VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
"How do I make Oppa Sarang Me?": resemiotisation and reconstruction of meaning in the global anglophone K-pop fandom
Keywords: Korean
K-pop
social media
fandom
online communication

The intelligibility of a mixed Korean-English phrase such as “how do I make oppa sarang me?” to a member of the global anglophone K-pop fandom is the result of dynamic and interactive processes of resemiotisation that are articulated on multiple levels. Traditional understandings of language mixing and language borrowing are no longer adequate to contextualise and understand the creative and ideological linguistic practices occurring in diverse online communities. Beyond word-for-word linguistic transfer of words frequently encountered in K-pop lyrics and Korean language media, the indexicality of certain Korean words is enhanced through the addition and subtraction of meanings as they are negotiated within a globalised fandom context.
This process of resemiotisation is a complex one, as transcultural K-pop fans operate within a cultural and linguistic convergence point in the K-pop fandom. This thesis uses three case studies of Korean cultural terms: oppa ‘older brother’, unni ‘older sister’, and skinship, to examine and evaluate how fans create meaning and ideology around the use of Korean words that carry cultural significance in Korean-speaking contexts. Much like the fans themselves, Korean cultural words now exist simultaneously in multiple semiotic contexts and using a corpus-based critical discourse analysis methodology, this thesis pays specific attention to how these words are interpreted and re-coded by English speaking fans. It will be argued that use of Korean cultural terms is read on a binary scale of ‘acceptable’ or ‘unacceptable’, mirroring intra-fandom discourse of the ‘normal’ or ‘abnormal’ fan. This thesis points to the idea that notions of authenticity, indexicality, and context inform the construction of ideology and discourse around the use of Korean cultural terms.
Kin and culture: clan, household and family formation in late antique Armenia
Keywords: household
Armenian Christianity
family
Sasanian Empire
Naxarar
Armenia
Byzantine Empire
Late Antiquity
childhood
clan
family formation
Dayeak (Wet nursing)
marriage

The importance of Armenia’s hereditary naxarar elite in the late antique and medieval eras has long been acknowledged by scholars, and the region’s peripheral position has made these landed aristocrats a focus of academics of the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires also. However, study of naxarar families has not been accompanied by dedicated scholarship concerning the nature of family itself as an institution within Armenia. The following thesis acts as a first step, examining how Armenian families formed, operated and what expectations were placed upon their members from the fifth century until the mid-seventh century CE.
The thesis argues the family was perhaps the most significant political entity in late antique Armenian life. Membership within a naxarar clan was more significant than official service in the Aršakuni royal court or Byzantine or Sasanian imperial administration. Indeed, monarchical and imperial courts, as well as the native Christian clerical administration, even drew on these clans to support their authority. Clan power was safeguarded from imperial interference by Armenia’s geography, strategic location and probably the institution’s deep integration at less prestigious (and less visible) levels of society, with clerics, lesser nobles and perhaps non-nobles all being arranged in clans. This was reinforced by the interlacing nature of the household, which incorporated individuals of various clans and social classes through marriage, service, slavery and dayeakut‘iwn and, in doing so, better embedded the family within the social framework.
Armenia is not unique in emphasising the family’s place as a critical institution, and Kin and Culture finds substantial parallels between Armenian and Iranian practice, most notably that of the Sasanians’ Parthian predecessors. However, Armenia is a particularly visible example of clan power. Analysis explicitly through the lens of family and family practices has implications for our understandings of late antique Armenian culture, society and law.
Nanomechanical behaviour of the monolithic framework solids: an experimental and modelling study
Keywords: nanomechanics
MOFs
sol-gel
spectroscopy
FEM
monoliths
nanoporous materials
micromechanics
nanoindentation
fracture

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have established themselves as a versatile material platform for a wide variety of applications such as gas adsorption, energy conversion and storage, luminescence and chemical sensing. Over the past two decades, scientists have designed numerous MOF systems and composites that are specifically tailored for different applications, thanks to their extraordinarily large internal surface area and high tuneability. However, the integration of MOFs into real-world sensors and devices still represents a challenge. The majority of MOFs reported to date is in fact synthesised in the form of polydisperse powders, characterised by some intrinsic limitations. The aim of this thesis is to gain understanding of the mechanical behaviour of robust monolithic sol-gel MOFs, identified as a promising candidate for the transition of this class of materials from the academia to industrial deployment. The advantages and potential applications of MOF monoliths are described in Chapter 1. An overview of nanoindentation, the most used technique for the mechanical characterisation of MOFs, is provided in Chapter 2, along with a literature review of the field of MOF mechanics. Chapter 3 summarises the synthesis protocols and the material characterisation techniques utilised throughout the thesis. In Chapters 4, 5 and 6, different aspects of the mechanical response of the prototypical MOF monoliths were systematically studied by means of nanoindentation, spectroscopy, and finite element simulations. In particular, plasticity, fracture toughness and stress-strain relationships underpinning the mechanical performance of MOF monoliths are investigated, and their connections to the nanostructure and the framework architecture are established. Finally, the reported findings are critically summarised in Chapter 7, along with a personal perspective on the future development of the field.
Non-parametric deep learning with applications in active learning
Keywords: supervised learning
active learning
attention
non-parametric modeling
transformers
multi-task learning
meta-learning
masking
pretraining
few-shot learning
equivariance
large language models
pre-training
self-attention
tabular
invariance
prompting
Bayesian deep learning
uncertainty quantification

We challenge a common assumption underlying most supervised deep learning: that a model makes a prediction depending only on its parameters and the features of a single input. To this end, we introduce a general-purpose deep learning architecture---Non-Parametric Transformers (NPTs)---that takes as input the entire dataset instead of processing one datapoint at a time. Our approach uses self-attention to reason about relationships between datapoints explicitly, which can be seen as realizing non-parametric models using parametric attention mechanisms. However, unlike conventional non-parametric models, we let the model learn end-to-end from the data how to make use of other datapoints for prediction. Empirically, NPTs solve complex reasoning tasks unsolvable by traditional deep learning models and make use of interactions between datapoints in achieving highly competitive results on tabular data.
We then turn our attention to in-context learning, a non-parametric method for few-shot learning recently popularized as language model (LM) prompting, which conditions predictions directly on a context set of examples. Combining in-context learning with information-based active learning, we introduce Active In-Context Learning, an algorithm for designing informative context sets which minimizes labeling costs and avoids the retraining normally necessary in active learning. Next, we demonstrate that our method can tractably compute two mutual information (MI)--based acquisition functions previously deemed intractable or approximated using variational inference. Lastly, we consider active learning for downstream tasks far from LM pretraining distributions. We develop Meta-NPTs, an in-context learner meta-trained on a distribution of tasks related to the downstream task of interest. Meta-NPTs implicitly ensemble predictions over a task posterior, quantifying uncertainty over plausible task identities. In early results, Active In-Context Learning improves the few-shot learning performance of OPT-30B on BoolQ, Meta-NPTs leverage uncertainty over tasks to perform Active In-Context Learning, and our MI-based acquisition functions often outperform the established predictive entropy function.
Reception and reflection: fashioning the self in the works of Louis-Antoine Caraccioli (1719-1803)
Keywords: authorial identity
eighteenth-century France
reputation
self-fashioning
fashion
Louis-Antoine Caraccioli
posterity

Louis-Antoine Caraccioli was a divisive figure. While his works proved a commercial success, he was deplored by figures such as Friedrich Melchior von Grimm who, in 1764, declared him ‘l’un des auteurs les plus détestables de ce siècle.’ This thesis takes Caraccioli’s negative reception as its point of departure and explores the ways in which the author fought to craft his authorial identity in the public sphere. Drawing upon the concept of self-fashioning, I adopt a dual approach, considering Caraccioli’s practice in relation to his theories of selfhood. This is the first study to unite these distinct but complementary facets of the author’s work, and the first to pay close attention to his conscious crafting of a public image. I draw upon a range of texts, including the paratext and content of the author’s publications, and periodical press reviews, in addition to two previously undiscovered sources: a portrait of Caraccioli, and a manuscript catalogue entry concerning his works. The first half of this thesis establishes Caraccioli as an author wholly conscious of his reputation, and actively engaged in attaining literary success with a view to posterity. In producing ‘fashionable’ texts to appeal to the goût du siècle, Caraccioli invites consideration of the role of appearances in cultivating (authorial) selfhood. In a second strand, this thesis questions the relationship between ‘fashion’ and ‘fashioning.’ I first consider a dynamic whereby surface might shape depth, before taking an ‘inward turn’ with Caraccioli to explore the formation of the interior world through metaphors of the mind, modelled upon the public sphere. What emerges is a porous vision of self-fashioning, in which the world without ‘impresses’ upon the world within, and vice versa. Despite this fluid exchange between the public and private realms, Caraccioli nevertheless indicates the impossibility of ever ‘realising’ true selfhood in life. Instead, he points towards the immaterial afterlife as the fullest expression of selfhood. This view in turn opens up new possibilities for interpreting Caraccioli’s formation of his authorial identity and his drive for both contemporary and posthumous success.
Gold-catalysed functionalisations of yndiamides
Keywords: yndiamides
gold catalysis

Yndiamides, doubly nitrogen-substituted alkynes, could serve as versatile precursors to various 1,2-diaminated products. This thesis focused on the gold-catalysed functionalisations of yndiamides via the generation of gold carbenes. During the course of this study, three projects have been completed:
1. Gold-catalysed oxidative functionalisation of yndiamides with pyridine N-oxides to synthesise unnatural amino acid derivatives. Regioselectivity was achieved by introducing minor steric bias between the two nitrogen substituents.
2. Gold-catalysed cyclisation between yndiamides and isoxazoles to form highly substituted 2,3-diaminopyrroles. The reaction outcome could be switched to formal [5+2] cyclisation by using benzisoxazoles. Regioselectivity was also achieved by using sterically-biased non-symmetric yndiamides.
3. Computational investigation into the regioselectivity of the gold-catalysed cyclisation between yndiamides and isoxazoles. DFT calculation revealed a Curtin-Hammett scenario for isoxazole addition as the key to the regioselectivity. Besides the three projects above, a brief exploration of tetrazolo[1,5-a]pyridines as novel nitrene transfer reagents is also presented.
Neural signatures of tinnitus across the sleep-wake cycle
Keywords: subjective tinnitus
noise overexposure
hearing loss
auditory system
sleep
operant conditioning
cortical plasticity
auditory evoked EEG activity

Subjective tinnitus is an internally generated auditory percept, most commonly taking the form of hissing or ringing. Especially long-lasting tinnitus is associated with anxiety, depression, and sleep impairments. There is no effective treatment for tinnitus, although research has made progress in uncovering its neural basis, including identifying hyperactivity in the central auditory pathway and several cortical regions, including those involved in brain state control. We have proposed that the occurrence of aberrant neural activity associated with tinnitus has important implications for natural brain state dynamics across sleep and wakefulness and vice versa (Milinski et al., 2022).
Our first prediction was that the neural representation of tinnitus interferes with global sleep maintenance, while a strong sleep drive (such as high homeostatic pressure) overrides aberrant tinnitus-related activity. To test this empirically, a longitudinal assessment of behavioural and neural markers of tinnitus across the sleep-wake cycle was conducted in a ferret model of tinnitus after noise overexposure (NOE) over a period of ~6 months. The changes in behavioural performance and auditory evoked activity after NOE differed between individuals and suggest distinct degrees of tinnitus and hearing impairment with early or late onset. The emergence of tinnitus symptoms was associated with disrupted and reduced sleep, corroborating the possibility that noise-induced tinnitus is linked to sleep disturbance. In addition, neural markers of tinnitus were reduced during sleep, suggesting that sleep may transiently mitigate tinnitus.
Our second prediction was that besides the interaction between sleep and tinnitus, sleep might facilitate tinnitus emergence. To test this, we assessed in mice the effect of acute sleep deprivation after NOE on tinnitus development. Sleep deprivation mitigated behavioural and hearing impairment after NOE, which indicates that sleep may play a role in mediating the consequences of noise-induced peripheral trauma.
Overall, these results highlight the potential of further research on the interactions between natural brain states dynamics and tinnitus to uncover new avenues for future treatments.
Difference and structure: deleuze and ontic structural realism
Keywords: difference
ontic structural realism
deleuze
naturalism
metaphyiscs
structure
philosophy of physics
philosophy of science

A branch of the interpretative literature on the work of the philosopher Gilles Deleuze is more or less dedicated to emphasizing his engagements with mathematics and the sciences and to presenting his thought to an audience of philosophers of science working in the analytic tradition. Such scholarship, however, generally fails to connect Deleuze to the ideas and problems that motivate contemporary philosophers of science. Still, an emerging interest in Deleuze is observable within the philosophy of science literature. This thesis aims to encourage and cultivate this interest by presenting a direct, comparative study of Deleuze’s philosophy of difference in relation to ontic structural realism. I claim that identifying and examining the various affinities (and differences) between these two positions, which I take to be a worthwhile task in and of itself (i), allows us: (ii) to force Deleuze’s philosophical position into greater exegetical clarity, (iii) to critically reappraise (and reject) the way in which numerous commentators understand the role of science within Deleuze’s philosophical writings, and (iv) to propose some interesting challenges and adjustments to the ontic structural realist view.
Pushing cavity-based single photon sources to the limit: photon feedback, coherent repumping and multilayer cavities
Keywords: cavity
multilayer
feedback
single photon
quantum optics
cavity QED
Schrödinger's cat
quantisation axis
atomic fountain
photon
deterministic
atom
demultiplexer
STIRAP
coherent repumping

This thesis presents important aspects and limitations of an a priori deterministic single-photon source using single 87 Rb atoms coupled to a high finesse optical cavity. The photons emitted from this source demonstrate long coherence times, interfering over a time of up to 450 ns, demonstrating a two-photon Hong-Ou-Mandel visibility of 0.78 +/- 0.04 over the entire photon interaction time, with no degradation of coherence observed when implementing a feedback mechanism to route the photons through a desired output port.
The later chapters of the thesis examine two challenges that arise when trying to improve the scalability of photon production, with the aim of producing streams of several single photons that could be used beyond two-photon interference:
The first is the production of polarised photons, which has been done so far by unfolding the magnetic structure of the atom, a technique that may result in a nonlinear mixing of the states. In this thesis, we examine a way to produce polarised photons that does not need to unfold the magnetic structure of the atom.
The second is the reduction of the cavity mode volume. As higher photon efficiencies are achieved with ever smaller mode volumes, the fabrication of novel cavities could potentially reach a regime where the multilayer structure of the dielectric mirrors becomes relevant to the interaction of an atom with the cavity. This thesis derives coupling factors that take this structure into account.
Generalization through the lens of learning dynamics
Keywords: deep learning
artificial intelligence
machine learning
reinforcement learning

A machine learning (ML) system must learn not only to match the output of a target function on a training set, but also to generalize to novel situations in order to yield accurate predictions at deployment. In most practical applications, the user cannot exhaustively enumerate every possible input to the model; strong generalization performance is therefore crucial to the development of ML systems which are performant and reliable enough to be deployed in the real world. While generalization is well-understood theoretically in a number of hypothesis classes, the impressive generalization performance of deep neural networks has stymied theoreticians. In deep reinforcement learning (RL), our understanding of generalization is further complicated by the conflict between generalization and stability in widely-used RL algorithms. This thesis will provide insight into generalization by studying the learning dynamics of deep neural networks in both supervised and reinforcement learning tasks.
We begin with a study of generalization in supervised learning. We propose new PAC-Bayes generalization bounds for invariant models and for models trained with data augmentation. We go on to consider more general forms of inductive bias, connecting a notion of training speed with Bayesian model selection. This connection yields a family of marginal likelihood estimators which require only sampled losses from an iterative gradient descent trajectory, and analogous performance estimators for neural networks. We then turn our attention to reinforcement learning, laying out the learning dynamics framework for the RL setting which will be leveraged throughout the remainder of the thesis. We identify a new phenomenon which we term capacity loss, whereby neural networks lose their ability to adapt to new target functions over the course of training in deep RL problems, for which we propose a novel regularization approach. Follow-up analysis studying more subtle forms of capacity loss reveals that deep RL agents are prone to memorization due to the unstructured form of early prediction targets, and highlights a solution in the form of distillation. We conclude by calling back to a different notion of invariance to that which started this thesis, presenting a novel representation learning method which promotes invariance to spurious factors of variation in the environment.
The mechanisms and consequences of sharing affective content on social media
Keywords: social sharing
affective content
sequential perception
emotion
twitter
social media

The internet and especially social media has become one of our new natural habitats that we use daily to communicate with our peers and to get the latest news. Similar to their offline conversations, people online frequently use affective expressions to share their opinions or feelings about current events. However, unlike face-to-face co-present interactions, online content can reach a larger audience simply by being shared with followers with a click of the mouse. Since social media can reach such a wide audience, it is crucial to understand the types of content that users create and share and their potential beneficial or harmful impact. Despite the prevalence of social media in our daily lives, these questions have yet to be answered conclusively. Hence, the primary objective of my thesis is to address these gaps by examining the prevalence of affective content and its implications for expressing and viewing such content. Chapter 1 of this thesis provides an overview of definitions and measurement methods relating to online affective content, a review of previous research that aimed to answer the two questions raised above, and a discussion of the remaining research gaps that will be addressed throughout this thesis. In Chapter 2, I present an investigation into the kinds of affective content that are shared more when produced by public figures and ordinary users and assess which user characteristics influence the extent to which these kinds of affective content are shared. Building on these insights, Chapter 3 delves into the question of whether negativity is more prevalent than positivity in all political events and what specific language features contribute to the sharing of certain kinds of affective content. In Chapter 4, I aimed to address both of the overarching questions by investigating the types of affective content created and shared during an ongoing negative, but non-political event. Additionally, I explored the potential affective consequences of sharing such content on social media. To explore the impact of exposure to affective expressions on social media, Chapter 5 delved into the process of perceiving sequential affective expressions as they appear on social media. Finally, in Chapter 6, I synthesize my findings with relevant literature and develop a comprehensive framework to explain the process of exposure to affective content on social media and its consequences. Furthermore, I discuss potential future research directions to advance our understanding in this area. Overall, this thesis provides insight into the types of affective content that are more likely to be created and shared in various contexts and by different content producers. In addition, it provides functional explanations for why people might share affective content on social media and explores the potentially harmful consequences of sequential exposure to such content on these platforms.