VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Genetic control of the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella L.)
Keywords: invasive species
integrated pest management
diamondback moth
RIDL
genetic modification

Insect pests represent major threats to food production, biodiversity conservation, and human and animal health. Currently, the most widespread strategy to control their populations is through the spraying of synthetic chemical insecticides. However, the overuse of these compounds has had significant negative environmental consequences. Additionally, our reliance on insecticides has resulted in major reductions in their efficacy through pest-evolved resistance. To successfully manage insect pests, while avoiding environmental degradation, thus requires the development of novel, more sustainable, pest management strategies. Recent advances in our understanding of recombinant DNA methods and molecular biology have allowed the application of transgenic tools to pest management. Here, synthetic genes can be engineered, transformed into the genomes of pest species, and transported into wild target populations through the natural mating behaviour of the insect. A strategy in which these transgenes are lethal to those insects inheriting them in the field is known as RIDL – Release of Insects carrying a Dominant Lethal. A variant of RIDL limits this lethality to females – female specific RIDL (fsRIDL) – which explicitly targets the reproductive capacity of a target population. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the application of such an fsRIDL strategy to the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella L.). This economically important pest of brassica crops is highly adept at developing resistance to insecticides and is considered extremely difficult to manage effectively. I present findings which demonstrate the power of diamondback moth lines transformed with fsRIDL transgenes to eliminate target pest populations, and combine synergistically with other transgenic control strategies such as Bt crops in counteracting the evolution of pesticide resistance. Additionally, an exploration into an alternative gene expression system to that used in current RIDL strategies – the Q system – suggests that not all expression systems will be suitable for transgene control within this highly specific framework. It is hoped that this work will contribute towards the effective control of the diamondback moth, and form a model for the sustainable control of other lepidopteran species through genetic pest management.
Flow and nutrient transport problems in rotating bioreactor systems
Keywords: Tissue engineering
Mathematical modelling
Matched asymptotics

Motivated by applications in tissue engineering, this thesis is concerned with the flow through and around a free-moving porous tissue construct (TC) within a high-aspect-ratio vessel (HARV) bioreactor. We formalise and extend various results for flow within a Hele-Shaw cell containing a porous obstacle. We also consider the impact of the flow on related nutrient transport problems.
The HARV bioreactor is a cylinder with circular cross-section which rotates about its axis at a constant rate, and is filled with a nutrient-rich culture medium. The porous TC is modelled as a rigid porous cylinder with circular cross-section and is fully saturated with the fluid.
We formulate the flow problem for a porous TC (governed by Darcy's equations) within a HARV bioreactor (governed by the Navier-Stokes equations). We couple the two regions via appropriate interfacial conditions which are derived by consideration of the intricate boundary-layer structure close to the TC surface. By exploiting various small parameters, we simplify the system of equations by performing an asymptotic analysis, and investigate the resulting system for the flow due to a prescribed TC motion.
The motion of the TC is determined by analysis of the force and torque acting upon it, and the resulting equations of motion (which are coupled to the flow) are investigated. The short-time TC behaviour is periodic, but we are able to study the long-time drift from this periodic solution by considering the effect of inertia using a multiple-scale analysis. We find that, contrary to received wisdom, inertia affects TC drift on a similar timescale to tissue growth.
Finally, we consider the advection of nutrient through the bioreactor and TC, and investigate the problem of nutrient advection-diffusion for a simplified model involving nutrient uptake.
Roles of the two chemotaxis clusters in Rhodobacter sphaeroides
Keywords: Alpha-proteobacteria
Rhodobacter sphaeroides

Bacteria swim towards improving conditions by controlling flagellar activity via signals (CheY) sent from chemosensory protein clusters, which respond to changing stimuli. The best studied chemotactic bacterium, E. coli, has one transmembrane chemosensory protein cluster controlling flagellar behaviour. R. sphaeroides has two clusters, one transmembrane and one cytoplasmic. The roles of the two clusters in regulating swimming and chemosensory behaviour are explored here.
Newly-developed software was used to measure the effect of deleting or mutating each chemotaxis protein on unstimulated swimming and on the chemosensory response to dynamic change. New behaviours were identified by using much larger sample sizes than previous studies. R. sphaeroides chemotaxis mutants were classified as (i) stoppy unresponsive; (ii) smooth unresponsive or (iii) stoppy inhibited compared to wildtype swimming and chemosensory behaviour. The data showed that the ability to stop during free-swimming is not necessarily connected to the ability to respond to a chemotaxis challenge. The data suggested a new model of connectivity between the two chemosensory pathways.
CheY3 and CheY4 are phosphorylated by the transmembrane polar cluster in response to external chemoeffector concentrations. CheY6-P produced by the cytoplasmic cluster is a requirement for chemotaxis, whether or not the polar cluster is able to produce CheY6-P. CheY6-P stops the motor, whereas CheY3,4-P allow smooth swimming. When chemoeffector levels fall, the signals through CheY3,4 fall, allowing CheY6-P to bind and stop the motor. As the polar cluster adapts to the fall by the action of the adaptation proteins CheB1 and CheR2, the concentration of CheY3,4-P increases again, to compete with CheY6-P and allow periods of smooth swimming. Under aerobic conditions, the cytoplasmic cluster controls the basal stopping frequency and does not appear to respond to external chemoeffector changes.
The role of the adaptation proteins in resetting the signalling state in R. sphaeroides is unclear, particularly the roles of the proteins associated with the cytoplasmic cluster, CheB2 and CheR3. Tandem mass spectrometry was used to identify glutamate and glutamine (EQ) sites on the cytoplasmic R. sphaeroides chemoreceptor TlpT that are deamidated and methylated by the R. sphaeroides adaptation homologues. In E. coli, adaptation sites are usually EQ/EQ pairs. However the sites reported in TlpT vary at the first residue in the pair. Mutation of the putative EQ adaptation sites caused changes in adaptation, suggesting that CheY6-P levels are controlled and reset by CheB2 and CheR3 controlling the adaptation state of TlpT.
The Soviet-Afghan War in Russian Literature
Keywords: Russia
USSR
contemporary literature
Soviet-Afghan War
Literature

This thesis is an historical and literary investigation of the treatment of the 1979- 89 Soviet-Afghan War in contemporary Russian literature. The texts chosen for study include official and unofficial literature, written within the former USSR as well as abroad, and cover publicistic writing, poetry, and prose fiction. These works are described and analyzed with a two-fold purpose: to explore creative trends found in the literature of this subject, and to evaluate the extent to which the genre of Afghan War literature in Russian has changed over the past decade.
In order to provide a context for this literature, the introduction describes the method of socialist realism as it applies to military themes, and the legacy of World War Two novels in Russian. The first chapter provides a brief history of Russian-Afghan relations, and an account of the ten-year intervention. The second chapter documents the dissolution of official censorship during the 1980s, revealing dissent over the Soviet military role in Afghanistan. Chapter Three discusses the evolution of the genre of publicistic writing, and documents its unprecedented frankness through revelations made in Soviet journalistic investigations. Chapter Four provides an overview of song and poetry about the conflict, beginning with magnitizdat produced by amateur songwriters, and later including works by professional poets. Chapter Five discusses novels and short stories about the war. A range of fictional works is traced, from propagandistic portrayals, both pro-and anti-Soviet, to non-ideological, personal interpretations which incorporate lyricism, satire, and fantasy. Chapter Six focuses on the works of Aleksandr Prokhanov, a writer who initially used his fiction to support the war effort, and whose oeuvre charts the disintegration of Party consensus on interpretation and depiction of the events in Afghanistan. The final three chapters treat the works of Oleg Ermakov, whose lyricism and stylistic experimentation mark a new direction for recent Russian war fiction.
The analysis shows Afghan War literature to signal a radical break with recent official Soviet military writing as shaped by socialist realism. This break is evident in the frankness and subjectivity of publicistic writing, and the anti-war sentiment found in a significant minority of published songs and poems. In particular, Oleg Ermakov's prose continues the past legacy of unofficial, dissident war fiction.
Vegetius and the Anonymus De Rebus Bellicis
Keywords: Roman Empire
Roman Army

The name, title, literary persona and office of Vegetius are discussed in ch. 1, and although a firm decision is unjustified, comes stabuli seems bettter-attested than praefectus praetorio, come sacrarum largitionum or comes rei privatae. It is suggested that 'Vegetius' is only a cognomen to a true gentilicium 'Flavius'. The author's self-presentation as the Emperor's director of studies-cum-secretary is noticed.
Ch. 2 provisionally locates Vegetius in Spanish horse-breeding senatorial circles, and treats his conventional Latin education with little or no Greek, his Vergil-reverence and orthodox Christianity.
The date of Vegetius' Epitoma Rei Militaris is analysed in ch. 3 as being before the sack of Rome but in the aftermath of the battle of Adrianople. The Emperor-dedicatee is provisionally identified as Theodosius I. Scholarly debate on the question is thoroughly aired.
The genre, literary persona and date of the Anonymus De Rebus Bellicis are argued in ch. 4 against the comparison of Vegetius. The Anonymus is characterized as a thaumaturgical sophist who complied his 'inventions' from older mechanical sources. A late-4th. or early 5th. century date is supported in opposition to the A.D. 360's.
Ch. 5 argues that Vegetius' Epitome was intended to describe a Republican legionary organization adapted to late-antique Field armies with the unstated aim of reversing in detail and with specific advantages in mind the rapidly increasing barbarization of the army.
Ch. 6 addresses the extent to which tactics and strategic constraints, arms and equipment and siegecraft were understood by Vegetius in contemporary terms, particularly as shown by Ammianus Marcellinus.
It is argued in ch. 7 that the sources Vegetius used were late epitomes of the named sources, Cato, Celsus, Frontinus and Paternus, apart from Varro whom he used directly. Massive authorial intervention by Vegetius in the organization and content of the text is analysed.
Aspects of faith in the Eunomian controversy
Keywords: Eunomius

Despite the intense controversy which surrounded the Eunomian movement at its inception, and the continuing, if sporadic, attention. paid it in subsequent centuries, the theology of Eunomius has been relatively neglected. In particular, scholars have concentrated. almost entirely on Eunomius' Triniterian doctrine, and have paid little attention to other aspects of his system. This thesis is an attempt to remedy this neglect. In it we will explore the meaning and function of the various aspects of faith in Eunomian teaching. Particularly, we will try to ascertain its relationship to Eunomius' extensive use of rational argument, and his claim to apprehend the essence of God completely. It is hoped that we will thereby come to a better understanding of the functioning of Eunomianism as a religious system.
Among the reasons why scholars have neglected Eunomius has been the small amount of available evidence, and the unreliable state of what little there is. Much of this thesis, therefore, is concerned with clarifying this evidence. Two parts of this thesis, deal with this problem: Part I and the various appendices. The latter include a critical text of the 'Liber Apologeticus' and the 'Esposito Fidei'. Part I concerns itself with each of surviving Eunomian works in turn and with some fragmentary material. It attempts to determine the provenance, authenticity, and reliability of each. The appendices deal with other aspects of the same problem.
The second part of the thesis, Part II, deals with the problem of faith itself. In its opening section (by far the longest) it examines the evidence which has been alleged to show that in Eunomius' practice (if not his teaching) faith was completely dominated by reason. After a detailed analysis we are unable to substantiate this allegation, and are forced to the conclusion that the reason for it is as much. to be sought in the presuppositions of its authors as in the state of the evidence. The second section attempts to present another solution to this problem, one which looks at it with fresh eyes and from within. Particularly, we examine the Eunomian theory of language and its connection with the problem of revelation,, and; to the knowledge of God. In the end, we are able to conclude that so far from dominating revelation it is a guarantee of it, and provides us with a surety that a genuine knowledge of God is possible. It is in this context that the soul's ascent to God in faithful contemplation is to be understood. It is to be hoped that in reaching this conclusion, we have helped to clarify in some degree our understanding of this much-neglected, but very interesting ancient theologian.
Incremental sheet forming: modelling and path optimisation
Keywords: metal forming
incremental forming
limit analysis
rigid plastic
path optimisation

Incremental sheet forming (ISF) is a novel metal shaping technology that is economically viable for low-volume manufacturing, customisation and rapid-prototyping. It uses a small tool that is controlled by a computer-numerically controlled sequence and the path taken by this tool over the sheet defines the product geometry. Little is currently known about how to design the tool-path to minimise geometric errors in the formed part. The work here addresses this problem by developing a model based tool-path optimisation scheme for ISF. The key issue is how to generate an efficient model for ISF to use within a path optimisation routine, since current simulation methods are too slow. A proportion of this thesis is dedicated to evaluating the applicability of the rigid plastic assumption for this purpose. Three numerical models have been produced: one based on small strain deformation, one based on limit analysis theory and another that approximates the sheet to a network of rods. All three models are formulated and solved as second-order cone programs (SOCP) and the limit analysis based model is the first demonstration of an upper-bound shell finite element (FE) problem solved as an SOCP. The models are significantly faster than commercially available FE software and simulations are compared with experimental and numerical data, from which it is shown the rigid plastic assumption is suitable for modelling deformation in ISF. The numerical models are still too slow for the path optimisation scheme, so a novel linearised model based on the concept of spatial impulse responses is also formulated and used in an optimal control based tool-path optimisation scheme for producing axisymmetric products with ISF. Off-line and on-line versions of the scheme are implemented on an ISF machine and it is shown that geometric errors are significantly reduced when using the proposed method. This work provides a new structured framework for tool-path design in ISF and it is also a novel use of feedback to compensate for geometrical errors in ISF.
Technological ambiguity & the Wassenaar Arrangement
Keywords: Wassenaar Arrangement
uncomfortable knowledge
dual-use technology
technological ambiguity
export controls
incompletely theorised agreements
anomalies
CoCom
wicked problems
Science and Technology Studies
cultural theory

International cooperation on export controls for technology is based on three assumptions, that it is possible: to know against whom controls should be directed; to control the international transfer of technology; and to deﬁne the items to be controlled. These assumptions paint a very hierarchical framing of one of the central problems in export controls: dual-use technology. This hierarchical framing has been in continual contention with a competitive framing that views the problem as the marketability of technology. This thesis analyses historical and contemporary debates between these two framings of the problem of dual-use technology, focusing on the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies. Using a framework of concepts from Science & Technology Studies and the theory of sociocultural viability, I analyse the Arrangement as a classiﬁcation system, where political, economic, and social debates are codiﬁed in the lists of controlled items, which then structure future debates. How a technology is (not) deﬁned, I argue, depends as much on the particular set of social relations in which the technology is enacted as on any tangible aspects the technology may have.
The hierarchical framing is currently hegemonic within Wassenaar, and I show how actors that express this framing use several strategies in resolving anomalies that arise concerning the classiﬁcation of dual-use technology. These strategies have had mixed success, and I show how they have adequately resolved some cases (e.g. quantum cryptography), while other areas have proved much more diﬃcult (e.g. focal plane arrays and computers). With the development of controls on intangible technology transfers, a third, egalitarian framing is arising, and I argue that initial steps have already been taken to incorporate this framing with the discourse on dual-use technology. However, the rise of this framing also calls into question the fundamental assumption of export controls that technology is excludable, and therefore deﬁnable.
Algorithms and numerical analysis in quantum computing
Keywords: Humanities and Sciences.
Mathematics.

This dissertation delves into multiple facets of quantum computing and quantum algorithms from the perspective of an applied mathematician or numerical analyst and is segmented into four parts: 1. Efficient and Robust Quantum Phase Estimation (QPE) Algorithms: The first part presents a suite of efficient and robust QPE algorithms, tailored for early fault-tolerant quantum devices in the sense that they (1) use a minimal number of ancilla qubits, (2) allow for inexact initial states with a significant residual, (3) achieve the Heisenberg limit for the total resource used, and (4) have a diminishing prefactor for the maximum circuit length when the residual approaches zero. 2. Advanced Hamiltonian Learning Techniques: The second part discusses two efficient algorithms that deal with the Hamiltonian learning problem for many-body Fermionic and Bosonic systems. 3. Block-encoding of Pseudo-Differential Operators: In the third chapter, the focus shifts to the development of novel algorithms for the encoding of pseudo-differential operators, enhancing the quantum computing toolkit with more explicit and effective block-encoding strategies. 4. Optimization algorithms for Variational Quantum Circuits: Concluding the dissertation, a reinforcement learning-based algorithm is presented, offering new avenues for solving the difficult optimization problem of variational circuits.
Algorithms for analyzing single-cell data in cancer
Keywords: Medicine.

This dissertation addresses the need for advanced algorithmic tools for analyzing single-cell data in cancer biology. In the following chapters, I present a body of work describing the de- velopment and application of several innovative machine learning algorithms to the problem of identifying disease- and clinical outcome-associated cell populations in single-cell datasets. While these algorithms use a variety of distinct computational tools to accomplish this goal, each of them is specifically designed for the extraction of clinically useful information from this complex data type. In doing so, they leverage cross-disciplinary insights from biology, medicine, statistics, and computer science in order to analyze and integrate information from the single-cell, cell subpopulation, and whole-patient levels.
Between Rhetoric and Reality: Examining the Impact of Populist Attitudes on Political Engagement in South Korea
Keywords: Populism
Democracy
Political participation > Public opinion
Democratic backslide
Korea (South)
Text
Thesis

Recently, populism has been on the rise in democratic countries such as South Korea where President Moon Jae-in has capitalized on deepening political polarization and employed populist tactics in order to garner popularity among specific groups of people. The growth of populism in one of the world’s strongest democracies is cause for concern as it is often thought to threaten the core characteristics of democracy such as mutual tolerance and institutional forbearance. However, populism centralizes on involving the “people” in deciding the fate of their sovereignty. It seems to mobilize people to participate in the political process to a certain extent, therefore, keeping some spirit of democracy. Thus, this project aims to conduct a study that tests whether populist sentiments are a threat to representative democracy in South Korea. Specifically, this study aims to determine the impact of the rise of populism at the onset of the Moon Jae-in administration on political engagement and democracy through regression analysis. The regression analyses reveal that the rise of populist sentiments coinciding with the election of Moon Jae-in led to a decrease in certain forms of political participation. However, the analyses also reveal a surprising increase in voting behavior. This unexpected finding challenges conventional narratives that populism necessarily erodes democratic participation. By studying the role of populist attitudes on political participation, this paper seeks to determine whether populism is necessarily negative for liberal democracy and shed light on the complexities of democratic backslide.