VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Essays in financial stability under financial frictions
Keywords: emerging markets
liquidity
general equilibrium
financial stability

This thesis is a collection of essays where I explore and extend the study of the role of financial frictions for the determination of asset prices, financial stability, and economic resilience. The frictions included in the analysis are individual and aggregate uncertainty, agent heterogeneity, money, liquidity and default. The first essay is an empirical study that motivates my research objectives. This work starts with the exploration of the role of liquidity on asset prices, specifically on sovereign bonds of emerging countries. I present a comprehensive model where I developed a novel methodology for finding the role of liquidity in the determination of asset prices during the financial crisis. In the second essay, illuminated by the empirical findings, I apply and expand the general equilibrium theory of money, default and financial stability. The contributions at the theoretical level are the extension of two-period model with discrete state space to the infinite horizon dynamic stochastic setting, and the inclusion of liquidity restrictions. In the third essay, I further extend this framework, allowing for production technology and endogenous market liquidity. Given the theoretical setting, I have analyzed the responses of financial stability and economic performance variables to real and financial shocks. Finally, in the fourth essay I produce an empirical application of this work. I apply a novel semi-parametric financial stability metric, and evaluate its relevance for the determination of asset prices, in the presence of liquidity restrictions. As a result, this thesis suggest plausible explanations for financial and economic issues that conventional models have not dealt with adequately.
Cultural intermediaries in a colonial city: the Parsis of Bombay, c. 1860-1921
Keywords: Colonial Bombay
Urban History
Bombay
Parsis

This dissertation traces a series of cultural negotiations through which the Parsis, a community of ethnic Zoroastrians, fashioned themselves into ‘modern’ citizens in the setting of colonial Bombay. It examines the ways Parsis negotiated change in a number of personal spheres such as their dress, deportment, dining and domesticity as well as the ways the community managed internal groupings such as Persian Zoroastrian refugees and the Parsi poor in the landscape of Bombay. It proposes that it was this unusual, simultaneous fashioning at the levels of the personal and the broader community, that turned the series of negotiations into a project of self-fashioning. It argues that it is in these cultural and intra-communal domains of self-fashioning that we see some of the more difficult negotiations, as well as the inner tensions, that the Parsi model of modernity entailed at the different levels of Parsi society.
Statistical methods for genotype microarray data on large cohorts of individuals
Keywords: microarray
genotype calling
haplotype
pedigree
phasing
recombination
GWAS

Genotype microarrays assay hundreds of thousands of genetic variants on an individual's genome. The availability of this high throughput genotyping capability has transformed the field of genetics over the past decade by enabling thousands of individuals to be rapidly assayed. This has lead to the discovery of hundreds of genetic variants that are associated with disease and other phenotypes in genome wide association studies (GWAS). These data have also brought with them a number of new statistical and computational challenges. This thesis deals with two primary analysis problems involving microarray data; genotype calling and haplotype inference.
Genotype calling involves converting the noisy bivariate fluorescent signals generated by microarray data into genotype values for each genetic variant and individual. Poor quality genotype calling can lead to false positives and loss of power in GWAS so this is an important task. We introduce a new genotype calling method that is highly accurate and has the novel capability of fusing microarray data with next-generation sequencing data for greater accuracy and fewer missing values. Our new method compares favourably to other available genotype calling software.
Haplotype inference (or phasing) involves deconvolving these genotypes into the two inherited parental chromosomes for an individual. The development of phasing methods has been a fertile field for statistical genetics research for well over ten years. Depending on the demography of a cohort, different phasing methods may be more appropriate than others. We review the popular offerings and introduce a new approach to try and unify two distinct problems; the phasing of extended pedigrees and the phasing of unrelated individuals. We conduct an extensive comparison of phasing methods on real and simulated data. Finally we demonstrate some preliminary results on extending methodology to sample sizes in the tens of thousands.
Sex determination and sex ration distortion in the mosquito Aedes aegypti
Keywords: sex ratio
Aedes aegypti
sex determination

Aedes aegypti is one of the most important mosquito vectors of human disease, transmitting dengue, Chikungunya and yellow fever viruses. New control methods are much needed for this species and an ability to skew sex ratios toward males would be very useful for a number of strategies. In this study, male-specific chromosomal regions were searched for in Ae. aegypti using novel approaches such as microdissection of chromosomes. The sex determination pathway of Ae. aegypti was also explored, using Drosophila melanogaster as a model, to find candidate genes that could be used to induce male biased sex ratios. The transformer-2 (tra-2) gene is necessary for sexual differentiation of females in D. melanogaster, but its role remains unknown in mosquitoes. A homolog of tra-2 was identified in Ae. aegypti. Rapid Amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) experiments were conducted to characterize this gene in Ae. aegypti. The Ae. aegypti tra-2 gene, as for D. melanogaster, was highly variable in transcription due to alternative splicing and alternative polyadenylation, with 9 different variants identified. RNA interference (RNAi) was then used to determine if knockdown of all variants of Ae. aegypti tra-2 can be achieved and if it would cause gender switching in individuals, initially by means of direct injection of double stranded RNA, and then progressing to germline transformation. A construct designed to produce tra-2 dsRNA was injected into Ae. aegypti embryos and integrated into the Ae. aegypti genome. The transgenic population showed up to 100% male bias in single pair crosses. The male bias effect could still be seen in the heterozygous population. The results suggest that knockdown of tra-2 could provide a useful tool for sex ratio distortion as part of the development of novel control methods for Ae. aegypti.
Studies using B± → Dh± decays in the LHCb Run I data
Keywords: ADS/GLW
CP violation
Bc
production
asymmetry
flavour

Using data equivalent to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb−1 collected by the LHCb experiment during Run I (2011-2012), studies of beauty mesons decaying to a final state containing open charm are performed, concluding with a number of new results.
Direct CP-violation is explored in B± → Dh± decays through several measurements of CP violating observables, where the charmed meson D is reconstructed in both 2-track and 4-track final states. A measurement of the B± production asymmetry at LHCb is reported using B± → Dπ± decays, and a complementary measurement of the CP asymmetry in B± → J/ψK± decays made. A search for the rare Bc− → D(*)π− and Bc− → D (*)K− decays concludes this work.
A search for supersymmetry with jets and missing transverse energy at the Large Hadron Collider, and the performance of the ATLAS missing transverse energy trigger
Keywords: supersymmetry
missing energy
ATLAS
LHC
particle physics
physics
trigger
HEP

Attempting to find evidence for supersymmetry (SUSY) is one of the key aims of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. This thesis is concerned with searching for supersymmetry in final states with 2-4 hadronic jets, missing transverse energy and no electrons or muons. In the first part, a search strategy is developed using 1.04 fb−1 of data from the first half of 2011. No excess over the Standard Model expectation is observed, so the data are used to set limits on two SUSY simplified models, in which pair-produced squarks or gluinos decay directly to neutralinos and jets. Good limits are achieved for scenarios where the neutralino is nearly as massive as the squark/gluino, compared to an earlier ATLAS analysis using the same dataset. For example, for pair-production of squarks decaying directly to neutralinos, all neutralino masses below 200 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level when the squark mass is 300 GeV. Similarly, for pair-produced gluinos, neutralino masses below 300 GeV are excluded when the gluino mass is 400 GeV. The equivalent neutralino mass limits in the earlier analysis are 130 GeV and 240 GeV respectively. In the second part, the performance of the ATLAS missing transverse energy trigger is studied, and its suitability for use in the SUSY search is evaluated. The behaviour is found to be consistent with expectations, and the trigger strategy for 2010 data-taking is described.
Unframing existence: an ethical and theological appropriation of Heidegger's critique of modernity
Keywords: gratitude
Heidegger
ontology
Heidegger's critics
ontological ethics
postmodern theology
phenomenology
listening

This thesis argues that Heidegger’s thought offers crucial insights into the structural challenges that modernity poses to being an ethical and religious person. I argue that these difficulties come down to an instrumentalist conception of truth, a denial or repression of finitude as the condition of meaningfulness, and a philosophical anthropology that is both too subjectivistic and too objectivistic. Yet while Heidegger was good on the diagnosis, he was reluctant to give more than digressive and opaque prescriptions to these problems. My thesis seeks to respond to this lacuna by putting Heidegger’s critical observations in the service of articulating a positive religious ethics. To that end, it seeks to locate—as well as redefine from an ontological perspective—the human dispositions and practices that expose truth in a non-instrumental light, that show finitude as a positive condition of meaningfulness, and that reveal the essence of the human being in non-subjectivist and non- objectivist terms. I argue that these include listening and gratitude—dispositions and practices I claim should form the backbone of any religious ethics, and yet which I also claim should not be limited to those who believe in a personal, theistic God. My thesis contributes to the fields of modern theology and Heidegger Studies in four ways. First, it shows that Heidegger’s critics (such as Levinas and Adorno) are wrong to oppose ontology to ethics. Second, it shows that Heidegger’s critics (such as Marion and Jonas) are wrong to oppose ontology to theology. Third, it shows that Heidegger’s own ambivalence about the ethical and theological relevance of his thought allows for the development of a deeply ethical and theological posture. And fourth, it offers a unique, post-Heideggerian interpretation of gratitude, one in which it is understood as a structure of Dasein that is both “always already” and “not yet” operative.
The ecology of risk in an informal settlement: interpersonal conflict, social networks, and household food security
Keywords: abuse
gender-based violence
Kenya
social networks
Mombasa
medical anthropology
conflict
anthropology
food security
informal settlements

Kenyan informal settlements have been thoroughly depicted by previous researchers as biophysical, epidemiological, and economic risk environments in which food insecurity is recognised as one of the most persistent everyday challenges. Although unemployment and illness are key contributors to the inability to purchase sufficient food, the reasons why households experience food insecurity are more complicated and not fully understood. Part of the problem is that few previous studies have privileged socio-political contributions (e.g. gender-based power inequalities and the impacts of social networks) to household food security risk. Whilst food security researchers commonly utilise the concept of vulnerability to address household-scale risk, this concept is rarely applied to interpersonal dynamics within households. Using data gathered through participant observation, questionnaires, and 109 in-depth interviews with 67 participants, this thesis provides an ethnographic account of household food insecurity in an informal settlement which addresses three primary questions: (1) In what ways might interpersonal relationships within households contribute social and political obstacles to achieving food security? For instance, how and why might risk for food insecurity emerge from experiences of interpersonal conflict? (2) What role do extra-household social networks play in experiences of food security within households? (3) How useful is the concept of vulnerability for addressing experiences of risk which are negotiated between household members?
In the informal settlement of 'Bangladesh', Mombasa, Kenya, conflict within domestic, especially conjugal, relationships represents a potential source of risk to food security for individual members or entire households. Contributing to this conflict are gender inequality, power differentials, the failure to meet marital expectations, and how people respond when presente with risk. Resulting experiences of food insecurity are shown to contribute to further conflict in the household, thereby creating a cycle of conflict and food insecurity. Those who find that they have insufficient food at home may receive assistance (food or money) from members of their social networks. However, these relationships may also contribute to experiences of conflict, and therefore insecurity, within households. Applying concepts of vulnerabilty to account for experiences of risk and their consequences (food insecurity) requires differentiating between what represents a hazard, a response, and an outcome. Within multi-person households, it is exceedingly difficult to divide lived experiences involving interpersonal conflict among these three categories. Thus, I argue that vulnerability is less useful for research concerning intra-household dynamics than it is for studies which assume households to be undifferentiated units.
Topochemical synthesis of novel electronic materials
Keywords: topochemical synthesis
electronic materials

units separated by rock salt SrCl layers. Variable-temperature diffraction measurements reveal that these sheets undergo a cooperative Jahn-Teller distortion at T ~ 200 K due to unevenly filled degenerate (dxy, dyz) orbitals. This material adopts a magnetic structure in which the moments within each sheet are ordered antiferromagnetically, but the sheets are aligned ferromagnetically.
An investigation was carried on the reduction behaviour of Ru-doped Sr(RuxFe1-x)O3. It was found that the reduction was non-topochemical for values of x > 0.5. For values of 0 < x < 0.5, no single phase precursor material could be formed. For the material with x = 0.5, reduction with CaH2 produced a new phase with composition Sr(Ru0.5Fe0.5)O2. This material is the first reported instance of Ru2+ in an extended transition metal oxide. DFT calculations reveal that, while the iron centres adopt a high-spin configuration, the ruthenium centres are in an intermediate-spin S = 1 configuration. Resulting competing magnetic interactions lead to frustration and lack of ordering.
In order to further study the reduction behaviour of extended transition metal oxides containing ruthenium, the reduction of Sr2(Ru0.5Fe0.5)O4 and Sr3(Ru0.5Fe0.5)2O7 was performed using CaH2 as a solid state reducing agent. In these cases, reduction leads to segregation of the materials into multiple phases adopting closely related structures that differ mainly in their oxygen content. In these materials, the ruthenium centres are preferentially reduced, such that starting from materials containing Ru5+ and Fe3+, materials containing Ru(3-7 δ)+ and Fe3+ are produced.
Similarly, the low-temperature oxidation using CuF2 as a solid state fluoride source was performed on materials with composition Sr3(Ru0.5M0.5)2O7 (M = Ti, Mn, Fe). In the case of M = Mn and Ti, materials with composition Sr3(Ru0.5Fe0.5)2O7F2 are produced in which the ruthenium centres are oxidised to Ru6+. For the M = Fe material, oxidation results in partial exchange of O for F and a material with composition Sr3(Ru0.5Fe0.5)2O5.5F3.5 in which the ruthenium centres are oxidised from +5 to +5.5 while the iron centres remain in a +3 oxidation state. While fluorination of the M = Ti leads to increasing itinerant electronic behaviour, fluorination of the M = Mn and Fe materials induces a twisting of the MX6 octahedra that enables magnetic order to emerge at low temperatures.
Finally, reaction of the SrO(SrVO3)n (n = 1, 2, ∞) series of phases with CaH2 results in the formation of phases with composition SrO(SrVO2H)n (n = 1, 2, ∞), the first examples of stoichiometric oxyhydride materials. SrVO2H is magnetically ordered at room temperature, while the n = 1 and n = 2 materials order at 170 K and 240 K respectively. The high magnetic ordering temperature arises from strong interactions between (dxy, dyz) orbitals in a manner analogous to the reduced iron-containing phases SrO(SrFeO2)n.
The world bank and the rhetoric of social accountability in Ethiopia
Keywords: Ethiopia
Aid
Social Accountability
World Bank
Civil Society

Following the controversial Federal election in Ethiopia in 2005, in which the ruling party regained power amidst allegations of state-sanctioned violence, the World Bank, along with other bilateral donors, stopped providing Direct Budget Support. In 2006, the Bank formed an agreement with the Ethiopian Government for an International Development Association (IDA) grant for the Protection of Basic Services. The project design for the grant was one of the most complex in the Bank's operations worldwide and featured a component for the implementation of social accountability, financed by a Multi-donor Trust Fund. This thesis critically examines the evolution within the Bank of this policy of 'social accountability' in relation to aid. Situated within the literature on the re-politicisation of aid, it questions the plausibility of implementing such a policy in Ethiopia where the dominant party was seeking ways to extend its power over society.
Fieldwork for this thesis was conducted at the World Bank in Washington D.C. and in Ethiopia: in Addis Ababa, and in the region of Tigray. The evidence assembled in this thesis is drawn from 135 semi-structured interviews and a range of primary source documents. Using an historical method, this thesis argues that the primary purpose of social accountability was rhetorical and the deployment of this language by actors was cynical. Not only did donors have a limited purchase on a complex social reality in Ethiopia, but they also tolerated the misuse of social accountability by the dominant party to extend the power of the state. What was produced in Ethiopia was radically outside of what donors imagined, although they were remarkably relaxed about this fact. This thesis challenges the conventional assumptions that actors in aid negotiations are rational and that aid programs involve the imposition of rationalising high-modernist schemes.
A first measurement of electroweak production of a W boson in association with two jets with the ATLAS detector
Keywords: VBF
ATLAS
jets
W boson

A first measurement of Electroweak W + 2 jets production at high dijet mass is performed using sqrt(s) = 7 TeV pp collision data from the Atlas experiment corresponding to 4.6 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. The background only hypothesis is excluded with a significance of 4.89-σ. A cross section of σ = 325 ± 6 (lumi) ±32 (stat) +63−70(syst) ±86 (theo) fb is extracted in the fiducial region.
Vulnerability to depression and emotional processing
Keywords: neuroticism
emotional processing
risk for depression
fMRI
longitudinal

Risk factors for depression have long been identified. However, it remains unclear what are the mechanisms whereby these risk factors lead to depression. Therefore the current research examined cognitive and neurophysiological functioning in a sample of high risk vs. low risk never-depressed young adults. Risk for depression was defined by high neuroticism (N) scores on the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). Results indicated that, compared to low N volunteers, high N volunteers show widespread negative biases across emotional processing tasks, including self-referent words categorization and memory, facial expression recognition, and emotion potentiated startle. The neural substrates of these negative biases were further illustrated by our brain-imaging experiments using fMRI. In these studies, high N is associated with increased neural signals for negative self-referent personality attributes and fearful facial expressions in a distributed network known to be involved in emotional processing, including the fusiform-amygdala circuitry, anterior cingulate, and the superior parietal cortex. By contrast, these neurocognitive biases did not seem to be accompanied by impairments in more global executive function or disturbances in biological response to stress measured by awakening salivary cortisol. Consistent with the idea that emotional processing biases represent key mechanisms underlying vulnerability to depression, our final longitudinal study showed that depression symptoms in high N volunteers were well predicted (up to 91%) at an 18 month follow up by a combination of these negative biases and stressful life events. Taken together, the current investigations therefore suggest that neurocognitive biases in emotional processing are trait vulnerability markers for depression prior to illness onset.