VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
A realist perspective on the use of research evidence in health policymaking
Keywords: evidence-informed policymaking
realist methods
health policy

The achievement of “evidence-informed” policy is an aspiration espoused by policymakers, academics and citizens alike, but governments have faced considerable challenges in pursuit of this ideal. The methodological orientation known as scientific realism, in which outcome patterns in the social world are understood as manifestations of the operation of social mechanisms in specific conducive contexts, is increasingly popular in the social sciences, including within public health and social policy. Yet, little research to date has examined evidence-informed health policymaking through a realist lens. This thesis addresses this gap.
The purpose of this thesis is to explore the usefulness and explanatory value of realist approaches for the study of the use of evidence by health policymakers, and the influence of complex interventions designed to institutionalize the systematic application of evidence to health policymaking. The thesis presents two qualitative syntheses and a primary case study in pursuit of this aim.
Following a survey of relevant literature (Chapter 1) and a discussion of methodological foundations (Chapter 2), a comprehensive systematic review of qualitative research on evidence-informed health policymaking is summarized (Chapter 3). The latter forms the basis for the subsequent two chapters, a thematic synthesis on the factors affecting evidence use by health policymakers (Chapter 4) and a realist synthesis on the institutionalization of evidence-informed policymaking (Chapter 5). The thesis then pivots from synthesized secondary evidence to original primary research. A qualitative realist case study on the knowledge transfer work of the West African Health Organization (WAHO) is presented (Chapter 6), culminating in the proposal of a realist program theory setting out explanations for how and under what conditions their flagship program – WAHO’s Knowledge Transfer Platform – influences the use of evidence in national health policymaking in West Africa. The thesis closes with a pair of essays that provide lessons, interpretations and critical reflections, both methodological (Chapter 7) and practical (Chapter 8).
The role of adenosine in remote ischaemic conditioning
Keywords: adenosine
cardioprotection
ischaemic conditioning

Strategies to reduce infarct size in ischaemia-reperfusion (IR) syndromes such as acute myocardial infarction are of high clinical and scientific interest. Remote ischaemic preconditioning (rIPC) is one such strategy but its mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Multiple lines of evidence from animal studies suggest that the endogenous purine nucleoside adenosine is a key mediator of preconditioning pathways but no evidence exists as to adenosine’s role in the more complex physiology of humans. The work in this thesis aims to elucidate the role of endogenous adenosine in the physiological phenomenon of rIPC and to examine the role of exogenous adenosine in triggering preconditioning-like states.
In a randomised, placebo controlled study using healthy volunteers and the human forearm model of ischaemia-reperfusion injury, I demonstrate that delivery of the adenosine receptor antagonist caffeine, prior to the initiation of a rIPC stimulus abrogates the protective effect of rIPC on IR. By then selectively infusing caffeine to achieve high local but low systemic concentrations, I also demonstrate that adenosine receptor activation is important in the ‘trigger’ phase of rIPC rather than in the ‘effector’ phase and that blockade of the trigger phase effectively inhibits the release of a circulating humoral protective factor. These studies provide evidence of the crucial role of adenosine receptor activation in human rIPC, demonstrating their sites of action and illuminating their potential mechanism of action.
To study whether exogenously delivered adenosine can recapitulate preconditioning-like states, in initial studies in a large mammal model of acute myocardial infarction, I demonstrate that adenosine, given after the onset of ischaemia, but prior to reperfusion, significantly reduces myocardial infarct size. In a subsequent study, translating these findings to humans with coronary disease, I demonstrate that the delivery of adenosine in a range of concentrations is able to illicit the release of a circulating preconditioning factor which is transferrable across species and can reduce infarct size in a murine model of myocardial IR.
The condition of exile: Ghanaian exile networks and competing nationalisms, 1957-1993

Keywords: military governments
Kwame Nkrumah
exile
coup d'états
migration
Africa
human rights
diaspora
Jerry Rawlings
Ghana

This thesis provides an original analysis of the role of exile as an integral but neglected part of the historical and political landscape of post-independence Ghana. The prevalence of the nation-state as an analytical framework has led to the exclusion of exiles and other mobile individuals from conventional historical narratives, despite the significant impact which such transnational activists have had on the political development of Africa in general and Ghana in particular.
The thesis demonstrates that, through the creation of mobile networks of dissent, repeated waves of exiles affected and reshaped Ghanaian domestic politics, constituting a material challenge not only for the Ghanaian government itself, but also the governments of the countries they resided in. Exiles functioned as an externalised opposition, beyond successive governments’ coercive reach, disrupting state security and troubling key diplomatic relationships. Being beyond Ghana’s border did not prevent exiles from remaining active participants in Ghana’s development. Despite their externality, many ideationally and emotionally never left home.
Archival sources from across Ghana, the US, and the UK, alongside interviews, have been employed to explore how exiles remained entwined with the politics of their nation of origin. Regardless of geographical distance from Ghana, the global space of exile provided an important venue for contestation of the nation. This thesis combines multiple approaches, embracing not only the insights of global and African history, but also combining political realism with the affective turn. This derives from this thesis’ contention that the study of exile and its political impact is inseparable from its social and emotional dynamics. Emotion was central to how exiles perceived themselves in relation to their political aims and to Ghana as their home. Familial, social, and political ties defined these networks of resistance, ensuring their political impact spanned local, regional, and global spaces in unpredictable and entangled ways.
Investigating glyphosate tolerance mechanisms in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha
Keywords: glyphosate
glyphosate tolerance
Marchantia polymorpha
herbicide resistance

The evolution of herbicide resistance in weeds is a threat to global crop yields. The aim of this thesis is to increase our understanding of the evolution and mechanisms of herbicide resistance. To achieve this, I first determine the phylogenetic relationships of both the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter and uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferase (UGT) protein superfamilies within the Archaeplastida lineage. Proteins from these families confer non-target site resistance (NTSR) in populations of weeds. I also determine that the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha is naturally tolerant to the non-selective herbicide glyphosate. Using enzyme activity assays, I demonstrate that glyphosate tolerance in M. polymorpha is not due to a resistant version of the glyphosate target EPSPS. Instead, I discover a novel form of glyphosate tolerance conferred by the peptidoglycan biosynthesis enzyme MurA, which is structurally similar to EPSPS. By expressing MurA in the angiosperm Arabidopsis thaliana and generating murA loss-of-function mutants in M. polymorpha, I determine that MurA confers glyphosate tolerance independently from its function in peptidoglycan biosynthesis. I show that MpMurA catalyses the same reaction as EPSPS, transferring the enolpyruvyl moiety of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to shikimate-3-phosphate (S3P) forming 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate (EPSP) product. However, like EPSPS, it is also inhibited by glyphosate. I therefore propose that MurA confers glyphosate tolerance either through a mechanism analogous to target-site overexpression or by binding glyphosate, making it less available to inhibit EPSPS. Through a metabolomic analysis, I also show that the metabolic response to glyphosate treatment in M. polymorpha differs from that in A. thaliana. This may be a result of, or contribute to, glyphosate tolerance in M. polymorpha. These results therefore demonstrate a novel form of glyphosate tolerance and determine the physiological impacts of glyphosate treatment that may contribute to its mode of action.
Rhodium-catalysed regio- and enantioselective Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions
Keywords: rhodium
regioselective
asymmetric catalysis
Suzuki-Miyaura coupling

In this thesis, we describe a range of rhodium-catalysed regio- and enantioselective Suzuki-Miyaura type cross-coupling reactions. Brief elaborations of products and modifications of drug molecules and natural products are demonstrated to show the utilities of these methodologies.
In Chapter 1, transition-metal-catalysed asymmetric Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions are introduced in sequence, categorised by transition-metal type. Recent highlights in this area are discussed and the future of asymmetric Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions is outlined.
In Chapter 2, we present the rhodium-catalysed regio- and enantioselective Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions between vinylethylene carbonate and (hetero)arylboronic acids. We proposed that the chelation of substrate would help the regiocontrol. Combined experimental and computational mechanistic studies reveal the formation of a six-membered rhoda-1,3-dioxa-2-one intermediate after SN2’ oxidative addition during catalytic cycle, which is crucial for the regio- and enantiocontrol.
In Chapter 3, the method shown in Chapter 2 is elaborated by changing the ligand and solvent. The reaction scope now includes methyl-substituted vinylethylene carbonate. Notably, this represents the first examples of acyclic quaternary stereogenic centres formations via Rh-catalysed cross-coupling reactions between racemic tertiary electrophiles and achiral nucleophiles. The synthetic utilities of this method are demonstrated with formal syntheses of drug candidate and natural products (+)-epilaurene and (−)-cuparene.
In Chapter 4, we describe a series of general and modular regio- and enantioselective allylic arylation reactions. Unlike Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, the regioselectivities in this chapter are completely controlled by the rhodium/ligand complex. This method consistently produced arylation products in high levels of yield and selectivities (typically >90% yield, >95% ee and >20:1 r.r.). The synthetic applicability of these transformations is demonstrated with late-stage-functionalisations of naproxen, (−)-citronellal, (−)-perillaldehyde and estrone.
Investigating a novel catecholamine-associated cardiomyocyte subpopulation
Keywords: sympathoexcitation
catecholamines
RNA sequencing
lineage inference
heart
electrophysiology
optogenetics
RNA velocity

Excessive sympathetic stimulation of the heart, via catecholamines, is involved in a range of cardiac disease, from takotsubo cardiomyopathy to heart failure. Canonically, there are two main sources of catecholamines for sympathoexcitation. 1) Adrenaline, secreted by chromaffin cells in the adrenal medulla and carried by the bloodstream to the heart. 2) Noradrenaline, released by sympathetic nerve terminals within the heart. However, there is a growing body of literature highlighting a non-neuronal cellular source of catecholamines within the heart. This project aimed to characterise a cellular cardiac subpopulation associated with the gene expression of a catecholamine-synthesising enzyme. Mouse embryos and hearts from embryonic day 8.5 to neonates were single-cell RNA-sequenced. RNA velocity, a form of in-silico lineage inference, in combination with differential gene expression analysis and pseudotime inference suggested first heart field splanchnic mesoderm as the developmental origin for this subpopulation. An optogenetic lineage tracing mouse line for the gene encoding this catecholamine-synthesising enzyme was generated. Langendorff-perfused ex-vivo hearts from this mouse line were subjected to pulsed light stimulation. In addition, fluorescent microscopy of immunostained heart sections and genetic fluorescence was performed. These methods showed that the subpopulation was spatially distributed in the ventricular endocardium, subendocardium, atria and interventricular septum. The refractory periods of the cells were not significantly heterogeneous across the heart. The cells of the subpopulation had the size, morphology, striations and protein expression of cardiomyocytes. The subpopulation was shown to be proximal to sympathetic nerve terminals. Characterising subpopulations associated with intrinsic cardiac catecholaminergic signalling could lead to a better understanding of, and potential therapeutics for, cardiac pathologies where excessive catecholaminergic signalling plays a key role.
Seifert fibered spaces: triangulation and recognition
Keywords: 3-manifold algorithms
triangulation complexity
normal surfaces
Seifert fibered spaces

In this thesis, we study 3-manifolds from an algorithmic point of view. Our motivation is the conjecture that 3-manifold homeomorphism is in NP. The hope is that if one can prove this conjecture in the special case of geometric 3-manifolds, then one can use geometrisation to prove the general statement. This thesis predominantly concerns itself with the Seifert fibered case.
The idea is to show that we can bound the size of characteristic topological structures in an arbitrary triangulation. To that end, we first study the size of minimal triangulations of Seifert fibered spaces. We show that we can realise certain important curves, the singular fibres, as subcomplexes by increasing the size of an arbitrary triangulation by a linear factor. We use this result to give bounds on the triangulation complexity of Seifert fibered spaces with non-empty boundary, which is the minimum number of tetrahedra in a triangulation of a manifold. We give a formula for the triangulation complexity which is correct up to a multiplicative factor. We also give an optimal bound for the triangulation complexity of a connect sum.
We then turn our attention to the 3-manifold homeomorphism problem. We first show that recognising (closed) Euclidean and Nil 3-manifolds, and deciding if a given set of Seifert data is correct for them, is in NP. We then consider the case of recognising Seifert fibered spaces with non-empty boundary. We prove that the recognition problem for Seifert fibered spaces with non-empty boundary is in NP, and that deciding whether a given Seifert fibered space with non-empty boundary admits certain Seifert data is in NP ∩ co-NP. To do this, we give bounds on the size of a complete collection of normal annuli in such a Seifert fibered space. The technique we use for this bound, which is the theory of normal surfaces in split handle structures, comprises half this chapter and can be used generally to give a bound of the form c|T|² on the weight of a complete collection of (disjoint) incompressible normal surfaces in an arbitrary triangulation T.
Estimation of NMR signals in the time domain: methodology, applications and software
Keywords: signal processing
python programming
chirp pulse
NMR
numerical optimisation
diffusion NMR
2D J-resolved NMR
matrix pencil method

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is an analytical technique employed in many scientific disciplines that is able to provide insights into the structures and dynamics of chemical species. To maximise the utility of NMR, appropriate data treatment and analysis is necessary. The conventional route to extracting quantitative information from the raw experimental data — the free induction decay (FID) — is to convert it to an NMR spectrum, through application of the Fourier transform (FT). NMR spectra provide a human-interpretable representation of data; trained practitioners are able to rationalise the appearance of a given spectrum by mapping its component peaks to chemical environments in the sample from which the dataset was acquired. However, the FT suffers from poor resolution, with peaks of similar frequencies exhibiting over- lap. Disentangling the information associated with such peaks is not feasible using typical methods such as integrating user-defined regions of the spectrum. As an alternative approach, parametric estimation techniques aim to provide a detailed description of each signal which contributes to the FID. These methods have been shown to perform effectively even in scenarios where significant spectral peak overlap exists.
This thesis focusses on the development of a parametric estimation method for the analysis of FIDs derived from solution-state NMR experiments. The guiding principle behind the method is that it should require as little user input as possible, while being able to provide accurate and reliable signal estimates. Beyond simply providing a breakdown of individual signal components, many useful applications may be realised when estimation techniques are employed. The initial motivation for this work was to develop a procedure for the generation of broadband homode- coupled (pure shift) NMR spectra with desirable properties from 2DJ datasets. Furthermore, a means of analysing datasets such as those from inversion recovery (Τ₁), Carr-Purcell-Meiboom- Gill (CPMG) (T₂), and diffusion experiments, in which each FID exhibits a variation in its amplitude, is presented. The last application described is a means of producing phased, ultra-broadband NMR spectra from an experiment comprising a single frequency-swept (chirp) excitation pulse.
The methods presented in this thesis are incorporated into a software package written in the Python programming language, called NMR estimation in Python (NMR-EsPy), of which more information can be found at https://github.com/foroozandehgroup/NMR-EsPy.
Hellenistic mouldmade relief bowls in Thessaly
Keywords: Hellenistic pottery
mouldmade relief bowls
Thessaly

This thesis offers the first comprehensive and comparative study of Hellenistic mouldmade relief bowls discovered in Thessaly. The material under examination originates from old (1906-1916) and more recent excavations (1970s – to this day) across 23 Thessalian sites, conducted under the auspices of the Archaeological Society of Athens (under A. Arvanitopoulos) and the local Ephorates of Antiquities. Out of the 616 complete and fragmentary bowls examined here (which are recorded in 568 catalogue entries), only a few groups have been partially published to this day.
The aim of this study is to offer a regional perspective regarding the production, distribution and consumption of a very popular category of fine-ware, dispersed across the Hellenistic world. The examination of relief bowls within their excavation contexts (chapter.II) enables the identification of production centres and local workshops across the region. At the same time, it sheds light to the offering and use of such vessels in funerary assemblages. The interpretation of the bowls’ iconography (chapter.III) explains how literacy, education, theatricality, myths, cults, and everyday life were expressed in aspects of Thessalian material culture during the Hellenistic period. Emphasis is placed on the relationship of mouldmade bowls with other contemporary and earlier forms of art. Recording and discussing various types of inscriptions occurring on the bowls (chapter.IV) enhances our understanding of their relationship with manuscripts, of local dialects and paleographical trends. The classification of the bowls into typological groups and comparisons with other regional productions, mostly of mainland Greece and Asia Minor, allows the establishment of a typological sequence for the Thessalian production (chapter.V). Identifying imported specimens from other major production centres showcases the place of Thessaly within a network of Aegean pottery workshops, and the significance of its cosmopolitan harbours and land-routes as transit centres (chapter.VI). Ultimately, this research improves our understanding of material culture in Thessaly during the last three centuries BC and comprises an original contribution to Hellenistic pottery studies.
Is native speakerism a privilege in TESOL employment? A comparative study of self-reported hiring discrimination in native and non-native ESL teachers across Spain and the UK
Keywords: NNEST
the NNEST movement
TESOL employment
native speakerism

A quarter of a century has passed since the launch of The NNEST Movement, a consequential movement deriving from years of discrimination towards NNESTs, yet it appears very little has changed in the world of TESOL. This study examines whether TESOL employment and hiring practices are still subjected to native speakerism ideologies in Spain and the UK. This comparative mixed methods study examines self-reported discrimination of NESTs and NNESTs in Spain and the UK to temperature check experiences in 2023. A questionnaire was administered to n=210 ESL teachers across Spain and UK (n=134 NEST, n=76 NNEST), with 17 Likert-scaled statements and one optional qualitative question. Then, four follow-up semi structured interviews were conducted to gather further qualitative data from NEST and NNESTs. A principal component analysis was conducted, followed by independent samples t-tests, showing that participating NNESTs suffer significantly more (p<.001) self-reported discrimination when hired as an ELT than NESTs. Findings further show that NNESTs in Spain suffered significantly more (p<.001) discrimination than NNESTs in the UK. Thematic analysis was conducted on the qualitative data, which further triangulated this data and showed parallel findings. Suggestions to shape the future of hiring for TESOL teachers are made with calls to action for teachers, recruiters, and policymakers.