VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The Oxford Vehicle Model
Keywords: automobile
modeling
simulating
engine
vehicle
ultracapacitor
simulation
emission
car
motor
hybrid
flywheel
electric
powertrain
vehicles
model
battery

This dissertation addresses the challenges of scoping and sizing components and modeling the tank to wheel energy flows in new and rapidly evolving classes of automotive vehicles. It introduces a system of computer models, known as the Oxford Vehicle Model (OVEM), which provide for the novel simulation of the powertrains of electric (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). OVEM has a three-level structure that makes a unique contribution to the field of vehicle analysis by enabling a user to proceed from performing scoping and sizing exercises through to accurately simulating the energy flows in powertrains of EVs and HEVs utilizing existing and emerging technologies based on real world data.
Level 1 uses simplified models to support initial component scoping and sizing exercises in an analysis environment where uncertainty regarding component specifications is high. Level 2 builds on Level 1 by obtaining more refined component scoping and sizing estimates via the use of component models based on well-understood scientific principles that are product-independent – a crucial feature for obtaining unbiased scoping and sizing estimates. Level 3 employs a high degree of fidelity in that its models impose actual physical limits and are based on data from real technologies.
This dissertation concludes with two chapters based on studies published as journal articles that used OVEM to address key issues facing the development of EVs and HEVs. The first study used OVEM to make the novel comparison between high-speed flywheels, batteries, and ultracapacitors on the bases of cost and fuel consumption while functioning as the energy storage systems in an HEV. The second study applied OVEM towards a novel examination of the CO2 emissions from plug-in HEVs (PHEVs) and compares their CO2 emissions to those from similar EVs and ICE-based vehicles.
QED effects in laser-plasma interactions
Keywords: QED-plasmas
plasma physics
quantum electrodynamics
high-intensity lasers

It is possible to reach the radiation-reaction–dominated regime in today’s high-intensity laser facilities, using the collision of a wakefield-accelerated GeV electron beam with a 30 fs laser pulse of intensity 1022 Wcm-2. This would demonstrate that the yield of high energy gamma rays is increased by the stochastic nature of photon emission: a beam of 109 electrons will emit 6300 photons with energy > 700 MeV, 60 times the number predicted classically. Detecting those photons, or a prominent low energy peak in the electron beam's post-collision energy spectrum, will provide strong evidence of quantum radiation reaction; we place constraints on the accuracy of timing necessary to achieve this.
This experiment would provide benchmarking for the simulations that will be used to study the plasmas produced in the next generation of laser facilities. With focused intensities > 1023 Wcm-2, these will be powerful enough to generate high fluxes of gamma rays and electron-positron pairs from laser–laser and laser–solid interactions. It will become possible to test the physics of exotic astrophysical phenomena, such as pair cascades in pulsar magnetospheres, and explore fundamental aspects of quantum electrodynamics (QED). To that end we will discuss: classical theories of radiation reaction; QED processes in intense fields; and a Monte Carlo algorithm by which the latter may be included in particle-in-cell codes. The feedback between QED processes and classical plasma dynamics characterises a new regime we call QED-plasma physics.
Investigation of the signalling and function of NOD2
Keywords: IL-23
Crohn's Disease
NOD2
IL-12p40
microRNA

NOD2 is an intracellular innate immune receptor expressed in dendritic cells and gastrointestinal epithelial cells. Polymorphisms in the NOD2 gene convey a strong predisposition to Crohn’s disease (CD), a form of inflammatory bowel disease. Understanding the function of NOD2, and in what way it is aberrant in the presence of NOD2 polymorphisms, would confer a valuable paradigm for understanding Crohn’s pathogenesis.
CD is thought to arise both from defects in the gut mucosal barrier and from a dysregulated Th17 immune response to commensal gut flora. Aberrant expression of IL-23 is present in both human CD and in murine models of colitis. Wild-type NOD2 contributes to NFκB activation and pro-inflammatory cytokine production on recognition of its cognate ligand, a function that is lost in CD-associated mutations. How the predominantly loss-of-function CD-NOD2 contributes to the pro-inflammatory response present in Crohn’s is not yet understood.
In this thesis a set of experiments is described that aim to shed light on the function of NOD2, firstly through identification of negative regulators of immune activation that are dependent on NOD2 for their expression. This work identifies the microRNAs that are expressed following NOD2 triggering in human dendritic cells. Specifically, up-regulation of the miR-29 family was found to be dependent on wild-type NOD2 function. A number of novel miR-29 targets and their functional consequences are presented, including the cytokine subunits IL-12p40 and IL-23p19, directly linking NOD2 polymorphisms and aberrant IL-23 expression.
Secondly, a project aiming to identify components of the NOD2 signalling complex (or signalosome) is described. To this end I employed a model system that involved tagging NOD2, and stable expression in a human cell line. These clones were validated for expression and function before an immunoprecipitation protocol was optimised. Mass spectrometry analysis of these samples identified the known NOD2-interacting protein Erbin.
Beyond oil: the political economy of Saudi-East Asian industrial relations, 1953-2013
Keywords: East Asia
China
Japan
Saudi Arabia
Taiwan

This thesis investigates the political economy of Saudi–East Asian industrial relations in the past six decades, between 1953 and 2013. The analysis focuses on industrial diversification in Saudi Arabia and how this has affected Saudi Arabia's relations with East Asian states. Accordingly, Saudi–East Asian relations, which have hitherto been understood as consisting of energy producer-consumer relationships, are re-framed as "industrialising–industrialised relationships". This thesis identifies the main dynamics of such relationships as diffusion of industrial technology from East Asian states to Saudi Arabia, which is considered to be a microcosm of a larger collective shift in the global economy, from "divergence" to "convergence" caused by the progress in human resources development (HRD) among developing countries.
In order to capture that dynamics, this thesis develops two concepts: "techno-sovereignty" and "techno-diplomacy". Techno-sovereignty assumes a developing state's pursuit of greater level of self-reliance in industrial technology through investment in HRD and avoidance of dependence on single external source of technology. On the other hand, techno-diplomacy is defined as an advanced state's diplomatic strategy of implementing the transfer of industrial technology to a developing state in order to acquire other types of gain from that state in return.
Saudi Arabia's pursuit of techno-sovereignty has been implemented in two steps: first, to invite foreign direct investment (FDI) from multiple advanced states for establishing industrial production; and, second, to "Saudise" the production over the years through the transfer of knowledge, skills and technologies from the foreign investor to national industrial workers. Saudi–East Asian industrial relations have followed these patterns: Japan has practiced techno-diplomacy towards Saudi Arabia mainly in return for oil; and Taiwan has done so mainly in return for diplomatic recognition – since Taipei has been in competition with Beijing since 1949 regarding its international legitimacy. Those quid pro quo relations have provided Riyadh with strong bargaining chips vis-à-vis Tokyo and Taipei in demanding industrial cooperation from them in the past decades.
Currently, as the focus of industrial diversification in Saudi Arabia shifts from capital-intensive heavy industries to labour-intensive manufacturing industries, the insufficiency in HRD in Saudi Arabia, deriving from the "rentier" nature of its society, increasingly poses obstacles to further progress of the process. Accordingly, East Asian states' contributions to the development of HRD institutions in Saudi Arabia have been coming to the fore in their bilateral industrial relations in addition to the FDI, the trend which is likely to remain important in the coming years.
Functional analysis of polymorphisms associated with osteoarthritis susceptibility that affect cis-regulation
Keywords: GDF5
BMP5
genetics
osteoarthritis
differential allelic expression

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common, multifactorial disease that is characterized by focal degeneration of the smooth articular cartilage in any of the synovial joints. Although the underlying molecular mechanisms for OA are still not fully understood, epidemiological studies have evidenced a significant genetic component to OA susceptibility. Genome-wide linkage scans and large-scale association studies have had success in unraveling the genetic architecture underlying OA with the identification of a number of susceptibility genes. In this work, functional analyses are reported of OA associated polymorphisms within two susceptibility genes: BMP5 and GDF5, both members of the TGF-β superfamily of secreted proteins. The extent of differential allelic expression (DAE) of BMP5 in human mesenchymal tissues was first examined with significant differences in BMP5 allelic output observed (allelic ratios exceeding 4:1 in the tissues of some donors). Significant variability in allelic expression within the different tissues of donors was also observed, suggesting that polymorphism in cis-regulation of BMP5 expression is common and that there is a considerable effect of tissue specific elements on BMP5 expression. DAE was then used as a phenotype to map tissue-specific cis-regulatory polymorphisms with the identification of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located downstream of BMP5 that was significantly associated with DAE as well as OA, suggesting that variability in cis-regulation of BMP5 is important in OA susceptibility. Moreover, the functional effect of a previously identified OA associated microsatellite within intron 1 of BMP5 was investigated using luciferase reporter assays and electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) with significant differences observed both in the ability of various microsatellite alleles to modulate BMP5 promoter activity and to bind GATA-3 nuclear proteins, further suggesting a role for variability in BMP5 expression in OA susceptibility that may in part be due to altered GATA-3 binding. Finally, functional characterization of a previously reported OA associated SNP in the 5′ UTR of GDF5 is presented in which EMSAs show differential binding of nuclear factors between the two SNP alleles, strengthening the possible functional contribution of this SNP to OA susceptibility. Overall, this work demonstrates that polymorphism in cis-regulation is likely to play a role in OA susceptibility.
Competitive structure and the operation of sexual selection
Keywords: sexual networks
sexual selection
gallus

In this thesis I set out to further our understanding of two broad questions, 1) why it is that sexual selection favours the evolution of particular traits and 2) why do the patterns of sexual selection on such traits differ between groups and populations? Specifically, I focused on the role that variation in intrasexual competitive structure, the non-random distribution of socio-competitive environments across individuals, plays in shaping variation in the operation of sexual selection both within and across populations. I explore the roles of three main determinants of competitive structure, namely; population structure, polyandry and non-random variation in the distribution of the intensity of competition. To achieve this, I used a combination of empirical and theoretical tools, using the model system Red junglefowl, Gallus gallus. Throughout this thesis I both develop and employ network quantitative tools as a framework to describe variation in intrasexual competitive structure. Overall, this thesis demonstrates a complex relationship between competitive structure and the operation of sexual selection. This structure can modify the strength and direction of sexual selection operating on phenotypic traits, obscure the operation of selection at the population level and influence the relative roles of pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection. Furthermore, this thesis explores how differences in local ecology can shape competitive structure itself and in turn shape sexual selection. In doing so, this thesis sheds some light on the role that variation in competitive structure may play in shaping the operation of sexual selection both within and between populations and generating the great diversity in sexually-selected traits and behaviours between populations.
Toward understanding speed, efficiency and selectivity in retinal photochemistry
Keywords: retinal protonated schiff bases
retinal
quantum yield
reaction dynamics
induction of chirality

This Thesis describes the synthesis, structural, photochemical and photophysical studies of modified retinal protonated Schiff bases in solution. Ultrafast laser spectroscopy, NMR and circular dichroism studies were employed to investigate speed, yield and selectivity of photoisomerisation in these chromophores.
Chapter 1 introduces relevant biological, photophysical and photochemical aspects of retinal protonated Schiff base photoisomerisation. It includes an overview of synthetic approaches to modified retinal synthesis pertinent to this this work.
Chapter 2 discuses the investigation of the hypothesis that twisting of the chromophore’s isomerising double bond is responsible for ultrafast photoisomerisation in the protein environment. In these studies it was discovered that addition of a methyl group to the retinal backbone in solution results in protein-like photophysics.
Chapter 3 presents photopysical and photochemical studies of modified all-trans retinal protonated Schiff bases that culminate in a qualitative model for the influence of electronic factors on photochemical and photophysical behaviour of these chromophores in solution.
Chapter 4 describes structural and photophysical investigations of 11-cis retinal protonated Schiff bases. NMR studies indicate conformational flexibility of the chromophores. The first synthetic solution-based chromophore to reach rhodopsins’s speed of photoisomerisation is described.
Chapter 5 presents an attempt to gain conformational information on retinal protonated Schiff bases using circular dichroism spectroscopy. Transfer of stereochemical information from the covalently attached stereogenic centre to the retinal backbone is demonstrated.
Fetal skeletal imaging using 3D ultrasound and the impact of maternal vitamin D
Keywords: fetal growth
ultrasound
Vitamin D
femur
fetal development

BACKGROUND Previous research suggests that vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy may be associated with suboptimal fetal growth, but direct evidence is lacking. Our objectives were 1) to develop a method for measurement of the fetal sphenoidal fontanelle area (FA) and femur volume (FV) using 3D ultrasound; 2) to create normal charts for FA and FV; and 3) to correlate FA and FV with maternal vitamin D concentration. METHODS FA measurement in 3D was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Different segmentation methods for FV measurement were explored. A novel FV method was described which consists of three linear measurements and a volume equation; this was validated in vitro and also by comparing FV measured sonographically to the true volume assessed by computed tomography (CT), in 6 cases following pregnancy termination. A cohort of 868 uncomplicated pregnancies was selected on the basis of strict inclusion criteria; participants underwent serial ultrasound scans for FV and multilevel modeling was used for the creation of a “prescriptive” FV chart. Finally, a different cohort of 357 healthy pregnant women had serum vitamin D levels and FV ultrasound at 34 weeks gestation and dual emission x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) of their neonates in order to investigate the prenatal determinants of fetal bone mass. RESULTS FA measurement was accurate in vitro, but unreliable in vivo and was therefore abandoned. A novel FV method had excellent agreement with CT and superior repeatability compared with segmentation-based methods. A normal FV chart was created and the regression equations for the median and percentile values were presented. Vitamin D demonstrated a significant correlation with FV. CONCLUSIONS FV is a reliable sonographic marker of skeletal growth. Maternal vitamin D deficiency is associated with reduced FV. This finding has public health implications as reduced bone mass may increase the lifetime risk of osteoporosis, through fetal programming.
The nature of multi-word vocabulary among children with English as a first or additional language and its relationship with reading comprehension
Keywords: bilingualism
Child language acquisition
English as an Additional Language

Vocabulary is well acknowledged as playing a critical role in language and reading development for young children, particularly for children learning English as an Additional Language (EAL) in school (Scarborough, 2001; Stahl & Nagy, 2005). However, most previous research on vocabulary has focused on measuring individual words and failed to examine knowledge of multi-word phrases, despite corpus evidence that these items are common in the English lexicon (Erman & Warren, 2000). The nature of multi-word vocabulary knowledge and its possible contribution to literacy skills among children remains underexplored, possibly due to a lack of available suitable measures. The current thesis details the development and administration of an original multi-word phrase task containing transparent, semi-transparent and non-transparent verb + object phrases to 108 British monolingual English speakers and learners with EAL in school years 3, 4 and 5. Results showed a strong effect of item transparency, even greater than frequency. Year 4 monolingual English speakers had significantly higher scores than year 3 monolingual learners on non-transparent items, while among learners with EAL year 3 and 4 performances were similar and year 5 learners’ scores were significantly higher. The second phase of the study explored the contribution of multi-word phrase knowledge to reading among 40 year 4 monolingual English speaking children and Bengali speakers with EAL. Multiple regression analysis showed that multi-word task performance accounted for a significant amount of variance in reading scores, when controlling for non-verbal intelligence, receptive and expressive single word vocabulary and language background. These findings are of import for increasing our understanding of vocabulary development among young learners and provide insight into the particular needs of learners with EAL.
Extensions of the Katznelson-Tzafriri theorem for operator semigroups
Keywords: asymptotics
Operator semigroups
Katznelson-Tzafriri theorem

This thesis is concerned with extensions and refinements of the Katznelson-Tzafriri theorem, a cornerstone of the asymptotic theory of operator semigroups which recently has received renewed interest in the context of damped wave equations. The thesis comprises three main parts. The key results in the first part are a version of the Katznelson-Tzafriri theorem for bounded C_0-semigroups in which a certain function appearing in the original statement of the result is allowed more generally to be a bounded Borel measure, and bounds on the rate of decay in an important special case. The second part deals with the discrete version of the Katznelson-Tzafriri theorem and establishes upper and lower bounds on the rate of decay in this setting too. In an important special case these general bounds are then shown to be optimal for general Banach spaces but not on Hilbert space. The third main part, finally, turns to general operator semigroups. It contains a version of the Katznelson-Tzafriri theorem in the Hilbert space setting which relaxes the main assumption of the original result. Various applications and extensions of this general result are also presented.
Psychopharmacology of moral and social judgments
Keywords: social neuroscience
moral psychology
psychopharmacology

This thesis is an interdisciplinary project in experimental social psychology, psychopharmacology, neuroscience, and neuroethics. The role of emotion in higher order psychological processes – social and moral judgments – was investigated. Specifically the role of noradrenergic mediated emotional arousal was researched. Behavioural studies demonstrated that acute beta adrenergic blockade with propranolol led to a reduction in negative implicit racial associations and also a modification of moral decision making. These findings suggest that basic affective processes might be causally relevant for higher order evaluations. However, enhancement with the noradrenergic potentiating agent reboxetine did not show effects opposite to those of propranolol on racial attitudes or moral judgments, which might indicate that emotional arousal, specific to beta-adrenoceptors might be involved in the effects of propranolol. Further a pharmacological fMRI study demonstrated that the activation pattern in brain regions commonly associated with intergroup bias -- such as the amygdala, insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and fusiform gyrus -- was affected by propranolol, and that the effect in the amygdala was correlated with implicit racial bias.
Taken together the research suggests that automatic emotional arousal plays a role in higher order psychological processes, such as moral and social judgments, which aids the understanding of the underlying neurobiology of such processes. Finally, the ethical implications – such as the prospect of pharmacological moral enhancement – are discussed. The findings also suggest that the moral and social effects of already widely used psychotropic medications should be subject to further empirical and ethical investigation.