VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Optimising the implementation of advance care planning in heart failure
Keywords: Optimising implementation
Complex intervention development

Clinicians are hesitant to talk to patients suffering from heart failure about their care preferences should they become seriously ill. Similarly, patients suffering from heart failure lack the tools to help them identify their care needs and communicate these to their healthcare professionals. This process is also known as advance care planning (ACP). Some studies show that ACP can improve the quality of life in life-threatening illnesses like heart failure. Patients expect their clinicians to initiate conversations about ACP. But as a result of clinicians’ hesitance, ACP rarely takes place and patient care is affected. The overall aim of this thesis is to develop a behaviourally informed intervention targeting clinicians to engage with ACP for patients suffering from heart failure.
The different stages of the project were informed by the Medical Research Council’s framework for the development and evaluation of complex interventions. The early development phase of the intervention started with an exploration of the evidence base for the impact of ACP on heart failure. The literature suggested that this led to an improved quality of life, better patient satisfaction with end-of-life care and an improved quality of communication between clinicians and patients. This was followed by a component analysis to identify interventions which had the greatest potential in changing clinicians’ behaviour to engage with ACP. Patient-mediated interventions, reminders systems, educational meetings and academic detailing were among the most promising intervention categories. A subsequent literature review analysed the barriers and facilitators for ACP in heart failure leading to the design of an early model of the intervention. Findings from a clinician interview series advanced the early model and shaped the prototype of the intervention based on the Theoretical Domains Framework and Behaviour Change Techniques. The findings from a focus group study including patients and carers refined the final version of the intervention consisting of:
1. A patient-led Question Prompt List
2. A shared decision-making tool in the form of a Choices of Care Table
3. A clinician-owned ACP Reminder Sheet
4. An ACP Practice-Based Training Session
A detailed protocol for a feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial was developed to address issues surrounding the feasibility and acceptability of delivering the intervention in clinical practice. Finally, the results from this thesis informed a model for the involvement of the intervention in the clinical management of heart failure.
Search for resonant Higgs boson pair production in the semi-leptonic bb ̅WW* decay channel with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider
Keywords: Large Hadron Collider
ATLAS Experiment
Higgs Boson Pair Production

This thesis presents the search for resonant Higgs boson pair production with the bbWW* decay mode in the semi-leptonic final state containing one electron or muon with multiple jets and missing transverse momentum. The Standard Model of particle physics predicts only non-resonant pair production of Higgs bosons but a number of theoretical models predict massive new particles that decay to two Higgs bosons. The search is performed using ps = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected in 2015 and 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36:1 fb-1, recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider.
The search focuses on TeV-scale resonances which decay to two Higgs bosons with large transverse momenta. Jets with large radius parameter are used to reconstruct the kinematics of one of the Higgs bosons which decays hadronically into a pair of b-jets. The invariant mass of the reconstructed Higgs boson pair is used to test the compatibility of the observed data with the Standard Model background prediction. No statistically significant excess is observed in data over the expected Standard Model background and upper limits are placed with 95% confidence level on the resonant Higgs boson pair production cross section times branching ratio for narrow spin-0 and wide spin-2 resonant states.
Techniques which use advanced subjet reconstruction algorithms to improve identification of high momentum Higgs boson decays to b-jets are also presented. The three algorithms demonstrate significant performance improvements in simulation compared to the standard method currently used by the ATLAS collaboration.
POP-type rhodium complexes in amine borane dehydropolymerisation
Keywords: Rhodium
Catalysis
Amine borane
Dehydropolymerisation
Polyaminoborane

This thesis explores the catalytic dehydropolymerisation of N-methylamine borane, H3B·NMeH2, to form N-methylpolyaminoborane, (H2BNMeH)n, using POP-type rhodium complexes based upon the {Rh(Xantphos-iPr)}+ and {Rh(DPEphos)}+ fragments. A comparison of these metal-ligand frameworks provides a structure/activity relationship in order to gain mechanistic insight into the H3B·NMeH2 dehydropolymerisation process.
Chapter 2 describes the synthesis of a suitable {Rh(Xantphos-iPr)}+ precatalyst for H3B·NMeH2 dehydropolymerisation. Its reactivity with H3B·NMeH2 is examined by NMR spectroscopy, and independent synthetic routes to the complexes observed are described. From this, a dimetalloborylene is isolated and crystallographically characterised. The kinetics of H3B·NMeH2 dehydrogenation and (H2BNMeH)n growth using the {Rh(Xantphos-iPr)}+ fragment are reported in Chapter 3, which combined with the speciation studies in Chapter 2, allows for a mechanistic proposal for dehydropolymerisation. The formation and subsequent deprotonation of a boronium cation is postulated to lead to the monomer, H2B=NMeH, which forms (H2BNMeH)n via an on-metal end-chain propagation mechanism.
In Chapter 4 the focus shifts to synthesise a suitable {Rh(DPEphos)}+ precatalyst for H3B·NMeH2 dehydropolymerisation. Here, speciation studies of the {Rh(DPEphos)}+ fragment with H3B·NMeH2 enables the observation of bimetallic complexes, one of which is considered an amidodiboryl complex. An in-depth dehydropolymerisation kinetic study using the {Rh(DPEphos)}+ system is undertaken in Chapter 5, and strong dependence of (H2BNMeH)n molecular weight on H2 pressure and catalyst loading indicates that an on-metal coordination/dehydrogenation/insertion mechanism operates, contrasting that proposed for the {Rh(Xantphos-iPr)}+ system. The bimetallic amidodiboryl complex described in Chapter 4 and NMeH2-derived {Rh(DPEphos)}+ species are also tested in catalysis, and appear close in identity to the true active catalytic species, due to the lack of induction period observed prior to H2 evolution.
The role of ZNRF3 in testis determination
Keywords: sex determination
embryonic
znrf3
gonad
testis
gonadal development
developmental biology

In mammals, the presence or absence of SRY primarily determines whether the gonad will develop as a testis or an ovary – a process known as sex determination. Downstream of SRY, the testis and ovarian pathways diverge and mutually antagonise each other to ensure a robust switch in gonadal fate. One such interaction is well characterised in mice, between the ovary-promoting gene, Wnt4 and the testis-determining gene, Fgf9. The mutual repression of these two genes has recently been shown to be crucial for mouse sex determination. However, there is currently little evidence for how this interaction between the male and female pathways, and others required for sex determination, may be controlled at the molecular level.
Differences/disorders of sex development (DSDs) are a group of rare human conditions in which chromosomal and anatomical sex are discordant. Exome screens of DSD patients exhibiting gonadal dysgenesis can be used to identify candidate genes. In one such screen, 2 independent mutations were found in ZNRF3. ZNRF3 is a WNT-signalling antagonist which functions by downregulating the number of Frizzled receptors available on the plasma membrane. WNT4 is expressed in pregranulosa cells and plays a key role in ovarian development through promotion of beta-catenin-dependent gene transcription. This thesis demonstrates that Znrf3 plays an important role in testis determination in the mouse. Znrf3 is required to suppress the ovarian-pathway, and when removed from the testis causes partial or full XY sex reversal associated with ectopic activation of WNT/ beta-catenin signaling. Moreover, use of a sensitized genetic background allows generation of sex-reversed XY female mice carrying a single copy of a Znrf3 null allele. ZNRF3 may therefore play a key role in mediating the mutually antagonistic interactions between the testis and ovarian pathways, in both mice and in humans.
Categorical operational physics
Keywords: Dagger kernel
Phased coproduct
Operational theory
Categorical quantum mechanics
Quantum reconstruction
Purification
Dagger compact category

Many insights into the quantum world can be found by studying it from amongst more general operational theories of physics. In this thesis, we develop an approach to the study of such theories purely in terms of the behaviour of their processes, as described mathematically through the language of category theory. This extends a framework for quantum processes known as categorical quantum mechanics (CQM) due to Abramsky and Coecke.
We first consider categorical frameworks for operational theories. We introduce a notion of such theory, based on those of Chiribella, D'Ariano and Perinotti (CDP), but more general than the probabilistic ones typically considered. We establish a correspondence between these and what we call operational categories, using features introduced by Jacobs et al. in effectus theory, an area of categorical logic to which we provide an operational interpretation. We then see how to pass to a broader category of super-causal processes, allowing for the powerful diagrammatic features of CQM.
Next we study operational theories themselves. We survey numerous principles that a theory may satisfy, treating them in a basic diagrammatic setting, and relating notions from probabilistic theories, CQM and effectus theory. We provide a new description of superpositions in the category of pure quantum processes, using this to give an abstract construction of the category of Hilbert spaces and linear maps.
Finally, we reconstruct finite-dimensional quantum theory itself. More broadly, we give a recipe for recovering a class of generalised quantum theories, before instantiating it with operational principles inspired by an earlier reconstruction due to CDP. This reconstruction is fully categorical, not requiring the usual technical assumptions of probabilistic theories. Specialising to such theories recovers both standard quantum theory and that over real Hilbert spaces.
Mechanistic studies of rhodium-catalysed intermolecular hydroacylation
Keywords: Acyl-hydride
Cyclotrimirisation
Enone
Alkyne
Kinetics
Rhodium
Catalysis
Aldehyde
Hydroacylation

Chapter 1 – Introduction: The concept of rhodium-catalysed intermolecular hydroacylation is introduced. The research that has led to significant improvements in substrate scope and catalytic activity are described, with the reactions being classified into three sub-groups: aldehyde-tethered hydroacylation, alkene-tethered hydroacylation and non-tethered hydroacylation. The mechanistic studies that have facilitated these developments are then detailed.
Chapter 2 – Mechanistic Studies of β-Amido Aldehyde Hydroacylation: One of the recent developments in aldehyde-tethered hydroacylation has been the use of β-amido aldehyde substrates. This chapter describes the mechanistic studies of the reaction of a β-amido aldehyde substrate with 1-octyne, catalysed by the Rh(I)-complex [Rh(cis-κ2-P,P-DPEPhos)(acetone)2][BArF4].
Chapter 3 – Cyclotrimerisation and Optimisation of Hydroacylation: In chapter 2, cyclotrimerisation of 1-ocytne was discovered to be a competitive side-reaction with hydroacylation under certain conditions. The mechanism of the cyclotrimerisation reaction is explored with the pre-catalyst [Rh(cis-κ2-P,P-DPEPhos)(acetone)2][BArF4], and the point at which the reactions become competitive is discovered. This understanding is then used to optimize the catalyst loading, reagent stoichiometry, reaction concentration and reaction temperature, leading to the realisation of an exceptionally efficient, and selective, gram-scale hydroacylation process.
Chapter 4 – Non-tethered Aldehyde Hydroacylation of Acrylates: The discovery of a non-tethered aldehyde Tishchenko reaction catalysed by [Rh(Cy2PCH2PCy2)(η6-fluoroarene)][AlOF4] complexes, in weakly coordinating fluoroarene solvents is described. The subsequent discovery and optimization of a hydroacylation reaction of non-tethered aldehydes with acrylates, catalysed by a {Rh(DPEPhos)}+ catalyst system in 1,2-difluorobenzene is detailed.
Early and multiple entry to GCSE mathematics and the implications for examination standards
Keywords: Early entry
Assessment
mathematics
GCSE

GCSEs are high stakes assessments in England generally taken by students aged 16. The results are put to several uses: they allow students access to further opportunities and are used to judge the performance of schools. While students are expected to take GCSEs once aged 16, this thesis explores an alternative approach – early and multiple examination entry (EMEE). This approach rose in prominence between 2007 and 2013 for GCSE English and mathematics, before changes to accountability measures in September 2013 meant that single entry once again became the norm.
A multiphase mixed methods design was used focusing on EMEE in GCSE mathematics. The first (quantitative) phase showed that early entry increased from 2007 to 2011, generally due to weaker students and students from lower performing schools increasingly entering early. The second (qualitative) phase suggested that the rise in EMEE was due to the pressure of performance measures driving behaviour in schools, encouraging EMEE and associated teaching practices. The third (quantitative) phase suggested that EMEE was likely to have implications for examination outcomes, potentially leading to increased outcomes (i.e. higher grades) at the cohort level.
The findings are considered in terms of the implications for examination standards, drawing on the theoretical literature relating to how examination standards are defined. While the comparable outcomes approach in England implies a causal definition of standards, the rise and subsequent decline of EMEE challenges this definition, raising questions about how standards can be maintained in the presence of EMEE.
Although the prevalence of EMEE has now declined in England, many of the issues identified here are likely to transcend EMEE and have wider implications. Thus, this thesis contributes to the literature relating to the effects of accountability measures on schools’ behaviour and how examination standards are defined, in addition to adding to the existing, albeit limited literature, focusing on EMEE.
Using molecular epidemiology to investigate HIV transmission and prevention efforts
Keywords: Phylodynamics
Eastern Europe
HIV

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that causes HIV infection and, if untreated, leads to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and death. An estimated 36.7 million people in the world are HIV-infected; around 10% of them live in Europe. In this thesis I use molecular epidemiology in combination with mathematical modelling and traditional epidemiological analysis to describe HIV transmission dynamics and to assess various HIV prevention strategies, which might help to inform public health decisions.
I start by characterizing the explosive HIV growth in people who inject drugs (PWID) in Russia and Ukraine in the 1990s in Chapter 2. I chose those settings as a model system in which to study HIV transmission in PWID in the absence of prevention. I then use my estimates to build a mathematical model that can be used to evaluate preventive measures during HIV outbreaks in PWID.
In Chapter 3 I analyse newly-generated HIV-1 subtype A genetic sequences from Ukraine and apply a novel method to show how HIV spread among Ukrainian regions shifted after the initiation of war on the country’s eastern borders. I show that, since 2014, HIV is moving westwards, carried by large-scale human migration.
In Chapter 4 I created the largest Ukrainian subtype B (the second most prevalent HIV-1 subtype in Ukraine) dataset to date, and show how the virus distribution changed in the country over the last 15 years. I then simulated phylogenies under scenarios similar to the Ukrainian subtype A and subtype B epidemics, to study the performance of various phylodynamic models that are used to estimate changes in HIV population size and transmission dynamics from virus gene sequences.
Finally, Chapter 5 describes the molecular epidemiological profiles of the two most prevalent HIV-1 subtypes in Portugal, subtypes B and G. I use novel phylodynamic approaches to trace and compare the effect of various public health interventions on the transmission dynamics of these subtypes, given their different transmission group composition.
The legacy of muscular Judaism: Jewish-Israeli identity through sport
Keywords: Israel-Palestine
Sport-for-peace
Identity
Middle East
Track 2 Diplomacy

This thesis examines how Israel’s identity as a Jewish state is expressed through sport, using both archival and historical sources and ethnographic fieldwork. My primary contribution to the literature builds upon the history of muscular Judaism in order to develop a longitudinal perspective demonstrating how the body continues to provide a source of social and political capital, both reflecting and confronting identity. I show how sport is a platform for identity negotiation, a position which necessarily confronts certain other issues, including ethnoreligious divisions, Jewish sectarianism, nationalism and Israeli control of the Palestinian territories. Consequently, a second focus is the degree to which sport may be used for normalising relationships within Israel, primarily, secular Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian- Israeli relationships.
I explore the nexus of sport and identity within Israel through three ethnographic chapters, each exploring different themes through expanding but interconnecting perspectives within local, national and international spheres respectively. In the first ethnographic chapter (4), I show how community-based sport fits within the greater normalisation debate, viewing its successes and failures in response to the prevailing Jewish state. As professional football has had an integral role in modern Israeli history, Chapter 5 takes a fresh perspective on football culture, primarily seeing fans as a form of scaffolding upholding state institutions. The final ethnographic chapter (6) looks beyond Israel’s borders, adopting the perspective of the state to see how athletes legitimise and broker Jewish identity on an international scale.
Ultimately, I find that, akin to Nordau’s concept of muscular Judaism, sport continues to be productive for negotiating identity within Israel. Sport, however, reflects underlying socio-political patterns, and as such, the different areas of sport explored in the respective chapters have complementary strengths and spheres of influence for confronting and brokering Jewish-Israeli identity with the Diaspora, the Arab Middle East and recursively with itself.
A model-theoretic approach to the arithmetic of global fields
Keywords: Field Arithmetic
Definability in Fields
Model Theory of Fields

This thesis assembles some new results in the field arithmetic of various classes of fields, including global fields, models of the common first-order theory of algebraic extensions of global fields, and fields of finite transcendence degree over their prime field. Most of the results stem from a very simple technique for first-order definitions in fields, based on the satisfaction of a first-order sentence in a family of finite extensions of the ground field. In the first two chapters, we develop this technique to associate existentially definable sets to central simple algebras and Pfister forms, respectively.
We then use these tools to obtain results on global fields, their algebraic extensions, fields elementarily equivalent to ultraproducts thereof, and finitely generated fields. We study valuations on such fields, and notably obtain a large class of examples of fields without Self-Embedded Residue, a natural notion that arises in the study of definable valuations.
Subsequently, we focus on the study of a single global field, where we obtain new definability results. Most importantly, we show that non-solubility of a polynomial equation in one variable over the global field is expressible as an existential condition on the coefficients. This also yields consequences in algebraic geometry over the given field.
After a category-theoretic interlude in the model theory of absolute Galois groups, the final chapter investigates p-valuations on fields. We introduce a notion of generalised Stufe in this context, and prove an interpretability result for spaces of p-valuations in situations of interest.
Understanding neighbourhood income poverty dynamics in England
Keywords: social policy
poverty dynamics
neighbourhood
poverty
gentrification

This thesis advances the study of neighbourhood income poverty dynamics in England: neighbourhood change in low income areas; the dynamics of low income people within neighbourhoods; and the individual-level dynamics that drive aggregate neighbourhood change. The research questions ask whether income poor individuals are becoming more evenly spread across neighbourhoods in England, and what processes are associated with this change; what characterises poverty dynamics in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and what the implications are for area-based policy; and what demographic processes are associated with recent neighbourhood gentrification.
The research is conducted in an empirical quantitative framework using analysis of administrative, census and panel survey data. Poverty is operationalised as a relative poverty measure and Lower Layer Super Output Areas are used as proxies for neighbourhoods. The thesis makes several methodological contributions including using administrative data to study income poverty dynamics in neighbourhoods and using propensity score matching for researching neighbourhood change processes.
The findings show that the stability in the neighbourhood geography of poverty can mask some important dynamics. First, children and working age people living in low income households are becoming less concentrated in the highest poverty neighbourhoods; this is associated with the increasing propensity for low income households to be living in private rented housing. Second, the low income population living in deprived areas is shown to be highly dynamic. Deprived areas are characterised by a heightened risk of becoming poor and a higher risk of staying poor; but arguably the risk of becoming poor is more important in explaining high poverty rates. Third, in those neighbourhoods that have changed significantly there is stronger evidence that this proceeds via changes in the composition of inward migrants rather than an outward displacement of existing low income residents. A dynamic view of neighbourhood income poverty has the potential to improve the targeting and design of area-based initiatives, and provide a more nuanced picture of the nature of income poverty in disadvantaged areas.