VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Is language laterality related to language abilities?
Keywords: Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Language Laterality
Specific Language Impairment (SLI)

It is well known that language processing depends on specialized areas in the left side of the brain in the majority of the population. A popular view is that developmental language disorders result from a poorly lateralized brain, but evidence in support of this has been weak and inconsistent.
In this thesis, I investigated language-related asymmetries in brain structure and function, and their behavioural relevance in both individuals with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing adults. Combining different brain imaging techniques, I looked at group-level as well as individual estimates of language laterality and its relationship to language abilities.
The aim of my first two studies was to investigate the neural underpinnings of SLI in terms of white matter microstructure and functional organization associated with auditory processing. For this, diffusion and functional MRI data was obtained in a small number of families with a history of SLI and in control families. Compared with neurotypical controls, children with SLI had lower white matter integrity in the corpus callosum, and in white matter areas corresponding to the dorsal and ventral language pathways. The expected functional lateralization for auditory processing was not observed in either group.
In the second half of my thesis, I assessed language laterality in 215 neurotypical adults. I demonstrated that functional transcranial Doppler (FTCD) ultrasonography could reliably assess functional lateralization across different language processes. From this large group, I identified 16 individuals with atypical language lateralization and compared them to a group of 16 typically lateralized individuals using a combination of FTCD, MRI and behavioural measures of language laterality and language abilities. The two groups differed significantly in terms of lateralization assessed by functional MRI and diffusion imaging. The atypical group had lower left and greater right hemisphere activation compared with the typical group, and lacked the leftwards asymmetry in the ventral language tract seen in the typical group. The groups did not differ in terms of cognitive measures. Different functional laterality assessments were concordant in the typically lateralized individuals but were inconsistent in the individuals assessed as atypical by FTCD.
In brief, my findings suggest that for some individuals language lateralization may be unstable and varies depending on task or other factors. Even so, such differences do not appear to have consequences for language or other cognitive development.
A search for neutral high-mass Higgs bosons decaying into pairs of hadronically decaying tau leptons in 13 TeV collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector
Keywords: physics
The ATLAS experiment
tau lepton
supersymmetry
particle physics
Large Hadron Collider
Higgs boson

This thesis outlines the search for neutral Higgs bosons in a mass range of mH/A = 200 GeV − 1.2 TeV, decaying to a pair of hadronically decaying tau leptons. The search is performed using √s = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.21 fb−1, recorded by the ATLAS detector. No excess over the predicted Standard Model background is observed and upper limits are placed on the production cross section times branching fraction as a function of the mass of the scalar resonance. When combined with the results of the analysis where one of the tau leptons decays to either a muon or electron, the 95% confidence level upper limit on the cross section times branching fraction ranges from 1.4 pb at mH/A = 200 GeV to 0.025 pb at mH/A = 1.2 TeV for a scalar boson produced via gluon-gluon fusion, and 1.6 pb at mH/A = 200 GeV to 0.028 pb at mH/A = 1.2 TeV for a scalar boson produced via b-associated production. The results are interpreted in the Minimal Supersymmetric extension to the Standard Model (MSSM) as a limit on the value of tanβ, as a function of the mass of the neutral CP-odd MSSM Higgs boson. In the mmod+ scenario, the 95% confidence level upper limit is tanβ &LT; 7.6 for mA = 200 GeV, and tanβ &LT; 47 for mA = 1 TeV. For the mass range mA &GT; 500 GeV, the upper limit on tanβ is improved in comparison to previous ATLAS searches.
Neural mechanisms of reward-guided learning and irrational decision-making
Keywords: lesion
reward
voltammetry
decision-making
fMRI
devaluation
dopamine
irrationality
learning
nucleus accumbens
ventromedial prefrontal cortex
orbitofrontal cortex

The ability to take effective decisions is fundamental for successful environmental adaptation and survival. In this thesis, I investigated situations in which decisions appear irrational, at least from certain standpoints. I conducted a behavioural decision-making experiment in two groups of macaques: controls and a group with ventromedial prefrontal cortex/medial orbitofrontal cortex (vmPFC/ mOFC) lesions. Some choices lead to compound outcomes composed of different constituent parts. Control macaques’ decisions suggested their estimates of the value of the compound were biased away from the sum of the values of the constituents and towards their mean. Lesions of vmPFC/mOFC diminished the size of the effect so that macaques in some ways appeared to make more rational decisions. Based on the results of this experiment I devised a similar Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) paradigm with the control animals. This demonstrated strong vmPFC/mOFC activity when similar decisions were made and suggested a value comparison process.
In addition, I investigated the role of dopamine in learning using Fast-Scan Cyclic Voltammetry (FSCV), while rats performed a simple decision-making task. Theories about the role of dopamine in learning have focused on the possibility that it codes scalar reward value prediction errors. Less consideration has been given to the possibility that dopamine might reflect prediction errors about reward identities regardless of value. I measured dopamine in the nucleus accumbens when unexpected changes in reward value or identity occurred while rats executed a two-choice two-reward instrumental task. Dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens reflected reward value prediction errors. In addition, however, they also reflected some information about reward identity under some circumstances. Further investigation suggested that this might be due to differences in the nutritional value of different reward types that did not have clear measurable impacts of behaviour in the tasks that I used.
Exploring galaxy evolution with luminosity functions across cosmic time
Keywords: High redshift
Luminosity functions
Galaxy evolution

In this thesis I investigate galaxy evolution by measuring the luminosity functions of galaxies across a wide range in redshift. I measure the abundances of high redshift galaxies in deep HST imaging of the GOODS-North field from the CANDELS survey. I follow this evolution to lower redshift by measuring the luminosity functions of galaxies in ground-based imaging of the XMM-LSS field from the VIDEO survey with optical data from the CFHTLS.
First, at high-redshift, I identify 22 candidate z ≈ 7 and 6 candidate z ≈ 8 − 9 galaxies. By comparing the number of candidate galaxies with those found in the GOODS-South field, I determine that cosmic variance is not the dominant source of uncertainty on the number counts. I constrain the Schechter parameters for the UV luminosity function at z ≈ 7 and z ≈ 8 − 9, finding evidence for evolution in the number density of high redshift galaxies.
Next, I present the Ks-band luminosity functions in the 1 degree2 and 4.5 degree2 overlaps between the VIDEO-XMM field and the CFHTLS-D1 and CFHTLS-W1 fields. I measure the luminosity functions with the 1/Vmax method over the range 0.2 &LT; z &LT; 3 in VIDEO-CFHTLS-D1, and over the range 0.2 &LT; z &LT; 1.5 in the shallower VIDEO-CFHTLS-W1 field. I find the evolution of these luminosity functions is best described by luminosity dependent density evolution, where the characteristic magnitude has dimmed at a constant rate since z = 3, while the density has increased since z = 3, first rapidly from z = 3 to z ≈ 1.5 and then more slowly from z ≈ 1.5 to z = 0.2. I measure a significant upturn at the faint end of the luminosity function at low redshift.
Finally, I compare the VIDEO-CFHTLS-D1 and VIDEO-CFHTLS-W1 luminosity functions with predicted K-band luminosity functions from the Horizon-AGN simulation. I find both an over-prediction in the numbers of faint galaxies and an under-prediction in the numbers of bright galaxies, implying that the feedback from supernovae is insufficient while the feedback from AGN is over-sufficient.
The rise and fall of the reputed ownership clause
Keywords: credit
Reputed ownership
Legal history
Personal Property
Bankruptcy law

This thesis deals with the history of the reputed ownership clause, a bankruptcy provision that included goods in the estate of the bankrupt that were in the 'apparent' possession of the bankrupt, rather than in his ownership. The reputed ownership clause was enacted in 1624 in order to protect creditors from delusive credit, caused by chattel mortgages that generally took the form of a secret bill of sale.
This thesis, after considering the present state of the academic literature on the topic, explores the origin of the reputed ownership clause and the first two centuries of its judicial interpretation.
The value of this research is that it establishes that the early interpretation of the reputed ownership clause was more sophisticated than modern scholarship suggests. It shows that from the 18th century onwards the courts were already acting on commercial needs, balancing the prevention of fraud against the encouragement of trade and credit. After the leading case Ryall v Rolle (1749) the reputed ownership clause was interpreted more extensively, but at the same time, various general exceptions emerged that limited the reputed ownership clause. This resulted in a more sophisticated, and in some respects narrowing, application.
This thesis aims to fill a gap in the literature by providing a doctrinal general legal narrative of the reputed ownership clause, from its enactment until the point at which it came under attack in the mid 19th century. Case-law and treatises from between the late 16th and the early 19th century have been used to conduct this research. The research outcomes of the thesis show that certain assumptions in modern scholarship based on 19th century sources on the development of the reputed ownership clause and the floating charge are questionable.
Effect of nozzle guide vane shaping on high pressure turbine stage performance
Keywords: hot streak
Compound lean
swirling flow

This thesis presents a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) study of high pressure gas turbine blade design with different realistic inlet temperature and velocity boundary conditions. The effects of blade shaping and inlet conditions can only be fully understood by considering the aerodynamics and heat transfer concurrently; this is in contrast to the sequential method of blade design for aerodynamics followed by cooling. The inlet boundary conditions to the NGV simulations are governed by the existence of discrete fuel injectors in the combustion chamber. An appreciation of NGV shaping design under engine realistic inflow conditions will allow for an identification of the correct three dimensional shaping parameters that should be considered for design optimisation.
The Rolls-Royce efficient Navier-Stokes solver, HYDRA, was employed in all computational results for a transonic turbine stage. The single passage unsteady method based on the Fourier Shape Correction is adopted. The solver is validated under both rich burn (hot steak only) and the case with swirl inlet profiles for aerothermal characteristics; good agreement is noted with the validation data. Post processing methods were used in order to obtain time-averaged results and blade visualisations. Subsequently, a surrogate design optimisation methodology using machine learning combined with a Genetic Algorithm is implemented and validated.
A study of the effect of NGV compound lean on stage performance is carried out and contrasted for uniform and rich burn inlets, and subsequently for lean burn. Compound lean is shown to produce a tip uploading at the rotor inlet, which is beneficial for rich burn, but detrimental for lean burn. It is also found that for rich burn, fluid driving temperature is more dominant than HTC in determining rotor blade heat transfer, the opposite sense to the uniform inlet. Also, for a lean burn inlet, there is another role reversal, with HTC dominating fluid driving temperature in determining heat transfer.
A novel NGV design methodology is proposed that seeks to mitigate the combined effects of inlet hot streak and swirling flow. In essence, the concept two NGVs in a pair are shaped independently of each other, thus allowing the inlet flow non uniformity to be suitably accommodated.
Finally, two numerical NGV optimisation studies are undertaken for the combined hot streak and swirl inlet for two clocking positions; vane impinging and passage aligned. Due to the prohibitive cost of unsteady CFD simulations for an optimisation strategy, a suitable objective function at the NGV exit plane is used to minimise rotor tip heat flux. The optimised shape for the passage case resulted in the lowest tip heat flux distribution, however the optimum shape for the impinging case led to the highest gain in stage efficiency. This therefore suggests that NGV lean and clocking position should be a consideration for future optimisation and design of the HP stage.
Portfolio of original compositions and critical writing
Keywords: Music
Postmodernism
Steve Martland
Louis Andriessen
Politics
Composition
Thatcherism
Sexual/gender politics

On a May morning in 2013 news broke that a unique figure within British musical life had died unexpectedly in his sleep at the age of fifty-eight. First coming to notoriety in the early 1980s, the composer Steve Martland’s output spanned fusions of classical and popular instruments, a song cycle/pop album released on an independent alternative label, a predilection for string music descended as much from Dutch and American minimalists as his more pastoral English forebears, works for his own band of winds, guitars and drums, and ended with a choir piece giving traditional seafaring texts a minimalist treatment. Paralleling this stylistic evolution, all the while he was an opinionated and outspoken left-winger, frequently commenting on both the politics of music-making and broader socio-political topics. But from my perspective most compelling is how he sought to address these concerns with his compositions.
With little sustained attention having been paid to Martland beyond journalistic writings and some from a sociological perspective, this dissertation seeks both to be the first tracing of his career but have as its central focus an examination of just how his politics were expressed in his compositions and how this evolved. I cast a critical eye toward the works themselves, sketches held at the British Library and interviews and reviews to build insight into an idiosyncratic artistic response to a period of great social and cultural change in Britain that reveals itself to be a great deal more nuanced, conscientious and sometimes contradictory than it first appears.
Identification of chromatin modifying mechanisms in inflammatory macrophages in rheumatoid arthritis
Keywords: In vitro
Patients
Small molecule inhibitors
Cell biology
Human cell biology
Synovial fluid
Rheumatoid arthritis
Epigenetics

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a debilitating chronic inflammatory disease causing bone and cartilage degradation. Macrophages are known to play a role in RA pathology by producing pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, which activates immune cells, drives inflammation and facilitates the degradation of bone and cartilage. Alterations in epigenetic mechanisms, processes that regulate gene expression, have been implicated in the regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines in RA. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to determine specific epigenetic variation between RA patient blood and synovial fluid (SF)-derived macrophages (SF MLS). Granulocyte and macrophages colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) was used to differentiate healthy donor and RA patient blood monocytes into macrophages. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to stimulate blood and SF-derived macrophages to initiate inflammatory cytokine production. A library of small molecule inhibitors was used to identify key epigenetic regulators of pro-inflammatory cytokine production. Bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) protein inhibitors (JQ1, I-BET151, PFI-1) were the only class of inhibitor to show consistent down regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines in both healthy and RA patient-derived macrophages. However, only JQ1 was shown to reduce TNFα production significantly in SF MLS. Transcriptional profiling of RA patient SF MLS indicated a preference for a pro-inflammatory phenotype, and a resistance to steroids (a trait found in 30% of RA patients); SF MLS production of chemokines and cytokines were not downregulated by glucocorticoids in comparison to corresponding blood-derived macrophages. However, JQ1 treatment successfully suppressed these genes. In addition, silencing of BRD4 in blood-derived macrophages from healthy donors reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine production. Chromatin immunoprecipitation studies showed BRD4 was localised to pro-inflammatory promoter regions upon LPS stimulation and displaced in the presence of JQ1. These studies identified BET proteins BRD2, 3 and 4, as essential epigenetic regulators of pro-inflammatory cytokine and chemokine production in both healthy donors and RA patient macrophages. Furthermore, the observation that BET inhibitors can regulate genes that are steroid resistant in RA patient SF MLS, highlights their therapeutic potential in RA.
The well-disposed mind: Joyce, Loyola, and the psychoanalysis of ambivalence
Keywords: Paranoid Reading
Psychoanalysis
Modernism and Religion

This thesis examines the relationship between the fiction of James Joyce and the theological practices outlined by Ignatius of Loyola. By deliberately foregoing claims of direct or simple influence, the thesis illustrates the way in which Loyola’s concepts of belief, irony, discernment, and indifference illuminate the operations of the Joycean text.
These operations in both Loyola and Joyce are themselves best explicated through the use of Kleinian psychoanalytic theory. Klein and her followers analyze dynamics of belief, representation, and meaning as products of frustration. Loyola and Joyce both force the reader into symmetrical situations of frustration, and Kleinian analysis helps us see how Joyce uses his texts as a kind of exercise for the reader—an exercise of productive frustration, disappointment, and loss.
I trace the way this loss can turn reading into a reparative act, one that moves through the Kleinian ‘paranoid-schizoid’ position into a more productive, contingent, depressive position. I thus address Eve Kosovsky Sedgwick’s proposal for reparative reading. By examining both Loyola's and Joyce's engagement with (and invitations into) frustrating, paranoid reading, I show how this engagement might become reparative.
The thesis begins with an analysis of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises, finding there a specific structure of 'earnest irony.' It continues with a close reading of 'The Dead,' discerning how this structure operates in the Joycean text at the levels of both content and narration. It then takes up Kleinian theory directly to see precisely what paranoid reading—of the kind both Joyce and Loyola demand—accomplishes, and what its failure achieves. Its final two chapters consider A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, where it finds the narrative apparatus forcing the reader into a particular form of productive frustration, and Ulysses, which requires the greatest form of ‘earnest irony’ from the reader.
Activation of MAIT cells, and their role in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection
Keywords: CD161+ CD8+ T cells
IL-18
Sarcoidosis
MAIT
Confocal microscopy
CD8+ T cells
IL-12
Tuberculosis
FACS
Mucosal associated invariant T cells
Zellscanner
TIRFM
TB

Mucosal associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are a population of innate-like lymphocytes, with an emerging role in tuberculosis (TB). They are characterised by the expression of high levels of CD161 and IL-18Rα, possession of a Vα7.2+ T cell receptor (TCR), and restriction by the MHC class I-related protein (MR1). MAIT cells can be activated by MR1 presenting microbe-derived riboflavin metabolites; or, by the cytokines IL-12 and IL-18 in a TCR-independent fashion. How human MAIT cells integrate these signals for their activation in response to Mtb is unclear. Lymphatic TB (LNTB) is a common extra-pulmonary manifestation of TB; however, little is known about the status of MAIT cells in LNTB — or in other granulomatous diseases, such as sarcoidosis.
In this study, an in vitro approach was used to probe MAIT cell activation by Mtb, and the roles of IL-12/-18, the TCR, cell–cell contact and the immunological synapse (IS). Following TCR ligation, TNFα expression was rapid and transient, and was enhanced following sustained IL-12/-18 exposure. IFNγ expression occurred following sustained exposure to ng/ml concentrations of IL-12/-18; however, alongside TCR stimulation, pg/ml concentrations were sufficient. Using an artificial bilayer system, CD161 was excluded from the central regions of the MAIT cell IS, whilst the distribution of IL-18Rα remained unaffected. In response to Mtb and BCG, MR1 was necessary for rapid activation and TNFα expression, IL-12/-18 were necessary for robust and sustained IFNy expression, whilst an anti-Mtb effect was indicated in an intracellular infection model. Assessment of patients with TB or sarcoid lymphadenopathy revealed a depletion of MAIT cells in the blood in sarcoidosis, but not LNTB. In both groups, MAIT cells could be detected within a proportion of sampled lymph nodes.
Overall, these findings indicate the importance of inflammatory cytokine signals in the induction of high-intensity and sustained MAIT cell effector function, including in response to Mtb. The observation of a numerical deficiency of MAIT cells in sarcoidosis requires further investigation.