VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Cardamom, class and change in a Limbu village in east Nepal
Keywords: rural inequality
social change
class
anthropology
economic anthropology
Nepal
Limbu
cash crop
cardamom

This thesis investigates the history of economic differentiation in a Limbu village in east Nepal. By examining three historically overlapping productive processes - subsistence agriculture, cash crop cardamom cultivation, and international migration - this thesis shows how each productive process has contributed in different ways to the acceleration of economic differentiation. In particular this thesis focuses on cardamom cultivation which first provided a means to transform significantly the lives of a large section of Limbu society. Introduced into the village by a local inhabitant in 1968, and thereafter spread throughout the whole Kabeli river valley and beyond, the cardamom plant has given many households access to considerable cash. This has enabled some households to purchase property in the plains, send their children to English-medium private schools, and send sons abroad for work. Households with little or no cardamom however, have fallen into increasing indebtedness, losing access to land and becoming increasingly dependent on wage labour for survival. The thesis also discusses international labour migration, which has more recently become another important and lucrative productive process for a certain proportion of the village. This has resulted in the rapid growth of a dispersed village in Jhapa in the plains, which has become a hub for international migrants as well as a symbol of the hopes and aspirations of villagers. This has brought about yet further economic differentiation between households that have been able to finance visas for work abroad, and those that continue to struggle day to day. Despite the increased integration of the village with a national and global market, the continued existence of Limbu language and cultural practises emphasizes the active role villagers have played in shaping their current condition.
The role of the BBSome in  Trypanosoma brucei
Keywords: Trypanosoma brucei

In humans, 7 genes causing the cilia-related disorder Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) encode proteins that form a complex, named the BBSome. The highly conserved 7 BBSome components facilitate ciliary membrane biogenesis by sorting and transporting specific membrane proteins to the ciliary membrane. The BBSome subunits are also conserved in the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of African sleeping sickness. T. brucei has been used as a model organism providing huge insight into basal body/flagella biology; it is therefore a good candidate for further analysis of BBSome function.
Even though it has been suggested that BBSome traffics specific ciliary membrane proteins to the ciliary membrane in mammalian cells, we still do not know whether the function is universal or present in T. brucei. In my thesis, I have focused on the most conserved BBSome protein, BBS5, to characterize its localisation and function in flagella formation in T. brucei. Through bioinformatics, I identified that BBS5 was predicted to possess a predicted lipid binding domain which is not present in the other BBSome components, and that the diseases causing residues are most conserved in BBS5. Moreover, I generated a cell line in which endogenous BBS5 was tagged with TY-epitope and GFP to assess the localisation, which was found to be in transition zone of the flagellum. In order to investigate the function of BBS5 in the flagellum formation, RNAi mediated knockdown of BBS5 was then performed. Knockdown of BBS5 did not cause any defect in cell morphology and flagellum formation, indicating that BBS5 is not required for flagellum formation in T. brucei. This thesis provides the first insight into the localisation of BBS5 in T. brucei, and may shed the light on the importance of the transition zone proteins in T. brucei, where selection of proteins to enter the flagellum membrane may take place.
The differential effects of teacher code-switching on the vocabulary acquisition of adult and young EFL learners: a study in the Korean context
Keywords: vocabulary acquisition
second language acquisition
EFL in Korea
age in SLA
English language teaching
code-switching

In Second Language Acquisition (SLA)literature there has been a considerable theoretical debate over the issue of teachers’ use of the students’ first language, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as ‘code-switching’. Yet to date there has been little study of the effect of teachers’ use of code-switching (CS) on the second language learning itself. Therefore the aim of this research was to study the effect of teachers’ CS on the learning of English word meanings by two age groups – 19- and 12-year–old EFL students in Korea. To this end, this study implemented a quasi-experimental design but conducive to ecological validity, drawing on intact EFL classrooms of two kinds: one with monolingual English teachers (English-only condition) and the other with bilingual teachers who speak mainly English but occasionally switch to Korean to explain unknown English words (CS condition). Under these two different instructional types, the participants – 286 adult and 443 young learners – were encouraged to learn previously unknown English words, drawn from reading texts, through their teachers’ explanations. The study also employed a participant questionnaire and follow-up interviews, so as to shed light on the issue of teacher CS from the learners’ perspective. The results reveal that, for both age groups, the teachers’ CS by and large yielded better learning results, in terms of vocabulary gains, than English-only instruction. However, an inspection of the effect sizes further shows that young learners, compared with adult ones, might benefit from the CS environment to an even greater degree in the learning of vocabulary. The findings from the questionnaire and interviews further suggest that this differential effect of teachers’ CS might be due to the young learners’ overwhelming preference for teachers’ CS in learning English. These differences both in results and learner perceptions are explained as resulting from proficiency levels on the one hand and levels of learning experience on the other. Having discovered these differential effects of teachers’ CS on the two age groups, the findings of the present thesis call for a reconsideration of pedagogical decisions regarding L2-only instruction, in particular for young L2 learners.
Remote sounding of the atmosphere of Titan
Keywords: infrared spectroscopy
CIRS instrument
Cassini spacecraft
remote sensing
Titan

The Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) instrument onboard the Cassini spacecraft will be used to probe the atmosphere and surface of Saturn's giant moon Titan. This thesis describes an investigation of the capabilities of CIRS as a remote sounding instrument.
To enable infrared spectra to be computed, a radiative transfer code has been adapted for Titan's atmosphere. The atmospheric model, including gases and aerosol particles, was refined by comparison of synthetic spectra with results from the IRIS instrument of the Voyager 1 spacecraft.
Characteristics of the instrument have been deduced from laboratory measurements. The size and shape of the field of view was found for the mid-infrared detectors. A Fourier code was developed to transform the raw data (interferograms). Blackbody spectra taken with the flight instrument were analysed to calculate the noise equivalent radiance for the detectors of all three focal planes.
Finally, the data regarding instrument performance was used in combination with the predictive radiative transfer code to consider in detail the extent to which gaseous bands and other spectral features will be observable for a variety of limb and nadir viewing modes. Current observing strategies are reviewed and recommendations for scientific emphasis in the light of the actual instrument performance are made.
Neutrino oscillation parameters from [nu]e appearance in the T2K experiment
Keywords: T2K
neutrino
sterile neutrino

The T2K Experiment is a long-baseline accelerator neutrino oscillation experiment, whose primary aim is to look for νe appearance in a νμ beam. A predominantly νμ beam is produced at J-PARC in Tokai on the east coast of Japan, and neutrino interactions are measured both by a near detector complex, 280 m from the neutrino production target,and by a large water Cerenkov detector, Super-Kamiokande, 295 km away. This thesis is concerned with oscillations νμ → νe, within both a standard three neutrino model and a model in which there is one additional sterile neutrino.
By looking at νe appearance over the T2K baseline, this thesis looks for oscil- lations involving one additional sterile neutrino. A region of the short baseline neutrino oscillation parameter space favoured by other experiments is excluded at 3σ.
The ND280 is also used to search for νe appearance over a short baseline. A νe selection is developed, and limits on the short baseline oscillation parameter space are set. Sensitivity predictions are also made for future T2K running. The T2K ND280 is interesting for this work since the detector technology is different to that of other experiments that have seen indications of short baseline electron-neutrino appearance.
In the standard three-flavour neutrino oscillation picture, a combined analy- sis of the electron-neutrino appearance results of T2K and another long-baseline accelerator neutrino experiment, MINOS, is presented. Combining the two re- sults with the Feldman-Cousins method results in sin2 2θ13 = 0 being excluded at 2.7σ, assuming the normal neutrino mass hierarchy.
An inquiry into the philosophical foundations of the defendant's duty of restitution in unjust enrichment
Keywords: private law
legal theory
restitution
unjust enrichment

The aim of this thesis is to uncover the philosophical foundations of the defendant's duty of restitution in the law of unjust enrichment. I argue that the current dominant account for the duty of restitution – that it is best explained by the model of corrective justice – is inadequate as it fails to accommodate two key features of an action in unjust enrichment, namely, the irrelevance of fault and the absence of causation. In place of corrective justice, I suggest three alternative models: distributive justice, equity, and commutative justice. The first two candidates ultimately prove unsatisfactory, but in their respective failures help identify certain fundamental elements of unjust enrichment. The third is the most promising, but care must be taken not to conflate it with corrective justice. I argue that corrective and commutative justice are not synonymous since, while corrective justice exemplifies an intrapersonal equality, the relevant form of equality for commutative justice is interpersonal. I define commutative justice as exemplifying the principle of equality in exchange, specifically, equality of the things exchanged. Unjust enrichment, I conclude, is a manifestation of inequality of exchange, of commutative injustice. Although commutative justice accurately describes situations of unjust enrichment, I admit that it cannot alone justify the existence or imposition of the duty of restitution on the defendant. Something more is required: a normative theory for preserving the status quo of initial entitlement distribution. As such, I canvas two alternative theories as exemplified by Hegelian and Aristotelian conceptions of property, respectively. These two theories map onto a corresponding distinction between private (pre-institutional) rights and public (post-institutional) values. I conclude that given the legal duty of restitution and the fact that it is difficult to conceptualize a private right that could justify this type of duty on the defendant, the Aristotelian understanding is preferable.
Essays in corporate finance
Keywords: behavioral economics
corporate finance
behavioral finance

Prior research on corporations finds that there exists a large unexplained firm-specific heterogeneity in corporate behaviors stemming from the effects of managers. This research identifies managerial personalities and tests their effects on corporate behaviors both experimentally and empirically. First, the effects of managerial personalities on corporate financing decisions are tested using a laboratory experiment with managers in South Korea. The laboratory experimental market is à la Modigliani and Miller but with two frictions, bankruptcy costs and corporate taxation. Leverage choices of managers with particular personality traits are compared against the optimal capital structure computed from the static trade-off theory. The results show that extravert managers choose higher leverage ratios, with the effect being financially meaningful although not statistically significant. Secondly, I identify extravert CEOs and empirically measure its effects on corporate financing choices using Chief Executive Officers’ avocation data and corporate financial data of public, nonfinancial US companies between 1992 and 2011. The results of mean comparisons by group, fixed effects regressions, difference-in-difference regressions, and changes of leverages around CEO turnovers show that extravert CEOs tend to issue risky debt more when accessing external finance and maintain higher leverage ratios than their peers. Thirdly, I test the effects of managerial extraversion on executive compensation. I first offer an empirical compensation model of managerial bargaining power, and then empirically tests the prediction by identifying a personality trait relevant to bargaining power using a novel set of managerial hobbies data. The results provide an evidence that CEO bargaining power has an increasing effect on CEO compensation.
Developing novel blood-stage malaria vaccines
Keywords: Viral vector
PfRH5
Blood-Stage
Vaccine
Malaria
Antibody

Natural exposure to Plasmodium falciparum’s asexual blood-stage results in protection against severe disease, but no vaccine using the widely-studied blood-stage antigens apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1) or merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1) has proven convincingly protective in clinical trials. Challenges include antigenic polymorphism, the apparent requirement for exceptionally high antibody concentrations for protection, and clinical-grade production of conformationally-accurate recombinant protein antigens followed by formulation with a human-compatible adjuvant. This thesis describes the generation of viral-vectored vaccines targeting ten less-studied blood-stage antigens, focusing upon antigens implicated in erythrocyte invasion. These vaccines were immunogenic in mice and rabbits. The rabbit antibodies raised were functionally active in the in vitro assay of parasite growth inhibitory activity (GIA). GIA with antibodies against one antigen, RH5, exceeded that achieved with antibodies against the ‘gold standard’ AMA1 or MSP1 antigens. This antigen’s amino acid sequence is relatively conserved between parasite strains. Importantly, and unlike anti-AMA1 and MSP1 antibodies, the GIA effects transcend genetically diverse strains.
It was hypothesised that blockade of the interaction of RH5 with its receptor basigin was likely to be a mechanism of action of anti-RH5 antibodies. Vaccine-induced polyclonal anti-RH5 serum was found to be capable of blocking this interaction, as well as merozoite attachment to erythrocytes. A panel of RH5-specific monoclonal antibodies were raised: those which block the RH5-receptor interaction were capable of neutralising parasites. Minimal linear epitopes recognised by these antibodies were mapped, and are likely to be within or close to RH5’s receptor binding site.
These data support prompt clinical testing of RH5-based vaccines, and shed light upon the mechanism of action of anti-RH5 antibodies. However substantial challenges remain in establishing whether this antigen, selected on the basis of the in vitro assay of GIA, will be capable of achieving in vivo protection against P. falciparum. Further work presented in this thesis addresses the use of quantitative PCR data to assess blood-stage vaccine efficacy in experimental human challenge with P. falciparum, and the use of surface plasmon resonance to establish more detailed characterisation of vaccine-induced antibody responses. Finally, the results of P. falciparum challenge of RH5-vaccinated Aotus nancymaae non-human primates are presented.
Studies towards the stereoselective synthesis of alkenes
Keywords: Synthetic organic chemistry

The work presented in this thesis mainly describes the development of new reactions of β-lithiooxyphosphonium ylides to access stereodefined substituted alkenes in a highly convergent fashion.
Firstly, β-lithiooxy ylides prepared from aldehydes and phosphonium ylides were shown to react with halogen electrophiles to provide a highly stereoselective route to E-alkenyl bromides and iodides. This methodology was successfully applied to the first total synthesis of naturally occurring (5E,9Z)-6-bromohexadeca-5,9-dienoic acid.
Secondly, an experimentally straightforward method was developed for the stereocontrolled formation of trisubstituted Z-allylic esters by in situ trapping of β-lithiooxyphosphonium ylides with readily available halomethyl esters. The synthetic utility of this methodology was demonstrated with the synthesis of plaunotol [(2Z,6E)-2-((E)-4,8-dimethylnona-3,7-dien-1-yl)-6-methylocta-2,6-diene-1,8-diol] and the first asymmetric synthesis of the naturally occurring geranylgeraniol-derived diterpene (6S,7R,Z)-7-hydroxy-2-((E)-6-hydroxy-4-methylhex-4-enylidene)-6,10-dimethylundec-9-enyl acetate. Furthermore, the chemistry of β-lithiooxyphosphonium ylides was expanded to access synthetically useful disubstituted Z-allylic esters. The synthetic utility of Z-allylic esters was also demonstrated in a versatile and diastereoselective Ireland-Claisen rearrangement to access γ,δ-unsaturated acids.
Finally, the synthesis of the side-chain of the 6,7-dideoxysqualestatin H5 was also investigated. It was demonstrated that the side-chain of 6,7-dideoxysqualestatin H5 could be accessed by a convergent and stereoselective organozinc-based strategy
Entangling nuclear spins using photoexcited triplet states
Keywords: photoexcitation
fullerene
qubit
triplet
nuclear spins

Entanglement is one of the most technologically important quantum phenomena and its con-trolled creation brings us a step closer to the realisation of a quantum computer. Hybrid electron and nuclear spin systems which combine long nuclear decoherence times with the high polarisation and rapid processing times of electron spins are considered reliable candidates for the representation of the fundamental building block of a quantum computer, the qubit. In the literature electron spins quite often play the role of a mediator which can access, manipulate and couple states with long coherence times, beneficial for storing quantum information.
Despite the fact that an electron spin can be a useful resource for nuclear spin systems, its permanent presence can be a source of decoherence. The use of transient photoexcited electron spins provide an additional advantage and once the operations which involve the electron spin are completed, the electron spin can decay and not interfere further with the evolution of the system.
In this thesis we report magnetic resonance experiments and density functional theory calculations for the demonstration of nuclear - nuclear entanglement using photoexcited triplet states. We study homonuclear and heteronuclear fullerene derivatives and we identify in each case the relevant parameters that can lead to high fidelity entangling operations. The hyperfine interaction in a homonuclear system is the key parameter which determines the degree of entanglement between the nucelar spins according to a recent theoretical proposal. We measure and calculate the hyperfine interaction in homonuclear systems with 13C nuclear spins in order to prove the feasibility of this scheme. Further experiments on a fullerene system with two nuclear spins a 31P and a 1H show that entangling operations of high fidelity which involve the demonstration of CNOT gates, are possible within the lifetime of the triplet state.
Selective targeting of homologous recombination deficiency
Keywords: radiobiology
DNA damage repair
homologous recombination
oncology
G-quadruplex
BRCA2

Homologous recombination (HR) is a key DNA repair pathway essential for cell viability. Counter-intuitively, HR deficiency can trigger carcinogenesis. Understanding the mechanisms that allow the rampant proliferation of HR-deficient tumour cells is crucial for the development of improved therapeutic modalities to selectively inhibit the outgrowth of these cells.
Recently, we identified extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 (ERK1) as a factor required for the proliferation of BRCA2-deficient cells regardless of their p53 status (Carlos et al., 2013). Here, we report the therapeutic potential of two chemical ERK1/2 inhibitors, SCH772984 and VTX-11e, for selective targeting of HR-deficient tumours due to their ability to specifically obstruct proliferation of HR-deficient cells.
G-quadruplexes (G4s), secondary DNA structures formed by guanine-rich (G-rich) single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), represent natural barriers to replication fork progression. In this study, we demonstrate that treatment with G4 stabilisers selectively decreases viability of BRCA2- and RAD51-deficient cells. We identify DNA damage response activation and acute replication stress as main sources for the cellular toxicity of G4 stabilisers specifically in the context of HR deficiency.
Taken together, the results presented here indicate that HR is required for replication of genomic regions with G4-forming potential to prevent genomic instability stemming from inefficient replication of these sites. Persistent G4 structures lead to DNA damage accumulation, which enables selective killing of cells whose HR-mediated repair has been compromised. This is an important finding with profound implications for the therapeutic exploitation of HR deficiency in the clinic.
Consumer involvement in private EU competition law enforcement: evaluating and Reshaping the enforcement toolbox - towards acceptable mechanisms
Keywords: Private Competition Law  Enforcement
Consumer Interest in EU Competition Law
EU Competition Law Enforcement
EU Competition Law

EU competition law rhetoric attributes particular importance to ‘consumer interest’. However, despite these often repeated pronouncements, final consumers and their respective interests play only an ancillary role in EU competition law enforcement. This thesis embarks from this observation with the aim of strengthening the importance attributed to ‘consumer interest’ in the application and enforcement of EU competition law. Taking into account the difficulty in adopting a ‘final consumer welfare standard’ as the substantive enforcement standard in EU competition law, the thesis shall explore an alternative route and focus predominantly on consumer participation in private competition law enforcement.
The analysis is conducted at three levels. First normative justifications for the advocated consumer involvement are provided (‘added value spectrum’ of consumer participation); these include deterrence of competition law violations and compensation to affected consumers (principal aims), as well as aligning the substantive enforcement standard with policy pronouncements, legitimise EU competition policy and contribute to empowering and informing EU consumers (derivative aims). Second, practical proposals in relation to remedial and procedural measures enabling consumer involvement are formulated. Third, in so far as institutional and political limitations impede the adoption of effective measures in the field of private enforcement, alternative routes of consumer participation in public competition law enforcement (that possess the potential to promote the ‘added value spectrum’) are also examined. In light of the above, practical proposals will also be formulated.