VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Physical and numerical modelling of grouted nails in clay
Keywords: soil nailing
clay

The research described in this thesis focussed on the bond resistance of grouted soil nails in clay. Physical modelling took the form of large scale element tests in the laboratory of drilled and grouted nails in a stiff clay. Nails were installed under different boundary stresses; testing was conducted at different constant rates of pull-out and also under sustained load conditions. Observed behaviour was compared with that predicted by measurements of interface shear resistance obtained in a conventional shear box. Numerical modelling was carried out in an attempt to improve understanding of the effects of installation processes on nail performance, and to investigate the trends in behaviour observed during laboratory tests. For this purpose, a one-dimensional finite element computer program was developed to include the effects of consolidation and the out-of-plane soil displacements associated with nail axial loading. The physical modelling showed that the loading rate has a significant effect on bond resistance. This has consequences for the interpretation of data from constant rate of displacement pull-out testing, the conventional method of verifying bond resistance in the field. It is suggested that this type of testing is inappropriate in low permeability soils, because capillary suctions develop which lead to increased bond resistance. Results from laboratory sustained load tests show that lower values of bond resistance are mobilised under the static load conditions more likely to exist in a real soil nailed structure. The numerical modelling confirms the behaviour observed during the laboratory tests, and shows that the mechanisms by which bond is mobilised are complex, depending critically on the dilation and consolidation characteristics of the soil. Nail installation procedures are modelled, and grout pressures are shown to strongly influence bond resistance. Interface tests show trends in behaviour similar to those observed during pull-out testing. However, difficulties exist in the qualitative use of interface test data to predict nail bond resistance.
Diversity strategies for MIMO communication systems
Keywords: MGMP-SNR
OFDM
CDD
STBC
MIMO
MMP-SNR

This thesis proposes a joint spatial diversity scheme in MIMO systems in order to improve the transmission reliability of the wireless links, thereby to extend the transmission range and increase the information throughput. Cyclic delay diversity (CDD) and antenna selection are employed here for their low complexity, high flexibility, no spectrum efficiency reduction and high compatibility with many existing standards. A bit error performance bound for CDD system with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing and convolutional coding in multipath Rayleigh fading channel is generated, which renders a fundamental understanding of the mechanism of CDD and can be used instructively for CDD system design. A transmit cyclic delay diversity and receive antenna selection (TCDD/RAS) system is proposed here to achieve a performance gain with lower additional complexity and no data rate reduction compared with a transmit orthogonal space-time block coding (OSTBC) system, which is combined with the optimum receive antenna selection scheme. A hybrid system with both OSTBC and CDD in the transmitter and antenna selection in the receiver is also derived to avoid the high complexity requirement and data rate degradation of the OSTBC system as well as the performance loss of the CDD system. A receive antenna selection criterion for the TCDD/RAS system based on the previous performance analysis results is defined, however it demands high computational complexity. Therefore a much simpler and faster selection rule, named maximum minimum post-processing SNR criterion, is generated for the TCDD/RAS system in flat fading channels and another maximum group minimum post-processing SNR selection principle is developed in frequency selective channels. Both of these two selection rules achieve higher diversity gains with lower additional complexity compared with the traditional norm and capacity selection rules. Two relay systems embedded with the TCDD/RAS scheme are also constructed: the MIMO relay system and the cooperative relay system. The joint diversity scheme in the MIMO relay system obtains a higher diversity gain than in the cooperative relay system. Moreover, these two relay systems could be combined to a system with multiple cooperative relay nodes on which multiple antennas are deployed depending on the practical requirement in the future wireless communication systems.
First principles in Aristotle's psychology: the science of soul in De Anima 1
Keywords: inquiry
mind
dialectic
science
demonstration
predecessors
soul

This thesis analyses the method, purpose, and results of Aristotle's treatment of a select number of Presocratic and Platonic theses about the soul within the context of De Anima 1. Contrary to a prevalent interpretation of De Anima 1 which sees Aristotle's treatment of his predecessors' psychological views as dialectical, I argue that Aristotle treats his predecessors as having offered potentially viable hypotheses about the nature of the soul, and that these hypotheses are treated as attempts to explain the soul's basic powers. I further show that, in order to test the explanatory limits of these theories, Aristotle uses a version of the scientific method of inquiry advertised in the Prior and Posterior Analytics, which consists in setting out the basic psychological phenomena which psychology should explain, and then testing the extent to which his predecessors' definitions of the soul are able to accomplish this task. This thesis argues that, by demonstrating where his predecessors' first principles fall short, Aristotle is able to make theoretical progress towards establishing his own 'hylomorphic' first principle of soul, that soul is the 'first fulfilment of a natural instrumental body', and towards the idea that soul operates in the body of living beings as a formal, final, and efficient cause.
Reaction engineering for protein modification: tools for chemistry and biology
Keywords: Dehydroalanine
Cross-Coupling
Cysteine
Palladium
Olefin Metathesis
Protein Chemistry
Catalysis
Organic Chemistry
Enzyme
Protein Modification
Aqueous Chemistry
Ruthenium
Histone
Reaction Engineering
Biochemistry

Chemical modification of proteins is critical for many areas of biochemistry and medicine. Several methods for site-selective protein modification are reported in this Thesis that are useful in accessing both natural and artificial protein architectures. Multiple, complementary methods for the conversion of cysteine to dehydroalanine are described. Dehydroalanine is used as a general precursor to several post-translational modifications and glycosylation, polyprenylation, phosphorylation, and lysine methylation and acetylation are all accessible. These modifications and their mimics were explored on multiple proteins, including histone proteins. Unnatural modifications were also explored. The first examples of olefin metathesis and Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling on protein substrates are reported. Allyl sulfides were discovered to be remarkably reactive substrates in olefin metathesis, allowing use of this reaction in water and on proteins. For Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling, a new catalyst is described that is fully compatible with proteins. Both olefin metathesis and cross-coupling allow the formation of carbon-carbon bonds on proteins. The prospects of these transformations in chemical biology are discussed. Finally, a novel strategy is reported for the installation of natural, unnatural, and post-translationally modified amino acid residues on proteins. This technology relies on addition of carbon radicals to dehydroalanine. This method of "chemical mutagenesis" is anticipated to complement standard genetic manipulation of protein structure.
'And I am re-begot': the textual afterlives of John Donne
Keywords: Donne
Dryden
Rochester

This thesis is a cultural history of the textual afterlives and poetic appropriations of John Donne's verse. I use print and manuscript miscellanies, hitherto unstudied commonplace books, letters, diaries and seventeenth and eighteenth century criticism to ask, who was reading Donne and in what physical forms? By looking at allusive strategies and reading practices of the time, I demonstrate how many different Donnes can be identified when we strip away modern notions of what 'Donne' is and seek multiple afterlives. I nuance the idea of Donne as a determinedly coterie poet, suggesting his print presence might have looked to his early audience like a strategic writer who had not, despite Izaak Walton's narrative, closed off the possibility of public authorship. I find there was a period of radical re-appropriation and re-reading of Donne in the seventeenth and eighteenth century: Donne was as a guiding influence to canonical poets. Rochester is perhaps the poet whose voice most vividly recalls Donne's swaggering persona and intricately-constructed rendering of apparent spontaneity. Katherine Philips's verse makes sophisticated use of Donne's voice in her intimate quasi-erotic verse; I contrast this with the voice of her poems written for state occasions to show how Donne becomes a resource for self-revelation. Dryden offers a sustained critical vision of Donne: although, as the primary mercenary proponent of mass popular literature, he may seem initially wholly unDonnean, I show how his verse both explicitly and obliquely negotiates with Donne's wit and form. I end by looking at the problematic offered by the negotiates with Donne's wit and form. I end by looking at the problematic offered by the dual critique and celebration in Pope's versification of Donne's Satyres, and at the Dunciad, to see where the limits of allusion come up against Pope's cacophonous multiplicity of voices. These four poets take different threads from Donne's canon to different ends and, in so doing, create different Donnes.
New methods for the synthesis of aromatic compounds
Keywords: synthesis
methodology
Aryl amine
natural product
heterocycle

Introduction
The introduction describes the importance of arylamine compounds to society and provides a brief overview of the methods available for their synthesis. The application of metathesis catalysis to the de novo synthesis of heteroaromatic compounds is also described.
Results and discussion
The first section describes efforts towards the de novo synthesis of arylamines using a cross metathesis/oxidation protocol to form a 1,5-unsaturated dicarbonyl followed by an amine mediated cyclisation. The scope with respect to the 1,5-unsaturated dicarbonyl and amine is covered as well as the utility of some of the products. The section concludes with a modification of the Bohlmann Rahtz pyridine synthesis to furnish arylamines.
The next section describes the applications of our methodology to the synthesis of naphthylamines, specifically using the palladium catalysed α-arylation reaction. A discussion of the α-arylation reaction is included as well as our efforts to explore the scope of the reaction.
The third section follows our efforts to apply this methodologyy to the synthesis of five benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids including the first reported synthesis of maclekarpine B and C.
The final section concludes with a discussion of our efforts towards the de novo synthesis of furans bearing a benzylic stereocentre.
The nation-state form and the emergence of ‘minorities’ in French mandate Syria, 1919-1939
Keywords: Syria
minorities
French Mandate
imperialism

Abstract (i): The first part of this thesis questions the concept of ‘minority’, and the way it has been used to analyze French imperial policy in Syria (‘divide and rule’). Chapter 1 traces the concept’s emergence, showing that it is not self-evidently valid but rather depends on a set of wider social and political circumstances related to the existence of modern nation-states: the minorities of modern Syria cannot be mapped directly back onto the Ottoman millets or religious communities. Chapter 2 examines the term’s application in Syria between the wars: French imperial policy emphasised divisions in Syrian society, but the term ‘minority’ was only systematically attached to these divisions from the 1930s. The concept’s spread in Syria reflects its growing importance in international public discourse worldwide, as the nation-state became the standard state form after World War One. The second part of the thesis uses case studies of particular themes to show how the emergence of minorities illuminates processes of state-formation that have shaped the modern world. Chapters 3 and 4, on the question of ‘separatism’ and the definition of modern Syria’s northern border, examine the spread of effective state authority across a ‘national’ territory. This process bound culturally-divergent populations more tightly into the fabric of a centrally-controlled state, thereby constituting them as ‘minorities’. Chapter 5 examines the debate about a Franco-Syrian treaty leading to Syrian independence, showing that this made the recently-established body of international law on ‘minorities’ in newly-independent states applicable to Syria: the term only became widespread in Syria at this time. Chapter 6 looks at French efforts to reform personal status law in the later 1930s, when the restructuring, on religious lines, of the institutional relationship between the Syrian state and its population created a new uniformity within communities at the national level (one condition for their developing the sense of being ‘minorities’). It also sparked opposition from groups now claiming to represent the ‘majority’. Other Syrians, though, understood their society in different terms.
Historical reconstruction of Sennacherib's campaign against Judah and Jerusalem in 701 B.C.
Keywords: history
King of Assyria
campaigns
Sennacherib

This thesis has attempted a reconstruction of Sennacherib’s campaign against Judah in 701. The purpose of this resconstruction has not been to reach a definitive picture of the events of 701 but rather to come to the best possible hypothesis based upon a wide study of the relevant texts.
The best historical hypothesis concerning what happened in 701 must attempt to give equal weight to each piece of evidence in each relevant area, whether literary or archaeological. My justification for returning to this much-discussed area therefore is that previous scholarship has failed to meet this criterion for giving the best historical hypothesis. Over the course of my investigation I examined the relevant Assyrian inscriptions, not merely those relating to the third campaign, and the purported instances of biblical evidence, as well as engaging with archaeological and literary considerations. I showed that the most important theories offered up to this point each contradict or contend with an important piece of contrary evidence. Then, I suggested a view of my own which is, as far as possible, commensurate with all the evidence available.
A novel role for Atmin as a transcription factor controlling ciliogenesis
Keywords: mouse mutagenesis
Atmin
cilia
embryonic development

Cilia are cellular organelles involved in processing components of the hedgehog (hh) signalling pathway and determining left-right (L-R) axis formation in the embryo. An embryonic lethal mouse mutant, called gasping 6 (gpg6), was identified that demonstrated morphological and molecular defects associated with L-R development and hh signalling. gpg6 mutant embryos also demonstrate abnormally short cilia, which was hypothesised to be the primary morphological defect in gpg6 mutants.
The underlying genetic lesion in gpg6 is a mutation in the DNA repair gene Atmin. The base pair change results in an amino acid substitution in a critical residue in the third zinc finger of Atmin. The consequence of this change is the failure to activate transcriptional targets of Atmin. This raised the possibility that previously unidentified Atmin target genes are important for ciliogenesis. Consistent with this hypothesis, Dynein light chain-LC8 (Dynll1) is downregulated in gpg6 mutants. LC8 (a homolog of mouse Dynll1) is required, in the single cell eukaryotic organism Chlamydomonas, for retrograde intraflagellar transport (IFT), a process crucial for ciliogenesis.
These data led to the following hypothesis: Atmin activates expression of Dynll1, which functions in retrograde IFT to enable normal ciliogenesis. Knockdown of Atmin in a ciliated kidney cell line resulted in abnormally short cilia. Thus, Atmin functions in ciliogenesis. Investigation of gpg6 has therefore identified a novel role for Atmin in ciliogenesis and has added to the growing knowledge of genes that control cilia formation and embryonic development.
Nixon, Kissinger and the Shah: US-Iran relations and the Cold War, 1969-1976
Keywords: Richard Nixon
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Iran
Henry Kissinger
United States
Cold War

This thesis examines the nature and dynamics of U.S.-Iran relations during the Cold War under the leadership of U.S. President Richard Nixon, his adviser Henry Kissinger, and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran. This revisionist account critically examines the popular view of Mohammad Reza Shah as a mere instrument of American strategies of containment during the Cold War. Relying on recently declassified American documents, British government papers, and the diaries, memoirs and oral histories of Iranian actors, this thesis restores agency to the shah as an autonomous Cold War actor and suggests that Iran evolved from a client to a partner of the United States under the Nixon Doctrine. This partnership was forged during Nixon’s first term in office between 1969 and 1972, as the United States embraced a policy of Iranian primacy in the Persian Gulf region. Thanks to a long-standing friendship with the president, the shah was able to exercise extraordinary influence in the Nixon White House. This partnership reached its peak during Nixon’s second term as the United States supported Iran’s regional primacy against the challenge from Iraq. The shah drew Nixon and Kissinger into Iran’s secret war against Iraq in Kurdistan in 1972, by portraying Iran’s long-standing regional conflict with Iraq as a Cold War confrontation with the Soviet-backed Ba’th regime in Baghdad. When the shah unilaterally decided to abandon the Kurds in a deal with Iraq’s Saddam Hussein in 1975, Kissinger had little choice but to acquiesce, despite the personal embarrassment and domestic recriminations that followed. The U.S.-Iran partnership declined following Watergate and Nixon’s resignation in 1974. In spite of the best efforts of the shah and Kissinger, between 1974 and 1976 the United States and Iran were unable to reach an agreement on U.S. nuclear exports to Iran. President Gerald Ford tried to impose a discriminatory nuclear agreement on Iran that was rejected by the shah because it violated Iran’s national sovereignty. Under Ford, the United States reverted to treating Iran as a client rather a partner of the United States.
Chemical and dynamical evolution of early-type galaxies
Keywords: Early-type galaxies
Galaxy Evolution

In this work I have examined the spatially resolved properties of the local early-type galaxy population. Using Hubble Space Telescope and ground based photometry I constructed Jeans Anisotropic Multi Gaussian Expansion models of the SAURON sample of early-type galaxies, from which I determined the depth of the local gravitational potential well, quantified by the local escape velocity, Vesc. I found that Vesc correlated tightly with the three Lick indices: Mgb, Fe5015 and Hβ. The Mgb-Vesc relation within individual galaxies is identical to that between different galaxies; the relation is both local and global. The Mgb-Vesc relation is: log Mgb = (0.35 ± 0.01) log Vesc − (0.41 ± 0.03). While the metallicity, [Z/H] is correlated with Vesc it does not show the same local and global behaviour. Age (t) and alpha enhancement ([α/Fe]) are only weakly correlated with Vesc. A combination of [Z/H] and t is tightly correlated with Vesc, with scatter comparable to the Mgb-Vesc relation, and does show the local and global behaviour. This combination is given by: log Vesc = 0.85[Z/H] + 0.43 log t.
Using the volume limited ATLAS3D sample of 260 local ETGs I examined in detail the behaviour of the Mgb-Vesc relation and its dependence on other galaxy properties. I found that systematic deviations from the relation correlate with the local environmental density and molecular gas mass of a galaxy, and with the local [α/Fe] measurement. I found that there is a population of galaxies that do not follow the relation, found only at Vesc < 400 kms−1 . These galaxies have negative gradients, high central Hβ indices and young (t < 3 Gyrs) ages. Using stellar population models I demonstrated that these negative gradient galaxies are perturbed from the relation by recent star formation and will return to the relation as they age.
I also describe the observation, reduction and analysis of a new sample of ETGs in the core of the Coma cluster, the highest density environment in the local Universe, observed with the SWIFT Integral Field Spectrograph. I determined the fraction of slow rotators in the sample, comparing it to results from the ATLAS3D survey, and found an enhanced slow rotator fraction in the Coma cluster. I also determined the Fundamental Plane of Coma early-type galaxies, given by: log Re = (1.20 ± 0.22) log σe − (0.79 ± 0.09) log〈Ie〉.
A Calpain-like multigene family in trypanosoma brucei
Keywords: Molecular and Cellular Parasitology

Trypanosomatid parasites are unicellular eukaryotes characterised by the presence of a subpellicular array of microtubules, a single flagellum, and a kinetoplast (containing the condensed mitochondrial DNA). The majority of trypanosomatid species undergo complex life-cycles, alternating between a mammalian host and an insect vector. Progression through this life-cycle requires the differentiation of trypanosomatids into distinct, niche adapted developmental forms. Differentiation into each life-cycle stage involves important biochemical and morphological changes, including the remodelling of the subpellicular cytoskeleton that defines cell shape. In higher eukaryotes, proteins from the calpain superfamily are involved in developmentally- and environmentally-regulated remodelling of the cytoskeleton and the dynamic organisation of signal transduction cascades. Interestingly, trypanosomatids contain unusually large families of calpain-related proteins, but there is little knowledge about the functional roles of these molecules during the life-cycle of trypanosomatid parasites.
In this thesis, I present the results of the bioinformatic analysis of calpain-like proteins in three trypanosomatid parasites, Trypanosoma brucei, Leishmania major and Leishmania infantum. From this analysis, I selected several calpain-related proteins tor RNAi functional analysis, on the bases of their domain composition and conservation across different species. The detailed analysis of the resulting RNAi phenotypes revealed the essential function of some calpain-like proteins for the correct morphogenesis of specific developmental forms of T. brucei, shedding some light on the mechanisms that regulate this parasite differentiation and cytoskeletal remodelling, and providing new putative therapeutic targets for African sleeping sickness.