VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Diamond politics in the Angolan periphery: colonial and postcolonial Lunda 1917–2002
Keywords: Lunda
diamond sector
DIAMANG
Angola
Lunda Sul
Lunda Norte

Angola is currently the fifth-largest diamond producer in the world. Yet neither the politics nor the history of Angola's diamond trade receives much attention either in the Angolan scholarship or the thematic literature on the mining sector more generally. The gap in the literature is significant, for diamond companies produce far more than revenue and profits: for some one hundred years, the diamond sector has governed, policed, defended, and controlled the strategic, diamond-rich provinces of Lunda Sul and Lunda Norte.
This thesis explores the historical trajectory of the diamond sector in the Lundas. It concentrates on the powerfully symbiotic relationship between the diamond sector and the state from the colonial period to the present time. Drawing on a wide range of untapped official documents as well as interviews, it argues that the diamond sector has functioned historically as the conduit through which the state projects its power and secures its interests in a strategic but hostile territory. The thesis further shows how the politics of resource control both define the state’s strategies towards the diamond sector and perpetuate the entrenched system of privatised governance that has existed in the Lundas for more than a century.
The thesis builds upon both the historical and contemporary literature on the mining sector and the literature on state formation. It challenges the conventional notion that the persistent power of private companies in Africa is the result of state weakness or state absence, underlining instead how state leaders instrumentalise and empower companies according to their changing priorities. It also considers the implications of this case study more broadly through a cross-case analysis of mining politics elsewhere in Africa. In the process, this study provides an original approach to state–mining sector relations that is of relevance to scholars working on the politics and political economy of state-making and of resources extraction in Africa.
Functional genetic analysis of motor neuron disease
Keywords: spinal muscular atrophy
motor neuron disease
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) are the commonest motor neuron diseases of adult- and childhood onset. Alterations of the RNA binding protein TDP-43 are associated with most cases of ALS, while SMA is caused by deletion of the Survival Motor Neuron (SMN1) gene. SMN has been well characterised in its role in the assembly of the cellular machinery that carries out splicing of pre-mRNA, but is thought to have other functions in RNA metabolism unrelated to pre-mRNA splicing. It is conceivable that specific aspects of RNA handling are disrupted in both SMA and ALS. A variety of genetic, molecular and neuropathological approaches were applied to investigate a potential common pathway in these diseases. The spectrum of genetic mutations underlying motor neuron disorders were explored by screening patient DNA. Cell culture and mouse models were used to test the hypothesis that altered pre-mRNA splicing causes motor neuron death. Human neuropathological specimens were examined for changes in proteins involved in RNA metabolism. The results indicate that altered pre-mRNA splicing is a late occurrence in disease and more likely to be a consequence rather than the cause of motor neuron degeneration. However, the notion that RNA metabolism is highly relevant to motor neuron diseases was strengthened by the discovery of mutations in another RNA binding protein, FUS, in cases of ALS without TDP-43 pathology. Overall the findings highlight the need to consider disruption of mRNA transport and regulation of mRNA translation in future motor neuron disease research.
Carrier dynamics within semiconductor nanocrystals
Keywords: blinking
nanocrystals
alloy
type-II heterojunction
semiconductor nanocrystals
core-shell nanoparticles
strain
nanoparticle
quantum dots

This thesis explores how the carrier dynamics within semiconductor nanocrystals can be directly engineered through specific core-shell design. Emphasis is placed on how material characteristics, such as strain or alloying at a core-shell interface, can influence the exciton energies and the recombination dynamics within semiconductor nanocrystals.
This study synthesises type-II heterojunction ZnTe/ZnSe core-shell nanocrystals via a diethyl zinc-free synthesis method, producing small size distributions and quantum yields as high as 12%. It was found that the 7% lattice mismatch between the core and shell materials places limitations on the range of structures in which coherent growth is achieved.
By developing compositional and strained atomistic core-shell models a variety of physical and optical properties could be simulated and has led to a clear picture of the core-shell architecture to be built. This characterisation provides evidence that the low bulk modulus ZnTe cores are compressed by the higher bulk modulus smaller lattice constant ZnSe shells. Further studies show how strain is manifested in structures with 'sharp' core-shell interfaces and how intentional alloying the interface can influence the growth and exciton energies. A (2-6)-band effective mass model was able to distinguish between the as-grown 'sharp' and 'alloyed' interfaces which indicated that strain accentuates the redshift of the excitonic state whilst reduced strain within an alloyed interface sees a reduced redshift.
Single nanocrystal spectroscopy investigations of brightly emitting single graded alloyed nanocrystals and of a size series of commercially available CdSe/ZnS nanocrystals showed almost no fluorescence intermittency (nearly 'non-blinking'). These investigations also identified trion recombination as the main mechanism within the blinking 'off' state.
Ultimately this thesis adds to the growing understanding of how specific core-shell architectures manipulate the electronic structure and develops techniques to identify specific material characteristics and how these characteristics influence the physical and optical properties within semiconductor nanocrystals.
Lead free solders for aerospace applications
Keywords: aerospace
Pb free solders
nanoindentation
reliability
microstructure

The factors controlling the reliability of Pb-free solders when subject to thermomechanical regimes relevant to the harsh aerospace environment have been studied. Ball grid array (BGAs) typical of microelectronic devices have been manufactured in-house and subjected to isothermal ageing and thermal cycling. The BGAs comprised both Cu and Ni-Au metallizations, Pb-free Sn-Ag-Cu 400 and 600μm solder balls, FR4 and Al2O3 boards, and included circuits to measure resistance changes due to damage in the joints during thermal cycling. Microstructural evolution within the solders balls and complex interfacial reactions were studied in all configurations using various types of electron microscopy. The mechanical properties of the different phases formed within solder joints were studied using nanoindentation at room and elevated temperatures up to 175°C for the first time. Intermetallic compounds (IMCs) were stiff, hard and brittle with very low creep rates, while the softer primary Sn, eutectic regions and Cu metallization readily underwent creep. Two-dimensional finite element analysis (FEA) of nanoindentation was used to understand better the physical meaning of nanoindentation creep data. Reliability experiments comprised both thermal cycling and FEA of BGAs. The difference in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) in the BGA materials caused interfacial fatigue damage in the solder joints, which was detected primarily at the solder/metallization interface of the outermost, most strained solder joint. Accumulated creep strain per cycle at this interface was evaluated using 3D FEA of the stress-strain state of the BGA and results calibrated against experimental BGA mean lifetimes using the Coffin-Mason relationship. Nanoindentation combined with FEA has been shown to be a viable route for the rapid assessment of creep performance and lifetime in lead-free solders under aerospace thermal cycles.
Between accommodation and resistance: political elites in post-conflict Bosnia and Macedonia
Keywords: Macedonia
Bosnia
power-sharing
ethnic accommodation

This thesis explores why political elites in post-conflict ethnically divided states accommodate or resist each other across ethnic lines. The geographic focus of research is on post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia. In both countries the track record of post-conflict politics has been uneven and on some issues political elites still resist agreement and co-operation across ethnic lines. This thesis explores the reasons behind this mixed pattern of ethnic accommodation and resistance.
Based on the post-conflict literature in social science, the thesis examines the impact that the following explanatory variables have on ethnic accommodation and resistance: power-sharing mechanisms, political party dynamics, informal practices, policy legacies, and external actors. The analysis is situated at the policy level. Two policy areas, highly sensitive for ethnic relations in the post-conflict context, are analysed and compared in each of the two countries. In Bosnia, the focus is on military and police reforms; in Macedonia, on minority education and decentralisation.
Within the wider institutionalist approach, the empirical chapters present the findings of process tracing in each of the four policy fields. Based on these findings, the thesis demonstrates that although power sharing arrangements tend to lead to greater ethnic accommodation, they are not always sufficient to produce accommodating outcomes. Informal practices often supplement the work of formal institutions in providing incentives and means towards greater accommodation. External actors tend to enable greater accommodation when perceived as neutral and credible by domestic political elites. Ethnic divisions in both countries remain and require regular management by a flexible set of institutions, which can accommodate challenges unforeseen by peace agreements.
Predicting Greek Cypriot children's reading and spelling from morphological and dialect awareness
Keywords: standard modern Greek
language awareness
dialect awareness
morphological awareness
spelling
Greek Cypriot
reading

The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine the contribution of phonological, morphological and dialect awareness to the prediction of reading and spelling in a Greek bi-dialectal setting. The target group (N=404) consisted of children, aged 6 to 9 years at the start of the project, who learn literacy in Cyprus, where a dialect is spoken in certain contexts but where Standard Modern Greek is also widely used. At present there are few studies with Greek Cypriot children on how phonological, morphological and dialect awareness relates to reading and spelling.
Because there are no standardised measures of phonological, morphological and dialect awareness with Greek Cypriot children, measures of these factors were developed during the pilot study and their internal consistency was assessed. With the larger sample the measures were validated by examining their construct validity. The first wave of data collection showed that morphological and dialect awareness make unique contribution to the prediction of reading and spelling in Greek.
The second wave of data collection showed that the measures of morphological and dialect awareness predicted performance in reading and spelling eight months later, even partialling out grade level, estimation of verbal intelligence and initial scores in reading and spelling. A model with dialect awareness as a mediator between phonological and morphological awareness and reading and spelling fitted the data better than a model with phonological or morphological awareness as mediators, and hence, phonological awareness and morphological awareness help children to become aware of the differences between their dialect and the standard variety, and dialect awareness in turn facilitates reading and spelling. Cross-lagged correlations showed that the more experience children have with reading and spelling, the more likely they are to develop morphological and dialect awareness.
This study makes theoretical, empirical and practical educational contributions. The established mediational model contributes to the theoretical knowledge of the connection between dialect awareness and phonological and morphological awareness and reading and spelling while the longitudinal study contributes to theory the long term relation of morphological and dialect awareness with reading and spelling in Greek. Empirically, the study established the plausibility of a causal link between morphological and dialect awareness and reading and spelling, which must be tested in further research using intervention methods. In practice, this study contributes valid measures for assessing morphological and dialect awareness in the Greek Cypriot setting.
Metaphors of waste: several ways of seeing "development" and Cairo's garbage collectors
Keywords: waste
Zabbaleen
development studies
Cairo

The struggle with garbage is not only a physical struggle to deal with the unwanted stuff people throw away. It is also a struggle over meanings. At the centre of that struggle in Cairo are the Zabbaleen: the city's 'informal sector' or 'traditional' waste collectors.
Over the past 40 years the Zabbaleen have been the focus of a great deal of outside attention and intervention, especially by the Egyptian state and development organizations. Based on 1.5 years' fieldwork in Cairo, including interviewing, archival work, and analysis of artefacts of mass culture such as film and newspapers, this dissertation asks how different outsiders represented and construed the Zabbaleen, and what they wanted to change about them.
Each chapter corresponds to a different outside viewpoint. Chapter 3 examines the beginning of the story of outside development intervention, with the French Mother Theresa figure Sr. Emmanuelle. Starting in 1971, she lived with the Zabbaleen and built schools, hospitals and clubs for them. Chap- ter 4 examines how a popular Egyptian film, which appeared in 1980, used the story of a garbage collector's success as a social metaphor for the country's dysfunction and the overthrow of its mod- ernist ideal. Chapter 5 examines a series of Zabbaleen development projects implemented by the World Bank (water, sewer and electricity) and its consultants (modifications to the Zabbaleen built environment and behaviour) between the late 1970s and the early 1990s. Chapter 6 discusses the Egyptian Government's decision to contract European waste management firms in the early 2000s. Chapter 7 examines why and how the Egyptian state decided to slaughter all pigs (raised by the Zab- baleen) during the 'swine flu' epidemic in 2009, and how this split Christians in the country.
The ambition of the dissertation is to make a contribution to critical development studies. It plots the evolution of development thinking and practice over the forty-year period covered (including weigh- ing developmentalism relative to other paradigms of intervention), and demonstrates how interpreta- tions of waste have been central to shaping interventions and imaginaries of 'development' through- out that period.
Automatic measurements of femoral characteristics using 3D ultrasound images in utero
Keywords: fetal biometry
medical image analysis
image registration and fusion
3D fetal ultrasound
image segmentation

Vitamin D is very important for endochondral ossification and it is commonly insufficient during pregnancy (Javaid et al., 2006). Insufficiency of vitamin D during pregnancy predicts bone mass and hence predicts adult osteoporosis (Javaid et al., 2006). The relationship between maternal vitamin D and manually measured fetal biometry has been studied (Mahon et al., 2009). However, manual fetal biometry especially volumetric measurements are subjective, time-consuming and possibly irreproducible. Computerised measurements can overcome or at least reduce such problems. This thesis concerns the development and evaluation of novel methods to do this.
This thesis makes three contributions. Firstly, we have developed a novel technique based on the Random Forests (RF) classifier to segment and measure several fetal femoral characteristics from 3D ultrasound volumes automatically. We propose a feature selection step in the training stage to eliminate irrelevant features and utilise the "good" ones. We also develop a weighted voting mechanism to weight tree probabilistic decisions in the RF classifier. We show that the new RF classifier is more accurate than the classic method (Yaqub et al., 2010b, Yaqub et al., 2011b). We achieved 83% segmentation precision using the proposed technique compared to manually segmented volumes. The proposed segmentation technique was also validated on segmenting adult brain structures in MR images and it showed excellent accuracy.
The second contribution is a wavelet-based image fusion technique to enhance the quality of the fetal femur and to compensate for missing information in one volume due to signal attenuation and acoustic shadowing. We show that using image fusion to increase the image quality of ultrasound images of bony structures leads to a more accurate and reproducible assessment and measurement qualitatively and quantitatively (Yaqub et al., 2010a, Yaqub et al., 2011a).
The third contribution concerns the analysis of data from a cohort study of 450 fetal femoral ultrasound volumes (18-21 week gestation). The femur length, cross-sectional areas, volume, splaying indices and angles were automatically measured using the RF method. The relationship between these measurements and the fetal gestational age and maternal vitamin D was investigated. Segmentation of a fetal femur is fast (2.3s/volume), thanks to the parallel implementation. The femur volume, length, splaying index were found to significantly correlate with fetal gestational age. Furthermore, significant correlations between the automatic measurements and 10 nmol increment in maternal 25OHD during second trimester were found.
Preparation of bulk and supported Co/Mo carbide catalysts for CO2 conversion
Keywords: CO2 conversion
carbide catalysts
catalysts

This thesis investigates the preparation and characterisation of Co/Mo bimetallic carbides and their stability and catalytic activity as bulk catalysts for the Dry Methane Reforming (DMR) reaction and as supported catalysts on alumina. The DMR reaction was chosen due to its importance in producing syngas, as a precursor for liquid fuels, from CO2 and CH4, two greenhouse gases.
Bulk and supported bimetallic carbides were prepared by reductive carburization of the oxides with various hydrocarbons. The resultant carbides were characterized by X-Ray diffraction.
Reactivity studies were undertaken by investigating the variable temperature reactivity of the catalysts on the DMR reaction.
Characterization studies indicate that the oxides were transformed to the carbides successfully and these carbides had significant catalytic activity and were stable under the conditions used in the investigations.
Cavafy hero: literary appropriations and cultural projections of the poet in English and American literature
Keywords: Cavafy
Brodsky
Durrell
Forster
comparative
Auden
Merrill

The present thesis examines the way E.M. Forster, Lawrence Durrell, W.H. Auden, Stephen Spender, Joseph Brodsky, and James Merrill appropriated C.P. Cavafy in writings that were disseminated and consumed amongst culturally dominant literary circles, and which eventually determined the Greek-Alexandrian poet’s international reputation. I aim to contribute a new perspective on Cavafy, by evading the text-based tradition of reception studies, and proposing an alternative method of discussing the production of Cavafy's canonical status. Inspired by Pierre Bourdieu's sociological theory, I view literary canonization as involving a variety of factors at play beyond creative achievement: in particular, relationships of 'authorial consecration' whereby writers create and circulate cultural capital through their power to legitimize other artists.
The critical and fictional texts I analyse perform readings of Cavafy's poetry alongside imaginative portrayals of the poet's life and personality. I take this complementary relationship - between the image of the poet each author projects and their reading of his work - as a starting point to explore the broader ideas of aesthetics and authorial subjectivity that inform the renderings of Cavafy generated by prominent literary figures. Rather than passive recipients of influence, these figures are considered as active agents in the production of 'Cavafy narratives', appropriating the poet according to their own agendas, while also projecting onto him their own position within the cultural field.
Eventually, Cavafy becomes a point of insight into the multiplicity of networks and practices involved in the production of cultural currency; in turn, the study of the construction of Cavafy's authorial identity sheds light on the cumulative processes that have defined the way the poet is read and perceived to the present day. This duality of perspective is essential to a study concerned with the cultural contexts framing the poet's steady rise to international fame throughout the 20th century.