VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Ottoman policy-making in an age of reforms: unearthing Ottoman archaeology in the 19th and early 20th centuries
Keywords: Samos
heritage
archaeology
Ottoman Greeks
Ottoman history
Hellenic Literary Society at Constantinople

This thesis discusses the Ottoman policies on archaeology in the aftermath of the initiation of the Tanzimat reforms (1839) and until the end of the Ottoman Empire (1923). It explores the activities of the central state, the autonomous Principality of Samos in the Aegean, and the Hellenic Literary Society at Constantinople. Primary and secondary sources in Ottoman Turkish, Katharevousa Greek, Modern Turkish and Modern Greek, English and French inform the analysis. The first chapter looks at the contexts within which an Ottoman interest in archaeology emerged. It discusses the rise of archaeology as a distinct area of scientific and scholarly research in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the encounters of the Ottomans with western archaeologies in that period, and those domestic intellectual dynamics that made them receptive to archaeology. The second chapter focuses on the Ottoman legislation on antiquities, and secondarily looks at related institutional developments. It discusses at length the emergence of an Ottoman voice on archaeology through the crystallisation of increasingly comprehensive and mature sets of rules and procedures on heritage management. By looking at the autonomous Principality of Samos, the third chapter shifts the attention to the western periphery of the empire, and explores how the Greek Orthodox, when outside the direct control of the central state, could develop their own understanding of, processes and structures regarding archaeology. The fourth chapter looks, for the first time in the literature, at the archaeological activities of the Hellenic Literary Society at Constantinople, and discusses the contribution of Ottoman society to the promotion of archaeological research and the protection of monuments. Overall, this thesis provides a critical analysis of the emergence of the concept and practice of archaeological heritage protection in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Copyright and culture: a qualitative theory
Keywords: wealth of networks
diversity
deliberative democracy
markets
winner takes all
autonomy
free speech
creativity
distributive justice
aesthetics
discourse
clickbait
fair use
free culture
copyright
levy
network effects
creative industries
works
democracy
positive liberty
freedom of expression
inclusive
filter bubble
authorship

Copyright is conventionally justified as an incentive to produce and disseminate works of authorship. We can justify and theorise copyright more richly, not least because empirical evidence does not support the incentive narrative. Rather than focussing on quantitative matters such as the number of works incentivised and produced, we should consider copyright's qualitative influence on culture.
A threshold objection to such an approach is the risk of cultural paternalism. This objection can be overcome. Rather than specifying paternalistic standards of merit for works, we can target the conditions under which their creation and consumption takes place.
I argue, firstly, that we should adopt the following high-level principles: (i) that the conditions of creation and consumption of works should be conducive to democratic deliberation (democracy) and (ii) that they should facilitate the development of human capabilities (autonomy). Secondly, I propose that we pursue three mid-level objectives, which are helpful indicia of democracy and autonomy:
- a fair and wide distribution of communicative and cultural power (inclusiveness);
- diversity in the content and perspectives available to the public (diversity); and
- conditions that permit authors and users of works to engage rigorously with the conventions of the media in which they operate (rigour).
It is often said that copyright obstructs important qualitative objectives, like freedom of expression, and that we could better pursue these goals by weakening copyright and relying on non-proprietary alternatives. My approach produces a more optimistic, but also more complicated, view of copyright. While copyright's qualitative influence is not optimal, reductions in the strength and scope of copyright sometimes produces conditions and incentive structures that are worse for inclusiveness, diversity and rigour than stronger copyright. For example, both attention and wealth are highly concentrated in networked information economies driven by free sharing of content, and this is bad for diversity or inclusiveness. Online business models, based on surveillance of users' consumption of free works, are corrosive of autonomy and democracy. Merely removing copyright-based restrictions on the sharing of works is not a panacea for copyright's ills.
A qualitative theory such as mine equips us to better understand and calibrate more richly the trade-offs involved in copyright policy decisions, and encourages us to treat copyright as part of a broader, qualitatively-oriented information and cultural policy.
The Adiabene narrative in the Jewish Antiquities of Josephus
Keywords: Jews and Parthia
Jewish Antiquities
Adiabene
Jews - Relations with Ancient Rome
Judaism - Conversion
Josephus, Flavius
Jews - Historiography

The story of the conversion to Judaism of the Royal House of Adiabene, a satellite kingdom of Parthia, is contained in Book 20, the final book of Josephus's Jewish Antiquities. It is an ostensibly strange interlude in an otherwise chronological account of events in Judaea in the first century CE leading up to the Jewish Revolt against Rome. The narrative has often been thought of by scholars as a makeweight, copied from other sources, without much authorial intervention by Josephus.
The thesis shows that the Adiabene narrative is no makeweight, but is crafted by Josephus to link closely to the themes of the Jewish Antiquities as a whole and indeed forms a coda to the work. The primary links are in the messages that Judaism is attractive to distinguished non-Jews, that Jews are a respectable people who can display Greco-Roman virtues and that the Jewish God is all-powerful and protects from harm those who worship him in piety. The links to the rest of the Jewish Antiquities are reinforced by the similarity of the characterisation of the hero Izates, King of Adiabene, with Josephus's characterisation of biblical heroes, and by a continuity of style of historiography, showing a definite authorial imprint. The thesis also concludes, contrary to most scholarly opinion, that Josephus viewed the hero, Izates, as a Jew before he became circumcised.
The thesis concludes that much of the narrative's historiographical style would have resonated with a non-Jewish Greco-Roman readership, Josephus's probable audience, albeit his treatment of Parthian incest and extensive focus on circumcision would have probably seemed strange. In addition, Josephus's use of a royal Parthian as hero would have been credible, notwithstanding Greco-Roman cultural prejudices.
Birds in the Aegean bronze age
Keywords: Ontologies
Iconography
Birds
Aegean Bronze Age

The thesis discusses bird depictions in the Aegean Bronze Age. The iconographical study is based on a catalogue of almost 2000 objects showing bird images from Crete, the Cyclades, the Greek Mainland and the Dodecanese dating to EB I – LB IIIC. Three research aims are addressed. The first aim is the reliable and accurate identification of the depicted bird species by finding a middle ground between the two approaches that have prevailed in past scholarship, which either consisted of overambitious attempts at species identification or resorted to overgeneralised accounts of bird imagery. A systematic identification methodology, based on a combination of techniques from iconography, ornithology and in particular anthropological studies of folk taxonomies, is developed. The second aim is the interpretation of any specific symbolic functions and ideological roles of birds in different regions and periods. This analysis rests on the combined study of media and find contexts as well as the chosen bird species and iconographical associations. The third aim is the reconstruction of types of ontologies prevalent in different regions. Based on a structuralist model of ontologies developed by the anthropologist Descola, the bird depictions are studied by looking for features that are typical of analogical, naturalist, totemic or animist art.
Each research aim has yielded numerous results, which deepen our understanding of biological knowledge and cultural diversity in the Aegean Bronze Age. First, the vast majority of bird depictions can be identified as belonging to one of the following folk-taxonomical groups: columbids (doves), birds of prey/corvids, waterbirds, wading birds, owls, hoopoes, galliformes, swallows and seabirds. Second, the existence of a multitude of particular functions and roles of birds is revealed. These vary significantly according to time and regions, mirroring historical developments and the presence of different cultural attitudes towards birds. Third, marked regional differences are detectable with regard to ontologies. Cretan and Cycladic bird art is consistent with animist iconography discernible because of a pronounced artistic naturalism, an emphasis on movement and agency, and the presence of shamanic imagery. The images from the Greek Mainland can be characterised as being consistent with an ontology termed analogical by Descola because of a preference of stylised and modular depictions and the persistence of symbolic functions through time. This work lays a foundation opening up a new perspective on interpreting iconography of the Aegean Bronze Age.
Role of the glucose-6-phosphate translocase on bacterial handling in human macrophages
Keywords: CD
G6PT
macrophages
IBD

Disruption of the homeostatic balance in the intestine of genetically susceptible individuals can lead to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). Defects in glucose-6-phosphate metabolism due to defects in glucose-6-phosphatase or glucose-6-phosphate translocase cause a rare Mendelian form of congenital neutropenia and CD like intestinal inflammation. The aim of this project is to investigate the mechanisms by which defective metabolism in macrophages might cause CD like intestinal inflammation via defective bacterial handling. We used a chemical inhibitor model to study the effect of glucose-6-phosphate-translocase inhibition in macrophages using a cholorogenic acid derivative. Defective glucose-6-phosphate translocase caused a reduction in bactericidal activity by changing the metabolism in macrophages and polarising them to M1 phenotype via the mTOR signalling pathway. Blockade of mTOR using rapamycin reversed the defective bacterial handling in macrophages with defective glucose-6-phosphatase enzyme. This study provides a link between metabolic defect and immune-mediated colitis that is associated with macrophage dysfunction. This might have therapeutic implications for subgroups of patients with intestinal inflammation.
Meaning and duality: from categorical logic to quantum physics
Keywords: categorical logic
categorical unified science
categorical duality

Duality abounds in science, both pure and applied: in mathematics there is duality between space and algebra; in physics there is duality between states and observables; in information science there is duality between systems and properties/behaviours; in logic there is duality between models and theories; and even in philosophy there is duality between realism and antirealism (Dummett), or substance metaphysics and process/function metaphysics (Whitehead/Cassirer). They look akin at a level of abstraction, and yet, taking a closer look at subtleties involved, one may find a parting of the ways. The present thesis builds upon category theory and universal algebra to explicate and articulate the dynamics of duality, the mechanism of how duality emerges, changes, and breaks. A generic duality theory is first pursued in the abstract via categorical topology and algebra, and subtler duality theories are then explored to the end of shedding light on more nuanced facets of concrete dualities such as coalgebraic dualities. Each duality theory thus developed is cashed out to uncover formerly unknown dualities; e.g., the first duality theory tells us a dual equivalence between domains and convex structures, which remained an open problem before. Dualities are often induced by Janusian objects, which sometimes form truth value objects as in topos theory. To elucidate this link between duality and categorical logic, categorical universal logic is developed on the basis of Lawvere's hyperdoctrine and Hyland-Johnstone-Pitts' tripos, thereby expanding the realm of (first-order/higher-order) categorical logic so as to encompass, inter alia, classical, intuitionistic, quantum, fuzzy, relevant, and linear logics. Finally, duality meets symmetry in quantum physics, yielding a categorical understanding of the Wigner theorem, i.e., a purely coalgebraic characterisation of the quantum symmetry groupoid. In passing, operational quantum duality is systematised via Chu space theory. In light of these, duality would arguably serve as a unifying principle to overcome the fragmentation of science, and to soothe the dualistic divide of philosophy between realist and antirealist worldviews.
Elucidating the function of the suppressor of ppi1 locus 2
Keywords: chloroplast
sp2
sp1
plastid
toc
erad
arabidopsis

Plastids are a hub of biosynthetic activity, and in different tissues they take on specialised functions and develop into complex structures (e.g., chloroplasts in leaves). The structural and metabolic diversity and dynamism of plastids is dependent upon proteins imported from the cytosol. At the outer-envelope membrane of plastids, such proteins are transported by the translocon at the outer-envelope membrane of chloroplasts (TOC), comprising a protein-conducting channel and receptor proteins. Mutations affecting these TOC proteins cause profound effects to plastid development. To understand more about plastid development and the regulation of the TOC machinery, a screen for second-site suppressors of a mutant lacking the Toc33 receptor, called plastid protein import 1 (ppi1), was previously conducted. In this thesis, the resulting suppressor of ppi1 locus 2 (sp2) mutants were characterised. The SP2 genetic locus was identified, and it was found to affect the development of chloroplasts in a mechanism related to protein import. This was determined to involve a strong negative regulatory effect on the abundance of the TOC proteins, which was reminiscent of the effect of the SP1 locus. SP1 is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that triggers proteasomal degradation of TOC proteins. For this to occur, it is thought that TOC proteins require a mechanism of extraction from the chloroplast membrane, in a pathway that would require a retrotranslocon, as is the case for the degradation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) proteins by the ER-associated degradation (ERAD) system. As a relative of the Omp85 superfamily of protein transporters, SP2 is here proposed to fulfil the role of retrotranslocon in a hypothesised chloroplast-associated degradation system (ChlorAD). Genetic interaction data suggest that SP1 and SP2 act in a common pathway, while co-immunoprecipitation and in vitro pulldown results reveal a strong physical interaction between SP1 and SP2, as well as an interaction between SP2 and the ERAD-associated ATPase, CDC48. Overall, evidence presented here strongly supports the proposed ChlorAD mechanism.
Asset pricing in dynamic macroeconomics
Keywords: asset pricing
new Keynesian
monetary policy
macroeconomics

How does monetary policy affect financial markets? Coming out of the financial crisis much ink, both academic and non-academic, has been spilled trying to under- stand how policy makers should react to mitigate such a financial crisis. While there has been significant focus, justifiably, on crises, policy design and financial market transmission, there is very little theoretical work on how the effects of central bank policy transmits to asset prices. This thesis contends that the reasons for this dearth of theoretical research are two-fold - the dominance of log-linearisation in the New Keynesian tradition and a move to marginalise labour market channels in the asset pricing literature. The first means that these models fail to satisfactorily explain asset prices, while the second is a response to the perverse movements of employment in these models. Furthermore, attempts to fix the second problem make the first prob- lem even worse. I begin this thesis by addressing these two concerns. I show that by addressing them one can better explain reality both in terms of the business cycle and asset prices within this models. I proceed to develop a non-linear New Keynesian model and use it to construct a non-linear asset pricing relationship. Finally, I use this non-linear model, as a laboratory to analyse the transmission to financial markets of central banking policy following various simple Taylor rules. This work allows one to move from a situation where the impact of policy is well understood to one where the understanding is as yet incomplete. The insights gleaned from this research can be used to inform policy design with some understanding of the expected impact on asset markets.
Measuring social impact – the conceptual and empirical advancement of an emergent concept
Keywords: social impact
measurement
capitals

This thesis develops a theoretical foundation for measuring social impact. It focuses on 'social purpose organisations', for example non-profit organisations. Its original contribution lies in the conceptual proposition of measuring social impact through assessing how an organisation enhances social productivity by creating capitals, for instance social, cultural or political capital. It proposes measuring capitals as an alternative to currently prevalent metrics surrounding: (1) costs and benefits; (2) life-satisfaction; (3) capabilities.
The research tests the 'capital based approach' in three empirical cases located in Germany. The studies consider multiple capitals, but focus on the main one for each intervention: (1) social capital in community oriented housing for elderly people; (2) cultural capital in a school-based intervention on pro-sociality; (3) political capital related to an online platform for citizens and politicians. The conceptual proposition combined with this 'multi-site multi capitals' setup generates knowledge on social impact in four different ways.
First, by tapping into established capitals measures across the social sciences the research mitigates the measurement problem—the challenge of translating social impact into measurable components. Second, by using capitals as a set of interconnected measures, which are furthermore at close proximity to organisational activities, it helps address the attribution problem—the difficulty of establishing causal links between an intervention and its effects. Third, by turning to capitals it highlights intermediate outcomes and processes in the creation of social impact and thereby deals with the aggregation problem—a loss of information when focussing only on final social outcomes. Fourth, by seizing on the position of capitals which are located in between individuals and the community, it responds to the foundation problem—the potential discrepancy between group level welfare and individual utilities or capacities.
The research tackles the most pressing challenges in social impact measurement and thus significantly advances its theory and practice.
Enemy punishment and the creation of the Assyrian world: Ashurbanipal’s Teumman-Dunanu narratives in reliefs, epigraphs, and prisms
Keywords: Ancient Warfare
Kingship
Violence
Elam
Punishment
Ashurbanipal
Teumman

This dissertation examines the representation of enemy punishment in prisms, reliefs, epigraphs, and epigraph tablets of the Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (c. 668-627 BCE). The ‘Teumman-Dunanu’ narratives which form the basis of this study use the events of military campaigns waged against Elamite king Teumman in 653 BCE, and subsequently against a number of Teumman’s allies in southern Babylonia, as a basis to construct narratives about enemy punishment and its role in an ordered Assyrian world. I deal with a small group of sources from the Assyrian city of Nineveh: the reliefs of Room XXXIII of the Southwest Palace, and Rooms I and (to a lesser extent) S1 of the North Palace, Epigraph Text A and fragmentary parallel epigraph texts, and Prism Editions B and A. These sources have received varying degrees of attention, with the Southwest Palace reliefs of Teumman’s beheading a particularly well-explored topic. However, I demonstrate that even this well-studied depiction can be understood with greater complexity when read with the other narratives examined here and in the wider context of the theme of ‘enemy punishment’. The aim of this study is twofold: 1) to investigate how we should understand the intellectual world in which these sources were created, and 2) to carry out ‘close-readings’ of these sources in order to understand how enemy punishment functioned to construct and maintain that Assyrian world. To this end, the first part of this dissertation examines the knowledge, function, and worldview of Ashurbanipal’s court. The second part examines the Teumman-Dunanu narratives in detail, first presenting an overview of their context and narrative content, and then carrying out close-readings in various, interrelated areas. The study demonstrates that it is correct to consider such sources as both expressive and generative of Assyrian elite realities—about themselves, the gods with whom they were in communication, and the enemy other. The study further demonstrates that close-reading of related narrative sequences is a fruitful means of detecting new meanings in the narratives themselves, and of understanding the wider Assyrian world.
A comparative study of religious education policy in Turkey and England
Keywords: religious education policy
Islam
policy actors
Supranational factors
conflict
Christianity
pluralisation
secularisation
plural religious education policy
England
Turkey
compulsory consensus

It has long been recognised that education policy has been questioned, critiqued and reformed in response to a variety of supranational and national factors. In the field of religious education, there has been a growing argument for comparative works to study this relationship between wider factors and religious education policy. This thesis seeks to present a comparison of religious education policy in state schools in two strikingly different countries, Turkey and England, by interviewing various policy actors, to unravel some of the complexities and contestations around supranational and national factors and their influence on religious education policy.
The thesis reveals that wider factors have explicitly and implicitly shaped religious education policy by constituting a significant milieu that has constrained and enabled policy actors. Yet, the thesis also suggests that religious education policy can be better understood through a conflict theory lens, because policy actors have responded to and interpreted wider factors and their influence on religious education policy widely and contradictorily, reflecting their deeply held worldviews and values. Furthermore, in the context of the collision of wider factors and rival policy actors, religious education has tended to converge on common problems such as confusion, marginalisation, accusations and on endless reform actions and discussion. The thesis suggests that there is a need for sensitising for plurality across and within societies and a need for more open and plural religious education policies.
The findings of this thesis give insights into how different policy actors view and interpret supranational and national factors and their influence on religious education policy. The findings have relevance for debates about the role of religion in education within plural societies.