VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Linking actions to outcomes in the frontal lobe
Keywords: Learning
social cognition
functional magnetic resonance imaging
emotional processing
non-human primate lesion
decision-making
orbitofrontal cortex

Behaviour is guided by accumulated experience, valuation and comparison. While many aspects associated with these functions are mediated by the frontal lobes, the precise contribution from particular regions remains debated. This thesis will deal with how an organism comes to select an option and will specifically focus on the role of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in two mechanisms in this process: learning of outcome specificities and selecting between multiple options based on their expected values. Despite evidence emphasizing anatomical and connective heterogeneity within this structure, the OFC is often regarded as a uniform region. This thesis aims to resolve some of this uncertainty by assuming that the medial and lateral regions of the OFC contribute differentially to learning and decision-making. Two distinct methodologies were used in these investigations. First, the contribution of the medial OFC to social and emotional processing was examined. The findings from this study disprove previously held beliefs that the medial regions of the OFC guide social and emotional behaviours, but indicted a role for this region in value-guided decision-making. The second study examined functional differences between the lateral and medial OFC by making circumscribed lesions to either region in macaque monkeys. The animals performed a number of 3-armed bandit tasks which were designed to investigate different aspects of value assignment and comparison. The results show that while lateral OFC was required for "credit assignment" – the correct assignment of values to visual cues – medial OFC was critical for comparison of the cues' values during decision-making. In unchanging probabilistic environments, mOFC lesions induced decision-making impairments when value comparison was difficult without affecting credit assignment and associative learning. By contrast, lateral OFC lesions caused the opposite pattern of impairment. The final study used human-neuroimaging techniques to investigate the differential representation of outcome-specific contingency learning and found not only that the expectation of a unique outcome facilitated learning and memory recall but that this was supported by a neural network which included the lateral regions of the OFC and the anterior cingulate cortex. Activity in the mOFC did not correlate with outcome-specific contingency learning but instead reflected both the value associated with the receipt and expectation of a reward. Taken together, the results from this thesis suggest that specific parts of the OFC make markedly different contributions to these very different cognitive functions.
History and the making of the orator in Demosthenes and Aeschines
Keywords: Greek oratory
Greek rhetoric
Athenian politics
Demosthenes
Aeschines

This thesis aims to contribute to the study of the role of the civic past in the public discourse of fourth-century Athens. It does so by close examination of the surviving public speeches of Demosthenes and Aeschines, arguing that presentation of the city’s history in front of mass audiences held singular persuasive potential for public speakers, allowing them to furnish with a more meaningful ethical context both the discussion of issues addressed in the Assembly and the arguments advanced in public trials. Deploying the past convincingly in such settings redounded to speakers’ personal credibility and authority, and Demosthenes and Aeschines – who offer rare examples of paired opposing speeches from the same trials – are selected as ‘case-study’ orators in order to illustrate: i) the importance of the invoking of Athenian historical models, both distant and recent, to Demosthenes’ self-fashioning as a politician; and ii) the extent to which orators made the very question of how to cite the past in public a stake in their wider struggle for political pre-eminence, seeking to be recognized as the ‘true’ and authoritative mediator of this material. These interests are reflected in the organization of the thesis. After an Introduction which discusses key preliminaries, Chapter One argues for Demosthenes’ early recognition of the potential of historical illustration for wider self-presentation, honed over the course of his Assembly career (Chapter Two) to become essential to his self-casting as Athens’s leading statesman. Chapter Three compares Demosthenic and Aeschinean approaches to citing the past in court, in two prosecutions from the mid-340s, and Chapters Four and Five – focusing on the high-profile Embassy and Crown trials – move to argue the importance of each politician’s contestation of the other’s versions of history to their battle over the reputations arising from their careers to date. The Conclusion summarizes, and reflects on some methodological aspects with a view to further work.
Classes of C(K) spaces with few operators
Keywords: Koszmider spaces
Banach spaces
few operators

We investigate properties of Koszmider spaces. We show that if K and L are compact Hausdor spaces with no isolated points, K is Koszmider and C(K) is isomorphic to C(L), then K and L are homeomorphic and, in particular, L is also Koszmider. We also analyse topological properties of Koszmider spaces and show that a connected Koszmider space is strongly rigid. In addition to Koszmider spaces, we introduce the notion of weakly Koszmider spaces. Having established an alternative characterisation thereof, we show that, while it is evident that every Koszmider space is weakly Koszmider, the reverse implication does not hold. We also prove that if C(K) and C(L) are isomorphic and K is weakly Koszmider, then so is L. However, if K is Koszmider, there always exists a non-Koszmider space L such that C(K) and C(L) are isomorphic. In the second part of the thesis we present two separable Koszmider spaces the construction of which does not use any set-theoretical assumptions except for the usual (ZFC) axioms. The first space is zero-dimensional, being the Stone space of a Boolean algebra. The second construction results in a separable connected Koszmider space.
'Christian radicalism' in the Church of England, 1957-1970
Keywords: radicalism
Christianity
secularisation
sixties
religion

This thesis is the first study of ‘Christian radicalism’ in the Church of England between 1957 and 1970. Radicalism grew in influence from the late 1950s, and burst into the national conversation with John Robinson’s 1963 bestseller, Honest to God. Emboldened by this success, between 1963 and 1965 radical leaders hoped they might fundamentally reform the Church of England, even though they were aware of the diversity of their supporting constituency. Yet by 1970, following a controversial turn towards social justice issues in the late 1960s, the movement had largely reached the point of disintegration.
The thesis offers five central arguments. First, radicalism was fundamentally driven by a narrative of epochal transition, which understood British society in the late 1950s and early 1960s to be undergoing a seismic upheaval, comparable to the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Secondly, this led radicals to exaggerate many of the social changes occurring in the period, and to imagine the emergence of a new social order. Radicals interpreted affluence as an era of unlimited technology, limited church decline as the arrival of a profoundly secular age, and limited sexual shifts as evidence of a sexual revolution. They effectively created the idea of the ‘secular society’, which became widely accepted once it was adopted by the Anglican hierarchy. Third, radical treatment of these themes was part of a tradition that went back to the 1940s; radicals anticipated many of the themes of the secular culture of the 1960s, not the other way round. Fourth, far from slavishly adopting secular intellectual frameworks, radical arguments were often framed using theological concepts, such as Christian eschatology. Finally, for all these reasons, Christian radicals made an original and influential contribution to the elite re-imagination of British society which occurred in the 1960s.
Functions of the orbital prefrontal cortex and hippocampus in goal-directed behavior and memory
Keywords: spatial behavior
memory
hippocampus
goal-directed behavior
orbital frontal cortex
executive function

Ailments such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are devastating conditions linked to deficits in the human prefrontal cortex, with some apparent localization to the orbital prefrontal cortex (OPFC). Prior work suggests structural and functional homology in the prefrontal cortex across species but many discrepancies remain. The primary aim of this project was thus to characterize the behavioral similarities and differences of the OPFC. Cytotoxic ablations of either the OPFC or hippocampus (HPC) of rodents permitted investigation of dissociations of function between the two structures. These experiments demonstrated that the HPC was required for a variety of anxiety behaviors, whereas the OPFC was implicated in only a hyponeophagia test, perhaps suggesting a more complex modulatory role for that structure. The OPFC was relatively uninvolved in spatial learning and memory or in reversal learning, contrary to large deficits observed in all aspects of spatial behavior following HPC lesions. OPFC lesions resulted in decreased levels of spontaneous locomotor activity; however, the age of the rodents at the time of this test may have been a confounding factor. A test of goal-directed behavior—-reinforcer devaluation—-was unsuccessful due to deficiencies in the testing paradigm. Finally, a technical proof-of-concept demonstrated successful use of intra-orbital 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT) to produce selective serotonin (5-HT) depletions in the OPFC for future studies. The results of this work will aid in the development of better therapies for AD and FTD.
The neuropathology of the social cognitive network in autism
Keywords: DTI
axons
cortex
minicolumns
autism

Potential differences in developmental trajectory were investigated in autism at both the macro- and micro-scopic scale, using regional volumetric measurements from in-vivo scans and measurements of minicolumnar organisation of the cortex in post-mortem tissue. In addition, a study was carried out to investigate the sensitivity of measures of cortical diffusion to cortical architecture. Three key regions of interest were studied throughout this thesis, orbital frontal cortex (BA11), primary auditory cortex (BA41) and part of the inferior parietal lobe (BA40).
Subjects with ASD showed increases in grey matter in left parietal cortex and decreases in left BA11 compared to controls. In addition, subjects with ASD showed increased grey matter volume with age in both BA41 and the inferior parietal lobe, whereas controls only showed a negative correlation between grey matter volume in BA41 and age.
Wider minicolumns were found in ASD in all regions, suggesting pathology is not restricted to higher order association areas. Differences seemed more pronounced at younger ages suggesting an altered developmental trajectory in ASD. Such an increase in minicolumnar width arguably underlies the feature-based processing style seen in ASD.
A pilot study using post-mortem DTI scans of MS brains revealed a relationship between measures of the directionality of diffusion and the width of axonal bundles in the cortex, an aspect of the minicolumnar arrangement. When extending this investigation to a set of ASD and control brains, evidence was found for different relationships between axon bundle width and measures of the directionality of diffusion in the cortex, suggesting that although differences in axon bundle width were not seen between groups, there may be differences in the composition of the axon bundles between ASD and control groups.
Representations of gender and sexuality in Brazilian popular cinema
Keywords: Brazil
cinema
gender
media

This study investigates the representation of gender and sexuality in Brazilian popular comedies. Due to its responsiveness to contemporary trends, popular cinema is a privileged locus for the analysis of social and cultural change. Comedy, in particular, is a fecund corpus for the study of power relations due to its ambivalent relation with the hegemonic power. While inherently relying on the status quo, comedy constantly pushes the boundaries of the socially acceptable; by transgressing and therefore expanding the boundaries of traditional gender representations, new models of femininity and masculinity emerge in these films in line with the changes of their time. This argument is supported by the close analysis of ten influential films spread across the three most prominent cycles of Brazilian popular cinema history: the chanchada in the 1950s, the pornochanchada in the 1970s and the Globochanchada in the 2000s. In the light of Mikhail Bakhtin's theorisation on the carnivalesque, and with the support of psychoanalytical theory, this study demonstrates that times of profound economic and political change call for a revision of gender models, and that comedy has been the preferred genre for Brazilian directors to provide a means of addressing, and coping with, the new demands on femininity and masculinity.
Synthesis of heterocycles via palladium-catalysed direct arylation
Keywords: C-H functionalisation
palladium catalysis
synthesis
heterocycles

Chapter 1 is a brief review on some of the recents developments in palladium-catalysed C-H functionalisation chemistry. The synthesis and functionalisation of heterocycles using these methodologies was particularly emphasised.
Chapter 2 presents our efforts to identify a new catalytic system to promote the intramolecular coupling of vinyl bromides with unfunctionalised aryl C-H bonds for the formation of benzofurans. Dihydrobenzofurans were obtained efficiently under mild conditions in the presence of Pd(OAc)₂, X-Phos and K₂CO₃ in DMA at 80 °C and a subsequent one-pot isomerisation under acidic conditions afforded the desired benzofurans. A new strategy has also provided access to more complex benzofurans by functionalisation of the exocyclic alkene isomer in both a chiral and achiral manner.
In Chapter 3, mechanistic studies were performed on the benzofuran formation reaction. The analysis of substituent effects on the aromatic ring is in accordance with an electrophilic aromatic substitution mechanism (SEAr); however, the existence of both intra and intermolecular kinetic isotope effects suggest a SE3 type pathway rather than a pure SEAr.
In Chapter 4, the intramolecular coupling of vinyl bromides with unfunctionalised aryl C-H bonds was further extended to the synthesis of six-membered heterocycles by direct arylation of alkenyl bromide derivatives in the presence of Pd(OAc)₂, dppf and K₂CO₃ in DMA at 120 °C. The synthetic utility of this methodology was exemplified by the synthesis of substituted isoquinolines in six steps. Moreover, we have applied our methodology to the direct arylation of sulfonamides, leading to an interesting synthesis of widely used sultams. Both these new routes are currently being investigated and should provide access to a variety of differently substituted cyclic sulfonamides and isoquinolines.
Finally, Chapter 5 presents a new strategy for the synthesis of benzo[b]furan was briefly investigated. It consists in consecutive Tsuji-Trost and C-H functionalisation reactions. This methodology requires simpler and more versatile substrates, allowing access to various heteroaromatics in a single step. We successfully proved the viability of this reaction through the synthesis of a range of benzofurans in modest yields. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a single palladium catalyst performing these different reactions in tandem in a simple procedure.
Philosophic historiography in the eighteenth century in Britain and France
Keywords: Voltaire
Robertson
Volney
Hume
Warburton
Gibbon
Diderot
Shelley
historiography
Enlightenment

The subject of this thesis is the by now traditional grouping of certain innovative works of historiography produced in eighteenth-century Britain and France; namely the historical works of Voltaire, and the historical writings of the philosophes; and, in Britain, the histories of Hume, Robertson, and Gibbon. This thesis gives a historical and expository analysis of the individual strategies of literary self-fashioning and generic appropriation which underlie this impression of resemblance. It particularly demonstrates that the major characteristics of the contemporary vision of philosophic historiography – the idea of a European history of manners or l’esprit humain, and the insistence on the rejection of the practices of the érudits – which have become incorporated within scholarly definitions of ‘Enlightenment historiography’, are well-established generic tropes, adapted and affected in France as in Britain, by authors of diverse ambitions. The invitation to assume inauthentic connections contained within the practice of philosophic historiography is shown to be embraced by Gibbon, in a notable literary challenge to the paradigms of intellectual history. This study contrasts the textual evidence of these authors’ experience of literary, personal, and political challenges regarding the definition of their role as public, intellectual writers, to the acquired image of an ideal of ‘Enlightenment writing’. It considers the Frenchness of philosophie, and the potential Britishness of Hume, Robertson, and Gibbon. As part of its wider analysis of the practice of intellectual writing with a historical focus, its scope includes the writings of British clerics and writers on religion; of French academicians; and of the late philosophe Volney, and Shelley his interpreter. The major conclusion of this thesis is that eighteenth-century British and French history writing does not support any synthesis of an Enlightenment historical philosophy, narrative, or method; while it is suggested that one of the costs of the construct of ‘Enlightenment’, has been the illusion of familiarity with eighteenth-century intellectual culture, in France as well as Britain.
Electrophysiological indices of graded attentional and decision-making processes
Keywords: beta-band
electroencephalography
transcranial magnetic stimulation
decision making
attention
neural oscillations
alpha-band

In everyday life we regularly update our expectations about the locations at which sensory events may occur, and about the motor responses that are appropriate in a given situation. The experiments in this thesis investigated the neural correlates of perceptual processes and motor preparation during human decision making, and the regions that causally contribute to decision making in the human brain. In Chapter 3, I used electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate whether alpha-band (~8-14 Hz) oscillations provide a graded index of participants’ preparatory attentional states. Time-frequency analysis revealed that manipulating spatial certainty regarding the location of an upcoming visual target led to parametric changes in the lateralization of preparatory occipito-parietal alpha oscillations, and to parametric modulation of parieto-central beta-band (~15-25 Hz) power typically associated with response preparation. In Chapter 4, I used EEG to investigate whether evolution of lateralization of sensorimotor alpha- and beta-band activity reflected participants’ evolving expectations about an upcoming motor response. Lateralization of activity in both frequency bands varied parametrically with the available evidence, suggesting such lateralized activity correlates with participants’ internal decision variables. Further analysis identified unique contributions to lateralized and non-lateralized oscillatory activity due to the prior evidence, evidence update, and surprise related to the observed information at each stage of the task. In Chapter 5, I extended the paradigm developed in Chapter 4 for use with online repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and concurrent EEG recording. Delivery of TMS during decision making allowed investigation of the causal role played by a left hemisphere medial intraparietal region that is the putative human homologue of the macaque medial intraparietal cortex (MIP). MIP stimulation disrupted decision-making behaviour by biasing participants’ decisions against contralateral-to-stimulation (i.e., right-handed) responses. Comparison of the magnitude of TMS-induced changes in behaviour and beta-band activity demonstrated that the intraparietal cortex plays a causal role both in decision making and in the appearance of beta-band activity over the motor cortex. In Chapter 6, the broader consequences of the experimental work presented in this thesis are discussed, in addition to promising directions for future research.
A model-independent approach to mixing in prompt D° → Ks° pi+ pi- decays at LHCb
Keywords: charm
mixing
physics
flavour physics
LHCb
particle physics

This thesis presents a measurement of the charm mixing parameters xD and yD in prompt D0→ K 0S π&plus; π− decays using 1 fb-1 of data collected by the LHCb experiment during 2011.
Mixing in charm is predicted to be small within the Standard Model, but there are significant uncertainties associated with calculating the long range contributions to the decay. Recent measurements made by LHCb and others have confirmed that mixing in charm exists at a rate of less than 1 %. With LHCb due to collect more data and Belle II being commissioned, the reduction of systematic uncertainties will become increasingly important.
The D0→ K 0S π&plus; π− decay provides sensitivity to both the magnitude and relative sign between the mixing parameters. It is also one of the few channels that can measure xD directly. It is therefore crucial to study this mode in detail as more data becomes available. The work presented in this thesis utilises a model-independent description of the K 0S π&plus; π− Dalitz plot decay for the first time in the context of charm mixing. Previous mixing measurements with this final state have used a Dalitz plot amplitude model, and the associated systematic uncertainty is not straight forward to estimate or control. In its place, this analysis uses external, statistically-limited measurements of the strong-phase difference between D0 and ¯D0 obtained by CLEO as input. In addition, a data-driven technique is used to correct for decay time biases induced by the selection removing any systematic effects due to extracting this from simulated data. As the amount of available data increases, both of these techniques will become vital to improving our understanding of mixing in charm.
In the CP convention used by Babar and adopted for this thesis, the measured mixing parameters are
xD
= -(0.863 ± 0.527 (stat.) ± 0.171 (syst.)) %,
yD
= -(0.026 ± 0.463 (stat.) ± 0.134 (syst.)) %.
Both xD
and yD are consistent with the current world averages.