VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The co-constitution of technologies, organisations, and institutions in the process of commercialisation: the case of CRISPR
Keywords: technology-as-practice
entrepreneurship
co-constitution
Institutional theory
practice driven institutionalism
Institutional logics
materialisation
technology
institutional complexity
hybrid organisations
commercialisation
practitioners
CRISPR

This thesis addresses how new technology and organisations are co-constituted through practices of commercialisation in emerging organisations. It is a response to the neglect within contemporary organisational literature of the structuring role of technology in its own constitution, as pertinent institutional theory addresses only instances where some structure is already in place. A significant blind spot in the institutionalists’ perspective is the earliest moment of activity from which both organisational and technological structures emerge. Through the lens of practice driven institutionalism this research advances existing bottom-up practice-driven theorising of institutional logics by integrating ‘technology’ as part of its theoretical framework. Examining occasions where the development of new technology is a central ingredient to the emergence of organisations, this study finds that when people interact with a new technology in their ongoing practices this very interaction constitutes the emergent structures of both organisation and technology. Different interactions result in variation between organisational structures and technological applications.
The theoretical understanding is based upon an inductive empirical-comparative multiple case study on the commercialisation of the genomic technology CRISPR as applied in the development of human therapeutics. CRISPR is a multi-purpose biotechnology that has a potentially unlimited amount of applications of which only a limited number actually materialise. The emergence of thirteen organisations developing CRISPR applications was compared over a five-year period between the three geographical settings of the US East Coast Boston area, the UK’s Golden Triangle (Oxford – London – Cambridge), and the Netherlands. This comparison creates an understanding of how some CRISPR applications for human health become a material reality following commercialisation, and others may not.
Colloidal SU-8 rods and banana-shaped particles: synthesis and liquid crystal self-assembly
Keywords: splay bend nematic phase
soft matter
Colloidal particles
Colloidal bananas
Liquid crystals

In this thesis, we describe the development of two novel model systems of anisotropic colloidal particles and study their self-assembly into colloidal liquid crystal phases with confocal microscopy. In particular, we develop a system of colloidal rod-like and banana-shaped particles made of a polymeric material called SU-8. First, we describe the synthesis of colloidal SU-8 rods with tunable dimensions by using sonication. This simple yet, crucial step allows us to bring the SU-8 rod system -- which had been limited to the granular scale -- into the colloidal domain. Crucially, these rods can be fluorescently labelled and are stable in both aqueous and non-aqueous solvents. Also, their refractive index and density mismatch with the solvent can be carefully controlled. As a result, the liquid crystal behaviour exhibited by the rods can be controlled and addressed in three dimensions using confocal microscopy whilst tuning the effect of gravity. Next, we describe the synthesis of colloidal SU-8 bananas by heating the originally straight SU-8 rods. Importantly, we demonstrate that the curvature of the bananas can be controlled by tuning the rigidity of the rods. This has an enormous impact on the liquid crystal phases the colloidal bananas exhibit with respect to the colloidal rods, as the particles are now biaxial. Using confocal microscopy, we next address the liquid crystal phase behaviour of the colloidal bananas, and how it is a ected by curvature, at the single-particle level. We find a library of exotic liquid crystal phases, including polar and antipolar smectic phases and even the elusive long-predicted splay-bend nematic phase. We then exploit the inherent polydispersity of the colloidal bananas to demonstrate that a hierarchical structure called the vortex phase can be assembled from polydisperse building blocks interacting via simple entropic interactions. We uncover the formation mechanism and the underlying geometrical principles dictating the structure of this hierarchical phase by systematically changing the curvature of the constituent bananas and characterising the resulting structures with confocal microscopy. Finally, we describe the fabrication of rough SU-8 rods and bananas with tunable asperity density via the nanoprecipitation of SU-8 nanospheres. With these newly developed rough particles, we provide two colloidal model systems for addressing surface-roughness related phenomena in materials composed of anisotropic particles.
Experiments with realism in contemporary feminist theatre in Britain
Keywords: women's writing
realism
feminist theatre
contemporary theatre
feminism
playwriting
dramaturgy

This thesis re-encounters classic texts of feminist theatre theory by Elin Diamond, Jill Dolan, Sue-Ellen Case and Elaine Aston in the light of formally experimental theatre by women in the 2010s. In particular, it revisits the feminist critique of realism, which characterised realism as an inherently conservative form. Although the critique has been challenged and nuanced since the 1980s, including by its original proponents, I suggest that a political suspicion of realism continues to underlie many critical approaches to theatrical form in contemporary theatre studies, particularly feminist ones.
While Dolan, Aston and Janelle Reinelt have characterised the 1990s and 2000s as something of a crisis for both feminism and feminist theatre, I argue that the 2010s has seen a new wave of feminist playwrights and theatremakers in Britain, who are deeply concerned with the politics of theatrical form. I contend that this new wave of feminist playwrights engages in critical and creative dialogue with realisms within experimental forms in order to question gender norms and imagine alternative political realities.
My case studies each focus on a different aspect of theatrical form: the representation of gender and gendered performance in physical theatre company RashDash’s Two Man Show (2016) and Three Sisters (2018); experiments with naturalist character in the collaborations between director Katie Mitchell and playwright Alice Birch on Ophelias Zimmer (2015) and Anatomy of a Suicide (2017); and Ella Hickson’s dramatising of a search for a theatrical form that can express female desire in The Writer (2018). Close reading of these plays in performance, combined with interviews with the practitioners and attention to the productions’ reception, reveal insights that build on and complicate the feminist theories of the 1980s and 90s, especially regarding the performance of gender, character and acting, and play structure.
As a whole, the thesis reconsiders how experiments with realisms in theatre can be politically progressive, modelling a method of analysis that brings together feminist theory and criticism with close attention to theatrical form. It also contributes to emerging critical conversations about the place of formal analysis within theatre studies.
Supertertiary structure analysis and comparison of BET proteins upon bivalent binding
Keywords: bivalent inhibitors
bivalent binding
BET proteins
bromodomains

BET proteins (BRD2/3/4/T) contain two bromodomains (BD1 and BD2) and an extra terminal (ET) domain. They act as nuclear scaffolds by recognising acetylated histones and recruiting transcriptional complexes. Although all BETs share high levels of sequence conservation, each has different biological functions. Available BET inhibitors do not distinguish between BET members, leading to their toxicity effects. Here, my preliminary data suggest that the domain topology of BETs affects how they engage small molecule inhibitors and histone peptides. Secondary structure prediction analysis reveals that BET conserved domains are linked by flexible regions of variable length. Simultaneous engagement of both BDs by bivalent inhibitors differentially distorts each protein. Chimeric linker mutants show changes in binding behaviour upon bivalent inhibitor engagement. While the BDs of the BRDT simultaneously engage a histone H4 peptide bearing seven acetylated lysine residues, replacement of the inter-domain linker causes loss of binding by the BD2. These observations led to the designing of a set of tandem peptidic inhibitors containing histone and viral peptides that can bind to both BD and ET domains to differentiate each BET. Biophysical evidence showed that one of the tandem peptidic inhibitors binds to BRD4 with nanomolar affinity in cis binding mode while showing micromolar affinity towards BRD2. These observations offer a new molecular perspective on the importance of BET multidomain engagement and give insight into designing BET selective bivalent inhibitors.
Mathematical modelling approaches to understanding the spread of Campylobacter in broiler flocks
Keywords: Broiler
Mathematical Modelling
Foodborne Disease
Campylobacter

Campylobacter spp. are one of the leading causes of human gastroenteritis globally, with the primary route of transmission being poultry meat. Flocks of broilers, chickens grown for their meat, will rapidly become colonised by Campylobacter on the farm, and this infection persists throughout the food chain. Recent attempts to prevent the spread of Campylobacter in broiler flocks have focused on biosecurity measures on farms to reduce the chance of initial infection. Such measures have proved ineffective, resulting in calls for more fundamental research into the ecology of Campylobacter in chicken flocks, and greater investigation of the bacteria-host relationship. This thesis presents a multitude of mathematical frameworks to explore these dynamics, driven by on-farm data from the last several decades. Firstly, I present a mechanistic model system of stochastic differential equations to demonstrate the population dynamics of multiple strains of Campylobacter at both in-host and flock level. I find that in-host dynamics are different from those observed in the flock at large, with single strains of Campylobacter seen to dominate the gut of a host-bird at any given time, compared to the more stable patterns of co-occurrence seen at the wider flock level. I show that Campylobacter outbreaks are most influenced by the demographic capabilities of other native gut microflora within host-birds, raising the hypothesis that further attention to bird gut health may be key to limiting the spread of Campylobacter. Building on this, I investigate data detailing the occurrence of multiple Campylobacter strains within a flock of chickens across a year. By using Bayesian transition models, competition matrix models, and patch-occupancy models, I demonstrate the existence of variation in the response to bacterial challenge amongst birds in the flock, and that this variation may drive the proliferation of Campylobacter. This is further supported by models I present showing that Campylobacter strains exist in a hierarchical system of competition, and that the diversity of strains found cannot be supported without the inclusion of host-bird factors. Lastly, I investigated the causal relationships between a variety of management and welfare factors for multiple commercial flocks by building and comparing logistic regression models with Bayesian network models. I show that measures of poor bird health and Campylobacter status are conditionally dependent upon one another, revealing that decisions in the rearing of these birds simultaneously jeopardise their health, and increase the risk of Campylobacter colonisation.
Migrant capital: examining the production of the industrial landscape of the [Delhi] National Capital Region, India
Keywords: special economic zones
informality
labour law
migration
employment
hybridity
Chinese investment
governance

I argue that the Delhi National Capital Region is emerging as a “migrant capital as it is fed by an increasingly migrant workforce in the manufacturing sector. In context of informalisation of work globally and deregulation of labour in India, I compare employment relations in a deregulated (the Special Economic Zone or SEZ in Noida) space with regulated spaces (the larger industrial region, non-SEZ), across two distinct sectors, low-skilled garment manufacturing units and high-skilled electronics manufacturing units. I also examine one Chinese owned and managed factory and resulting employment relations in the high-skilled sector between Chinese and Indian nationals. I analyse the industrial relations that arise because of interactions between a largely migrant workforce and their locally rooted employers. Employers embedded in local networks of power can create hybrid forms of regulation to adapt formal laws into informal practices across deregulated and regulated spaces, creating similar conditions in both irrespective of law. Even Chinese managers rely on the networks of locally embedded Indian managers to manage their migrant workforce through informal practices. Hybrid regulation is made possible due to a migrant workforce that lacks access to local informal networks of power being dis-embedded from local society. In the absence of effective formal legal protection, migrants adapt to rather than challenge the system of hybrid regulation through a variety of informal means. Using an embedded qualitative framework and ethnographic methods, I use the analytical tool of inter-regional migration and the category of the “local" to understand the dynamics of industrial relations that create spaces for an adaptation of formal law into informal practices. My thesis contributes by linking an informality of work that migrants experience as workers inside factories with an informality of life which they experience as outsiders in the city.
On the probability and averaged shape of extreme water waves
Keywords: Ocean Engineering
Rogue Wave
Surface Wave

Extreme waves are reported more frequently than the probability predicted from standard statistical models in the open ocean. This departure from the classical statistical distributions is primarily due to nonlinear physics. Wave nonlinearity also modifies the most probable shape of extreme water waves as these waves propagate relative to that expected in a linear model. Better insights into both aspects of extreme water waves are crucial for the safety design of carriers and marine structures.
The horizontal asymmetry and contraction of the averaged shape of extreme events can be observed in naturally occurring water waves. Under experimental conditions, horizontal asymmetry is a somewhat transient behaviour whereas contraction seems to be permanent. We also observe limited finite water effect on these nonlinear modifications, particularly for extremely steep ones.
The probability of extreme events can be measured by the kurtosis of the free surface as a convenient proxy. The analytical derivations for how this evolves in wave flumes are found to be accurate for low steepness. For high steepness cases, the analytical models miss the transient maxima and over-predict the kurtosis at the steady state. This is primarily because the kurtosis is dependent on the spectral bandwidth in such situations. The analytical models underestimate the steady state kurtosis at finite water depth, particularly for the critical water depth.
Data driven methods are applied to predict the space-time probability distribution of extreme events. Two practical examples with second order wave fields indicate the substantial potential of data driven methods in predicting the probability of extreme events. These benefits are particularly clear as the complexity of the problem increases.
In this study, we closely examine the averaged shape and the probability of extreme water waves. Nonlinear modifications on both aspects lead to significant departure from the linear theory. These nonlinear modifications challenge the safety of the engineering design.
Asymmetric rhodium catalysed arylation: from ligand design to application
Keywords: Arylation
Rhodium
Catalysis

This thesis focuses on the development of highly enantioselective rhodium catalysed arylation reactions on small, unsaturated carbocycles and on work towards the development of novel scaffolds for diene ligands applicable in asymmetric rhodium catalysis.
The synthesis and evaluation of a new type of diene ligand, which is based on a structure obtained as the product of a rhodium catalysed allylic arylation of racemic halides, is reported. Two different prototype ligands were designed, synthesised, and evaluated for their ability to coordinate to rhodium complexes. Successful coordination could be demonstrated for one of the prototype ligands by 1H-NMR spectroscopy; however, catalytic activity in benchmarking reactions could not be achieved.
Moving on to the development of rhodium catalysed arylation reactions, an asymmetric allylic arylation was employed in the desymmetrization of a cyclic 5-membered meso bisphosphate. Despite being limited in scope and furnishing only satisfactory yields, this transformation proved to be highly enantioselective and illustrated the value of new rhodium catalysed transformations in an otherwise well-established field.
Exploring rhodium catalysed arylation reactions further, a method for the enantioselective generation of arylated cyclobutanes from functionalised cyclobutenes was developed. Cyclobutenes containing electron-withdrawing substituents were found to undergo a Heck-type arylation, while substrates with appropriate leaving groups achieved products arising from a remote homoallylic substitution mechanism.
Electron-induced dynamics of small molecules of atmospheric and astrochemical relevance
Keywords: molecular reaction dynamics
multi-mass imaging
chemistry
electron-molecule scattering
electron ionisation
covariance
ion imaging
physics
velocity-map imaging
binary-encounter-Bethe model
time-of-flight mass spectrometry
abel inversion
electron ionisation cross-sections

Electron ionisation, and electron scattering in general, is a fundamental physical process. Ubiquitous in the known universe, the interaction of electrons with molecules is thus of great interest.
From experimental and theoretical studies, we can obtain great insight into electron ionisation. We have used the binary-encounter-Bethe model to determine theoretical total ionisation cross-sections, which quantify the ionisation probability for a molecule. We also use an electron-molecule crossed beam experiment to obtain partial ionisation cross-sections, which quantify the probability of forming a specific ion.
The electron-molecule crossed beam experiment utilises the velocity-map imaging technique, which allows the scattering distribution of the product ions to be recorded and the velocity of each ion determined. Study of these data grants us an insight into the molecular dynamics involved, and the potential energy landscape of the molecule under study.
In our experiments, we use a multi-mass imaging sensor to record the scattering distribution of all ions produced following electron ionisation. The use of a multi-mass imaging sensor allows us to utilise covariance analysis techniques, which reveal the correlations between the velocity distributions of different ions. We have recently shown that covariance allows us to much more readily study the dissociation of doubly-charged molecules following electron ionisation than was previously possible using our experiment. The recoil-frame covariance technique is particularly useful in this context, allowing the momentum of a signal ion to be determined with reference exclusively to a second, covariant, ion.
Scattering distributions are recorded as two-dimensional projections of the three-dimensional distribution, meaning a reconstruction method, or inversion method, is required to `re-inflate’ the distribution and obtain the velocity distribution. Recoil-frame covariance analysis cannot occur following inversion, meaning the resulting covariance maps must also be inverted. However, previously available inversion methods cannot validly be used. A new inversion method has been developed to allow the successful inversion of covariance maps.
We have used the above techniques to investigate a number of molecules of both atmospheric and astrochemical relevance, namely carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, carbonyl sulphide, sulphur dioxide, and benzene. We find that fragmentation following electron ionisation is dominated by dissociation from low-lying electronic states of the molecule, and that a large portion of the energy available, i.e. the kinetic energy of the incident electron, is carried away by the ionising and ejected electrons, rather than being transferred to the molecular framework.
Stochastic control approach to the multi-armed bandit problems
Keywords: optimal learning
multi-armed bandit
stochastic control
Gittins index

A multi-armed bandit is the simplest problem to study learning under uncertainty when decisions affect information. A standard approach to the multi-armed bandit often gives a heuristic construction of an algorithm and proves its regret bound. Following a constructive approach, it is often possible to find a scenario where following heuristic approaches gives a poor decision.
In this thesis, we consider solving the multi-armed bandit problem from first principles, in terms of stochastic control. We propose two novel approaches to address the multi-armed bandit problem. The first approach is to apply a relaxed control analogy to obtain a semi-closed form approximation to the optimal solution. The proposed model covers a wide range of bandit problems, and the proposed strategy can be computed with a low computational complexity with an empirically strong performance. The second approach focuses on bandits with independent arms and considers the interaction between two aspects of uncertainty: uncertainty aversion and learning. These aspects are in some sense opposite; one is pessimistic, but another is optimistic. To see this interaction, we consider a class of strategies that allows marginal projection on each arm and prove Gittins theorem under nonlinear expectation.
Overall, our proposed approaches provide an understanding of how to make decisions under uncertainty when our decisions determine future information. These results should be helpful as a foundation to combine stochastic control with more modern AI theories.