VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Understanding ideological diversity within China's emerging middle class
Keywords: ideology
Q Methodology
China
middle class
politics

The Party-state's popular legitimacy is difficult to assess. This study aims to do so via a two- step methodology that aims to reveal the political belief sets through which the Chinese public evaluates the present regime and imagines possible alternatives. I focus upon the emerging middle class, as conceptualized by the Party-state, because the Party-state views this segment's support as a priority for its legitimation efforts. And I focus upon Beijing, because theory and evidence suggests that Beijing's emerging middle class should be especially persuaded by the Party-state's ideological work. Ideological diversity discovered in Beijing is a baseline of what one would hypothesize to exist elsewhere in China.
First, I distil the main ideological traditions to which the emerging middle class is exposed— including Official Ideology, Liberalism, New Left and Political Confucianism—down into their essential convictions. Second, via Q Methodology, I present statements representing these distilled convictions to a sample of the emerging middle class and ask them, using these statements, to answer: 'What should the guiding values and principles of Chinese politics be?' From the patterns of their responses, I elucidate the variety of ways they evaluate the question—and hence, evaluate the legitimacy of the present regime.
Four discourses emerge. Social Welfarism and Liberal Idealism form orthogonal boundaries between which most members of the emerging middle class situate themselves. Regression analysis suggests that the former is the default view, but a variety of factors can rotate people toward the latter. Authoritarian Reformism and Critical Realism are minority discourses that reveal more radical possibilities.
My research suggests that the Party-state's efforts to contain public conceptions have had mixed success. The range of public political preferences is sufficiently constrained that a single Party can coherently claim to represent their fundamental shared interests. A corollary finding is that the 'middle class' is emerging into the role the Party-state envisages for it, as a stabilizing force. However, while its members may be 'allies of the state', only some are devotees, in the sense that they share substantially in the Official Ideological perspective. The bounded diversity of ideological discourses reveals the exquisite complexity of the Party-state's legitimation task, and many potential pitfalls and missteps. The present study reveals both the reach of the state (i.e., a bounded discourse weighted toward a Social Welfarist default) and its limits (i.e., popular drift toward problematic alternatives).
More broadly, I find that popular legitimacy can be subjected to direct investigation. I show that while state-centric approaches to investigating China are compelling for their explanatory power, a balanced approach offers richer insight.
Justifying Christianity in the Islamic middle ages: the apologetic theology of ʿAbdīshōʿ bar Brīkhā (d. 1318)
Keywords: ʿAbdīshōʿ bar Brīkhā
Abdisho of Nisibis
Abdisho
Christian-Muslim relations
'Abdisho' bar Brikha
Apologetics

The subject of this thesis is the theology of the late 13th- early 14th century churchman 'Abdīshō' bar Brīkhā. Better known by modern scholars for his poetry and canon law, he is far less recognised as a religious controversialist who composed works in Arabic as well as Syriac to answer Muslim criticisms. My overall argument contends that 'Abdīshō''s hitherto neglected theological works are critical to our understanding of how anti-Muslim apologetics had by his time become central to his Church's articulation of a distinct Christian identity in a largely non-Christian environment.
'Abdīshō' wrote his apologetic theology at a time when Christians experienced increasing hardship under the rule of the Mongol Ilkhans, who had officially converted to Islam in 1295. While the gradual hardening of attitudes towards Christians may well have informed 'Abdīshō''s defensive stance, this thesis also demonstrates that his theology is built on a genre of apologetics that emerged as early as the mid-8th century. Our author compiles and systematises earlier debates and authorities from this tradition while updating them for a current authorship. In doing so, he contributes to the formation of a theological canon that would remain authoritative for centuries to come.
My analysis of 'Abdīshō''s oeuvre extends to three doctrinal themes: the Trinity, the Incarnation, and devotional practices (viz. the veneration of the Cross and the striking of the church clapper). I situate his discussion of these topics in a period when Syriac Christian scholarship was marked by a familiarity with Arabo-Islamic theological and philosophical models. While our author does not engage with these models as closely as his better-known Syriac Christian contemporary Bar Hebraeus (d. 1286), he nevertheless appeals to a literary and theological idiom common to both Muslims and Christians in order to convince his coreligionists of their faith’s reasonableness against centuries-long polemical attacks.
Identification and investigation of genes involved in Wolbachia-host interaction and genes for control of pest insects
Keywords: pest insects
genome sequencing
cytoplasmic incompatibility
RNA sequencing
Wolbachia

Insects pose large problems for health and agriculture; several major diseases are transmitted by insect vectors, and huge losses in food production occur due to insect pests. Current strategies for insect control are inadequate, with several disadvantages. Various novel approaches are being developed, aimed at either suppressing wild populations, or replacing them with insects refractory to disease-causing pathogens.
Some possible strategies utilise Wolbachia, a genus of maternally inherited intracellular bacteria. Wolbachia can manipulate host reproduction through a phenomenon known as cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), which leads to spread of Wolbachia through populations. CI could potentially be used as a gene drive system for spread of pathogen-resistance genes, or for population suppression via the release of incompatible males. Furthermore, some strains of Wolbachia have been found to inhibit virus transmission by mosquitoes; there have been successful field trials of population replacement exploiting this inhibition.
At present, little is known about the mechanisms of CI, or viral inhibition by Wolbachia. Discussed in Chapter 2, candidate genes for CI involvement were identified by sequencing the genome of the non-CI strain wAu and comparing it to that of the CI strain wMel. One candidate was used to transform Drosophila melanogaster, but it did not induce a CI phenotype. Chapter 3 discusses further identification and investigation of candidate genes for CI involvement by comparing RNA-seq data from wAu and the CI strain wRi, and from D. simulans either uninfected or infected with one of these two strains. Similarly, candidate genes for viral inhibition were identified and investigated by comparing RNA-seq data from Aedes albopictus mosquitoes that were uninfected, naturally infected with wAlb, or transinfected with wMel, which inhibits dengue in this species.
Other potential insect control strategies involve the release of modified insects with a genetic system that leads to population suppression. Discussed in Chapter 4, attempts were made using comparative genomics to identify the sex-determining locus in the mosquito Ae. aegypti, which could be utilised in genetic control systems. Some possible regions were identified, but the locus was discovered by another group before the work was completed. Chapter 4 also discusses the identification using RNA-seq of germline-specifically expressed or spliced genes in Ae. aegypti and the agricultural pest Ceratitis capitata; these could be used to control gene expression in various genetic insect control systems.
Overall this thesis demonstrates the use of high-throughput sequencing analyses to identify and investigate candidate genes of importance to insect control. It will hopefully serve as a platform for further research in this important field.
What is Icenian coinage?
Keywords: Iron age coinage

This thesis considers the purpose of the Late Iron Age coinage which was produced in northern East Anglia, and is usually attributed to the Iron Age tribe, the Iceni. The main source of new information used in the thesis is a detailed die-study of over 10,000 Icenian coins, believed to be the largest such study attempted for a complete regional Iron Age coinage. The thesis includes a review of previous scholarly work on the coinage and gives consideration to recent research into ancient economies and organisational structures.
The organisation of the coinage is explored and it is divided into four sequential chronological periods. The thesis explores the practical and organisational aspects of minting and finds that metal content and weight were important factors at all stages of production. The imagery and inscriptions of the coins are examined and it is found that, over the hundred years of so of production, there was a shift in emphasis from complex imagery, often containing hidden faces, to standardised simpler forms of iconography. The thesis explores the monetary role of coinage implied by these factors.
The deposition of coinage is considered, both as hoards and as single finds. The thesis shows how this evidence confirms the chronology and organisation of the coinage. It also shows that, contrary to previous assumptions, hoarding was not a continuous process in the study region. It was episodic using specific forms of coinage. The thesis finds increasing evidence of monetisation but also explores other potential uses for the coinage, and reasons for its issue.
The detailed die-study and descriptions of the many types of coin are presented as appendices.
Risk factors for violence and suicide in the general population: an umbrella review
Keywords: Suicide
Violence
Risk
Psychiatry

BACKGROUND: Violence and suicide account for an estimated 1.4 million global annual deaths. There is a large volume of literature examining single risk factors or small groups of related risk factors for violence, and separately for suicide. This thesis is an umbrella review that created an overview of this literature and compared risk factors across multiple risk categories for both violence and suicide, assessed overlap and estimated the impact of risk factors at a population level.
METHODS: A systematic search was conducted to identify reviews analysing risk factors for violence and suicide in the general population. Effect sizes were extracted and synthesized. Population attributable fractions were calculated where possible. Quality analyses were performed on reviews eligible for inclusion.
RESULTS: Twenty-two meta-analyses reporting on violence risk factors and 12 metaanalyses reporting on suicide risk factors were eligible for quantitative analysis. A further 37 reviews were included in a qualitative analysis. The strongest associations and most distinct overlap were found between neuropsychiatric risk factors for both violence and suicide, with particularly strong effect sizes found for neuropsychiatric risk factors and suicide. The neuropsychiatric risk factors which had the largest impact at a population level were substance abuse for violence (14.8%) and depression for suicide (27.9%).
DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION: This review demonstrated that neuropsychiatric risk factors for violence and suicide often have stronger associations with both outcomes than other types of risk factors, such as socio-demographic and childhood-related factors. This suggests that neuropsychiatric risk factors are of upmost importance in clinical risk assessment and as targets for intervention for violence and suicide reduction. Nevertheless, neuropsychiatric risk factors were found to account for only a small proportion of violence at a population level and appeared to have a stronger impact on suicide. Risk assessment for violence and suicide is complex and will always be imperfect. Further research is required to elucidate the areas of uncertainty found by this review.
The structure of the right to privacy in India
Keywords: Constitution of India
Supreme Court of India
Right to Privacy

This thesis studies the structure of the constitutional right to privacy in India. Recent events in the country — most notably, the Government's judicial challenge to the very existence of this right, a proposed biometric data collection scheme and the fear of mass surveillance — render this study topical.
The thesis concludes that the Indian constitutional right to privacy consists of three distinct conceptions — 'physical privacy', 'informational privacy' and 'decisional privacy'. Although the implications of the conceptual distinction between these categories seem to have had a considerable impact on judicial decision-making, they have rarely if ever been expressly articulated. On an examination of the Indian case-law, it may also be seen that the standards of judicial review vary between the three classes of privacy.
This thesis takes as its starting point, the Indian cases on privacy. An examination of the privacy case-law since independence reveals that the existence of this right has been reaffirmed time and again. However, conceptual inconsistencies plague most aspects of privacy. A survey of the scholarship on the taxonomy of privacy reveals useful insights. In particular, it provides considerable support for classifying privacy into manageable and conceptually delineable sub-categories. This then permits one to consider the further question — how, if at all, should the judicial treatment of these categories differ? Fortunately, the answers derived from academic literature are largely compatible with the Indian case-law.
In light of the Government's challenge, a constitution bench of the Supreme Court of India will soon be called upon to re-adjudicate on the right to privacy. It is hoped that the Court will take this opportunity to bring in much needed clarity into this area.
The making of imperial defence policy in Britain, 1926-1934
Keywords: imperial
colonies
Britain
policy
military
defence

Although the period between 1926 and 1934 was relatively peaceful, Imperial Defence policy-making in Britain focused on threats along the periphery of the Empire. This included a short-lived, but serious concern over Communist expansion in China and Afghanistan and a fear that American naval construction would undermine the Royal Navy's position in the world. The first threat receded by 1928 and the second was met by negotiating the highly successful London Naval Conference of 1930. Throughout these years, the need to reorient the Imperial Defence system to meet a perceived Japanese threat in the Far East, and the Treasury's opposition to the very idea, remained constants within policy-making circles. The world-wide depression led to serious defence cutbacks which the services met largely by cutting back even further on war reserves and mobilization potential. The Japanese assault on Manchuria in 1931, and then in Shanghai in 1932, exposed the inability of the Imperial Defence system to meet a Far Eastern threat. This led to pressure from the navy, in particular, for an increase in service estimates, but the economic situation and the World Disarmament Conference kept the government from agreeing to any significant change in policy. From 1931-193, Imperial Defence concerns were centred on the Far East, but Hitler‘s rise to power in March 1933 turned attention hack toward Europe. Nevertheless, the first large-scale review of Imperial defence deficiencies, the Defence Requirements Sub-Committee, presented a report which balanced the needs of European and Far Eastern defence. In the spring of l934. however, the Cabinet found itself unable to come to a consensus on the DRC's recommendations and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Neville Chamberlain, stepped forward with his own defence vision. He discounted the need for Far Eastern defence and re-oriented defence policy toward homeland defence. It was his intervention that set the tone for British rearmament in the 1930s.
The early Irish law of pledging
Keywords: History of Law
Irish Legal History

This thesis investigates the law of pledging as presented in the early Irish laws and draws connections to its relations within the overall system of security. At the centre of my research stands the question what pledges Irish law recognised and how their application was determined, so as to provide a paradigm for the law of pledging in its entirety. A pledge is usually a movable, material object of symbolic and economic worth that is given to another person as a security deposit for an outstanding obligation.
The main findings of this thesis are a first paradigm of the law of pledging and a methodological and contextual categorisation of all types of pledges that opens doors for future research into property law. The combined discussion of pledges, hostages and sureties offers the reader insight into a triple method of security and its differences. Moreover, the close relationship between given pledges and distrained pledges is unravelled for the first time. Of further note is the comparative investigation into pledging. Therein, the reader is presented with how pledges are used in Welsh, Salic, Lombard, Visigothic, and Burgundian law. The objective is to offer the reader a view into the possibilities of pledging and to provide a framework against which the Irish evidence can be probed, which reveals how sophisticated and attentive to detail the Irish laws were. Finally, a translation of the primary source text Bretha im Ḟuillemu Gell (Judgements concerning Pledge-interests) is made available to the reader in the Appendix.
Stars, magnetism, bulls and heroes: Thomas Ades's metaphors and his music
Keywords: Gilles Faconnier
Mark Turner
Conceptual Metaphor
Analysis
Polaris
Erno Lendvai
George Lakoff
Living Toys
Programme notes

This thesis centres on an examination of the music and commentary of Thomas Adès. Though academics and journalists alike have noted the importance of Adès’s programmatic descriptions, there is little work that considers his music alongside his commentary. Reinforcing this split is the notion that Adès is not merely reticent but also deliberately misleading: Service (2012) notes the way in which Adès wittily plays with his questions in interview whilst Fox (2004) suspects the composer of being knowingly naïve when outlining his approach to Brahms and the Piano Quintet. Venn (2006) has investigated the relationship between the discourse stemming from Asyla's title and the music, concluding that 'the notion of asylum inspires the musical processes only in an abstract manner, if at all'. However, examining the music alongside his commentary can uncover valuable insights into his music and enrich our experience of the work.
I shall explore the two of his works, Polaris (2010) and Living Toys (1993) and their programmatic discourse in order to demonstrate how it can be understood as part of the work. Thomas Adès, builds up elaborate conceptual metaphors which I shall explore through Facounnier and Turner's theory of Conceptual Blending. It is my position that, rather than understanding programmatic discourse as an explanation or translation of Adès’s music, it is more fruitful to view it as an extension of the compositional process, and an active part of the work. The final part of this paper relates the issues found in the thesis to my own composition portfolio.
The portfolio of compositions comprises three pieces: Round Trips: Three Pieces for Oboe and Cello; Foreboding, for chamber ensemble; and A Reflection Di(still)ed for string quartet. Though these pieces are distinct, they collectively seek to explore ways of integrating programmatic discourse into the work. This is especially true of the largest piece Round Trips which comprises three movements which develop two conflicting strands of conceptual metaphors.
Structual and biochemical characterisation of the endoplasmic reticulum alpha-glucosidases
Keywords: Hydrolase
Glycobiology
Enzymology
Structural Biology

ER alpha-glucosidases I and II are glycosyl hydrolases that play a key role in eukaryotic glycoprotein folding quality control. Removal of two glucose residues from the N-glycan attached to a protein allows association with calnexin or calreticulin which enable folding through associated accessory proteins. Many enveloped viruses utilise the calnexin cycle for the correct folding of their surface glycoproteins. Inhibition of the ER alpha-glucosidases causes misfolding of these viral glycoproteins and reduction of virion secretion and/or infectivity. Thus, inhibition of these glucosidases is a potential broad-spectrum antiviral strategy with clinical relevance. Inhibition by certain iminosugars, a class of glycomimetics, has given rise to a clinical candidate against dengue virus.
To date there are no high-resolution structures available for either of the mammalian ER alpha-glucosidases. Presented in this thesis is the work toward the structural and biochemical characterisation of both alpha-glucosidases. Large-scale production of both murine glucosidases is described along with biochemical characterisation against a number of substrates.
Glucosidase I is a challenging target for biochemical and structural studies. Described is the purification and confirmation of enzymatic activity. Biophysical techniques show that it is well folded and able to bind to iminosugars. Preliminary attempts at crystallisation have resulted in poorly diffracting crystals to 5 Å. This work enables future optimisation toward an atomic resolution structure of glucosidase I.
Glucosidase II plays a complex role in the kinetics of glycoprotein processing in the calnexin cycle. Production of the heterodimeric enzyme has enabled a detailed biochemical characterisation with a range of substrates and inhibitors. Structural characterisation of a large fragment of glucosidase II has enabled new insights into the details of heterodimerisation, substrate specificity, and the basis of iminosugar inhibition. This information can guide future development of more selective inhibitors.