VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
China's new Marxist nationalism: defining Xi Jinping's ideological worldview
Keywords: Xi Jinping
China ideology

The thesis argues there has been a significant change in China’s ideological worldview under Xi Jinping compared with previous ideological orthodoxies under Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. I summarise Xi’s worldview as a new form of “Marxist-Leninist Nationalism” (which I shorthand as “Marxist Nationalism”). I have chosen this term because it contains within it three core propositions. First, I argue Xi’s Leninism has taken both the party and Chinese politics in general to the left - where I define “left” as the reassertion of the power of the party over all public policy as well as elevating the position of the individual leader against the rest of collective leadership. Second, Xi’s notion of Marxism has similarly taken the centre of gravity of Chinese economic thought to the left - where I define “left” as meaning a new priority for party-state intervention in the economy, state-owned enterprises over the private sector and a new ideology of greater income equality. Third, Xi has also taken Chinese nationalism to the right - where I define “right” as a new assertion of Chinese national power as reflected in a new array of nationalist “banner terms” that are now used in the party’s wider ideological discourse. Furthermore, I argue these three sets of changes have occurred as part of a wider reification of the overall role of ideology under Xi Jinping. This has been seen in the fresh application of Marxist Leninist concepts of dialectical materialism, historical materialism, the primary stage of socialism, contradiction and struggle across the range of China’s current domestic and international challenges. The role of nationalism has also been enhanced within Xi’s new ideological framework. This hybrid form of Marxist Nationalist ideology is also being increasingly codified within the unfolding canon of Xi Jinping Thought.
Finally, the thesis argues that there is a high degree of correlation between these ideological changes on the one hand and changes in the real world of Chinese politics, economic policy and a more assertive foreign policy on the other - including a different approach to Chinese multilateral policy as observed by diplomatic practitioners at the UN in New York. The thesis concludes that these changes in Xi Jinping’s ideological worldview and its impact on Chinese politics and public policy is best explained by a theoretical framework that integrates Authoritarian Resilience Theory, the realist and constructivist insights of the English School of International Relations Theory, and Foreign Policy Analysis.
Relational representations for composition of knowledge and plans
Keywords: generalisation
reinforcement learning
representation
neuroimaging
navigation
compositionality

Humans have a remarkable capacity to understand and act in situations they have not encountered before. This capacity relies on clever representations of what is common across experience. Relational representations are particularly powerful for this purpose, because they allow for composing novel situations from familiar building blocks. In this thesis, I use neuroimaging and computational modelling to investigate how the brain constructs knowledge and plans.
In a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment I study the origin of knowledge about objects and situations. Bar stools look like tables, but are conceptually more similar to sofas. What is the source of these abstract similarities? I hypothesise that the compositional regularities of experience induce meaning in objects and situations, reflected in brain activity along the temporal to the frontal lobe. To test this hypothesis, I designed a paradigm that probes neural representations from shape to understanding. In a controlled experiment with precise quantitative neural predictions, I do not find convincing evidence of the hypothesised abstract representations in the brain.
Through a computational model I propose a mechanism for constructing plans. When navigating a new city, we know that to visit a sight on the other side of the river, we have to find a bridge first. I show how building cognitive maps from relative positions of such common structural elements allows to immediately reuse previously learned plans. Object vector cells in entorhinal cortex are an attractive neural substrate to represent these relative positions, because they imply actions and path integrate. I propose a central role for replay in constructing the compositional map in hippocampus. The resulting model generalises plans, suppresses path integration noise, and extends naturally to hierarchical tasks.
This thesis thus suggests a central role for relational representations and composition in making sense of the world and making decisions in it.
Time-varying source reconstruction
Keywords: MEG
machine learning
source reconstruction
inverse problems

The human brain is a highly dynamical system. One way of imaging neural activity is through electrophysiological techniques such as magnetoencephalography and electroencephalography (M/EEG). However, for these data to be truly useful, the ill-posed inverse problem must first be tackled.
A fundamental step in solving this problem involves the introduction of assumptions about the data (and noise) covariance. To date, the majority of source localisation algorithms employ static approximations to the data covariance matrix.
Here we make the argument that researchers should consider a Temporally Adaptive SourcE Reconstruction (TASER) approach to solving the inverse problem. We achieve this by introducing a novel machine learning unsupervised recurrent neural network (RNN) based algorithm. Our model does not make restrictive assumptions about the temporal processes generating the data (i.e. it is not Markovian), nor does it assume that data originate from a set of mutually exclusive states. Instead, we model the data as a continuous mixture of temporally evolving modes or elements.
This algorithm, which we call VRAD, lets us add a temporal extension onto preexisting M/EEG source reconstruction approaches. In this thesis we develop and explore the concepts of temporally adaptive spatial filters (beamformers) and generative model-based reconstruction procedures (e.g. multiple sparse priors). This is motivated first by simulations which show an improvement in source reconstruction accuracy when a time-varying beamformer is used, and the ground truth source space data has a dynamic covariance profile. We then validate the algorithm on a previously published MEG head cast dataset Barratt et al. (2018). Our results show an improvement upon existing static techniques, and we are able to spatially distinguish activation on the order of a few millimetres between pinky and index finger movement. Despite never being exposed to the underlying task-structure, we show that VRAD is capable of learning physiologically plausible latent descriptions of the data. We further assess the philosophy of TASER on a more generic multi-modal multi-subject openly available M/EEG dataset published by Wakeman and Henson. We show that using multiple source reconstruction weights is not detrimental to the reconstruction of neural waveforms, and that dynamic techniques have benefits of static reconstruction algorithms.
Investigating the effects of D-alanine on pituitary intracellular signalling: a comparison with D-serine
Keywords: D-alanine
D-serine
CREB
ACTH
ERK

The D-amino acid, D-alanine, is a co-agonist of the N-methyl-D-Aspartate receptor (NMDAR), and an agonist of the glycine receptor (GlyR). In the rat, D-alanine is highly concentrated in the pituitary gland, where it is localized to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) containing cells. This suggests that D-alanine may influence the release of ACTH, and ultimately the secretion of the stress hormone, corticosterone. Previous studies have shown that ACTH secretion from pituitary cells involves CREB and ERK1/2 signalling. We have, therefore, investigated the influence of D-alanine on the levels of these signalling proteins (western blot) and ACTH (ELISA) in cultures of the AtT-20 mouse pituitary tumour cell-line. For comparison, the effect of D-serine, a co-agonist of central NMDARs, but not GlyRs, was also examined.
AtT-20 cells were incubated with D-alanine or D-serine, CRH, dexamethasone (DEX) and MK-801 (NMDAR antagonist) in different combinations. Data was expressed as ratios of total/phosphorylated protein, where tCREB is CREB/β-actin and pERK1/2 is pERK/ERK, and subjected to one-way ANOVA statistics.
Compared to controls, the levels of tCREB and ACTH expressed by AtT20 cells were significantly greater when incubated with 500 µM of D-alanine (+35%, p=0.011 and +12%, p=0.028 respectively) or D-serine (+29%, p= 0.028 and +13%, p=0.043 respectively) for 24 hours. The level of tCREB and ACTH in AtT20 cells was significantly lower when incubated with D-alanine and DEX for 24 hours (-30%, p= 0.019 and -44%, p=0.030 respectively), but significantly greater for pERK/ERK and ACTH in cells treated with D-serine and DEX for 24 hours compared to controls (+38%, p = 0.039 and +16%, p=0.038 respectively).
The current data show that D-alanine and D-serine differentially modulate stress hormone-mediated negative feedback signalling in AtT-20 cells. Based on our findings, the changes suggest that D-alanine might augment the inhibition of ACTH, whereas Dserine may attenuate negative feedback, and release ACTH. The elevation of both ERK (with DEX and D-serine), and CREB (with both D-amino acids alone) implies NMDAR activation. The combination of DEX and D-alanine, suggests the possible involvement of GlyRs.
Epigenetics of osteoblast differentiation within an inflammatory environment

Keywords: epigenetics
genetics
mesenchymal stem cells
inflammation
osteoblast
bone
biology

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a debilitating autoimmune disease. Symptoms can be characterised by the inflammation of the synovium and irreversible articular bone erosion. Inflammatory cytokines, transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) and tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα) are enriched in the synovial fluid of RA patients and play a critical role in bone formation. We hypothesise these cytokines are involved in the epigenetic regulation of osteoblast differentiation. Thus, the effects of TNFα and TGF-β1 were characterised and inflammatory osteogenesis models were formed. We observed that prolonged TNFα treatment in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) promoted osteoblast differentiation and mineralisation. Through the screening of epigenetic probes in the model, we discovered 18 statistically significant hits, which regulated alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity (a marker of osteogenic differentiation).
TGF-β1 treatment during osteogenic differentiation completely inhibited mineralisation and strongly repressed ALP activity in hMSCs. The screening of epigenetic probes revealed inhibitors for three specific epigenetic protein families regulated ALP activity. Bromodomain extra terminal protein inhibitors repressed ALP activity, whilst histone deacetylase and lysine demethylase (KDM5) inhibitors promoted ALP activity in a dose dependent manner. TGF-β1 treatment upregulated the expression of the KDM5 isoforms. Moreover, shRNA knockdown of KDM5 promoted ALP activity. Through RNA sequencing, we observed profound changes in genes that regulate the PI3K-AKT pathway, a pathway critical for osteogenesis. We observed the downregulation of expression of PI3K-AKT pathway signalling components following TGF-β1 treatment. Furthermore, we observed the promotion of expression of the pathway components after KDM5 inhibitor treatment. In summary, this study demonstrated the important effects of RA cytokines on osteoblast differentiation with epigenetic regulators closely involved in this process. In addition, KDM5 plays an important role in TGF-β1 mediated bone dysfunction diseases.
The elusive divide between tacit collusion and concerted practices
Keywords: tacit collusion
oligopoly
competition law
concerted practices

Sellers in oligopolistic markets can cooperate in ways that diverge from the orthodox vision of competition. It is a bigger issue, however, that there are also deviations in vision between competition law and economics on some basic categories. Foremost among these is the grey zone between two of the practices this thesis studies: tacit collusion and concerted practices. The two disciplines’ divergent interpretations of the interaction between sellers permeate the canon of enforcement practice, case law, and academic thinking. In more clear-cut instances, like cartels, this underlying divergence is inconsequential. However, the more ambivalent the practice, the more glaring the divergence becomes. Blind spots ensue because the two disciplines look at the problem from different angles. Using the prism of natural and artifical transparency, this thesis explores these blind spots, which feature throughout the history of competition law but appear to be expanding as technology and the means of interaction evolve from human intution to artificial intelligence (“AI”). Novel forms of coordination may expand the scope of tacit collusion. Here, the competition toolkit will likely prove adaptable. Yet, as long as human actors remain involved in the process, certain social codes and mutual perceptions of the market and will continue to enhance transparency in ways that competition law struggles to categorise. These social and economic vagaries of human interaction necessarily elude clean binary categorisations between the permissible and the impermissible.
A court in transition: the literary culture of the English court, c. 1590-1612
Keywords: King James I
court culture
King James VI

The accession of James I in 1603 transformed the English court, altering its personnel, formal organisation, and protocols. This interdisciplinary thesis examines how these changes affected and were addressed in the court’s literary culture.
Most previous investigations of early Jacobean English court culture have focused on a limited number of texts, especially court masques. By contrast, this thesis provides the first sustained study of a broad range of literary texts written, read and performed by courtiers, who carried out a variety of roles at the court. It examines forms of court literature that have previously been neglected by scholars, including chivalric entertainments, verse libels, and vernacular and neo-Latin poetry by Scottish courtiers. By analysing such texts, this thesis deepens scholars’ understanding of, and revises assumptions about, the English court and its culture during an important period of transition. It illuminates the contributions made by Scottish courtiers both before and after 1603, and demonstrates that courtiers routinely expressed reservations, and even criticisms, about changes to the court.
The Introduction justifies the distinctive range of sources examined in the thesis, and summarises the major institutional changes to the court that followed James’s accession and how they affected court politics. Chapter One uses the baptism of Prince Henry of Scotland in 1594 as a case study to reveal what English courtiers knew of Scottish court culture before 1603. Chapter Two demonstrates the vibrancy and political significance of the court’s chivalric culture, arguing that chivalric pageantry and ceremonial was used (with varied success) to foster amity between courtiers. Chapter Three examines how the changes at court were addressed in court sermons: although preachers helped to smooth James’s accession, they also expressed reservations about new personnel and protocols at court. Chapter Four analyses poetry by Scottish courtiers, revealing their distinctive interpretations of James’s accession, their contributions to court culture, and their criticisms of court life. Chapter Five examines the career and writings of Sir Fulke Greville to show how the changes at court effected and were analysed critically by a former Elizabethan courtier. Chapter Six analyses an overlooked form of court literature, in which changes at court were depicted most unsparingly: verse libels. The Conclusion evaluates the thesis’s revisionary account of early Jacobean English court culture, and discusses how its approach could be used to study other courts in transition.
Nonparametric independence testing and regression for time-to-event data
Keywords: biostatistics
neural networks
time-to-event data
survival analysis
statistics

The main goal of this thesis is to develop statistical methods for non-parametric independence testing and regression between a covariate and a right-censored event-time. First, we study tests of independence that use reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHSs) to quantify the dependence in a dataset. In particular we study permutation tests with the Hilbert Schmidt independence criterion (HSIC) as the test-statistic. We show such tests are pointswise consistent, which means that, for each fixed alternative hypothesis, the probability the null hypothesis is rejected con-verges to 1 as the sample size converges to infinity. This shows that kernel-based permutation tests of independence are able to detect every type of independence. Second, we propose two nonparametric tests of independence between a covariate and right-censored time. The first of these tests, termed optHSIC, consists of a two-step procedure: first the censored dataset is transformed into an uncensored one using optimal transport, after which a standard permutation test with test statistic HSIC is applied to the uncensored dataset. The second proposed test is the kernel-logrank test. This test uses a supremum of scores over an RKHS as the test-statistic, and uses wild-bootstrap to test for significance. We show that these tests are able to detect a wider range of dependencies between covariates and event-times than existing methods. Lastly, we study scoring rules for right-censored regression models. We show that several often-used scoring rules are not proper, meaning that the true distribution may score worse than inaccurate distributions. Since this does not hold for the right-censored log-likelihood scoring rule, we then propose a method, termed SuMo-net, that uses neural networks to optimize the right-censored log-likelihood. SuMo-net models the cumulative distribution function and the density of a right-censored event-time jointly using partially monotonic neural networks and achieves competitive performance on a range of datasets.
Constructing praise: the poetics of monumentality in Statius' Silvae
Keywords: monument
Silvae
ecphrasis
memory studies
Statius
Flavian poetry

This thesis examines the interaction between the literary motif of the ‘monument poem’, and the poetic description (ecphrasis) of material monuments, in the Flavian poet Statius’ collection of occasional praise poetry, the Siluae. It explores the close relationship between poetic and material commemorative practices, and the theme of the poet’s and patron’s aspirations for immortality, within the dynamic and volatile political context of the Domitianic regime. A central concern of this thesis is the interaction between the Siluae’s complex poetic programme and the material world with which it engages, and the connection between the cultural capital of the poet and the social capital of which the patron is custodian. Scholarship tends to oscillate between formalist and historicist interpretations of the Siluae, focusing either on the ways in which Statius’ poetry can serve to ‘mystify’ and lend symbolic capital to the material conditions of his patrons or, on the other hand, to focus on the cultural and historical import of the poems, to the detriment of the Siluae’s poetic value. The following study focuses on the issues that arise when the traditional tropes of Roman poetic discourse and literary history which Statius uses are reshaped through material referents of the monuments described.
This is to be clarified by looking at how ‘Statius’ monuments’ illuminate the connection between poetics and politics in the Siluae. Statius’ descriptions of monuments provide opportunities to heavily politicise the aesthetics of the Siluae. Domitian’s monuments are used by Statius as analogies for the Siluae’s poetic programme, resulting in a deliberate interchange between poet and princeps. This theme is further complicated through Domitian’s own complex representation as a poet in Flavian literature, a point often overlooked. Crucial to my reading is the underlying presence of Nero in the Siluae, whose monumental footprint in Rome, and status as an emperor-poet, were both obstacles and opportunities for Domitian. Just as Domitian’s monuments work to reshape the memory of Nero in Rome, Statius’ Siluae deconstruct Neronian literature and rehabilitate it to suit a Flavian agenda.
Tradigital knowledge? Indigenous video games, intellectual property law and the protection of traditional knowledge
Keywords: indigenous
traditional knowledge
intellectual property
tradigital knowledge
video games

Using intellectual property law and video games made by, for, and with Indigenous communities, this thesis examines the challenges and opportunities for the protection of Indigenous traditional knowledges in digital spaces. Existing scholarship addresses the inability the various categories of intellectual property (IP) law (particularly copyright) as they currently exist, to provide adequate protection for Indigenous traditional knowledges. Digital media poses a similar challenge to IP law. These two categories of “challenges”—sometimes dichotomized as the ‘very old’ and the ‘very new’—are often discussed in opposition to one another, the former associated with demands for increased protections and limited access, the latter with demands for increased access to information and diminished IP protection This dichotomy of ‘old’ and ‘new’ is likely based on an assumed incompatibility between Indigenous traditional knowledge and technological innovation. By situating Indigenous video games and the traditional knowledges they hold within an historical context of continual development and (ex)change, this thesis demonstrates that change and innovation do not contradict tradition as the discourse often suggests. The video games presented in this thesis emerge from traditional, local, and historical contexts, and demonstrate the ways in which forms of traditional knowledge such as storytelling, mythology, song and language, exist digitally. Through the lens of Indigenously determined game design, this research argues for the validity of what I have termed ‘tradigital’ knowledges — that is, the traditional knowledge in and of digital environments. It suggests that meaningful protection extends beyond the bounds of Western law and must include the support of intergenerational knowledge-exchange, skill-sharing and capacity-building which ensure the continued relevance, responsiveness and resilience of traditional knowledges.