VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Fragments of Piscataway: a preliminary description
Keywords: Comparative Philology
General Linguistics
Phonetics

The goal of the present project is to provide a preliminary descriptive analysis of the language found in a short manuscript in the Special Collections of the Georgetown University Library. The manuscript is a five-page Catholic catechism written in an Eastern Algonquian language. It is the only extant record of the language which is presumed to be Piscataway (also called Conoy). The identification of the language is based on the attribution of authorship to Father Andrew White, a seventeenth-century English Jesuit missionary. By providing as much of a description as possible through morphological and phonological analysis of the data, I hope to recover some knowledge about this extinct language and add to the sparse data on Eastern Algonquian languages. Because the goal of the project is to uncover the data in the manuscript, no theoretical viewpoint has been adopted regarding morphological entities or processes.
Long-distance trade and the exploitation of arid landscapes in the Roman imperial period (1st – 3rd centuries AD)
Keywords: Roman Archaeology
Egypt
Libya
Syria

If as argued the Mediterranean consisted in Antiquity of a unity determined by similar environmental factors and crises which were mitigated through established networks of trade and exchange, the border regions of the Roman Mediterranean, particularly to the South and East, were characterised by a radically different environment. This thesis focuses on the development of three of the arid regions bordering the ancient Mediterranean, namely the Fazzan oases in the Libyan Sahara, the Eastern Desert of Egypt and the region of Palmyra in Syria. These arid regions have received considerable archaeological attention in recent years, and a review of them will highlight the factors which enabled these regions to interact with the Roman Empire through trading dynamics, but also through the development of local resources. Central questions within this thesis concern the extent to which the environment would have tailored the potential of these regions, and if the existence of trade routes and social networks both affected and were affected by settlement and exploitation patterns in the region. Trade was created by geographically much broader social requirements for foreign or exotic goods, yet was restricted by the possibility to pass through these regions. Developments were conditioned by the constant need for balance between the state as a power enforcing and representing peace and security and local entities, and what the local social organisation had to offer in term of rent and stability to the state as an institution.
After an introduction (Chapter 1) delineating the aims of the thesis, Chapter 2 defines influential theories and models that will be considered for this thesis, namely environmental factors, social networks and institutional economics. The archaeological evidence is then discussed in each relevant chapter: Chapter 3: The Libyan Sahara; Chapter 4: The Eastern Desert of Egypt; Chapter 5: Palmyra.
Chapter 6 discusses major factors that may work as explanations for the development of agriculture, the exploitation mineral resources, and trade in these regions. The choice of regions both inside and outside the Roman Empire also allows a discussion on the rise of economic activities linked to the imperial economy. As such, the thesis moves away from a romano-centric perspective and proposes to look instead for internal factors, such as the development of complex societies with organisational frameworks and social networks which enable them to overcome the challenges of their geo-climatic settings.
This study concludes that the developments identified in each chapter were not a factor of environmental changes but human agency. The state, or private individuals or communities successfully organised the resources necessary to integrate the regions into wider networks of intense trade in the imperial period. These concerned both physical infrastructure, and the development of far-reaching social networks.
Development and application of asymmetric C-N bond formation
Keywords: hodgkinsine
total synthesis
desymmetrization

A synthetic investigation on the chemistry of cyclotryptamine derived natural products, with a particular focus on the synthesis of the trimeric-alkaloid, hodgkinsine. Methodology has been developed to tackle this complex natural product which utilises a desymmetrization approach; this strategy hinges on the development and applications of asymmetric C-N bond forming reactions.
Chapter one examines elements of symmetry in natural products, looking in particular at the synthesis of compounds which contain cyclotryptamine functionality. Chapter two contains a brief review of enantioselective desymmetrization paying attention, if possible, on its application in the synthesis of natural products. In the remaining chapters we discuss our own progress and results in our pursuit of an efficient enantioselective total synthesis of hodgkinsine.
Cross-lingual interation online: blogging the 2010 Haitian earthquake
Keywords: Social Network Analysis
Language
Sociolinguistics
Knowledge

This research analyzes linguistic barriers and cross-lingual interaction in the blogosphere. The Internet is often thought to democratize access to information; however linguistic barriers remain prevalent. This study seeks to determine the extent to which information about recent world events flows between languages within the blogosphere using blogs discussing the 2010 Haitian earthquake in English, Spanish, and Japanese as a case study.
This study represents a new approach to Internet-language research. Previous studies of language online have either sought to determine the number of pages in different languages or have been relatively small and qualitatively focused. This research, in contrast, constructs a dataset of over 100,000 blogs, examines this set with hyperlink analysis, and qualitatively codes the cross-lingual links. The relationship between two blogs sharing a cross-lingual hyperlink as well as the type of author writing each blog is coded.
Results from this analysis show that in this dataset: 1) English-language blogs are significantly less likely to link cross-lingually than either Spanish or Japanese blogs; 2) Awareness of foreign language content increases among bloggers over time; 3) Most cross-lingual links are created on personal blogs and link to (primarily English-language) media; 4) Most cross-lingual links signal a citation or reference relationship, while a smaller, although not insignificant, number of cross-lingual links signal a translation of blog content.
While the dataset does not show the naive ideal of global discourse, the dataset does reveal a surprising level of human translation in the blogosphere. Such human translation has a superior potential to machine translation in that it can translate cultural meaning in addition to linguistic meaning. Ultimately, some combination of machine translation, human translation, and social encouragement through sites like Global Voices might best increase cross-lingual communication online.
The neurophysiology of sedation
Keywords: consciousness
sedation
propofol
anaesthesia

We recognise consciousness in ourselves and in those around us. Consciousness is the essence of our existence, who and what we are, but we are willing and able to let go of it daily during sleep, which we welcome and associate with rest, recovery and well being, knowing that consciousness will return reliably, when we are ready. Yet we cannot define this thing or process which makes us "us". We do not understand how it is constructed from the activity in our brains, how it is deconstructed by sleep, drugs or disease, or how it can be reconstructed by waking or recovery. Our ignorance renders us reliant on inadequate means of measuring consciousness, dependent on movement for its detection.
Propofol is an intravenous anaesthetic drug with the capacity to safely, rapidly and reliably produce sedation and anaesthesia, providing an ideal model of unconsciousness for study. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provides a non-invasive means of measuring activity within the brain. EEG is a convenient broad measure of neuronal activity. This thesis exploits the advantages of each of these techniques, fMRI and EEG, first separately and then together, to link highly informative, spatially specific fMRI observations to convenient, reproducible electrophysiological surface measurements.
A safe and reliable model of unconsciousness suitable for fMRI interrogation is first developed and explored. Changes in the spatial extent and interregional correlation of neuronal activity when subjects become unresponsive show that the functional connectivity of the striatum is specifically impaired as perception fails. Disruption of the brain’s internal temporal frame of reference impairs the synthesis of perceptions from their fragments. The second experimental chapter specifically examines the behaviour of sleep oscillations during ultraslow increases and decreases in the depth of sedation with propofol. Functional activity shows that the brain is intensely active despite loss of consciousness and reveals measurable transitions in neuronal activity. Combined simultaneous EEG/FMRI then shows that these transitions reflect stepwise changes in the processing of experience and a shift from externally modulated thalamocortical signaling to an internal dialogue.
Essays on interconnected markets
Keywords: economic uncertainty
international finance
financial economics
market frictions
term structure
predictability
customer-supplier relations
trade credit
commodities
international equity markets
emerging markets
futures markets
information asymmetry
commodity volatility
asset pricing

This thesis consists of three essays that explore the dynamics of interconnected markets and examine the relationships between markets, investor behavior, and fundamental characteristics of the firm and the economy.
In the first essay, we investigate the role of trade credit links in generating cross-border return predictability between international firms. Using data from 43 countries from 1993 to 2009, we find that firms with high trade credit in producer countries have stock returns that are strongly predictable based on the returns of their associated customer countries. This behavior is especially prevalent among firms with high levels of foreign sales. To better understand this effect we develop an asset pricing model in which firms in different countries are connected by trade credit links. The model offers further predictions about this phenomenon, including stronger predictability during periods of high credit constraints and low uninformed trading volume. We find supportive empirical evidence for these predictions.
The second essay investigates the dynamics of commodity futures volatility. I derive the variance decomposition for the futures basis to show how unexpected excess returns result from new information about expected future interest rates, convenience yields, and risk premia. Using data on major commodity futures markets and global bilateral commodity trade, I analyze the extent to which commodity volatility is related to fundamental uncertainty arising from increased emerging market demand and macroeconomic uncertainty, and control for the potential impact of financial frictions introduced by changing market structure and index trading. I find that a higher concentration in the emerging market importers of a commodity is associated with higher futures volatility. Commodity futures volatility is significantly predictable using variables capturing macroeconomic uncertainty.
The third essay investigates the differential explanatory power of consumer (importing countries) and producer (exporting countries) risk in explaining the volatility of commodity spot premia and term premia using trade-weighted indices of GDP volatility. Using data for major commodity futures markets, bilateral commodity trade, exchange rates, and GDP for countries trading these commodities, I test hypotheses on the heterogeneous impact of consumer and producer shocks, potentially driven by differences in hedging preferences and investment planning horizons. Producer risk is significant for both short-dated and long-dated maturities, while consumer risk has greater explanatory power for the volatility of the term spread.
Marking time: the decision-making processes of examiners of History and English ‘A’ level
Keywords: decision-making
A level
judgement
examiners
marking

In the UK examiners assign marks to A level examination scripts using extensive mark-schemes. Examiners work under strict time constraints, and must consider various sources, from script to mark-scheme to exemplar marked scripts. Essay subjects, such as History and English (two subjects which are associated with difficulty of marking), are likely to form a particular cognitive challenge for examiners, and their marking has not been extensively researched. Most examiners mark within accepted variations of reliability, as determined by Awarding Bodies’ monitoring systems. The question is, then, how they make these decisions, given the amount of information and the limited time available. The training process which is intended to bring the examiners’ decisions into line with the standard of the Principal Examiner also represents a lacuna in the literature. This study therefore sought to investigate examiners’ decision-making processes and the process of the training meeting.
Five day-long standardising meetings (four examiners’ meetings and one senior examiners’ pre-standardising meeting), split between English and History, were recorded, transcribed and subjected to discourse analysis; three examiners, spread between the four units, provided additional Verbal Protocol Analysis data while undertaking live marking. A survey, which presented preliminary conclusions from that data and some extracts from examiners’ discourse, was used to collect further data from a larger sample of History and English A level examiners. The data are considered in relation to the theory of heuristics, which has been used to consider examining at other levels, or in other subjects, and with other question types. The data are also considered in the light of other theories, including those of expertise and construct-referenced assessment.
The data demonstrate that decisions were not usually made in the rule-based way which is suggested as the ideal by the regulations, and which would be assumed from the mark-schemes and rubric issued by the exam boards. The mark-scheme did provide a guide to the foci which should, and can be seen to, attract examiners’ attention. However, a great deal of ‘professional judgement’ was also exercised, and examiners used a number of informal heuristics, and made relative judgements to reach a mark; comparison is established as a major mechanism of their decision-making. These behaviours do not necessarily lead to bias, however, and many were actually suggested during the training process. Some were suggested consciously by senior examiners, but some appeared to be unconsciously modelled during the training meeting. The theory of heuristics is seen to be widely applicable to the data; the choice of material and training mitigated the potential bias which heuristics could cause. A wide range of cognitive processes are demonstrated in the data, which were used to varying degrees by different examiners, at different times within and between scripts.
Standardisation and variation in Latin orthography and morphology (100 BC - AD 100)
Keywords: Latin language
Latin linguistics
history of Latin

The period 100 BC – AD 100 is often seen by scholars as the time when the 'standard' form of educated Latin was established. Standardisation, according to some, was the defining process for the fixing of written language and written norms. Once established, these written norms, we are led to believe, remained unchanged for the rest of the Antiquity.
This study addresses this alleged standardisation of Latin in 100 BC – AD 100 by studying variations in spelling and morphology. Elimination of variation is a central part of establishing a standard language, while continuing variation characterises lack of standardisation. By studying variation in a diachronic perspective, therefore, we are able to assess the evidence for standardisation or lack thereof.
Complete standardisation can be achieved mainly in spelling: therefore, the study of spelling is central for determining the existence of any standardisation movement. The first part of the thesis is dedicated to studying spelling variation in high-register formal inscriptions, where standardisation ought to be most evident. We discuss variation of the type maximus/maxumus, variant spellings ei and i for /ī/ and variation between assimilated and non-assimilated spelling of prefixes. A separate chapter addresses the spelling reform of Claudius. The second part of the thesis focuses on cases of morphological variation in literary and non-literary texts (variation between quis and quibus in the dat./abl. pl. and variation between active and deponent forms of verbs).
The study of these cases of variation should add to our knowledge of language development in this period and provide a basis on which to begin a reassessment of standardisation in Latin. Language attitudes of literary authors and authors of nonliterary texts, which are relevant for the question of standardisation, will also be considered. My overall conclusion is that it is easy to exaggerate the importance of any standardising, and that it is important not to mix up uncontrolled linguistic change, which is a phenomenon of any language, and change, or fixing, that is the result of the conscious and deliberate efforts of language purists.
Statistical analysis of Likert data on attitudes
Keywords: attitudes
attitude measurement
Likert scale
Likert data

Researchers interested in measuring people's underlying attitudes towards an object (e.g., abortion) often collect Likert data by administering a survey. Likert data consist of surveyees' responses to statements about the object, where responses fall into ordered categories running from 'Strongly agree' to 'Strongly disagree' or into a 'Don't Know / Can't Choose' category. Two examples of Likert data are used for illustrative purposes. The first dataset was collected by the author from American and British graduate students at Oxford University and contains items measuring underlying abortion attitudes. The second dataset was taken from British and American responses to the 1995 National Identity Survey (NIS) and contains items measuring underlying national pride and immigration attitudes.
A model for Likert data and underlying attitudes is introduced. This model is more principled than existing models. It treats people's underlying attitudes as latent variables, and it specifies a relationship between underlying attitudes and responses that is consistent with attitudinal research. Further, the formal probability model for responses allows people's interpretation of the response categories to differ. The model is fitted by maximising an appropriate likelihood.
Variants of the model are used to analyse Likert data in three contexts; in each, the method using our model compares favourably to existing methods. First, the model is used to visualise the structure underlying the abortion attitude data. This method of visualization produces more sensible plots than analogous multivariate data visualization methods. Second, the model is used to select the statements whose responses (in the abortion attitude data) best reflect underlying abortion attitudes. Our method of statement selection more closely adheres to attitude researchers' stated aims than popular methods based on sample correlations. Third, the model is used to investigate how underlying national pride varies with nationality in the NIS data and also how underlying abortion attitude varies with gender, religious status, and nationality in the abortion attitude data. Unlike methods currently used by social scientists to model the relationship between attitudes and covariates, our method controls for the effects of differing response category interpretation. As a result, inferences about group differences in underlying attitudes are more robust to group differences in response category interpretation.
Investigating the N-linked glycan specificity of bacterial endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase S
Keywords: specificity
IgG
Endo S
Streptococcus pyogenes

Endoglycosidase (Endo) S, secreted by bacterial pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes, is an important immunomodulatory enzyme which specifically hydrolyses the functionally important N-linked complex biantennary glycan found at Asn297 on the CH2 domain of fragment crystallisable (Fc) on human immunoglobulin G (IgG). Deglycosylation of IgG Fc leads to complete loss of binding to cellular Fcγ receptors (FcγRs) thus abolishing antibody dependent cellular cytoxicity (ADCC) and prolonging bacterial survival. Here, the N-linked glycan specificity of Endo S was further investigated using unnatural Nlinked glycans. Recombinant Endo S was expressed and purified and its specificity for different N-linked oligo-, high-mannose, and complex type glycans was studied using MALDI-TOF analysis. Furthermore, Endo S specificity for core fucosylated N-linked complex glycans on human IgG was also investigated. These studies revealed that Nlinked oligo- and high-mannose glycans are resistant to Endo S hydrolysis and that the presence of α-1,6 linked fucose in the chitobiose core is not essential for Endo S activity. These studies further revealed that the N-linked glycan specificity of Endo S is reciprocal to that of other known endoglycosidases namely Endo A and Endo H. Taken together, the resistance of these engineered N-linked oligo- and high-mannose glycans on IgG to Endo S digestion opens up the possibility of using these antibodies as a potential therapeutic for autoimmune diseases.
Non-parametric workspace modelling for mobile robots using push broom lasers
Keywords: non-stationary
Iterative Closest Point
3D mapping
laser
range sensing
dataset
point cloud
mobile robotics
Gaussian Process
online representation

This thesis is about the intelligent compression of large 3D point cloud datasets. The non-parametric method that we describe simultaneously generates a continuous representation of the workspace surfaces from discrete laser samples and decimates the dataset, retaining only locally salient samples. Our framework attains decimation factors in excess of two orders of magnitude without significant degradation in fidelity.
The work presented here has a specific focus on gathering and processing laser measurements taken from a moving platform in outdoor workspaces. We introduce a somewhat unusual parameterisation of the problem and look to Gaussian Processes as the fundamental machinery in our processing pipeline. Our system compresses laser data in a fashion that is naturally sympathetic to the underlying structure and complexity of the workspace. In geometrically complex areas, compression is lower than that in geometrically bland areas. We focus on this property in detail and it leads us well beyond a simple application of non-parametric techniques. Indeed, towards the end of the thesis we develop a non-stationary GP framework whereby our regression model adapts to the local workspace complexity.
Throughout we construct our algorithms so that they may be efficiently implemented. In addition, we present a detailed analysis of the proposed system and investigate model parameters, metric errors and data compression rates. Finally, we note that this work is predicated on a substantial amount of robotics engineering which has allowed us to produce a high quality, peer reviewed, dataset - the first of its kind.