@C60 is investigated and several different derivatives of N@C60 are synthesized. These N@C60 derivatives exhibit different stability when they are exposed to ambient light in a degassed solution. The cyclopropane derivative of N@C60 shows comparable stability to pristine N@C60, whereas the pyrrolidine derivatives demonstrate much lower stability. To elucidate the effect of the functional groups on the stability, an escape mechanism of the encapsulated nitrogen atom is proposed based on DFT calculations. The escape of nitrogen is facilitated by a 6-membered ring formed in the decomposition of the pyrrolidine derivatives of N@C60. In contrast, the 4-membered ring formed in the cyclopropane derivative of N@C60 prohibits such an escape through the addends.
Two N@C60-porphyrin dyads are synthesized. The dyad with free base porphyrin exhibits typical zero-field splitting (ZFS) features due to functionalization in the solid-state electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrum. However, the nitrogen ESR signal in the second dyad of N@C60 and copper porphyrin is completely suppressed at a wide range of sample concentrations. The dipolar coupling between the copper spin and the nitrogen spins is calculated to be 27.0 MHz. To prove the presence of the encapsulated nitrogen atom in the second dyad, demetallation of the copper porphyrin moiety is carried out. The recovery of approximately 82% of the signal intensity confirms that the dipolar coupling suppresses the ESR signal of N@C60.
To prepare ordered structure of N@C60, the nematic matrix MBBA is employed to align the pyrrolidine derivatives of N@C60. Orientations of these derivatives are investigated through simulation of their ESR spectra. The derivatives with a –CH3 or phenyl group derived straightforward from the N-substituent of the pyrrolidine ring are preferentially oriented based on their powder-like ESR spectra in the MBBA matrix. An angle of about is also found between the directors of fullerene derivatives and MBBA. In contrast, the derivatives with a –CH₂ group inserted between the phenyl group and the pyrrolidine ring are nearly randomly distributed in MBBA. These results illustrate the applicability of liquid crystal as a matrix to align N@C60 derivatives for QIP applications.
Towards a principled doctrine of the margin of appreciation in international human rights law
Keywords: Proportionality
Margin of Appreciation
Deference

When human rights cases are tried before an international court, judges must consider whether to follow a particular state's approach to the interpretation and application of its international human rights law obligations or to adopt their own approach. In this way, the international court is marking the limit of a state's freedom or sovereignty in the sphere of human rights. The margin of appreciation, a doctrine of judicial deference, significantly influences a court's approach to this adjudication. The doctrine has been criticised for causing relativism about human rights and the abdication of the judicial protection of human rights and its abandonment recommended. The thesis responds to such criticisms in three parts. Part One argues that the margin of appreciation does not lead to ethical relativism about human rights, arguing instead that universality is compatible with some kinds of differentiation. Part Two analyses the margin of appreciation by drawing on a study of the ethics of deference that finds reasons for deference in the value placed by the court on the state's involvement in determining its human rights law obligations. Part Two also argues that international institutions should value the state's involvement. Part Three presents factors for judicial consideration that both strengthen and curtail reasons for deference. The thesis thus defends the margin of appreciation as a doctrine beneficial to the international protection of human rights. The thesis goes further by offering an analytical approach to the doctrine that can lead to its principled application, namely that the court should weigh intrinsic reasons for deference transparently along with other relevant factors. This approach safeguards the role of international courts and at the same time recognises the essential part played by states in the protection of human rights.
Reciprocal development in vocabulary and reading skills
Keywords: orthography
reading
language
word learning
vocabulary

Data are presented in seven chapters that address the reciprocal relationship between oral vocabulary and reading development. Chapter 2 explores exception word reading in poor comprehenders longitudinally, finding deficits that are pervasive over a period of two years. The results support the hypothesis that weak oral vocabulary skills are causally related to poor exception word reading in this group. In Chapter 3, orthographic and semantic skills in poor comprehenders are investigated in a word learning paradigm. This chapter provides evidence that poor comprehenders have more difficulty learning and retaining semantic information than orthographic information. A similar paradigm is described in Chapter 4 to investigate predictors of orthographic and semantic learning. In a large group of typically developing readers, this demonstrates that decoding is the strongest predictor of orthographic learning while existing oral vocabulary knowledge is the strongest predictor of semantic learning. In Chapters 5 and 6 orthographic and semantic skills in poor comprehenders and children with dyslexia are compared using standard off-line tasks (Chapter 5) and an online word learning experiment (Chapter 6). These chapters indicate similarities as well as differences in the reading and language profiles of these groups. Chapter 7 adopts a different approach by using a word learning study to investigate the benefit of teaching new oral vocabulary in the presence of orthography.
Measuring the impact of using health-related websites: The eHealth impact questionnaire
Keywords: secondary data analysis
cognitive interviews
psychometric
patients' experiences
e-health
exploratory factor analysis

Introduction:
Health-related websites have developed to be much more than information sites: they are used to exchange experiences and find support as well as information and advice. It is important that health professionals and website developers understand how content may impact users. This thesis documents the development and application of a tool to measure the impact of using health-related websites which contain experiential and/or factual information.
Methods:
A multi-method study with five stages. Stage 1: Questionnaire items based upon themes relating to the impact of using health-related websites were constructed following qualitative secondary analysis of 93 interviews relating to patient and carer experiences of health and a recent literature review. Items were assessed by an expert panel. Stage 2: Cognitive interviews were carried out to confirm acceptability of items. Stage 3: Item reduction steps were used to reduce the number of items. Stage 4: The validity and reliability of the remaining items were tested using traditional and modern psychometric methods. Stage 5: The new questionnaire was piloted in a randomised controlled trial.
Results:
Eighty-two items were constructed according to the key themes identified in Stage 1. Following expert and patient refinement, two independent item pools entered psychometric testing. The first item pool related to general views of using the internet in relation to health and the second item pool related to the impact of using a specific health-related website. Sub-scales and summary scores were found to have high construct validity, internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The questionnaire showed high completion rates and low counts of missing data in a trial setting.
Conclusion:
Analysis confirmed good psychometric properties in the eHIQ-Part 1 (11 items) and the eHIQ-Part 2 (26 items). Preliminary findings of trial data demonstrate the acceptability and feasibility of including the eHIQ in randomised controlled trials. This tool will enable the measurement of the impact of health-related websites containing various styles of information and support across a range conditions and facilitate their accurate evaluation in clinical trials.
CLIC drive beam phase stabilisation
Keywords: stabilisation
compact linear collider
drive beam
accelerator
phase
ctf3
clic
linear
simulations

The thesis presents phase stability studies for the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) and focuses in particular on CLIC Drive Beam longitudinal phase stabilisation. This topic constitutes one of the main feasibility challenges for CLIC construction and is an essential component of the current CLIC stabilisation campaign. The studies are divided into two large interrelated sections: the simulation studies for the CLIC Drive Beam stability, and measurements, data analysis and simulations of the CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) Drive Beam phase errors.
A dedicated software tool has been developed for a step-by-step analysis of the error propagation through the CLIC Drive Beam. It uses realistic RF potential and beam loading amplitude functions for the Drive and Main Beam accelerating structures, complete models of the recombination scheme and compressor chicane as well as of further CLIC Drive Beam modules. The tool has been tested extensively and its functionality has been verified.
The phase error propagation at CLIC has been analysed and the critical phase error frequencies have been identified. The impact of planned error filtering and stabilisation systems for the Drive Beam bunch charge and longitudinal phase has been simulated and the optimal specifications for these systems, such as bandwidth and latency time, have been calculated and discussed. It has been found that a realistic feed-forward system could sufficiently reduce the longitudinal phase error of the Drive Beam, hence verifying that a satisfactory CLIC luminosity recovery system is possible to develop.
Alternative designs of the Drive Beam accelerator, the recombination scheme and the phase signal distribution system have also been analysed.
Measurements of the CTF3 Drive Beam phase have been performed. The source of the phase and energy errors at CTF3 has been determined. The performance of the phase feed-forward system prototype for CTF3 has been simulated. The prototype's specifications have been defined so that it will provide a sufficient test of the feed-forward correction principle. The prototype based on the defined specifications is currently in development and is to be installed at CTF3 in the second half of 2013.
Detection of stratospheric gravity waves using HIRDLS data
Keywords: HIRDLS
planetary waves
gravity waves
Arctic

Temperature measurements from the HIRDLS instrument on NASA's Aura satellite are analysed for the purposes of detecting and studying internal gravity waves in the terrestrial stratosphere. A detailed description of the methodology used to obtain these data is given, including details of the instrument correction processes used to compensate for errors introduced by a blockage in the instrument optics. A short precis of the relevant theoretical considerations related to atmospheric gravity waves is then outlined. The thesis then discusses the use of the Stockwell (time-frequency) Transform for the detection of gravity waves in HIRDLS data, together with a detailed analysis of the limitations of this method, and the results obtained from this analysis are analysed by comparison to other instruments and climatology. It is concluded that the Stockwell Transform is an appropriate method for the analysis of the HIRDLS dataset, and that the results obtained are robust. We apply these results to analyse stratospheric gravity wave activity during the 2005/06 Arctic sudden stratospheric warming. By comparing the magnitude and form of the gravity wave results to local wind data obtained from ECMWF operational analyses, we conclude that a heavily deformed stratopause observed during this period by other instruments was most probably due to wind-based filtering of the gravity wave spectrum during this period.
Combination of a cold ion and cold molecular source
Keywords: ion-molecule reactions
laser cooling
molecular deceleration
ion trapping
cold chemistry
mass spectrometry

This thesis describes the combination of two sources of cold atomic or molecular species which can be used to study a wide range of ion-molecule reactions. The challenges in forming these species and in determining the fate of reactive events are explored throughout.
Reactions occur in a volume within a radio-frequency ion trap, in which ions have previously been cooled to sub-Kelvin temperatures. Ions are laser-cooled, with migration of ions slowed sufficiently to form a quasi-crystalline spheroidal structure, deemed a Coulomb crystal. Fluorescence emitted as a consequence of laser-cooling is detected; the subsequent fluorescence profiles are used to determine the number of ions in the crystal and, in combination with complementary simulations, the temperature of these ions. Motion imparted by trapping fields can be substantial and simulations are required to accurately determine collision energies. A beam of decelerated molecules is aimed at this stationary ion target. An ammonia seeded molecular beam enters a Stark decelerator, based on the original design of Meijer and co-workers. The decelerator uses time-varying electric fields to remove kinetic energy from the molecules, which exit at speeds down to 35 m/s. A fast-opening shutter and focussing elements are subsequently used to maximise the decelerated flux in the reaction volume while minimising undecelerated molecule transmission. Substantial fluxes of decelerated ammonia are obtained with narrow velocity distributions to provide a suitable source of reactant molecules.
Combination of these two techniques permits studies of reactions between atomic ions and decelerated molecules that can be entirely state-specific. Changes in the Coulomb crystal fluorescence profile denote changes in the ion identities, the rate of these changes can be used to obtain rate constants. Determination of rate constants is even possible despite the fact that neither reactant nor product ions are directly observed. This work has studied reactions between sympathetically cooled Xe+ ions and guided ND3 and has obtained data consistent with prior studies. Determination of reactive events is complicated if ion identities can change without affecting the fluorescence profile, or if multiple reaction channels are possible. A range of spectroscopic techniques are discussed and considered in regards to determining rate constants and product identities. Pulsed axial excitation of trapped ions can follow rapid changes in average ion weights and subtle changes for small crystals. Time-of-flight mass spectrometry is also demonstrated using the trapping electrodes and is suitable for discrimination of ions formed within the trap.
'Il fior de Pagania'. Saracens and their world in Boiardo and Ariosto
Keywords: Saracens
Inamoramento de Orlando
Boiardo
Italian Renaissance
Ariosto
Orlando furioso
chivalric romances
Muslims

This study investigates the representation of Saracens in Boiardo's Inamoramento de Orlando and Ariosto's Orlando furioso, a subject that has attracted growing scholarly interest in recent years. Chapter I assesses the degree of realism in Boiardo's and Ariosto's portrayal of Islam and Islamic culture and locates the two poems in their historical context. Bringing to light unpublished archival material and other little-known historical sources, I argue that Boiardo and Ariosto drew inspiration from contemporary courtly culture which was characterised by openness towards the figure of the foreign prince. Chapter II explores Boiardo's engagement with earlier chivalric literature. It examines Boiardo's use of names and characters from earlier texts and evaluates the Saracens' contribution to the ideology that underpins the poem. It is shown that Saracens play an important role in promoting the ‘Arthurian’ chivalric ideals. Chapters III and IV analyse Ariosto's indebtedness to and departures from his predecessor, suggesting that there is a much greater continuity between the two Orlandos than is allowed by Cavallo and other scholars who are anxious to stress Ariosto's 'conservatism'. While chapter III is devoted to a wide-ranging analysis of the Saracen world in Ariosto, chapter IV deals with a topic that has recently generated much heated debate, namely the climactic confrontation between Rodomonte and Ruggiero and the ending of the Orlando furioso and how it should be understood, and I propose a new interpretation of the final canto by highlighting the concept of honour, a fundamental value for both Boiardo and Ariosto as well as for their early readers and for many chivalric authors alike. In my view, Rodomonte is the true winner of the duel. The significance of his 'moral' victory is examined in the study's final conclusion, where it is argued that it undermines Ariosto’s encomiastic project.
The emergence and early fate decisions of stem and progenitor cells in the haematopoietic system
Keywords: haematopoiesis
stem cells
lineage commitment

The alternative road map describes the separation of lympho-myeloid and myeloid-megakaryocyte-erythroid (myeloid-Mk-E) lineages as the earliest haematopoietic commitment event. However, a number of aspects of this lineage restriction process remain poorly understood. Herein this work identified a lympho-myeloid restricted progenitor in the embryo, which resembles the adult LMPP, and demonstrated that lymphoid lineage restriction is initiated prior to definitive haematopoiesis, much earlier than previously appreciated. In vivo fate mapping showed that lympho-myeloid progenitors significantly contribute to steady state myelopoiesis in the embryo. The early thymic progenitor (ETP) as most primitive cell in the thymus was characterised and demonstrated to sustain B, T and myeloid but not Mk potentials at the single cell level. The ETP therefore largely resembles the cellular properties of lympho-myeloid progenitors in bone marrow and foetal liver, which points to these cells as candidate thymus seeding progenitors (TSP). Furthermore the existence of a putative Mk progenitor was explored within the LSKCD150+CD48+Gata1pos compartment of a Gata1 reporter mouse providing the basis for a future prospective characterisation. Finally, this work evaluated the earliest lineage restriction of von Willebrand factor (Vwf)-EGFP+ and EGFP- haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) through in vitro paired daughter fate mapping. Single Vwf+ HSCs showed heterogeneous Mk priming and more frequently sustained Mk potential after cell division. Moreover, analysis of lineage priming between daughter cells revealed the asymmetric expression of key lineage determinants and stem cell regulators, which might be employed as reporters for future fate mapping studies.
Past and future adaptations of phytoplankton to carbon dioxide
Keywords: climate change
adaptation
photosynthesis
phytoplankton
Rubisco

Photosynthesis is responsible for fixing approximately 111 – 117 Pg of CO₂ into organic carbon each year, of which about half is performed by algae in the oceans. Over geological timescales, photosynthesis by algae was instrumental in transforming Earth’s atmosphere. Despite the integral role algae play in the carbon cycle, the interaction and feedbacks between CO₂ fixation by algae and atmospheric CO₂ is poorly understood. This thesis expands upon our current knowledge by tracing the evolution of the key enzyme of photosynthesis, Rubisco, in algae through geological history. It was found that Rubisco underwent adaptation during distinct periods corresponding with falling atmospheric CO₂. The pattern of adaptation hints at physiological adaptation to varying concentrations of atmospheric CO2 and possibly indicates the emergence of carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCMs). This adaptation was probed further within the red and chromist algae, identifying key residues within the Rubisco protein sequence that may influence its kinetic properties. This research also provided new measurements of Rubisco CO2 affinity within the haptophyte algae. Finally, the importance of HCO₃- use by phytoplankton in the modern ocean was explored. HCO₃- utilisation was modelled through signals retained within stable carbon isotopes of organic matter estimate the response to anthropogenic increases of CO₂. The results indicate that phytoplankton utilise a large proportion HCO₃- which shows little sensitivity to anthropogenic increases of CO₂, even when model predictions are extended to 2100. This thesis demonstrates how algae can respond to CO₂ levels over geological and anthropogenic time scales.