VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The junior officers of the Roman army, 91BC - AD14
Keywords: officers
Rome
army

This thesis examines the evolution of the junior officer positions of the Roman army in the period 91BC – AD14, and the motivations, background, and status of their holders. Two introductory chapters consider the nature of the available evidence and the way in which the agendas and survival patterns of our sources have influenced modern perceptions. There follow three chapters of diachronic analysis, each analysing the number of officer positions available, the roles and functions of the junior officers, and the status of the junior officer positions in the periods 91 – 50BC, 49 – 31BC, and 30BC – AD14, and finally three thematic chapters examining professionalism and other motivations for service, the perception of service as a junior officer, and the role of the municipal elite within the junior officer corps. In addressing these issues, the thesis challenges the modern view that the junior officer corps suffered a dramatic decline in status at the start of the first century BC through unwillingness to serve on the part of the Roman social elite. Instead, emphasis is placed on the important changes which occurred within the junior officer corps during the period 49 – 31BC, when the increasing demands for both manpower and loyalty among the warring commanders had a significant impact on both the junior officer positions and the men who held them, and which also led to innovation in the organisation of auxiliary forces. The reforms of Augustus that followed, and the junior officer corps of the earliest years of the Principate are also discussed, in particular the notable military innovations of the Augustan period and the role of the Italian and provincial equestrian ordo. Furthermore, this thesis analyses the development of professionalism within the junior officer corps and the perceptions of service as a junior officer as expressed in literature as well as in epigraphic and iconographic commemoration. The thesis concludes with a series of appendices which list all attested junior officers of the period, as well as those considered junior officers by modern authorities, with discussion of those officers whose careers or dating might be considered controversial.
Processing and properties of nanostructured thin film energy storage devices
Keywords: supercapacitor

A spray deposition manufacturing route has been developed for the fabrication of carbon nano-structured and micro-structured energy storage devices in a thin film format, with controlled film thickness, homogeneous film surface morphology and high electrochemical performance for both supercapacitors and lithium ion battery anodes. Three types of low cost commercially available carbon materials (graphite, activated carbon and carbon black) have been investigated, and electrodes characterised in terms of surface morphology, surface chemistry, microstructure and electrochemical properties.
By using ball milling, CO2 activation and adding suitable carbon conductive additives, nano-graphite-based film electrodes (one meter long and ~ 3 µm thickness) have been fabricated, with excellent ion transport and low electrical resistance (< 1.8 Ω). Specific capacitance of 110 F/g at a scan rate of 100 mV/s in 1 M H2SO4 was achieved.
The high rate performance of activated carbon-based electrodes ( ~2 µm thickness) has been enhanced by reducing the contact resistance of electrode/current collector interface and building a well-interconnected and hierachical meso/macro-porous structure. A specific capacitance of over 120 F/g at a scan rate of 600 mV/s or 20 A/g current density in 1 M H2SO4 was achieved.
The performance of carbon black-based electrodes (~4 µm thickness) in different electrolytes has been studied in both two- and three-electrode cells. High specific capacitances of 260 F/g at 1 A/g was achieved in 6 M KOH, together with energy and power densities of 21 kW/kg and 18 Wh/kg in 1 M Na2SO4.
Finally, graphite-based electrodes for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries have also been fabricated with controlled film thickness from ~ 900 nm to ~ 40 µm and 98% capacity retention of 371 mA/g after 20 cycles.
Spray deposition has been demonstrated to have the potential for scalability in the manufacture of carbon-based thin film electrodes with competitive properties.
Risk and protective factors for the psychological well-being of children orphaned by AIDS in Cape Town, South Africa
Keywords: mental health
South Africa
HIV
orphan
AIDS

Background: Orphanhood is a major consequence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. There is little evidence concerning psychological problems for AIDS-orphaned children. This thesis explores the relationship between orphanhood status and mental health. It also examines mediating influences of environmental risk and protective factors, and interactions between factors, on children’s psychological problems. Methods: 1200 isiXhosa-speaking children were interviewed, using standardised questionnaires, in deprived urban settlements of Cape Town. A qualitative stage with 60 AIDS-orphaned children, 42 caregivers and 20 professionals explored participant perceptions of risk and protective factors. A quantitative stage compared 1025 AIDS-orphaned children to control groups of other-orphans and non-orphans. Data were analysed with t-tests, chi-sq, anovas, regression and log-linear analyses. The study took place in collaboration with Cape Town Child Welfare. Results: AIDS-orphaned children reported more depression (p<.001), peer relationship problems (p<.001), post-traumatic stress (p<.001), suicidal ideation (p<.05), delinquency (p<.001) and conduct problems (p<.001) than other-orphans and non-orphans. Anxiety showed no differences. Compared to Western norms, AIDS-orphaned children showed higher levels of internalising problems and delinquency, but lower levels of conduct problems. These differences remained when controlling for socio-demographic factors. A number of factors strongly mediated the relationship between AIDS-orphanhood and mental health. These include poverty-related factors (food, education and social security, p<.001). caregiving-related factors (caregiver illness, p<.001, excessive housework p<.001, being a streetchild, p<.001) and AIDS-related stigma (p<.001). Cumulative effects were also found. Food insecurity and AIDS-related stigma interacted to raise likelihood of disorder from 19% to 83%, and orphanhood status and bullying interacted to raise likelihood from 12% to 76%. Conclusions: This thesis shows clear evidence of heightened psychological problems amongst AIDS-orphaned children. It also indicates mediating factors and points to areas of possible intervention. The South African Ministry of Social Development plans to scale up the study to a national survey of AIDS-orphanhood.
A space for song: Ovid's metapoetic landscapes
Keywords: landscape
Ovid
ancient epic

This study seeks to renew interest in the poetically constructed landscapes of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Far from existing as mere background to the epic, close investigation and analysis reveals the reflective relationship and mutually exerted force between landscape and narrative. Detailed readings show how the landscapes are created in order to reveal Ovid’s poetic programme, especially as concerns the intersection of genre; landscape descriptions are read as interpretive strategies for understanding the crossing of genres that comprise Ovid’s hyper-Alexandrian epic. I argue for this interest as indicated to the reader by three points of departure made by the poet that show up against the background of his interconnected patterning of narrations. These are choices demanding exegesis beyond mere recognition, and are designed to reveal a purposeful agenda that focuses attention upon the descriptions of the natural world. The first chapter explores the construction of Thessalian Tempe in Book 1, made prominent by Ovid’s mythological placement of Daphne as a Thessalian nymph. Tempe represents a landscape consequentially shaped by the narrative of Apollo and Daphne, memorialising topographically the intersection of the ‘high’ and ‘low’ genres of epic and elegy exemplified in their interaction. This narrative influence over the landscape is explored in this programmatic tale, and Tempe’s metapoetic construction is argued for using Callimachus’ Hymn to Delos as a poetic model, focusing on the figure of the Peneus common to both texts. The second chapter focuses on Helicon in Book 5, and examines the finely-drawn relationship between the contest songs and Helicon’s position as the contest prize across the complex layers of narrative space, demonstrating how the inspiratory springs of Helicon provide the narrative motivation for the contest songs and tracing the generic topography of Calliope’s song. The third chapter offers a new interpretation of Orpheus’ grove as an atmospheric doublet of the Underworld, examined through the patterning of meaning imposed by the dual meaning of umbra, and identifies Ovid’s transformation of a literary topos.
Genetic and environmental influences on learning Chinese language and literacy skills
Keywords: language
reading
twin study
children
Chinese

This thesis investigated the etiology of individual differences in Chinese language and literacy skills with a two-wave longitudinal design using a sample of 312 Chinese twin pairs aged 3 to 11 in Hong Kong. Children were individually given tasks of Chinese word reading, receptive vocabulary, phonological memory, tone awareness, syllable and rhyme awareness, rapid automatized naming, morphological awareness, and orthographic skills, as well as nonverbal reasoning and audiometric screening tests. They were tested again on the same tasks, except nonverbal reasoning, one year after the initial testing. Children’s saliva was collected to perform SNP testing for zygosity determination. Also, their demographic information, home literacy environment profile, and motivation for learning text, were obtained from parent-rated questionnaires. Overall, there were four major findings on Chinese language and literacy abilities with the effects of age and nonverbal reasoning controlled for. First, genes and environments had differential influences on various skills, and there was a possibility of different etiology in language and reading development. Second, socioeconomic status and home literacy environment were plausible mediators but not moderators of general language and reading abilities. Third, the stability of various skills across a one-year time period was mainly mediated by genetic influences, but shared environmental factors also influenced syllable and rhyme awareness. Also, new genetic and environmental factors came into play at Time 2 for word reading, and results suggested new genetic influences and new shared environmental influences emerged at Time 2 for tone awareness and morphological awareness respectively. Fourth, both genes and environments contributed to parent-rated communicative ability and motivation for learning text. Furthermore, the link between word reading and parent-rated motivation was mediated by genetic processes. The universality of the genetic and environmental origins across languages and their specificity to Chinese, as well as the implications of these findings, were discussed.
Fullerene based systems for optical spin readout
Keywords: Fullerene
ESR
EPR
Erbium
organometallic
spectroscopy
diffusion
ODMR

Optical spin readout (OSR) in fullerene-based systems has the potential to solve the spin readout and scalability challenges in solid-state quantum information processing.
While the rich variety of chemical groups that can be linked (covalently or not) to the fullerenes opens the possibility of making large and controlled arrays of qubits, optical methods can be used to measure EPR down to a single spin thanks to the large energy of optical photons compared to the microwave ones.
After reviewing the state of the art of OSR, for which the diamond NV cen- ters constitute the benchmark, we undertake the study of fullerene-based species for OSR. An optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) setup was imple- mented in a commercial EPR spectrometer for this purpose. Each experimental chapter focuses on one of the molecular systems in question: a functionalised C60 fullerene with a phosphonate group (C60-phosphine), porphyrin-fullerene ar- chitectures (weakly, strongly and moderately coupled) and finally erbium-doped trimetallic nitride template (TNT) fullerenes (focusing on ErSc2N@C80).
In the C60-phosphine system, coherent optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) in the triplet state has been achieved. Since a large variety of organic and organometallic molecules can be attached to it both via the fullerene cage and the phosponate group, this result makes it a very useful template to study OSR molecules chemically linked to a qubit.
In the porphyrin based structures, an intermediate coupling case in the form of a trimer-fullerene host-guest complex is found to allow detection of both the porphyrin and fullerene triplet sates by CW ODMR, which makes organo-metallic complexes a possible coupling route for a qubit to an OSR component.
In the TNT fullerene, crystal field mixing makes the Er3+ inaccessible by ODMR. However, optical photons cause a mechanical rearrangement of the en- dohedral cluster which in turns impacts on the observed EPR. In particular, the dynamics of this process have been studied for the first time and hint to- wards diffusion kinetics at low pump power. An orientational selectivity has been discovered by using a polarised pump, and the time dynamics indicate the rearrangement of the matrix via difusion on a free volume around the fullerenes. This shows that the endohedral Er3+ in ErSc2N@C80 can probe the environment outside the cage.
Structural and functional studies on human PHD finger protein 2
Keywords: Kinetics
PHF2
Human
Structures

Histone lysine methylation is an important post-translational modification (PTM) that can regulate gene expression in eukaryotic genomes. Histone methylation states are dynamically altered by the activity of methyl-transferases and demethylases, including the Jumonji C-domain-containing histone demethylases (JHDMs). The JHDM enzymes are members of the Fe(II) and 2-oxoglutarate (2OG) dependent dioxygenases superfamily, which utilise Fe(II) as a cofactor, and 2OG and oxygen as co-substrates to catalyse oxidative demethylation.
This thesis presents structural and functional studies on an unusual JHDM, PHF2, which has an interesting metal binding site. The proposed substrate for PHF2 is histone H3K4me3K9me2 although no definitive in vitro demethylation activity for PHF2 has yet been demonstrated. Due to the unusual composition of the catalytic site of PHF2, it is questionable whether PHF2 is able to productively bind metal ions and catalyse demethylation reactions, as do other JHDMs. In this thesis, work investigating the cofactor/co-substrate binding ability of PHF2 and its substrate peptide recognition mechanism is described. The studies used a combination of biochemical/biophysical assays and structural methods including X-ray crystallography. The results confirmed that PHF2 is able to bind to a transition metal ion and 2OG/NOG. Further investigations revealed that substrate peptide binding is mostly determined by the PHD finger; and biochemical assays suggested that the JmjC domain is not involved in peptide binding, which offers a possible explanation for the difference between the results of in vitro and cell-based demethylation activity assays.
Inhibitor screening was also carried out for PHF2, and a list of initial hits was generated. Although the results of this work are preliminary, the initial hits will serve as templates for future development of PHF2 specific inhibitors, which could be used for both drug development and as probes to investigate the biological function of PHF2.
Solution reactivity studies of group 14 zintyl clusters towards organometallic reagents
Keywords: metal clusters
organometallic reagents
Zintl anions

The group 14 Zintl clusters [E₉]⁴⁻ (E = Ge, Sn, Pb) have been reacted with organometallic reagents in solution in the presence of alkali metal cation sequestering agents. The synthesis, characterisation and reactivity studies of the resultant complexes are reported herein.
These negatively charged clusters reductively cleave one of the M–C bonds in the group 12 homoleptic organometallic reagents MR₂ (M = Zn, Cd; R = Ph, mes, ⁱPr) to yield η⁴-coordinated functionalised clusters closo-[E₉MR]³⁻. They can also activate both of the M–C bonds in Cd(mes)₂ to form metal-bridged dimers [Ge₉CdGe₉]⁶⁻ and [Pb₉CdCdPb₉]⁶⁻. Investigating the reactivity of the functionalised cluster [E₉CdPh]³⁻ (E = Sn, Pb) towards HSn(ⁿBu)₃ results in the synthesis of the novel closo-clusters [E₉CdSn(ⁿBu)₃]³⁻.
The reaction of K₄Ge₉ with the heteroleptic organometallic reagent Fe(COT)(CO)₃ yields the metalated cluster anion [Ge₈Fe(CO)₃]³⁻, in which the nuclearity of the Zintl anion is altered upon coordination of the [Fe(CO)₃] moiety. Two side products have also been isolated as [K(2,2,2-crypt)]⁺ salts of [Fe(η³-C₈H₈)(CO)₃]⁻ and [Fe₂(η³, η′³-C16
)(CO)₆]²⁻.
In the presence of highly reduced Zintl anions, all the M–C bonds in homoleptic mid-row transition metal organometallic reagents can also be cleaved. These ‘naked’ metal atoms have templated the formation of the endohedral clusters [Fe@Ge10]³⁻, [Fe@Sn10]³⁻ and [Mn@Pb12]��⁻. These clusters adopt very different geometries and the electronic origin of their structures has been investigated in-depth by DFT calculations. Structural characterisation of some side products is also reported for: [E₉(mes)]³⁻ (E = Ge, Sn) and [Ge₉Mn(mes)]³⁻.
NLO QCD And two weak bosons at the LHC
Keywords: QCD
NLO
LHC

We present original calculations of standard model processes involving two weak bosons at NLO in QCD, and study related phenomenology with reference to Higgs boson and new physics searches at the LHC. We employ a new theoretical technique, D-dimensional generalised unitarity, to obtain the multi-particle, one-loop scattering amplitudes for the processes pp → W+W- + 1j, pp → W+W- + 2j, pp → W+W+ + 2j, and gg → W+W-g. We consider the LHC phenomenology of: the W+W- + n jets background to Higgs searches, for n = 0,1,2; the effects of anomalous tri-linear gauge couplings in WW and WZ production; the background W+W+ + 2j to new physics searches involving like-sign leptons; and a method of spin determination of new states in a scenario where conventional methods fail.
Greek Post-Symbolist poetics
Keywords: absence
symbolism
poetics

This thesis explores the poetics of the Greek Post-Symbolists, a group of early twentieth-century poets whose main period of activity falls in the years between the Generation of the 1880s and that of the 1930s.
By focussing on Post-Symbolist concepts of the role of poetry and on the way in which Post-Symbolist poems are constructed, this thesis examines the poetic system of a group of poets who occupy a transitional period in the history of Modern Greek literature.
The Post-Symbolists question both the nationalism of poets of the Generation of the 1880s and their own place in society. Post-Symbolist poetry focuses on themes related to the interior landscape of the individual. It promotes negation and absence, de-emphasizes external reality, foregrounding a poetic reality created through the acoustic links between words, and it undermines the importance previously attached to metre and rhythm in poetry.
In this way Post-Symbolist poetic language constitutes a reaction against the dominant poetic discourse of the time, and a turning-point in twentieth-century Greek poetry.
This thesis explores both the internal structure of Post-Symbolist poetry and the relationship between Post-Symbolism on the one hand and the discourses of the Generation of the 1880s and of the Generation of the 1930s on the other, placing this in the historical, socio-political and ideological context of time.
Aspects of wave dynamics and statistics on the open ocean
Keywords: ocean
Draupner
Schrodinger
NLS
freak wave
rogue wave

Water waves are an important design consideration for engineers wishing to design structures in the offshore environment. Designers need to know the size and shape of the waves which any structure is likely to encounter. Engineers have developed approaches to predict these, based on a combination of field and laboratory measurements, as well theoretical analysis. However some aspects of this are still poorly understood; in particular there is growing evidence that there are rare "freak" waves which do not fit with our current understanding of wave physics or statistics. In the first part of this thesis a new approach is developed for measuring the directional spreading of a sea-state, when the free surface time-history at a single point is the only available information. We use the magnitude of the second order "bound" waves to infer this information. This is validated using fully non-linear simulations, for random waves in a wave-basin, and for field data recorded in the North Sea. We also apply this to the famous Draupner wave, which our analysis suggests was caused by two wave systems, propagating at approximate 120 degrees to each other. The second part of the thesis looks at the non-linear evolution of Gaussian wave-groups. Whilst much work has previously been done to investigate these numerically, we instead derive an approximate analytical model for describing the non-linear changes to the group, based on the conserved quantities of the non-linear Schrodinger equation. These are validated using a numerical model. There is excellent agreement for uni-directional waves. The analytical model is generally good for predicting change in shape of directionally spread groups, but less good for predicting peak elevation. Nevertheless, it is still useful for typical sea-state parameters. Finally we consider the effect of wind on the local modeling of extreme waves. We insert a negative damping term into the non-linear Schrodinger equation, and consider the evolution of "NewWave" type wave-groups. We find that energy input accentuates the non-linear dynamics of wave-group evolution which suggests it may be important in the formation of "freak" waves.