VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Auditory cuing of visual attention: spatial and sound parameters
Keywords: Looming sounds
Exogenous
Spatial cuing
Rear space
Attention
Crossmodal

The experiments reported in this thesis investigate whether the current understanding of crossmodal spatial attention can be applied to rear space, and how sound parameters can modulate crossmodal spatial cuing effects. It is generally accepted that the presentation of a brief auditory cue can exogenously orient spatial attention to the cued region of space so that reaction times (RTs) to visual targets presented there are faster than those presented elsewhere. Unlike the conventional belief in such crossmodal spatial cuing effects, RTs to visual targets were equally facilitated from the presentation of an auditory cue in the front or in the rear, as long as the stimuli were presented ipsilaterally. Moreover, when an auditory cue and a visual target were presented from one of two lateral positions on each side in front, the spatial co-location of the two stimuli did not always lead to the fastest target RTs. Although contrasting with the traditional view on the importance of cue-target spatial co-location in exogenous crossmodal cuing effects, such findings are consistent with the evidence concerning multisensory integration in the superior colliculus (SC). Further investigation revealed that the presentation of an auditory cue with an exponential intensity change might be able to exogenously orient crossmodal spatial attention narrowly to the cued region of space. Taken together, the findings reported in this thesis suggest that not only the location but also sound parameters (e.g., intensity change) of auditory cues can modulate the crossmodal exogenous orienting of spatial attention.
Novel approaches to studying the role of the anterior cingulate cortex in cognition and Parkinson's disease
Keywords: Basal ganglia
Chronic pain
Parkinson's disease - animal models
Prefrontal cortex

The motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) have been linked to the emergence of exaggerated oscillatory activity in the 13 - 35 Hz beta range in recordings of the basal ganglia (BG) thalamocortical circuit of PD patients and animal models. PD patients and animal models also express dopamine-dependent cognitive impairments, implying effects of dopamine loss on the function of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). This thesis examines the electrophysiological behavior of the BG thalamocortical circuit in PD and dopamine-normal states during cognitive and motor activity. In vivo recordings in the BG of PD and dystonic patients were used to study the influence of dopamine during a test of executive function. Normal executive function was also investigated in the dopamine-healthy ACC of chronic pain patients. Both the BG and ACC exhibited lateralized electrophysiological responses to feedback valence. The BG also exhibited dopamine-sensitive event-related behavior. In additional experiments, chronically implanted recording electrodes in awake, behaving hemiparkinsonian rats were used to examine the transmission of synchronized oscillatory activity from the BG, through the ventral medial (VM) thalamus, to the ACC. Modulation of subthalamic nucleus, VM thalamus, and ACC activity during a simple cognitive/movement task was also investigated in hemiparkinsonian rats. Findings in the rat model suggest that ACC-mediated executive function is dopamine-sensitive and is reflected in the region’s electrophysiology. These results may provide further insight into the significance of excessive oscillatory activity in PD and its influence on cognitive systems.
The role of DNA methylation on transcription factor occupancy and transcriptional activity
Keywords: Transcription factors
Gene regulation
Chromatin accessibility
DNA methylation

DNA methylation is an epigenetic mark that is deposited throughout the genome of mammals and plays an important role in the maintenance of transcriptionally repressive states across cell divisions. There are two major mechanisms by which DNA methylation has been proposed to act: one involves the recognition of the mark by protein complexes containing histone deacetylases (HDACs) that can remodel the local chromatin. Alternatively, methylation has been suggested to directly affect the interaction between transcription factors and their cognate binding sequence. The aim of this research was to determine the contributions of these two mechanisms in cells.
The importance of HDAC activity in mediating DNA methylation-dependent transcriptional repression was assessed by comparing the genes and retrotransposons that are upregulated in response to DNA methylation loss or the disruption of HDAC activity. To this purpose, we performed whole-genome transcriptional analysis in wild type and DNA methylation-deficient mouse embryonic stem cells (DNMT.TKO mESCs) in the presence and absence of the HDAC inhibitor trichostatin A. Our data suggests that there are few genes whose repression is solely dependent on the recruitment of HDACs by DNA methylation in mESCs. Rather it appears that DNA methylation and HDAC-mediated silencing represent two independent layers of repression that converge at certain transcriptional elements.
To investigate the contribution of DNA methylation on the genome-wide occupancy of transcription factors, we compared the global chromatin accessibility landscape and the binding profile of candidate transcription factors in the absence or presence of DNA methylation. We found that loss of DNA methylation associates with localised gains in accessibility, some of which can be linked to the novel binding of transcription factors such as GABPA, MAX, NRF1 and YY1.
Altogether, our results present new insights into the interplay between DNA methylation and histone deacetylation and their impact on the localisation of transcription factors from different families.
Synthesis of sulfur-containing organic compounds: sulfones, sulfonamides and benzoisothiazoles
Keywords: Benzyne
Sulfonamide
Sulfone
DABSO

This thesis documents the development of novel methodologies for access to sulfur-containing compounds, including sulfones, sulfonamides and benzoisothiazoles.
Chapter 1 provides an overview of the applications and the synthesis of sulfonyl-containing compounds. A comprehensive introduction to the development of sulfur dioxide surrogates and their applications in transition metal-catalysed organic chemistry is given.
Chapter 2 describes the development of a one-step copper(I)-catalysed sulfonylative Suzuki-Miyaura cross coupling reaction. A wide range of aryl and alkenyl boronic acids are coupled with aryl and alkenyl iodides to give the corresponding sulfones. A two-step one-pot sulfination/derivatisation method was also developed, allowing access to compounds including β-hydroxy sulfones, sulfonamides and sulfonyl fluorides.
Chapter 3 illustrates a one-step copper(II)-catalysed sulfonamide synthesis using boronic acids, amines and SO2. Various aryl and alkenyl boronic acids as well as amines and anilines are compatible, including active pharmaceutical ingredients such as amoxapine and desloratadine.
Chapter 4 details an aryne-based selective formation of substituted benzoisothiazoles. Different substitution pattern of the aryne precursor and the thiadiazole are employed, with the target heterocycles being obtained in good to excellent yields.
Chapter 5 summarises the research and the future work.
Chapter 6 documents the experimental procedures and data.
Perinatal depression in refugee and labour migrant women on the Thai-Myanmar border: prevalence, risk factors and experiences
Keywords: perinatal depression
Myanmar
migrant
Thailand
refugee

Background: Perinatal depression is a significant contributor to maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Left untreated, perinatal depression has severe and far-reaching consequences for women, their families and wider society. Migrant women, including labour migrants and refugees, may be particularly prone to developing perinatal depression as a result of multiple stressors associated with displacement. Despite the vast majority of global migration flows occurring within low- and middle-income countries, evidence from these regions is severely lacking. This research addresses this imbalance by examining perinatal depression in migrant women living on the Thai-Myanmar border: a resource-poor setting of political tension and socio-economic disadvantage.
Aims: This research aims to review the existing evidence around perinatal depression among migrant women from low- and middle-income settings; identify an appropriate tool to detect perinatal depression in migrant women on the Thai-Myanmar border; determine the prevalence of, and risk factors for, perinatal depression in this setting; explore women's experiences of perinatal depression; and develop recommendations for policy and practice.
Methods: A sequential-exploratory mixed-methods design was used. The research included the following five study components: a systematic literature review; a validation study to identify a culturally-acceptable and appropriate assessment tool; a prospective cohort study of migrant women on the Thai-Myanmar border followed-up from the first trimester of pregnancy to one month post-partum; in-depth interviews with a subgroup of women with severe perinatal depression; and an informal exploration of stakeholder views.
Findings: The systematic review found a wide range in prevalence of perinatal depression among migrant women and confirmed the absence of studies conducted in low-and middle-income destination countries. A total of 568 migrant women on the Thai-Myanmar border participated in the prospective cohort study, of whom 18.5% experienced moderate-severe depression and 39.8% experienced depression of any severity during the perinatal period. Almost a third (29%) of women reported suicidal ideation. Interpersonal violence (OR 4.5), experience of trauma (OR 2.4), a self-reported history of depression (OR 2.3) and perceived insufficiency of social support (OR 2.1) were significantly associated with perinatal depression. Lives of women with severe perinatal depression were characterised by difficult partner relationships, alcohol use among partners and interpersonal violence. A lack of mental health services currently limits the effective management of perinatal depression in this setting. Alongside training of health staff, primary, secondary and tertiary prevention efforts are required to effectively address perinatal depression on the Thai-Myanmar border.
Measuring poverty in the EU: Investigating and improving the empirical validity in deprivation scales of poverty
Keywords: Deprivation threshold
needs for health
equivalization
out-of-pocket payments
Multidimensionality of poverty
social class gradient in deprivation
needs for care
Missing dimensions
unmet needs for health
deprivation risk vs. deprivation level
count data models
zero deprivation
conversion factors
measurement validity
Unmet needs
zeros vs. counts
determinants of deprivation
cost-related unmet needs
Multidimensional measurement of poverty
needs for education

Non-monetary deprivation indicators are now widely used for studying and measuring poverty in Europe. However, despite their prevalence, the empirical performance of existing deprivation scales has rarely been examined. This thesis i) identifies possible conceptual problems of existing deprivation scales such as indexing, missing dimensions and threshold; ii) empirically assesses the extent of possible error in measurement related to these conceptual problems; and iii) offer an alternative way for constructing deprivation measures to mitigate the identified conceptual problems. The thesis consists of four stand-alone papers, accompanied by an overarching introduction and conclusion. The first three papers provide empirical evidence on the empirical consequences of the missing dimensions and threshold problems for the measurement and analysis of poverty, while the fourth paper exemplifies a concept-led multidimensional design that can reduce the error introduced by these conceptual problems. The analysis is generally held for 25 EU countries using European Survey of Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC); only in the second paper, the analysis is done for the UK using British Household Panel Survey (BHPS).
Evolution of bHLH transcription factors that control epidermal cell development in plants
Keywords: Marchantia polymorpha
Transcription factors
Land Plants

The colonization of the arid continental surface by plants was one of the milestones in Earth's history. Morphological innovations, such as the origin of complex 3D tissues, allowed the successful colonization and radiation of plants on land. The epidermis is the outermost plant tissue that constitutes the interface between the plant and the environment. Thus, the evolution of epidermal cells was crucial for the adaptation of plants on the terrestrial arid environment. I undertook a combined approach that aims to understand the evolutionary trends that drove land plant colonization and the genetic mechanisms that underlie the development of the epidermis. This approach includes: 1) analyses of plant transcription factors (TFs) families distribution and diversification, with a particular focus on the basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) TF family, and 2) functional characterization of a putatively conserved bHLH TF subfamily involved in epidermal cell development in land plants. Here, I showed that there was a stepwise increase in the number of transcription factor (TF) families and bHLH subfamilies that predated the colonization of the terrestrial surface by plants. The subsequent increase in TF number on land was through duplication within pre-existing TF families and subfamilies. Moreover, a similar trend occurred in metazoan bHLH TF, suggesting that the majority of innovation in plant and metazoan TF families occurred in the Precambrian before the Phanerozoic radiation of land plants and metazoans. Furthermore, I demonstrated that the function of IIIf bHLH TFs in controlling the development of the epidermal cell layer is conserved between liverworts and angiosperms. This suggests that IIIf bHLH TFs are ancient and conserved regulators of epidermal cell development since the early colonization of the land by plants. Moreover, these bHLH TFs were recruited during the evolution of land plants to control the development of seemingly unrelated morphological characters in specific lineages of extant land plants. The recruitment of ancient developmental regulators to control distinct and unrelated developmental processes in land plants might underlie the huge morphological and taxonomic radiation of plants on land.
Seamount morphology, distribution and structure of the Southwest Indian Ridge
Keywords: south-west indian ridge
admittance
seamount morphology

Ultra-slow spreading ridges have a full spreading rate of less than 20 mm/yr, and show deviations from the fundamental characteristics identified at faster spreading rates; however, they are poorly studied compared to faster spreading ridges. In this thesis we aim to build on previous studies in order to further characterise the unique processes occurring at the ultra-slow spreading Southwest Indian ridge (SWIR). This is an exploratory study utilising novel and existing bathymetry, gravity, video imagery data to understand tectonic and volcanic processes along the ridge crest from triple junction to triple junction. We conduct a series of studies which focus on the axial valley morphology, large seamount morphology, the distribution of small seamounts and large seamounts on the ridge, and admittance studies.
We show that the long wavelength trends in geophysical data, geochemical data, and axial valley morphology are well correlated. These variations reflect along-axis changes in the crustal and mantle structure, governed by the thermal structure of the ridge. Seamounts provide important morphological evidence of the volcanic and tectonic processes beneath the Earth's surface. We use detailed morphological investigations to show that volcanic and erosional processes on six large seamounts are controlled by the local faulting and melt migration mechanisms. We investigate the distribution of seamounts on the ridge using a numerical algorithm, and demonstrate a lower seamount density than faster spreading ridges. We show that the seamount population statistics vary along the ridge due to changes in the degree of partial melting, magma conduit availability, and melt focussing mechanisms; the locations of three proximal hotspots coincide with increases in the estimated magmatic flux. Finally, best fit elastic thicknesses are determined using a 3D windowed admittance technique, which was tested using synthetic data. We construct a combined convection-flexure model to account for misfits between the observed data and existing flexural theoretical models. The average elastic thickness varies between 7 km and 12 km, and we show a strong dependence on spreading rate.
The effects of dopaminergic modulation on model-based reinforcement learning
Keywords: Model-based learning
COMT
Prefrontral cortex
Reward Prediction Error
Reward learning
Mice
Catechol-O-methyltransferase
Dopamine
Injection stress
Stress

A functional polymorphism (Val158Met) in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene influences cortical dopamine and prefrontal cortex function in humans, both of which are important in learning and decision making. Moreover, dysfunction in the brain's dopamine circuits and mechanisms of decision making is observed during acute stress.
Mammals are thought to use two evaluation strategies in decision making, model-based and model-free reinforcement learning (RL), which have complementary strengths and weaknesses in terms of computational demand and statistical efficiency. Model-based is frontal cortex-dependent and reflects goal-directed behaviour, while model-free relies on the reward prediction errors from the striatum and reflects habits.
The aim of this thesis was to investigate how acute stress influenced RL, whether RL is altered in a mouse model of altered COMT activity, and if COMT-genotype influences the effects of acute stress on RL.
I tested RL in both wild-type mice and transgenic mice carrying the human Met158 allele. They were tested on a novel, multi-step, probabilistic RL task - the rodent two-step task - which can dissociate the influence of model-free and model-based RL on decision making. I used vehicle injections to induce acute stress.
The acute injection stress markedly impaired model-based learning and shifted decision- making towards more model-free in wild-type animals. No COMT-genotype difference on RL was observed when the mice were not stressed. However, Met homozygotes appeared to be less affected by injection stress on both model-based and model-free RL.
Consistent with findings in humans, I show that acute stress shifts mice towards a more model- free pattern of RL. This highlights the potential confounding effects of injection stress in pharmaco-behavioural experiments. Although formal tests for interactive effects of stress were not possible in some cases, I found that that Met homozygotes appear less sensitive than wild-type animals to the negative effects of injection stress. I hypothesise that this is because they have a greater cognitive reserve that, although unutilised at baseline, can step in when faced with increased cognitive demand resulting from environmental factors (in this case, acute injection stress). These findings suggest that subtle COMT genotype differences in behaviour might be amplified under conditions of stress, providing a potential explanation for some of the controversies seen in the human literature linking COMT genotype and cognitive function.
Drugs, addiction and the state in Iran: the art of managing disorder
Keywords: Drugs
Ethnography
Iran
Politics
Addiction

This thesis explores the politics of drugs and addiction in Iran in light of processes of state formation. The case of Iran provides a paradigm of what has come to be known as the ‘War on Drugs’ in a political and cultural setting that has been characterised, by most of the area studies literature, by other investigations and scholarly questions. Iran, nevertheless, represents an outstanding case for the study of the War on Drugs; it is at the geopolitical crossroads of international drug routes, it has one of the world highest rates of drug 'addiction' – estimated at between 2-3% and 6-7% of the entire population – and it has progressively seen the rise of synthetic, industrial drugs, such as methamphetamines (shisheh). The thesis situates the phenomenon of drug use in the social and political history of Iran with a particular attention to the transformations taking place after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. It provides a genealogical map of policy experimentations in the field of drugs, while it also casts light on the rationale that governs the formation and transformation of state practices vis à vis drugs, especially during the reformist and post-reformist period (1997-2013). To do so, the research combines extensive archival research using Persian sources (newspapers, reports, films, memoires, etc.) starting from the early 1900s, with ethnographic fieldwork in public clinics, rehab centres, drug using hotspots and, more generally, the street. The outcome is an in-depth engagement with narcotic politics, which unearths unstudied dynamics of Iran’s contemporary politics and society. Instead of moralising approaches, what is unveiled is a state that adopts both rhetoric and practice that are secularised and in tune with Western models of policymaking. Eventually, the thesis reveals how the image of the Iranian state has not only been misplaced, but it has also been a myth.
Citizen Marx: the relationship between Karl Marx and republicanism
Keywords: capitalism
socialism
democracy
Karl Marx
republicanism
communism

Karl Marx's relationship to republicanism proceeds in three stages: he began his political career as a republican, he subsequently transitioned to communism, and then he finally reconciled his republicanism and communism.
Marx's early political writings reveal his commitment to central republican ideas, including popular sovereignty, widespread political participation and universal suffrage. These commitments led him to reject absolute and constitutional monarchy. But they also led to a critique of the modern republic, which Marx argued gave insufficient space for citizens to participate publicly for the common good. He thus gives a republican critique of the republic.
Marx's disillusionment with the ability of a modern republic to deliver human emancipation eventually led him to transition to communism. He now argued that the republic would be a bourgeois republic, which would subject the proletariat to the capitalist. He attacked republicans for neglecting social depredation in favour of political reform. However, his transition to communism also carried with it several republican commitments. Unlike the many apolitical versions of communism at the time, Marx insisted that the workers had to establish the republic before communism could emerge. He also extended key republican political ideas, including the objection to arbitrary power, to the social sphere. But what was absent was an account of a more participatory and accountable political alternative to the modern republic.
However, the experience of ordinary workers carrying out the legislative and public administration of Paris during the Commune, led Marx to return to many of those early republican themes. He celebrated ordinary citizens' capacity for self-government and advocated popular control over the state and transforming representative democracy into popular delegacy. He came to realise that these political structures were essential to achieving the social goals of communism. He thus came to a synthesis of his early republicanism and later communism.