VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The responsible man: a study in two private prisons
Keywords: Private Prison Life
Masculinity
Prison

With the expansion of the use of private prisons and detention centres worldwide and the increasing involvement of private actors in the provision of custodial services, this doctoral thesis considers life inside two private prisons in England. Using theoretically informed ethnography it evaluates the effect of responsibility on men imprisoned in two private prisons in England. Firstly, it briefly reviews the background and development of prison privatisation in England and Wales and considers the role and place of private prisons as part of a wider neo-liberal shift. Secondly, using qualitative data gathered inside two private prisons, it evaluates if these prisons, through their regimes, are trying to create responsible self-governing prisoners. The thesis reviews both, how regimes and practices in place in these two prisons attempt to forge responsible prisoners, and how individual men and groups of prisoners experience, feel about, cope with and assimilate penal messages of self-governance and responsibility. Finally, it questions both the impact of responsible prisoners for prisons and the impact of responsibility on prisoners and argues that, whilst there is a benefit to fostering environments in which prisoners are enabled to become responsible and self-governing, a careful balance must be maintained, as for some men the responsibility itself becomes characteristic of the "pain of imprisonment".
Respiratory carbon loss in plant tissues under environmental stress
Keywords: respiration
mitochondria

Crop productivity is a balance between carbon gain by photosynthetic assimilation of CO2 and the release of fixed carbon as CO2 via respiration. Respiration is the process by which carbohydrates are oxidised to produce ATP to fuel biochemical reactions, whilst simultaneously releasing CO2 as a by-product; therefore, increased demand for ATP or decreased efficiency of ATP production by uncoupling of the mitochondrial electron transport chain results in greater CO2 production. ATP produced by respiration is either used to support processes involved in growth or to power cell maintenance processes, such as macromolecule turnover or maintenance of membrane ion gradients. Respiration increases when plants are exposed to high temperatures; a factor that will become increasingly important as we try to maximise food production as the global climate changes. However, it is unknown if increased respiration at high temperature is necessary to provide energy to support growth, is a consequence of increased ATP consumption for maintenance processes or is due to increased mitochondrial uncoupling at high temperature.
Flux measurements showed that CO2 production by excised Arabidopsis thaliana roots increases with temperature up to 37°C. Although growth also increased up to 37°C resulting in increased respiration associated with growth processes, the majority of overall CO2 production at high temperatures could be accounted for by non-growth respiration. An analysis of ATP-consuming processes demonstrated that protein turnover and maintenance of ion gradients collectively account for the majority of maintenance respiration, but that ATP consumption for the maintenance of ion gradients is quantitatively more important than protein turnover at high temperature. Furthermore, a decrease in in vivo P/O ratio at high temperature was demonstrated; the results presented suggest that this is most likely due to increased basal proton leak across the inner mitochondrial membrane. It can be concluded that increased CO2 production at high temperature results from a combination of increased ATP consumption for the maintenance of ion gradients and a decrease in coupling of the mitochondrial electron transport chain through a common mechanism of increased membrane fluidity and ion leak.
Strontium stable isotope behaviour accompanying melting and magmatism in the earth - moon system
Keywords: strontium
thermal-ionisation mass spectrometry
non-traditional stable isotopes
cosmochemistry

This thesis concerns the application of a new technique for measuring the stable isotopes of Sr, specifically pertaining to mass dependent fractionation in high temperature processes on the Earth and Moon. Processes such as mantle melting and differentiation on Earth and the formation of the Lunar Magma Ocean are investigated by the application of a double-spike TIMS method to terrestrial and lunar material to obtain high-precision 87Sr/86Sr, 88Sr/86Sr and 84Sr/86Sr data. Measurements of mantle-derived mafic material provide insights into the 88Sr/86Sr composition of the silicate mantle. Ocean Island Basalts possess restricted δ88Sr compositions, whilst Mid-Ocean Ridge Basalts from the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian ridges reveal variations in δ88Sr, the majority of which is seen within the FAMOUS section of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. These variations are attributed partly due to the effects of plagioclase crystallisation and partly due to mantle source heterogeneity. Analyses of mineral separates from three different igneous systems provide an understanding of δ88Sr fractionation at a mineral-scale. The possibility of δ88Sr fractionation as a result of magmatic differentiation has also been assessed, and found to occur between the basalt and rhyolitic end-members of the Icelandic Hekla suite. Variations in the 87Sr/86Sr ratios of these rocks are also found, and considered most likely to be due to contamination. Analyses of lunar rocks indicate that the highland suite appears to be relatively uniform in δ88Sr, whilst significant fractionation to light δ88Sr compositions occurs in the mare basalts. Such variations are thought to be associated with the crystallisation of plagioclase during the differentiation of the lunar magma ocean. Lastly, precise 87Rb/86Sr and 87Sr/86Sr data yield a model age for the Moon of 4.523 ± 0.019 Ga.
'Maschera della maschera': le traduzioni dall'anglo-americano di Giovanni Giudici (anni 1950-1960)
Keywords: poesia italiana
Giovanni Giudici
poesia inglese
traduzione

My thesis focuses on the Italian poet Giovanni Giudici (1924-2011) and specifically on his activity as a translator from Anglo-American poetry, during the decade 1950-1960. I have investigated Giudici’s translations from a twofold perspective. On the one hand, I acquired a detailed overview of the translations, attempting to establish a definitive and accurate chronology of them all – in most cases, the official dates of the individual texts published not coinciding with the later inclusion of the same texts in three separate collections. On the other hand, I analysed the stylistic and literary rendering of the foreign texts, evaluating their specific artistic value and, where relevant, emphasising in what way they are interrelated with Giudici’s original verse. In doing so, I used archival materials, examining drafts and comparing these with the final versions.
In my first chapter, I discussed the emerging notion of error and showed how this soon becomes the bridging element between the poet’s alleged amateurish knowledge of the original languages and his hyperconscious conception of the literary practice. The most innovative aspect of this ambiguous poetics is the poet’s tendency to equate poetic language with what he calls ‘strange language’, that is translation itself.
While dealing with each foreign text individually and showing how it contributes to the poet’s language and themes (such as, primarily, those of error, of strange language and of mask), I also argued that the translations of the 50s could fall under the category of ‘metaphysical poetry’. Not unlike other poets of his day, Giudici familiarised himself with ‘metaphysical poetry’ through T. S. Eliot, as I showed in my second chapter. I here devoted special attention to Giudici’s work on Eliot and presented some early translations of Eliot by him which have hitherto escaped critics’ attention. In the last two chapters, I analyse other foreign poets he translated, ranging from Donne to Emily Dickinson, from Milton to Pound.
Finally, by mapping Giudici’s interests in Anglo-American poetry, my thesis highlights the centrality that translation progressively acquires alongside the production of the original verse and within the use of the poet’s mother tongue.
The epistemic value of contemporary art
Keywords: contemporary art
epistemic value
philosophy
aesthetics
Conceptual Art
social turn
epistemology
Adrian Piper
bio art

Recently in analytic philosophy, interest in the issue of the epistemic value of art has been revived. Philosophers have sought to establish whether and in what ways art is a source of knowledge, understanding or a means of inquiry. In philosophy this is a longstanding question, addressed both in the Greek and German traditions, but it seems pertinent to ask the question again today in light of significant changes that have taken place in contemporary art practice.
In my thesis, I investigate this question from two perspectives: in terms of analytic philosophy of art, and in terms of developments in contemporary art since the 1960s. In Part I, I offer a defence of a philosophical theory of artistic value, critically overview the extant philosophical literature on the question of epistemic value of art, and explain why the inherently experimental character of contemporary art makes it difficult simply to apply the available theories. I argue that a philosophical engagement with contemporary art requires a different, more inductive method. In Part II, I closely consider three recent developments in which the relationship between art and knowledge has been rendered more complex. The Conceptual Art movement of the 1960s and 1970s privileged concerns with concepts, thought processes and truth over expression, materiality and fidelity to genre. The social turn of the 1990s cast the artist in a position that is almost indistinguishable from that of a teacher, social activist or even of a technology developer. And the artists working within the bio art movement of the 1990s and 2000s have assimilated the activity of the artist to that of the scientist, sometimes blurring the two roles.
The goal of the thesis is twofold. On the one hand, I show how cases from recent art history put pressure on some key commitments in recent analytic philosophy. Revisions and challenges are suggested in particular for extant theories of artistic value, conceptions of artistic autonomy and heteronomy, and some popular accounts of the epistemic value of art. On the other hand, concepts from analytic philosophy are used to shed light on some of the more radical developments in recent art practice, and to rethink the ways in which art participates in the broader culture.
The nicotinic acid receptor in human adipose tissue
Keywords: polymorphisms
genetics
adipose tissue
niacin
nicotinic acid receptor
human

Nicotinic acid (NA) has been clinically used for over 50 years to regulate lipid plasma levels. It is the only drug in current clinical use that significantly raises HDL cholesterol and reduces inflammatory markers. However, mechanistic understanding into its wide range of actions remains unclear. The recent identification of the Gi-coupled protein receptor HCAR2, for which NA is a potent agonist, provides intriguing insight due to its anti-lipolytic action and restricted, yet specific, expression in adipose tissue and immune cells.
The HCAR2 gene is 96% homologous to HCAR3, but the HCAR3 receptor shares neither the specificity for NA, nor the range of functional effects. Moreover, the close homology makes it difficult to separate the genetic variability and regulation of the two genes. To this end, I resequenced HCAR2 and HCAR3 in a selected population to characterize the variability of the two genes and to inform the subsequent design of specific genotyping assays. The Oxford Biobank, which is a random population-based collection of 30-50 year old men and women in Oxfordshire with a wide range of collected phenotypes, was used to explore genetic associations. A preliminary trend with HDL and rs7314976 in HCAR2 motivated the further search associations. However after increasing the sample size, the HDL association did not reach significance. When looking at inflammatory phenotypes, a 20% lower level of systemic hsCRP was found in males with a promoter region variant in HCAR3 (N=1808, p=0.007 for rs55718746). Replication of this finding in two relevant cohorts (NPHS-II, N=2185 and Whitehall, N=4228) resulted in conflicting findings.
After optimising the specific detection of both HCAR2 and HCAR3 transcripts, I characterized gene expression in human AT biopsies. This revealed an 18% increase in HCAR2 expression in the female abdominal depot (N=106, p<0.0001) and a reduction in abdominal HCAR2 in both males (β=-0.37, p<0.001, N=107) and females (β=-0.251, p=0.005, N=106) with increasing adiposity. The rs55718746 variant in HCAR3 was also seen to influence expression of both HCAR2 (N=182, p=0.018 in the abdominal depot) and HCAR3 (N=198, p=0.005) but surprisingly in opposite directions, establishing it as the first cis-eQTL for this genomic region.
Finally, I used human adipocyte in vitro culture systems to setup a pilot to study the anti-inflammatory effects of NA. The gene expression of HCAR2 and HCAR3 increased significantly with adipocyte differentiation in vitro. NA led to a drop in IL-6 transcript abundance in two out of three of the in vitro differentiated human adipocytes.
In conclusion, genetic variability in HCAR2 and HCAR3 shows weak associations with cardiovascular disease risk phenotypes relating to their respective pathways. The relevance of HCAR2 and HCAR3 gene expression and the role of the receptor in the control of inflammation will require further studies.
The activation of small molecules using frustrated Lewis pairs
Keywords: frustrated Lewis pairs
methanol economy
hydrogen activation

This thesis describes the activation of small molecules using frustrated Lewis pairs, in particular investigating their use to reduce CO₂ to methanol, thus producing a new route towards a renewable fuel.
Chapter One summarises the requirement for a renewable fuel source, the alternative methods currently available and previous research conducted into converting CO₂ to methanol using FLPs and other reducing agents.
Chapter Two describes the synthesis of a new family of electron-deficient tris(aryl)boranes, B(C₆F₅)3-x(C₆Cl₅)x (x = 1-3), allowing the electronic effects, resulting from the gradual replacement of C₆F₅ with C₆Cl₅ ligands, to be studied. The novel Lewis acids have been fully characterised and their Lewis acidities have been determined using NMR spectroscopy, electrochemistry and DFT studies.
Chapter Three discusses the synthesis of nine novel FLPs and their use to successfully split H2. Each borohydride salt has been spectroscopically fully characterised and five of the salts have been characterised using single crystal X-ray diffraction. To determine the exact positions of the H atoms, single crystal neutron diffraction and DFT experiments were carried out on [1-H][H-TMP].
Chapter Four details attempts to use the borohydride salts, synthesised in Chapter Three, to reduce CO₂ to methanol. Each experiment was been fully investigated and their catalytic viability was determined. The X-ray crystal structure of [1-OCHO][H-TMP] is described and each formatoborate and methoxyborate salt were fully characterised.
Chapter Five describes experimental procedures and characterisation data.
Augustine's conversion from traditional free choice to "non-free free will": a comprehensive methodology
Keywords: ad simplicianum
Augustine
Stoicism
Manichaeism
Neoplatonism
determinism
free will
grace

This thesis will explore whether Augustine of Hippo altered his theological views and what influences might have precipitated the alleged modifications. Augustine’s early "De libero arbitrio" argued for an individual’s ability to respond freely to God while his later anti-Pelagian writings rejected any human ability to believe until God infuses grace creating belief as his gift. Does his theology exhibit continuity or discontinuity?
Four commonplace assertions within Augustinian studies are questioned in this thesis:
1.) Augustine changed his theology in AD 396,
2.) while he was writing the letter to Bishop Simplicianus (Simpl.),
3.) with his transition occurring through reading scripture (Rom.7, 9;1 Cor.15),
4.) which he developed through merely modifying prevalent doctrines.
No scholarly work has researched Augustine’s entire corpus from AD 386–430 specifically analyzing his theology in the five final doctrines of: 1.) God giving initial faith as a gift, 2.) inherited damnable reatus from Adam, 3.) the gift of perseverance, 4.) unilateral pre-determination of persons’s eternal destinies independently of foreknowledge, and 5.) God’s neither desiring nor providing for the salvation of all persons. Only a comprehensive methodological approach—reading systematically, chronologically, and comprehensively through his entire corpus—can legitimately demonstrate changes.
Did a Patristic consensus exist regarding post-Adamic free choice? What was Augustine’s contribution to this theology? To what degree did the combination of Stoicism, Neoplatonism, and Manichaeism contribute to his liberum arbitrium captivatum?
Chapters include an introduction followed by chapters on free choice versus determinism in the: 1.) ancient philosophical-religious world, 2.) Christian authors AD 95–215, 3.) Christian authors AD 216–430, 4.) Augustine’s works AD 386–395, 5.) Augustine’s works AD 396–411, 6.) Augustine’s works AD 412–426, 7.) Augustine’s works AD 427–430, 8.) sermons and epistles, 9.) Augustine’s exegesis of scripture, and 10.) conclusion. Conclusions will be established via extensive primary quotations and references with supporting secondary sources.
Development of ligands to target bromodomain-histone interactions
Keywords: bromodomains
KAc
epigenetics
acetyl lysine
epigenetic probes

Histone acetylation is an epigenetic post-translational modification recognised by the bromodomain, a protein module that forms part of multi-component complexes affecting transcription. This interaction plays fundamental cellular roles, and shows association with particular diseases including inflammation and cancer. The biological roles of bromodomains and the progress of ligands developed so far has been summarised in introductory Chapter 1.
Work within the group has led to the development of a nanomolar ligand for BRD4, a BET bromodomain implicated in cancer and numerous diseases. Evaluation in an NCI-60 cancer cell screen indicated antiproliferative activity in a variety of cancer types. However, metabolic predictions indicate that this compound is unoptimised for use in vivo. Chapter 2 describes synthesis of a collection of analogues to improve the physical and pharmacokinetic properties of this series of compounds. This work identified compounds with equivalent affinity but greater predicted metabolic stability, as well as more potent derivatives. This research will direct the design of potent and metabolically stable derivatives that can be used in animal models.
Chapter 3 describes work carried out towards the development of small molecules to target bromodomains for which there are no known ligands, using the FALZ bromodomain as an initial target. A fragment-based approach has identified a number of compounds that bind to different non-BET bromodomains. These fragments will be a useful starting point for the development of more potent and selective non-BET bromodomain ligands.
As well as acetylated lysines, a number of other acylation post-translational modifications occur on lysine residues. Chapter 4 describes work carried out to investigate the interaction of other acylated lysine residues with bromodomains. This work highlighted that other acylated lysines can interact with bromodomains, and selectivity for particular bromodomains can also be achieved. These modified lysines could be incorporated into cognate peptides to improve in vitro peptide displacement assays, aiding the development of small molecular bromodomain probes.
The resigned, the restless and the resilient: risk perceptions among Afghan migrants in Turkey
Keywords: risk
migration
Afghan migrants
asylum
decision-making
Turkey

This thesis seeks to account for diversity in the migratory decisions of Afghan migrants who have recently arrived in Turkey. It proposes that social theories on risk provide a framework that rectifies a theoretical gap in the migration literature with respect to intra-group heterogeneity in the decision-making processes of migrants.
The thesis adopts Rosa’s (1998: 28) definition of risk as: ‘a situation or event where something of human value (including humans themselves) has been put at stake and where the outcome is uncertain.' I argue that variation in what migrants view as being ‘at stake’ and in how they evaluate the associated uncertainties— in other words, how migrants perceive risk— accounts for the diversity in the migration decisions of similarly situated migrants. Risk is therefore an analytical tool for understanding decision-making in its subjective and socio-cultural context. The thesis offers a typology as an analytical device for categorising the ways in which informants managed the risks associated with migration decisions. I identify three modes of managing risk, defined as resigned, restless and resilient, on the basis of migrants’ engagements with their social environment, their efforts at advocating for themselves and others, and their ability to gather and disseminate information.
The thesis also explores subsidiary themes concerning migrants’ legal consciousness with regard to irregular immigration status, and the process of embodying the physical and emotional consequences of migration. Most of the ethnographic fieldwork for this project was conducted in the cities of Istanbul, Van, Kayseri and Sivas from February 2011 until December 2012.
An investigation into theory completion techniques in inductive logic programming
Keywords: theory revision
SOLD-resolution
inductive logic programming
logical back-propagation
machine learning
abduction
theory completion
event calculus

Traditional Inductive Logic Programming (ILP) focuses on the setting where the target theory is a generalisation of the observations. This is known as Observational Predicate Learning (OPL). In the Theory Completion setting the target theory is not in the same predicate as the observations (non-OPL). This thesis investigates two alternative simple extensions to traditional ILP to perform non-OPL or Theory Completion. Both techniques perform extraction-case abduction from an existing background theory and one seed observation. The first technique -- Logical Back-propagation -- modifies the existing background theory so that abductions can be achieved by a form of constructive negation using a standard SLD-resolution theorem prover. The second technique -- SOLD-resolution -- modifies the theorem prover, and leaves the existing background theory unchanged. It is shown that all abductions produced by Logical Back-propagation can also be generated by SOLD-resolution; but the reverse does not hold. The implementation using the SOLD-resolution technique -- the ALECTO system -- was applied to the problems of completing context free and context dependant grammars; and learning Event Calculus programs. It was successfully able to learn an Event Calculus program to control the navigation of a real-life robot. The Event Calculus is a formalism to represent common-sense knowledge. It follows that the discovery of some common-sense knowledge was produced with the assistance of a machine.