VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Learning to serve time: troubling spaces of working class masculinities in the UK
Keywords: class
breadwinner
unemployment
youth transitions
prison masculinities
prison
deindustrialisation
crime
education
men
masculinities

This thesis is an exploration of the classed and gendered trajectories that lead to 'revolving door' incarceration for a group of men from working class backgrounds. Considering that men commit most crime and, in the UK, account for over 95% of the prison population, there is relatively little scholarship that explores the links between masculinity and crime and almost a dearth of ethnographic enquiry into the links between the social construction of masculinities and incarceration. In response, this study, employing qualitative in-depth life history interviews with thirty male prisoners housed in an East Yorkshire prison, examines the cyclical interrelations between cultural representations of masculinity, place, schooling, employment, crime and incarceration. Influenced by Connell's theoretical framework, including the relational concept of protest masculinities, and by the Teesside School's work on transitions and alternative careers, the main aim of this research is to examine if, and to what extent, significant cultural and institutional spaces were complicit in the construction and maintenance of versions of protest masculinities. The study reveals that masculinities negotiated over interconnecting sites of deprived neighbourhoods, inadequate children’s residential 'care' homes and failing schools better prepared most respondents to serve time in prison than to work in contemporary deindustrialised labour markets. Formative teenage years spent negotiating impoverished prison regimes and living up to extreme prison masculinities contributed to many of the respondents spending more time inside prison than 'on the out'. The thesis concludes with recommendations for policy approaches to better facilitate crucial sites, such as schools and prisons, undoing, rather than reinforcing, troubling gender performances for young boys and men like these respondents. Reducing rising male prison populations, mainly made up of men from deprived neighbourhoods, might be more effectively tackled through innovative, gender informed, policy, ensuring that institutional spaces of learning, 'care', punishment and rehabilitation work harder to open up more positive avenues to doing masculinity.
Symeon Stylites the Younger and his cult in context: hagiography and society in sixth- to seventh-century Byzantium
Keywords: holy men
earthquakes
Stylite
late antiquity
hagiography
holy women
Byzantium
sermons

This thesis explores the relationship between hagiography and history, with a particular focus on the cult of the little-studied sixth-century Antiochene holy man Symeon Stylites the Younger. It argues that any hagiographic text can only be understood through an appreciation of both its particular historical context and of developments in the genre over time. The first chapter thus addresses the economy, society and culture of the Antiochene area, arguing, against some recent archaeological interpretations, that sixth-century natural and military disasters did have a significant impact on the region. The second chapter turns to the first text associated with Symeon's cult, the sermon collection attributed to the stylite, which reveals how a holy man could construct his own spiritual authority through powerful rhetoric. Starkly polarised in his thought, Symeon eschews the compromises adopted by many clerical preachers, focusing on the opposition of demon and monk, rich and poor, and heaven and hell. The third chapter addresses the Life of Symeon, arguing that it can be read as an extended apology for Symeon's failure to protect the Antiochene from the disasters of the sixth century. The fourth chapter looks at the Life of Martha, Symeon's mother, which contains an original and inclusive vision of holiness, focusing not on asceticism or celibacy but on the redemptive powers of liturgy and the sacraments. The fifth chapter takes a step back, arguing that both Lives reflect broader developments in hagiography in the late sixth and seventh centuries: Symeon's hagiographer's struggle to justify disasters are echoed in other near-contemporary saints' Lives, while Martha's Life resembles in many respects the posthumous miracle collections which flourished in this period and were, in their relatively narrow focus, very suitable for a time of crisis.
Ancient mortar production in Ostia, Italy: builders and their choices
Keywords: pozzolana
mortar
archaeological science
opus caementicium
petrography
Ostia
concrete

The main objective of the research discussed in this thesis was to evaluate the methods and materials used by builders in ancient Ostia to produce mortar for masonry structures. The work was conducted with an eye toward understanding why the ancient builders selected specific materials and employed specific techniques. The research design included scientific investigations of mortar samples from selected structures in Ostia, all dated from brick stamp evidence to the 2nd century CE. The methods employed for this study included thin section petrography, modal analysis via point counting, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and image analysis. Results concluded the samples comprised lime binder and primarily volcanic tuff aggregates derived from the Colli Albani and Monti Sabatini volcanic districts. The selection of these aggregates was integral to mortar performance, as they contained alteration products that would have facilitated pozzolanic reactions during the production phase, greatly improving long term mortar performance and durability. Three distinct types of mortar representing unique mix designs were identified based on the material properties of the mortar samples and the dominant aggregate types. Unique mixes may have been proprietary to specific groups of builders in Ostia, which had been identified by other researchers comparing the architectural features and construction styles of various structures. The results of material analyses showed that the builders from 2nd century Ostia were highly skilled, used sophisticated techniques to produce high quality mortar, and that separate groups of builders employed unique mix designs to achieve similar results.
Textural and petrological studies of anatexis and melt transfer in the Himalayan Orogen
Keywords: Petrology
Muscovite dehydration melting
Anatexis

Mineral textures, preserved in the metamorphosed sedimentary sequences that are exposed in orogenic hinterlands, are crucial to understanding the architecture and evolution of collisional mountain belts. In this thesis the textural record of anatexis and melt transfer in the Himalayan metamorphic core is decoded and the controls that these processes exert on the tectonic evolution of the Himalaya are explored. The problem is divided into two parts, corresponding to variations in protolith lithostratigraphy: melt source – the pelitic region where melt was first generated, and melt sink – the psammitic region where melt accumulated and crystallised. Dehydration melting of muscovite has long been recognized as a critical reaction for the generation of anatectic melt in the Himalaya, but a textural understanding of how this reaction progresses is limited by the inherent difficulties in identifying specific reaction products. Using samples collected from the Langtang area in central Nepal, a mechanistic model for muscovite dehydration melting was constructed, and a set of textural criteria were developed, which were used to distinguish peritectic K-feldspar from K-feldspar grains formed during melt crystallisation. Melt is transferred from the source to the sink in two stages: firstly along a pervasive network of mineral grain boundaries, and secondly via a channelised network of sills and dykes in the melt sink where it solidified as leucogranite. Variation in the primary mineral assemblage and appearance of leucogranite bodies reflect the degree of interaction that occurred between the melt and metasedimentary country rock, rather than a change in primary melt composition. The modal proportion of K-feldspar in the melt source requires vapour-absent conditions during muscovite dehydration melting and leucogranite formation, indicating that the generation of large volumes of granitic melts in orogenic belts is not necessarily contingent on an external source of fluids. The crystallisation of hydrous minerals in leucogranite consumes &LT;15.5 % of water released by the breakdown of muscovite. These results indicate that anatexis efficiently dehydrates the middle crust and suggests that the continents have limited potential to store water over geological time.
Conditional many-body dynamics and quantum control of ultracold fermions and bosons in optical lattices coupled to quantized light
Keywords: Quantum measurement
Ultracold atomic gases
Measurement backaction
Conditional dynamics

We study the atom-light interaction in the fully quantum regime, with the focus on off-resonant light scattering into a cavity from ultracold atoms trapped in an optical lattice. Because of the global coupling between the atoms and the light modes, observing the photons leaking from the cavity allows the quantum nondemolition (QND) measurement of quantum correlations of the atomic ensemble, distinguishing between different quantum states. Moreover, the detection of the photons perturbs the quantum state of the atoms via the so-called measurement backaction. This effect constitutes an unusual additional dynamical source in a many-body strongly correlated system and it is able to efficiently compete with its intrinsic short-range dynamics. This competition becomes possible due to the ability to change the spatial profile of a global measurement at a microscopic scale comparable to the lattice period, without the need of single site addressing. We demonstrate nontrivial dynamical effects such as large-scale multimode oscillations, breakup and protection of strongly interacting fermion pairs. We show that measurement backaction can be exploited for realizing quantum states with spatial modulations of the density and magnetization, thus overcoming usual requirement for a strong interatomic interactions. We propose detection schemes for implementing antiferromagnetic states and density waves and we demonstrate that such long-range correlations cannot be realized with local addressing. Finally, we describe how to stabilize these emerging phases with the aid of quantum feedback. Such a quantum optical approach introduces into many-body physics novel processes, objects, and methods of quantum engineering, including the design of many-body entangled environments for open systems and it is easily extendable to other systems promising for quantum technologies.
Novel halogenation and pallado-biology strategies for biological probes
Keywords: Protein modification

Post-translational modifications (PTMs), which biochemically modify proteins to generate diversity and control functionality, are important in the field of chemical biology research. However, typical bioconjugation methods involving nucleophilic addition of cysteine and lysine residues are limited by their lack of site-specificity. In this thesis, we have demonstrated the site-selective chemical modification of a variety of proteins through protein halogenation and subsequent pallado-biology strategies.
The "Tag-and-Modify" approach, developed previously in our group and involving the creation of a protein tag for further manipulation, is a useful tool for site-selective chemical modification. Here, we envisioned extending its utility to a novel concept of [18F]-radiolabelling of proteins involving direct electrophilic fluorination, thus forming a C-F bond at a specific modification site and leading to the generation of protein species applicable for in vivo [18F]-PET imaging and diagnosis. We also explored several alternative methods for the installation of C-Br/C-I bonds onto a protein of interest. Our first attempts involved the biosynthetic incorporation of a synthetic bromotryptophan into the protein, however these processes were unsuccessful. As a workaround, we found IPy2BF4, an iodinating agent, to be very effective as a direct method for the site-specific installation of C-I bonds on tyrosine/histidine residues of proteins. We subsequently demonstrated novel and efficient palladium-catalysed cross-couplings of the resultant iodinated tyrosine/histidine moieties, leading to the creation of new C-C bonds. This approach was compatible with a wide range of functionally diverse boronic acids, using a water-soluble and phosphine-ligand-free Pd-complex catalyst under fully aqueous conditions.
Our novel, successful method for C-C bond formation onto proteins is potentially applicable to the initial investigation of challenging in vivo Pd cross-coupling of thyroglobulin, based on our achievement of protein labelling under ex vivo conditions. In summary, we are able to create new chemical tools for the site-selective/site-specific chemical modification of proteins, enabling their use as biological probes.
Interstitial modification of palladium for partial hydrogenation reactions
Keywords: Interstitial boron
Interstitial lithium
Electronic modification
Catalytic hydrogenation
Catalyst modification
Heterogeneous catalysis

Heterogeneous catalysis is a key industrial process involved in the synthesis of nearly all chemicals currently produced. The environmental impact of these processes is huge so improvements must be made to current catalysts. Should a new material provide better yields at lower energy cost the benefits to both the industry and the planet are significant. There are many ways to change the behaviour of a catalyst, the addition of dopants, the selective blocking of active sites, and changing the strength of the support interaction to name a few. One technique that has become increasingly investigated is interstitial modification, the insertion of a light element into a metal lattice to change the metal’s catalytic properties.
The work presented in this thesis devises greener synthetic routes to the known Pd-interstitialB/C catalyst and investigates potential routes to a novel interstitial material, Pd-interstitialLi/C. Initially, successful verification of interstitial modification comes from the characteristic increase in palladium lattice parameter from 3.89 to 4.00 Å and the blocking of the β-hydride formation. Initial catalytic screening determines the synthetic route which yields the most active catalyst which subsequently undergoes thorough characterisation. The wealth of evidence generated confirms the interstitial location of lithium within the palladium lattice, as well as adding to the current understanding of the Pd-interstitialB/C material. EELS analysis on Pd-interstitialB is the closest to direct observation of boron within the palladium lattice to date. PDF on Pd-interstitialLi shows 13.7 % of the palladium octahedral interstitial sites are occupied by lithium. This is the first report of interstitial lithium within palladium to date. The effect of the interstitial modification on catalytic hydrogenation by two elements that have opposite effects on the surface electronics of the host palladium gives intriguing results.
The effect on catalysis varies depending on the conditions investigated. This bank of hydrogenation data allows an informed choice as to which interstitial material would be best suited to the gas or liquid phase catalytic hydrogenation under investigation.
“When reason is against a man, a man will be against reason”:  Hobbes, deism, and politics
Keywords: English Deism
Thomas Hobbes

This thesis explores the relationship between Thomas Hobbes and English deism. It seeks to show that Hobbes's work had a significant influence upon subsequent deists, namely, Charles Blount, John Toland, Matthew Tindal, and Anthony Collins. The thesis shows that these deists were influenced by certain distinctively Hobbesian anticlerical ideas, such as his biblical criticism, his materialism and determinism, his scepticism towards present revelation, and more. The deists, who were motivated by a similar form of anticlericalism, found in Hobbes a particularly resourceful ally. Furthermore, this thesis explores how some of Hobbes's political ideas influenced the deists: particularly his concerns regarding the dangerous role that priestly interests played in society and the instability that they generated.
This thesis thus argues that Hobbes can be seen as a major influence upon English deism. Secondly, it offers an examination of Hobbes's concepts of God and reason. It shows that whilst Hobbes’s accounts of God and reason were multilayered and at times perhaps underdeveloped, they contained significant elements that anticipated the later positions of the deists. Finally, this thesis argues that for Hobbes, the rational potential of humankind, implanted by God, could be cultivated and fulfilled once peace and security are guaranteed. Thus, this thesis attempts to recover some of the more utopian aspects of Hobbes's thought. It concludes that both Hobbes and the deists were part of a project of enlightenment, but one which was not aimed against religion as such. They attempted to liberate natural reason from the darkness of corrupt clerics and their false doctrines: this was an anticlerical enlightenment that was partly initiated by Hobbes and developed significantly by the deists.
Engaging Eckhartian mysticism in a secular context: a hermeneutical study in post-Kantian thought
Keywords: Post-Kantian
Hermeneutics
Meister Eckhart
Mystical Theology

The aim of this thesis is to define, develop, and defend an interpretation and application of the mystical ontology of Meister Eckhart. Briefly, mystical ontology should be understood as a distinctive theology insofar as it presents God’s being, the being of the world, and the individual’s being as an essentially unified whole. My research focus for this thesis will then be to situate Eckhart’s theology within current debates on mysticism and amidst the post-Kantian philosophical turn toward ontology. The cumulative effort of this thesis will reach its height when I apply my conclusions on the mystical nature of being that can be found in Eckhart’s medieval writings and transcriptions in order to address the modern, theological problem of secularity. This effort will be implemented with the objective of creating a space for dialogue between Christian theology and the generally secularized culture that, in part, defines the present age. In so doing, this thesis will demonstrate the philosophical and cultural relevance of this particular understanding of the nature of being when treating modern problems in theology. The guiding question for this thesis will be the following: what insights can Meister Eckhart’s thought offer to theologians today in addressing the problem of secularity? My overall thesis will then be: the mystical ontology of Meister Eckhart can be interpreted and applied in a manner that successfully opens a space for constructive dialogue between secular culture and the presence of God in the world. Overall, this thesis should be read as a scholarly project on Eckhartian theology and its applicability toward productively treating the problem of secularity. All of my conclusions will be derived as a result of having been situated and argued for amidst current debates on relevant topics, as well as in relation to other major works that are indispensable for such a project. To be clear, my aim will not be to appropriate Eckhart’s work and to assimilate it to a post-Kantian perspective. Rather, I will look to Eckhart for his clear and definitive theological statements. I will then interpret those statements and apply them in a manner that efficaciously engages specific principles of secularity in demarcating a common ground for dialogue.
Limit order books, diffusion approximations and reflected SPDEs: from microscopic to macroscopic models
Keywords: reflected SPDE
stochastic interface model
heavy traffic limit
invariant measure
diffusion approximation
limit order book
zero-intelligence model
global/local order flow imbalance
relative/absolute price grid
local time
elastic Brownian motion
mesoscopic/macroscopic system

Motivated by a zero-intelligence approach, the aim of this thesis is to unify the microscopic (discrete price and volume), mesoscopic (discrete price and continuous volume) and macroscopic (continuous price and volume) frameworks of limit order books, with a view to providing a novel yet analytically tractable description of their behaviour in a high to ultra high-frequency setting. Starting with the canonical microscopic framework, the first part of the thesis examines the limiting behaviour of the order book process when order arrival and cancellation rates are sent to infinity and when volumes are considered to be of infinitesimal size. Mathematically speaking, this amounts to establishing the weak convergence of a discrete-space process to a mesoscopic diffusion limit. This step is initially carried out in a reduced-form context, in other words, by simply looking at the best bid and ask queues, before the procedure is extended to the whole book. This subsequently leads us to the second part of the thesis, which is devoted to the transition between mesoscopic and macroscopic models of limit order books, where the general idea is to send the tick size to zero, or equivalently, to consider infinitely many price levels. The macroscopic limit is then described in terms of reflected SPDEs which typically arise in stochastic interface models. Numerical applications are finally presented, notably via the simulation of the mesocopic and macroscopic limits, which can be used as market simulators for short-term price prediction or optimal execution strategies.
Competition between weak quantum measurement and many-body dynamics in ultracold bosonic gases
Keywords: ultracold gases
measurement
backaction
quantum optics

Trapping ultracold atoms in optical lattices enabled the study of strongly correlated phenomena in an environment that is far more controllable and tunable than what was possible in condensed matter. Here, we consider coupling these systems to quantised light where the quantum nature of both the optical and matter fields play equally important roles in order to push the boundaries of what is possible in ultracold atomic systems.
We show that light can serve as a nondestructive probe of the quantum state of matter. By considering a global measurement we show that it is possible to distinguish a highly delocalised phase like a superfluid from the Bose glass and Mott insulator. We also demonstrate that light scattering reveals not only density correlations, but also matter-field interference.
By taking into account the effect of measurement backaction we show that the measurement can efficiently compete with the local atomic dynamics of the quantum gas. This can generate long-range correlations and entanglement which in turn leads to macroscopic multimode oscillations across the whole lattice when the measurement is weak and correlated tunnelling, as well as selective suppression and enhancement of dynamical processes beyond the projective limit of the quantum Zeno effect in the strong measurement regime.
We also consider quantum measurement backaction due to the measurement of matter-phase-related variables such as global phase coherence. We show how this unconventional approach opens up new opportunities to affect system evolution and demonstrate how this can lead to a new class of measurement projections thus extending the measurement postulate for the case of strong competition with the system's own evolution.