VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Influence of the upper stratosphere on polar vortex variability
Keywords: Atmosphere
Stratosphere
Sudden Stratospheric Warmings
Seasonal forecasting
Numerical weather prediction
Stratospheric Sudden Warmings
Nudging
Polar vortex
Atmospheric waves

The polar vortex is a band of strong westerly winds that forms each winter and encircles the pole, high up in the atmosphere in a region known as the stratosphere. However this band of winds is not stable in the northern hemisphere, and often dramatically disintegrates in events known as sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs). When SSWs happen they influence the weather occurring below, often leading to cold winters for northern Europe. SSWs are driven by the vertical propagation of waves from lower down in the atmosphere. Recent studies have suggested that the winds in the upper tropical and subtropical stratosphere may affect how these waves propagate, and whether they are able to influence the development of SSWs.
In this thesis I investigate the various contributions different parts of the atmosphere make to the evolution of the SSW in the winter of 2008/9 by fixing different areas of the atmosphere to reality in a computer model, whilst letting the polar vortex evolve freely and comparing its evolution to reality. Fixing the lower atmosphere in this way prescribes the wave forcing entering the stratosphere, but this is not found to be enough on its own to generate an SSW close to that seen in 2008/9. Neither is fixing the upper stratosphere, above the polar vortex. It is only when the winds in the upper tropical stratosphere are fixed in addition to that of the lower atmosphere that a similar SSW occurs, consistent with the idea that this area of the atmosphere is important for determining the evolution of SSWs by affecting wave propagation.
Between Hindu and Indian: the nationalist thought of Lala Lajpat Rai
Keywords: secularism
Hindu nationalism
Hindu communalism
Indian nationalism
Arya Samaj
Hindu Mahasabha
political representation
Hindutva
caste system

This thesis undertakes the first ever systematic intellectual study of the nationalist thought of Lala Lajpat Rai. In doing so, it strongly contests the dominant scholarly interpretation of his nationalist thought as representing the nascent stage of Savarkarite Hindutva. Through a fine-grained textual analysis of his entire oeuvre on nationhood, it uncovers the multiple, internally distinct nationalist narratives that Lajpat Rai articulated in the four broad historical phases of his intellectual life. These reveal that while for much of his life, he switched between ‘Indian nation’- and ‘Hindu nation’-based nationalist narratives, in the latter phase of his life, he settled firmly into narratives grounded in the notion of a ‘secular’ Indian nation.
In unearthing Lajpat Rai’s complicated intellectual trajectory, this study makes larger intellectual claims. By demonstrating that, despite apparent similarities with Hindutva, his own ‘Hindu nation’-based narratives remained substantially distinct, it draws attention to the variegated nature of ‘Hindu nationalism’. By showing that Lajpat Rai eventually moved towards Indian nationalist narratives, it further undermines the assumption that all ideas of Hindu nationhood necessarily culminate in Hindutva. By outlining the different internal structures of his Indian nationalist narratives, this thesis uncovers space for properly discerning the internally differentiated nature of ‘Indian nationalism’. In recognising commonalities across his different ‘Hindu’ and ‘Indian’ nationalist narratives, it rejects the sharp binary conventionally drawn the two, and by showing that Lajpat Rai endeavoured to organise a ‘communal’ politics to establish a ‘secular’ Indian nation-state, it reveals how ‘communalism’ can be engineered in service of a ‘secular’ Indian nation. Finally, instead of reading Lajpat Rai’s thought through the purposes for which others might have utilised it, this study insists on understanding it in its own right, thus constituting an argument that the political thought of a thinker must be understood independently of reductionist teleological narratives.
Competing and interrelated conceptions of equality in Kenya's 2010 constitution
Keywords: Discrimination
Kenya
Religion
Equality
Affirmative Action
Disability

This thesis explores the ways in which competing and interrelated conceptions of equality in Kenya’s 2010 Constitution should be conceptualised, interpreted and applied. Kenyans’ overwhelming support for the adoption of the 2010 Constitution signalled a rebirth of the nation with a strong emphasis on equality and redressing past injustices. For this reason, the document has been termed as ‘transformative’, ‘historic’ and ‘revolutionary’ as it seeks to fundamentally change the social, political and economic way of life of all Kenyans.
The entrenchment of multiple equality provisions not guaranteed in the previous Constitution establishes a crucial constitutional framework for addressing inequalities. However, more decisive still is how well the 2010 Constitution’s equality provisions continue to be conceptualised, interpreted and applied. The Constitution contains different articulations of equality, both in the equality clause (Article 27) and elsewhere in the Constitution. These provisions reflect different, sometimes complementary and other times potentially conflicting, conceptions of equality. Yet, current equality jurisprudence says little, if anything, on how the multiple and competing conceptions of equality in the Constitution should be harmoniously interpreted. The concept remains open-textured, which offers limited guidance to legal practitioners and other pertinent players on what is required of them by law in addressing inequalities. This thesis aims to provide more clarity in this area of law in Kenya by examining all the equality principles in the Constitution with a specific emphasis on the potentially conflicting issues, with the aim of attempting to find a coherent and mutually supportive way of understanding the broader conception of equality in the Constitution. Two principled approaches are proposed for the harmonious interpretation of the Constitution’s equality concepts; the equal concern and respect approach and the multi-dimensional equality approach.
Stalinist monumental art and architecture, and the "immortalization of memory"
Keywords: immortalization
monumental architecture
temporality
material culture
monumental art
Stalinism
memory politics
monuments
Moscow
collective memory
Soviet Union
totalitarianism

This thesis analyzes the “immortalization of memory” policy of the Stalinist regime in the USSR (1932-1954), a program that sought to ensure that contemporaneous events and individuals would be remembered by posterity, in perpetuity. “Immortalization,” I argue, was carried out through the construction of dedicated monumental art and architecture, which were built to last for centuries and were placed under a strong preservation regime.
The research proposes a new way to interpret the style and form of Stalinist monumentalism, heretofore analyzed solely in terms of its immediate propaganda functions. I argue that historicism did not pander to backwards-looking, conservative tastes, as is commonly assumed. Rather, Stalinist monumental artists and architects sought a trans-temporal language that would be understandable to posterity, turning to “timeless” styles, whose supposed universality was “proven” by their continuous use throughout the centuries. I also argue that the development of Stalinist monumental practice in many respects revolved around the often contradictory strivings that monuments remain at once distinctive and relevant to posterity.
Sensitivity to “immortalization” challenges the idea that Stalinist visions of the future can be contained in the “striving-towards-communism” model. I argue that the “immortalization” myth was not specific to Stalinism but was a shared response to wider processes of modernization: secularization of ideas about death (whereby “immortal” memory filled the existential vacuum left by declining belief in immortal souls) and rapid social change (in which communication with an imagined posterity gave a sense of stability). Insofar as these problems were particularly pronounced in a society undergoing rapid industrialization, and ruled by a militantly atheistic regime, “immortalization” dynamics achieved impressive dimensions in the Stalinist Soviet Union. This finding (that “immortalization” was a shared, transnational discourse, inflected in the Stalinist context) supports the emerging understanding of Stalinist culture as an expression of “radical modernity.”
Putting functions in context: reconceptualising the scope of trade mark infringement
Keywords: UK law
Comparative law
Intellectual Property
Trade mark functions
Trade mark law
German law
European law

The functions theory developed by the CJEU continues to be one of the most contentious issues in contemporary European trade mark law. In this thesis, I propose a more coherent reading of the CJEU jurisprudence; the functions theory may deliver a more transparent process of reasoning, allowing infringement assessment to engage with normative choices (or internalise policy concerns), which a conventional industrial property model otherwise fails to grasp. But these benefits can be attained only if functions theory is assessed within a broader, more complex expansionary trajectory within trade mark law. I therefore argue that the development of the functions theory is intertwined with and most productively understood alongside the increasing role of context in trade mark infringement. It should be seen as a doctrinal device that, together with a more realistic (or hybrid) construction of the average consumer, enabled infringement assessment to be infused with market realities, in response to the problems of abstraction that an expansionary trade mark doctrine had created. This analysis is potentially useful in two ways. First, it indicates that the CJEU might be relocating the centre of gravity of trade mark law from the formal universe of the registrar to the everyday experience of the consumer; a proposition finding some support in recent decisions of national courts. Secondly, it argues that the origin function seemingly departed from a more conventional paper-based approach, with infringement becoming increasingly contextual. This further suggests that other trade mark functions took a different path, relying more on untested assumptions of consumer behaviour, producing inconsistencies in the case law that ought to be addressed. The emerging approach to the origin function has important lessons for how the other functions ought to be assessed during infringement analysis.
Neoliberalism, urban development and Accra's (Ghana) shopping malls as new spaces of urban consumption
Keywords: Urban entrepreneurialism
Consumption
Urban governance
Neoliberalism
local economic development
Accra
Ghana

This study is focused on urban transformation of Accra, the capital city of Ghana, under neoliberalism. Situated within the field of urban geography, and drawing from Harvey’s (1989b) urban entrepreneurialism thesis and consumption theorists, such as Bourdieu (1984), as well as attention to the literature on the middle class, the study investigates how urban governance transformation in the neoliberal era have led to the proliferation of western-style shopping malls and their consequent impact on the city’s urban development, in particular, coalition building, consumption and local economic development impacts. This is done through a case study of two of the city’s shopping malls, which have been the product of increasing foreign direct investments (FDI). The two case studies are the Accra Mall, the first fully enclosed mall in the city opened in 2008, and the West Hills Mall, West Africa’s biggest mall, opened in 2014.
The study uses a mixed methods approach involving both qualitative and quantitative methods in the relevant areas of the study. Thirty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with key/expert informants, city authorities, mall developers and operators as well as customers. Additionally, 409 semi-structured questionnaires were administered to mall shop staff (343) and shop managers/owners (66).
In particular, three key findings are outlined: first, that contrary to the urban entrepreneurialism thesis derived from the experiences of global North cities, Accra’s malls have largely been led by the private sector who tend to ally more with national political actors rather than those in local government. I argue that shopping mall development may have been delayed due to the subservient role of the local government and other challenges, including institutional and procedural bureaucracy, that tend to constrain local governments. As such, I indicate a need for reframing the idea of private-public partnerships (PPP) as a fulcrum in urban entrepreneurial policies to local (private)-global partnership as pertains to Accra’s malls. Second, in framing mall projects as local economic development process, the results suggest that though they may be helping in poverty reduction, they may be low on local wealth creation. Finally, I argue that, as pertains to malls as spaces of consumption and projectors of modernity, in Accra, and other global South cities, malls need to be viewed more as ‘nodes of global convergence’.
‘The Indispensable East’ in decadent literature in England and Germany 1880−1920
Keywords: Oscar Wilde
decadence in Germany

This thesis explores the role of the East in British and German literary Decadence. It reaches from the high point of Victorian Decadence in the 1880s to high point of Modernism at the beginning of the Weimar Republic in 1918−1920 in Germany. My central concern is to argue that the East is a major characteristic of fin-de-siècle European Decadence. In bringing together two European literatures, this comparative thesis makes a case for Decadence’s transnational if not global nature. England and Germany serve as examples to consider Decadence beyond the Anglo-French model still dominating the field. The thesis examines the role of the East with specific reference to two British and two German authors: starting from Oscar Wilde’s (1854− 1900) Victorian vision of Egypt and Arthur Symons’s (1865−1945) post-Romantic fascination with the ‘Gypsy’, it moves to Paul Scheerbart’s (1863−1915) Decadent Babylon and Assyria, read as being in opposition to a modern Europeanism, and concludes by turning to Stefan George’s (1868−1933) exclusion of the East from his poetic practice. The geographical reach of the East focuses on regions of the Eastern Mediterranean and Northern Africa. The cultural translation of specifically the Middle East into different national contexts gains new − sometimes oppositional – meanings, avoiding a one-sided representation of both the East and the two national literatures that absorbed it. In arguing for a Decadent cosmopolitanism as a model of heterogeneous inclusivity that reaches beyond the binaries Edward Said established in his Orientalism, this thesis brings together postcolonial theory, theories of cosmopolitanism, art history and literature in a comparative study allowing for an analysis of synergies and interdependences of European literary movements. The thesis thus chronologically traces how the literary treatment of the East changed Decadent literature: initially defined as a cosmopolitan network of artists and as an aesthetically inclusive concept, Decadence in the early twentieth century evolved to denote the decay of Western socio-political culture. In my conclusion I argue that the renewed attention to the East was ‘indispensable’ to the formation of Decadence and crystallized the need for literary ‘cosmopolitics’ in order to overcome Europe’s cultural crisis of modernization at the turn of the twentieth century.
Taxing the ‘hard-to-tax’ in low and middle-income countries: an examination and Kenyan case study
Keywords: Developing Countries
Taxing Professionals
Taxation in Kenya
Hard-to-Tax
Tax Evasion
Presumptive Tax

The term ‘hard-to-tax', in tax evasion literature, refers to farmers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and professionals. However, scholarly discourse on the hard-to-tax in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) has focussed primarily on farmers and SMEs. Professionals are rarely critically considered despite the acknowledgement in the literature that, considering their potential earnings, the absolute amount involved in evasion by professionals in LMICs is probably higher than farmers and SMEs. The primary goal of this thesis is to interrogate the phenomenon of tax evasion by hard-to-tax professionals in LMICs by answering the research question: what are the barriers to tax compliance by these hard-to-tax professionals and how can tax authorities in LMICs effectively improve compliance among these taxpayers? The researcher utilises several methods and data sources to answer this question. Secondary data sources provided useful knowledge regarding theoretical accounts of tax evasion and the administrative options available to tax authorities dealing with hard-to-tax groups. The researcher enriched this secondary data using primary data collected for a case study explicitly interrogating tax compliance among self-employed dentists and lawyers in Kenya, a lower-middle income country. Through the case study, the researcher obtained rich qualitative data via open-ended semi-structured interviews with taxpayers and tax experts in Kenya. The interview data was analysed, using key tax evasion theories, applying a thematic analysis method. A detailed narration of the major and minor themes that emerged from the data is presented in Chapter 4. The findings of this research make a significant and substantial contribution to: existing knowledge on tax evasion and compliance in Africa, taxation of hard-to-tax professionals in LMICs, effects of corruption and poor service delivery by government on tax compliance attitudes, presumptive taxation of professionals, and the potential role of professional bodies and associations in promoting tax compliance among their members.
Insulating, semiconducting and metallic 2D materials for flexible electronics
Keywords: Graphene
Flexible Electronics
Two Dimensional Materials
Transition Metal Dichalcogenides
Friction
Photodetector
Thin Film
Heterostructure
MRI
Tungsten Disulphide
Transparent Electronics
Spectroscopy
2D Materials

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have enjoyed significant attention in recent years as new materials for use in flexible electronics. Combining unique electronic properties with unparalleled strain resilience and transparency, they represent ideal candidates in a broad range of different applications. However, though significant progress has been made this field is still in its relative infancy and there is still much to discover. This project details aspects of the synthesis, fabrication, and physical processes and mechanisms that are pertinent to flexible electronics, with a focus on a subset of three materials: metallic graphene, semiconducting tungsten disulphide, and insulating boron nitride. All materials were synthesised by chemical vapour deposition.
'Bulk' heterostructures of the above materials in several different permutations were fabricated on flexible polymer substrates and studied during repeated strain cycling. A mechanism by which strain is accommodated by inhomogeneous debonding from the substrate and a time-dependent relaxation effect were identified and studied. With repeated strain cycling the response of the heterostructures was found to stabilise—an encouraging result for future device work.
Subsequent work explores two disparate flexible devices based on 2D materials. The first of these is an array of flexible photodetectors. Polymer substrates impose severe limitations on processing conditions and necessitated significant modification to existing fabrication techniques. Functional devices were demonstrated and their response to strain studied, revealing a transient enhancement of sensitivity followed by permanent failure. The mechanism behind this effect was explored.
The second device is a MRI and CT compatible cardio-respiratory monitor for use in preclinical imaging—a device which represents a significant improvement over existing technology. Its properties were studied in detail and its functionality confirmed through extensive in vivo testing, and a patent has since been filed. Several prototypes are already in use at the Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology.
Finding joy in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde
Keywords: Emotion

This thesis aims at finding joy in a poem long celebrated for its vivid representation and exaltation of sorrow. Yet joy forms the climactic centre of the poem. This sensual and amorous joy has often been dismissed by critics as ironic, immoral or vain in light of the poem’s Christian ending. Positive affect has therefore never been taken seriously as a crucial and shaping force in the poem. This thesis rectifies that and argues for the centrality of joy in the poem’s construction of language, themes, and characters. This project also makes space for joy in the field of emotion studies, where positive affect is also glaringly absent. In medieval studies, this can be explained by the uncertainty about whether joy, in medieval culture, is a physical emotion, an affective state, a philosophical value, or a spiritual destination. The study of joy in literature therefore has to take this uncertainty into account and be ready to recalibrate the definition of what an emotion is.
In this thesis, I argue that to study joy in past literature, one needs to bring the study of emotion beyond the body and focus primarily on language and the literary medium itself. In the first chapter of this thesis, I study the lexis of joy-related words in Middle English and its use in Chaucer’s corpus. This theoretical framework helps shape the contour of joy in the poem by delineating the different registers or fields of discourse to which the emotion belongs in Chaucer’s writing. The second chapter of this thesis shows that characters, as well as the narratorial voice, are created through these modes of discourses and their attitude towards joy. In the third chapter, the body is explored in order to understand its use and importance in the writing of emotions in the poem. What surfaces is that Chaucer writes the body both materially and physiologically as well as metaphorically and socially. The body of joy is primarily the latter. Finally, the study of joy in Troilus and Criseyde ends with a close analysis of its grammar – verbal, temporal, spatial, poetic, figurative. This grammar can be idiosyncratic at times but also belong to broader cultural and theoretical discourses. Crucially, it constructs a joy which is exterior to the body by turning it into a place.
Studying joy offers a new approach to the poem and opens a new area in the history of emotion; an area for the study of positive affectivity as distinct from embodied sorrow. Eventually, joy exceeds the very definition of emotion. My study redefines what a literary emotion is and, more specifically, how we determine and detect emotionality in Middle English writing. The poem’s writing of joy is fragmented. Joy is expressed as disembodied and yet it is amorous and earthly; it is an emotion and yet it is exterior and objective. I argue that the poet exposes an earthly joy which goes beyond the humoural body and which is (a) good in itself – eventually joy is written as a value, but a felt value.