VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
At home in the world: Czesław Miłosz and the ontology of space
Keywords: Polish poetry
city
religion
house
object
memory
exile
space
ontology
catastrophism

Space constitutes one of the main leitmotifs of Czes&lstrok;aw Mi&lstrok;osz's work, both theoretical and poetic. Central in this respect is the notion of imagination as a faculty organizing space, the faculty which, from the times of the Scientific Revolution, has been subject to erosion, especially as far as the religious imagination is concerned. The abolition of the anthropocentric, hierarchical vision of space, threw human beings into a state of alienation, conceptual nowhere. Religion was replaced by the dogmatism of scientific reductionism, the reality of Ulro. Mi&lstrok;osz shows the way out of Ulro, the way out of nowhere to the somewhere.
This thesis aims to illustrate the conceptual map of the way out of Ulro as portrayed in four selected volumes of poetry and the novel Dolina Issy, anchored in different points of Mi&lstrok;osz's biography. The Land of Ulro, the collection of essays which encapsulate Mi&lstrok;osz's ideas on space, constitutes a canopy work for the interpretation of the practical realization of those ideas in Mi&lstrok;osz's poetic work. Trzy zimy (1936), &Sacute;wiat, poema naiwne (1943), Miasto bez imienia (1969), and Druga przestrze&nacute; (2002) provide the material for the analysis of different aspects of Mi&lstrok;osz's conception of space. Subject to analysis is the relationship between object and human subject as regards the formative, childhood experience of the space of the house (manor) and surrounding landscape, the act of building space on the basis of memory and retrospection in the context of distance and exile, and the workings of religious imagination in the context of the realm of second space.
Through his conception of space, Mi&lstrok;osz defends human existence in its completeness. He shows the way out of Ulro. This thesis aims to retrace Mi&lstrok;osz's map out of the land of alienation on the basis of the poet's selected works.
Hybrid quantum information processing with continuous and discrete variables of light fields
Keywords: hybrid quantum technologies
photon-number-resolving detectors
quantum coherence
weak-field homodyne detection

Quantum correlations play a fundamental role in quantum information science. The variety of their manifestations has become increasingly apparent following the development of novel light sources, protocols and photodetectors. One broad classification identifies two instances of non-classical correlations: particle and mode entanglement. These categories mirror two coexisting descriptions of quantum systems in terms of discrete and continuous variables of the electromagnetic field. The past decades have generated a number of promising results based on schemes which encompass elements from both frameworks, rather than viewing the two descriptions as mutually exclusive. In this context, it is possible to conceive and realise experiments where either the quantum resource or the detection system is 'hybrid'. Optical weak-field homodyne detectors bring together phase sensitivity and photon counting; as such, they represent a detection scheme which works across continuous and discrete variables of the radiation field.
In this thesis we present a two-mode weak-field homodyne detection layout with added photon-number resolution and apply it to the study of a split single-photon state and a squeezed vacuum state. As a first test of the capabilities of this system, we investigate the reconstruction of relevant features of a given quantum resource - such as its photon statistics - with our detection scheme. Further, we experimentally demonstrate the observation of an instance of non-classical optical coherence which combines the continuous- and discrete-variable descriptions explicitly.
The ability to probe phenomena at the interface of wave and particle regimes opens the way to novel, improved schemes for quantum information processing. From a more fundamental perspective, such hybrid approaches may shed light on the very roots of quantum enhancement.
The anthropology of Hilary of Poitiers
Keywords: Patristics
Origen
Original Sin
Emotions
The will
Augustine
Hilary of Poitiers

This thesis examines the theological of the fourth-century bishop, Hilary of Poitiers, concentrating particularly on two commentaries written at different times in his life.
The thesis starts by examining the texts, and demonstrates that Hilary's commentary on Psalm 118 is loosely speaking a translation of Origen; by comparing both authors with Ambrose, the relationship between Origen and Hilary appears much closer than previously thought.
The main body of the thesis examines Hilary's anthropological theology. Three chapters look at created human nature, looking at the relationship between body and soul, human nature as imago dei, and the extent to which human nature can be treated as a platonic universal. The general conclusion is that Hilary is not particularly platonic, and at this stage is not particularly stoic either, but rather is eclectic in his choice of philosophical ideas. The influence of Origen is clear but Hilary only uses Origen’s theology critically.
There follow four chapters on the Fall and its impact, focussing particularly on its effects on human nature. In particular it is shown that Hilary presages Augustine's teaching of the fallen will; in Hilary the Will is described as being in thrall to her mother-in-law Disobedience. Another human malady is the effect of the passions or emotions, where Hilary is influenced by Stoic ideas of the process of human action; nevertheless, concepts such as apatheia or the propatheiai do not appear in his work. These constraints on human action point towards Hilary's theology of original sin; indeed he appears to be the first author to use the phrase peccata originis in this sense.
In the concluding chapter, Hilary's place in the continuum between Origen and Augustine is demonstrated; at very least, original sin cannot be called an African doctrine, since it first is named by Hilary, a Gaul.
Transcranial stimulation of the human primary motor cortices
Keywords: Transcranial stimulation
Transcranial direct current stimulation
tDCS
Motor plasticity
Plasticity
GABA
Stroke
Motor cortex

The primary aim of this thesis is to investigate the physiological effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as applied to the primary motor cortex (M1). This research was largely motivated by the need to understand the basic physiological changes of tDCS, in order to evaluate its use as a potential tool in recovery after stroke, as well as its more general applicability as a tool to modulate plasticity. The experiments in this thesis assess the ability of tDCS to modulate the primary motor cortex in healthy controls.
The effects of tDCS on cortical GABA and motor resting state functional connectivity were measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and resting functional MRI (fMRI). Anodal stimulation reduced GABA concentration and increased functional connectivity in the stimulated M1. Testing these changes within the same individuals demonstrated that the magnitude of changes do not correlate across subjects. Novel evidence on the timecourse of GABA change demonstrated that the reduction in GABA is most prominent in the 30-minute period after stimulation.
To determine whether the tDCS-induced modulations in inhibition is restricted to the stimulated hemisphere or whether inhibitory changes could be observed in the nonstimulated M1, or in the interhemispheric connections between the M1s, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to measure intracortical inhibition in each M1 and interhemispheric inhibition and facilitation in the contralateral M1. There were no polarity-specifc effects on intracortical inhibition within either M1, and no changes in interhemispheric excitability from the stimulated to non-stimulated M1.
Development of a two-voxel MRS method at ultra high field (7 Tesla) allowed for concurrent measurements of cortical neurotransmitters from both M1s with excellent spectral quality and GABA quantifcation. This method was used to demonstrate the timecourse of tDCS-induced changes in neurochemicals concurrently from both M1s. Anodal stimulation reduced GABA in both the anode-targeted and non-stimulated M1. Cathodal stimulation decreased GABA and glutamate in the non-stimulated M1, with no concurrent changes in the cathode-targeted M1. Bilateral stimulation reduced glutamate in both M1 with no change in GABA.
Associative political culture in the Holy Roman Empire: the Upper Rhine, c. 1350-1500
Keywords: German history
Political history
Early modern
Political culture
Fifteenth century
Late medieval
Late middle ages
Central Europe
Holy Roman Empire

Historians have long struggled to conceptualise the Holy Roman Empire in the later middle ages. This thesis seeks to provide an interpretation of political life in the Empire which captures the structures and dynamics in evidence in the sources. It does so through a comparative study of the varied socio-political elites along the Upper Rhine between 1350 and 1500, with frequent reference to other regions of the Empire. The thesis is divided into three sections. Part I, consisting of four chapters, examines the shared and interconnective characteristics of several spheres of activity – the documentary, judicial, ritual, military, and administrative – in which various elites interacted through the same practices and conventions. Part II (five chapters) deals with the types of contractual association which emerged organically from these shared and interconnective structures and practices. It shows that these associations – leagues, alliances, judicial agreements, coinage unions, and others – were more common and more similar than typically assumed, that they regulated key judicial and military affairs, and that they reflected a shared ideology which emphasised peace-keeping and the common good within the Empire’s framework. Part III of the thesis shows how the structures and dynamics explored in Parts I and II played out in specific situations by reference to three case studies in the 1370s-'80s, 1410s-'30s, and 1460s-'70s. All three demonstrate how the 'associative political culture' model can illuminate events which were previously considered to be moments of crisis or chaos, or the products of 'territorial' or 'constitutional' processes. The thesis concludes by arguing that, in light of this evidence, the Holy Roman Empire is best understood as a community of interdependent elites who interacted within a shared 'associative political culture'. This conclusion highlights the need for a new paradigm beyond those of the 'territory', the 'constitution', or the centralising 'state'.
Modeling deforestation and examining trade-offs among carbon stocks and benefits to livelihoods and biodiversity for REDD+ planning in Kenya
Keywords: spatially-explicit model
poverty
REDD+
deforestation
uncertainty
trade-offs
biodiversity
co-benefits
Kenya

Reducing deforestation and degradation (REDD&plus;) can lower anthropogenic carbon emissions by 9-11% and is therefore integral to mitigating climate change. REDD&plus; is a proposed scheme in which developed countries pay developing countries for reduced deforestation. Kenya is one such country participating in REDD&plus;. As such, Kenya must establish a reference emission level (REL) against which it can compare avoided emissions from reduced deforestation. Developing a spatial model of future deforestation will determine the REL for Kenya and provide complementary information on where forests are at risk and drivers of deforestation. REDD&plus; also offers benefits of poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation, referred to as "co-benefits." Since the spatial distributions of carbon and co-benefits may not be congruent, there may be trade-offs among them whereby increasing one decreases others. To assist Kenya in its REDD&plus; preparations, I build the first spatially explicit deforestation model for the whole of Kenya parametrized with national data. I apply a novel Bayesian inference method which propagates uncertainty in the estimated parameters to the predictions. In addition, I conduct a novel analysis of trade-offs among carbon and co-benefits in three dimensions. I find that predicted forest loss is 1.68% ± 0.06% from 2013 to 2018 (cross-validated AUC = 0.8). There is high deforestation in the Rift Valley and coastal regions attributed to drivers related to accessibility, extraction, and agriculture. Analysis of three-dimensional trade-offs reveals that REDD&plus; sites could simultaneously include 86% of the maximum possible number of people in poverty and 88% of the maximum possible average proportion of ranges of rare species with the smallest 25% of global ranges with a 10% reduction in carbon. The results presented here may help Kenya spatially target REDD&plus; interventions and address particular deforestation drivers as well as plan for securing high levels of carbon stocks and co-benefits.
Corporations and Rawlsian justice
Keywords: Rawls, John, 1921-2002
Property-Owning Democracy
Law of Peoples

Corporations – their power and impact on society – are a neglected topic in political philosophy. In this thesis, I attempt to address this neglect by using the framework of Rawlsian justice to examine what corporations' relationship to social and international justice ought to be. The first part of the thesis is on domestic social justice. I urge that Rawlsians should not begin their inquiry by taking the corporate form as given because the corporation's existence requires a specific set of private-ordering and property rules to be in place. What we should ask, instead, is whether these rules are actually permitted by the two principles of justice as fairness. This question leads to an examination of different economic regimes that are compatible with Rawlsian justice. I focus on one particular regime – that of property-owning democracy. What I find is that while not all versions of property-owning democracy would permit the corporate form, some would actually welcome it due to the feature of 'the separation of ownership and control' that is typical of modern corporations. The second part of the thesis is on international justice. I argue that the best way to situate corporations in Rawls's theory of international justice – his Law of Peoples – is to connect them to the duty of assistance. This is not a straightforward task because a relatively strict reading of the duty of assistance would disallow treating corporations as primarily responsible for discharging it. However, a revisionist approach to the Law of Peoples shows that we can understand the duty of assistance as a part of transitional justice. The significance of this is that Rawls's prescribed ideal theory of international justice does not determine who the agents for transitional justice ought to be or the grounds for attributing responsibility to such agents. We are thus free to adopt David Miller's criteria for attribution of remedial responsibilities to assign to corporations responsibilities for the duty of assistance. What is more, in a particular area of international justice – that of fairness in trade – we can establish that corporations can be primary agents of transitional justice.
Identification of recruited myeloid cells important for the development of hepatic metastasis
Keywords: colon cancer

Hepatic metastases are a frequent cause of mortality in colon cancer patients. Many patients with hepatic metastasis have large tumour burden, signaling the need for therapies capable of down-staging metastatic disease. Research evidence indicates that immune cells promote the metastasis of various primary cancers. We wish to determine whether immune cells play a role in the promotion of hepatic colon cancer metastasis.
Using the well-characterised method of intrasplenic tumour cell injection, we developed hepatic metastases in both immunocompetent and immunoincompetent mice using a range of murine and human cancer cell lines. We analysed the immune cell infiltrates associated with hepatic metastases using flow cytometry and identified chemokines responsible for their recruitment using targeted protein arrays. The effect of immune cell depletion or inhibition of immune cell recruitment was determined using various in-vivo imaging techniques.
Hepatic metastases developed using the murine colon cancer cell line MC38 were associated with CD11b+/Gr1mid/CCR2+ monocytes, the recruitment of which was delayed by inhibition of tumour-derived CCL2. In contrast, human HT29, HCT-116 and LoVo hepatic metastases in SCID mice were associated with infiltrates of CD45+/CXCR2+ neutrophils recruited in response to tumour-derived Macrophage Inhibitory Factor (MIF). Depletion of Gr1mid cells in CD11b-DTR transgenic mice delayed MC38 metastasis development, whilst neutrophil depletion using anti-Ly6G antibodies significantly inhibited the growth of HT29, HCT-116 and LoVo hepatic metastases. The neutrophils recruited to HT29, HCT-116 and LoVo hepatic metastases promoted angiogenesis, potentially through the expression of fibtroblast growth factor-2. This work demonstrates a role for myeloid cells in the development of hepatic metastasis from colon cancer and in doing so identifies various potential therapeutic targets.
An exploratory study of the educational processes of the PhD
Keywords: Educational Processes
Complexity
Doctoral Education

There has been a significant increase in the numbers of students undertaking doctoral study over the last 20-30 years. This means that the PhD is no longer solely an elite degree designed to prepare graduates for an academic career. Instead, emphasis has increasingly been placed on the role of the PhD in producing 'advanced knowledge workers' who are expected to make a contribution to the production of knowledge in a knowledge-driven economy. This has led to an increased focus on the educational dimension of the PhD and the educational processes involved in developing students to become researchers in a range of contexts.
However, the educational processes involved in the PhD are complex and differ across higher education systems, institutions and disciplines. They include formal and informal activities and involve a large number of actors with different expectations about the aims and outcomes. This study aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the educational processes of the PhD by exploring the complexity underlying these processes.
The research was based on case studies in six departments. The case studies focused on the PhD processes of the six departments from three disciplines in four higher education institutions in England. Interviews with PhD Programme Directors, supervisors and students were complemented by analysis of institutional and departmental documents. The research was guided by a multi-level framework to examine the institutional, departmental, interpersonal and individual levels, and the inter-relatedness between levels. As such rich narratives provide insight into factors such as the PhD thesis and its influence on the supervisory relationship, formal initiatives such as assessment and coursework, and the Skills Training Programme and its underlying notion of employability.
Three forms of complexity were identified. The first relates to the fact that the educational processes are individualistic in nature, and there is a need to understand the influences of the personal, social, educational and professional domains of the individual students and supervisors independently and collectively in shaping these complex processes. The second underlines the tensions and potential contradictions within and between actors as a result of the interpretation and implementation of these processes across the four levels. The third concerns a tension between the need for these processes to remain individualistic and the pressure for departments and institutions to provide standardised processes for all students.
By identifying and gaining a greater understanding of these complexities, this research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the educational processes of the PhD based on grounded empirical evidence. This understanding is important in developments for enhancing the quality of PhD education, and in developing programmes which support students to become researchers in a range of different employment contexts.
Development of a spray process for manufacturing carbon nanotube films
Keywords: CNT Dispersions
Multi walled carbon nanotubes
Doped multi walled carbon nanotubes
Composites
Dielectrics
Capacitors

This dissertation describes the development of a processing route for fabricating conventional and doped multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/polymer composite films for dielectric applications. Previous research has shown that such composites are promising dielectric materials, but their commercial development has been impeded by the nanotube agglomeration in the polymer matrix and the inefficiency in forming uniform films. Moreover, the harsh fabrication treatments often disrupt the structure of the nanotubes, hence damaging their inherent electrical properties. This work presents safer routes for forming non-aqueous, surfactant free dispersions of conventional and doped MWCNTs, which can be readily mixed with polymers and formed into films through aerosol spraying.
Dispersibility behaviour of in-house synthesised conventional, nitrogen doped (N-MWCNTs), and boron doped (B-MWCNTs) MWCNTs was studied in 22 organic solvents. Based on thermodynamic theories it was suggested that doping, in particular nitrogen doping, significantly reduced the surface energy of the nanotubes. This aspect was crucial to understand the dispersibility of N-MWCNTs in low surface energy solvents and to achieve dispersions with high nanotube concentrations (0.82 mg/ml). Also, a "destruction reduced sonication protocol" involving mild sonication was suggested for forming MWCNT dispersions in organic solvents. Dispersions formed using this protocol were homogeneous and showed high stability of at least 2.5 years. Furthermore, the effect of ultrasonic probes on MWCNT lengths was studied and a decrease of 96–99% for MWCNTs and 85–95% for N-MWCNTs was observed. A numerical value for the nanotube length decrease during sonication has been reported for the first time.
Preliminary studies to generate dielectric films of MWCNT/perfluoro alkoxy polymer were performed using aerosol spraying. An improvement in the dielectric constant (3.56) with a low dissipation factor (0.003) was observed in 0.3 wt.% B- MWCNT/PFA composite films. Consistency in the test results from various parts of the films confirmed the uniformity of the nanotube distribution within the composite. Future work should concentrate on the effects of B-MWCNTs and N-MWCNTs at the percolation threshold due to their inherent electric properties.