VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Beyond Reaganomics: the long economic crisis and the rebuilding of America, 1974-1988

Between 1974 and 1984, the United States experienced an extended period of acute economic turmoil. During this informal decade, unemployment and inflation rates skyrocketed, a number of America’s largest cities and corporations teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, and hundreds of thousands of the nation’s blue-collar workers permanently lost their jobs. Yet a mere four years later, inflation and unemployment rates were falling, the country’s largest industrial corporations were reporting profits, and cities whose decline had once seemed inexorable appeared to be in the midst of a revival.
Most historians place the federal government and the cocktail of laissez-faire economic policies known as ‘Reaganomics’ at the center of their narratives when they talk about this period of U.S. history. Indeed, according to most major works on the 1970s and 1980s, this was a period in which free-market and free trade ideas moved from the margins to the mainstream of American political life and actors associated with the conservative movement seized the political reins and successfully reshaped America’s political and economic landscape in their image.
This dissertation tells a different story. Focussing on public policies enacted at a subnational and sectoral level, Beyond Reaganomics reveals the limited appeal of free-market and free trade ideas amid the profound turbulence of the long economic crisis of the 1970s and 1980s. At the same time, it also highlights the important — but largely overlooked — role that the state played in shaping markets and preventing corporate and municipal failures through interventionist and protectionist policies. Arguing that these were not just moments of exception, this dissertation makes the case that we need rethink our understanding of the political economy of the decades after the 1960s. Instead of thinking of the last three decades of the twentieth century as an era of laissez-faire and free trade, Beyond Reaganomics suggests it is more accurate to regard the last three decades of twentieth century U.S. history as a producer-orientated era in which policymakers across the ideological spectrum sought to use public policy to help the, supposedly embattled, American producer.

Advisor: Davies, G
Self-weighing and self-regulation for weight loss

Intentional weight loss requires self-regulation to override externally-driven behaviours. Self-regulation theory hypothesises that individuals automatically self-regulate when they find that their current state is not in line with their goals. In the context of weight management, this process involves self-weighing, contextualising weight measurements, reflecting on and evaluating previous behaviour, and planning and performing weight loss actions. The research presented in this thesis explored barriers to and benefits of self-weighing and self-regulation for weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity. In a think-aloud study, I investigated the extent to which self-regulation occurs naturally. I found that action planning was performed rarely, but was a significant predictor of weight loss. Individuals found self-weighing useful, but fluctuations hindered the interpretation of weight changes. With an observational analysis, I then explored why individuals trying to lose weight stop weighing themselves. I found individuals concurrently reduced their physical activity and gained weight preceding a stop in weight monitoring, suggesting that individuals lost motivation to lose weight and struggled receiving negative weight feedback. An app market review explored user reviews of weight tracking apps, finding that users gained motivation from receiving (graphical) feedback on their progress. Based on the findings from these three studies, I developed a weight loss intervention guiding individuals through the complete self-regulation process, whilst addressing several identified barriers. To support individuals` interpretation of weight changes, I employed daily weighing and weight tracking, but weekly reflection on weight changes. The intervention additionally encouraged individuals to experiment with weight loss actions on a daily basis, and evaluate their usefulness once a week. A randomised controlled trial (RCT) tested the early effectiveness of the intervention against daily weighing only, finding a significant weight loss effect at 8-week follow-up (-3.20kg, 95% CI=-4.49, -1.92). Participants found the intervention acceptable and feasible. Altogether, my research suggests that self-regulation can be an effective weight loss strategy when individuals are guided through it, supporting further research in this area. The long-term effectiveness of the intervention warrants further testing in a larger RCT.

Keywords: Weight Loss
Self-regulation
Self-monitoring
Advisor: Aveyard, P
Jebb, SA
Hartmann-Boyce, J
Experimental and computational investigation of kinetochore protein dynamics

The ultimate goal of mitosis is to achieve faithful chromosome segregation (CS) to form two genetically identical daughter nuclei. Kinetochore (KT) is one of the most vital machinery that governs and regulates CS. How the different KT proteins regulate such a complex process with robustness and precision has been an active area of research. Here, I a present systemapproach using experimental and computational techniques to investigate the KT proteins in Drosophila melanogaster syncytial embryos.
The first aim of chapter 4 is to build a temporal dynamic map of some of the key KT proteins (associated with KMN network, Chromosomal Passenger Complex, Spindle Checkpoint and Polo) to understand loading and unloading kinetics. Although the scope of this thesis is to investigate the dynamics between Nuclear Envelope Breakdown (NEBD) and Anaphase (AO), the dynamics are plotted over an entire mitotic cycle for sake of completeness. Central to getting the dynamics is a robust image analysis method that is discussed in Chapter 3. The aim of chapter 3 was to compare various image analysis approaches to select the most appropriate one. The second aim of chapter 4 is to develop computational/mathematical approach using differential equation to identify protein inter-dependencies using their dynamics. The predicted protein interdependencies were experimentally validated using KMN network protein kinetics. An additional goal of chapter 4 is to develop a computational method using rate kinetic analysis to predict the number and timing of biological events that shape the loading and unloading dynamics of Polo that were hypothesised to be monophasic and biphasic respectively. The aim of chapter 5 and 6 was to experimentally verify and characterise the biological events governing Polo loading and unloading dynamics as hypothesised in chapter 4. The scope and aim of chapter 7, is to build an initial quantitative model using Polo dynamics to simulate the experimental findings with the lens of Error Correction (EC) and Spindle Assembly Checkpoint (SAC). The aim of chapter 8 is to build software called DAPPER and describe its functionality using Polo and BubR1 protein-protein interaction (PPI) data that is experimentally obtained. It is a part of future work to experimentally and computational investigate Polo PPI in relation to other KT and more broadly other mitotic proteins using DAPPER. Chapter 9 covers the discussion and future work.

Advisor: Novak, B
Glover, D
Approaches to the historiographies and iconographies of the Roman worship of Mithras

This thesis proposes a flexible conception of the Roman worship of Mithras, in which it can be seen to have been influenced by contemporary religious, cultural, and artistic traditions and innovations. It builds upon a model familiar in Mithraic studies: a sustained examination of existing Mithraic scholarship, combined with an interrogation of the surviving evidence. In particular, it responds to a recent call to use the material evidence more centrally in Mithraic studies; its methodology is rooted in empiricism and contextual analysis. Each chapter takes either a single or a cluster of connected historiographic theories about the worship of Mithras, and contrasts them with the textual and material evidence that has traditionally been used to support them.
This thesis interrogates the nature of the worship of Mithras in the Roman world. Building from a definition of religion – and an understanding of what might have been the constituent features of ancient forms of worship – it covers constructions of the origins of Mithraic practice, its membership, sacred space, possible meanings in mythology and ritual, and the relationship between god and worshippers. It ends with an emphasis on cultural and religious borrowings and appropriations. It hopes, through its focus on material culture, and on flexible approaches to ancient religious practices, to act as a possible case study for other cults in the Roman Empire.

Keywords: Mystery cults
Advisor: Elsner, J
The making of the modern British family: the transformation of women’s and men's lives in the family formation process

BACKGROUND The improved economic position of women over the last few decades is likely to have altered gender relations within families. This dissertation presents three empirical chapters to examine the evolving role of families as an institution for gender display. The period covered is from 1991 to 2017, during which the total fertility rate in the United Kingdom experienced a re-growth and more women were in the labour force.
OBJECTIVE and METHODS This dissertation uses data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and the “UK Household Longitudinal Study” (UKHLS) and fixed-effect regressions. I investigate how women’s gender-role attitudes are associated with different combinations of employment and motherhood statuses, the changing relationships between the within-couple division of labour and childrearing across periods, and the dynamics of women’s and men’s paid work time and housework time in the family formation and development process.
MAIN FINDINGS First, women’s gender-role attitudes are associated with the changing conflict between employment and childcare responsibilities. Second, the positive, reciprocal relationship between a traditional division of labour and childrearing has substantially weakened. Couples with a traditional division of labour are no longer more likely to have a child. Third, women’s time allocation had become less strongly dependent on their family roles over the last 25 years, whereas the relationship between men’s time allocation and their roles as husbands and fathers remains unchanged.
CONTRIBUTIONS This dissertation highlights that the incompatibility between employment and family responsibilities plays a central role in shaping women’s and men’s lives when they form and maintain a family. The documented changing roles of marriage and parenthood in framing gender relations over the last 25 years reveal the latest consequences of the gender revolution on family lives. These findings also uncover the progress and challenges of gender equality.

Keywords: Gender
Life course
Family
Advisor: Kan, MY
Gershuny, J
Development of a coaxial circuit QED architecture for quantum computing

Superconducting circuit QED is a promising approach for building a quantum computer. In order to realise superconducting circuits at a sufficient scale for useful near-term applications, an architecture with an extensible design is required which implements good connectivity between qubits, and allows for selective readout and control of the qubits without introducing detrimental crosstalk or decoherence.
This thesis describes the development of a new coaxial circuit QED architecture that fulfils this requirement of extensibility by incorporating out-of-plane wiring into the sample holder. Single-qubit unit cells consisting of a transmon qubit and readout resonator with coaxial geometries are fabricated on opposing sides of a substrate, and selective control and readout of the qubits is achieved via a capacitance to coaxial wiring built into the device enclosure. Unit cells of qubit and resonator can be arranged in a 2D array without modification of the wiring scheme. A single-qubit unit cell of this architecture is used to implement dispersive circuit QED, and a full characterisation of the Hamiltonian is performed. The device is shown to have parameters comparable to those found in other approaches, such as a coupling between qubit-resonator of ~100 MHz and a coherence time of order ~10 µs. The extension of this scheme to 2D arrays of qubits is then presented, and realizations of two-qubits gates are demonstrated with fidelities all above 87% on a four qubit device. Further evaluations are performed on multi-qubit devices, including a characterisation of the drive isolation of the mode-matched drive ports, finding values in the range of 50 dB and 30 dB for measurement and control respectively. Similarly, the cross coupling between circuits is shown to have values ~2% of the coupling within a unit cell. The effective circuit temperatures are measured, finding typical values of ~100 mK, and the techniques of spin-locking and T2 spectroscopy are employed to probe the noise environment. Finally the architecture is extended to incorporate frequency tuning of qubits with gradiometric SQUID loops by way of off-chip flux bias lines (FBLs). These lines are used to tune qubits with a signal isolation of >99%. Furthermore, the ability of these FBLs to dynamically control the qubit frequency is shown by demonstrating switching of the frequency on a nanosecond time-scale, and parametric driving over a frequency range of gigahertz.

Keywords: Off-chip flux bias line
Cross resonance
Decoherence
Flux tuning
Gradiometric
Circuit quantum electrodynamics
Spin locking
Quantum computing
Fast flux
Transfer function
Qubit
Out-of-plane wiring
Superconducting qubits
Coaxmon
Off-chip control
Cross coupling
Characterisation
Crosstalk
T2 spectroscopy
Advisor: Leek, P
Aristotle on metaphor

Aristotle is the first philosopher in the Western tradition to engage philosophically with the phenomenon of metaphor. Despite his pioneering role I will argue here that his account of metaphor has been widely misrepresented or simply misunderstood. This thesis reconstructs his theory of metaphor against the background of contemporary philosophy of metaphor. I proceed in three steps. Firstly, I develop an interpretation of Aristotle’s remarks about proper and deviant words which lays the foundation for Aristotelian metaphors. In a second step I apply these findings to the account of metaphor he develops in Poetics 21. I argue that Aristotle provides a consistent classification of metaphor against a majority of scholars who think he does not, that his account is not dependent on the notion of substitution, and that he does not defend a semantic theory of metaphor. Finally, in my third chapter I make a fresh start at a theory of metaphor in Aristotle, building primarily on his account of similarity as well as his discussion of ways of seeing a portrait in the Poetics and De memoria. I conclude that Aristotle unites Gricean and noncognitivist strands in his thinking about metaphor, accounting both for the communicative as well as the associative and creative side of metaphor.

Keywords: Aristotle
Metaphor
Advisor: Castagnoli, L
Coope, U
The application of mass spectrometry in the study of protein-lipid interactions

Interactions between membrane proteins and their surrounding lipids play an integral role in coordinating membrane function. However, capturing and differentiating key lipid binding to membrane proteins within the complex and the dynamic membrane environment remains challenging for existing methods. Recent developments in native mass spectrometry have enabled non-covalent interactions of protein complexes to be maintained in the gas phase allowing critical membrane protein-lipid interactions in biological systems to be probed. In this thesis, native mass spectrometry is used throughout, sometimes coupled with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry based lipidomics, to interrogate membrane proteins and their natural lipid environments.
A protocol to control the degree of delipidation from membrane proteins was developed (Chapter 2). The resulting mass spectra revealed the target membrane proteins, MsbA and MdtK, in different lipid bound states, enabling the relationship between membrane proteins and neighbouring lipids to be observed. Next MS was used to characterise a novel detergent-free particle known as a lipodisq (Chapter 3). Lipodisqs encapsulate membrane proteins in their original lipid environment. By optimising lipodisq preparation and MS methodology, well-resolved MS spectra of rhodopsin and MdtK with bound lipids from their lipodisq preparations were obtained. Finally, MS was used in conjunction with cryo-EM to investigate a respiratory protein supercomplex (Chapter 4). MS not only provided mass information which assisted in the identification of the protein subunits and binding lipids, but also detected the non-covalent interactions between protein and other ligand molecules in the supercomplex system. Overall, the research reported in this thesis has contributed to broadening the applications of mass spectrometry in the emerging field of protein-lipid interactions.

Advisor: Robinson, C
Islet extracellular matrix: characterization and digestion

Islet transplant is the last treatment for complicated diabetic patients. However the islet recovery from donated pancreas organs is low, typically 50%, largely due to over-digesting as a result of poor process control. This research project aims at improving islet recovery by studying the extracellular matrix around islets, optimising the enzymatic solutions and operational conditions. This includes 3D imaging of pancreatic ECM surrounding an intact islet, real-time imaging of the enzymatic digestion process in a perfused environment, and to design and test a new bioreactor system to achieve digestion and separation at the same time. Using porcine pancreases for ‘proof-of-principle’ experiments, the new bioreactor demonstrates a superiority in islet protection compared with the traditional Ricordi chamber.

Advisor: Cui, Z
Johnson, P
Can speech stream segmentation instruction improve listening comprehension and listening self-efficacy in lower intermediate learners?

This study investigated the effects on listening comprehension and self-efficacy of teaching speech stream segmentation to a group of Grade 11 learners of French over a period of 15 weeks. Participants (N=45) came from two intact groups of French as a second language at a school in the south east of England. In the experimental group (n=24), learners undertook a variety of listening exercises aimed at improving their ability to segment the speech stream. The comparison group (n=21), taught by the same teacher in the previous academic year, followed a syllabus which included the same amount of listening work, but with no specific work on speech stream segmentation. Listening proficiency was measured at the beginning and the end, and in addition the experimental group completed a self-efficacy questionnaire. As hypothesised, the experimental group outperformed the comparison group on the final control measure (p<0.5) for comprehension. The hypothesis that confidence levels would increase was also verified. Ten participants in the intervention group were interviewed and data from the transcripts provided evidence as to why speech stream segmentation work appeared to be a successful intervention to boost the listening skills and self-efficacy of this group of lower intermediate learners of French.

Keywords: ALSLA2017
French
self-efficacy
listening
ALSLA
segmentation
L2
Advisor: Macaro, E
Neutron scattering studies of low-dimensional quantum magnets

This thesis presents studies of the spin dynamics in quantum magnets using inelastic neutron scattering (INS) and linear spin wave theory (LSWT). The first system considered is Ba2CuTeO6, proposed to realise weakly-coupled antiferromagnetic two-leg spin-1/2 ladders. Ba2CuTeO6 orders magnetically, but with a small Neel temperature relative to the exchange strength, suggesting that the interladder couplings are only just able to stabilise magnetic order and placing Ba2CuTeO6 close in parameter space to the critical point separating the singlet phase and Neel order. By comparing powder INS data with LSWT and quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations, values are proposed for all relevant exchange parameters, which place the system on the ordered side of the phase diagram in proximity to the critical point. High-field magnetisation data are also compared with the QMC predictions. In addition, single-crystal INS measurements are presented of the spin-1/2 triangular antiferromagnet Ba3CoSb2O9. Sharp magnons are observed throughout the Brillouin zone with a strong scattering continuum extending up to at least 4x the maximum one-magnon energy. The magnon energies are strongly renormalised downwards and the intensity decreases faster upon increasing energy than predicted by LSWT, which is attributed to a transfer of spectral weight to the continuum. An empirical model of renormalisations to the LSWT dispersion is proposed that can capture quantitatively the magnon dispersions throughout the Brillouin zone. Consistent with the observation of sharp magnons throughout, it is explicitly verified that kinematic constraints disallow one- to two-magnon decays for this renormalised dispersion. There is considerable structure and signal extending to much higher energies that cannot be explained by two-magnon simulations, suggesting significant quantum fluctuations beyond LSWT. The magnon dispersions have also been measured in fields up to 9 T, observing an evolution of the dispersion relations in field that is consistent with the presence of two equal-weight domains of opposite chirality.

Keywords: Neutron Scattering
Quantum Magnetism
Advisor: Coldea, R
Changing nature of childhood environments: exploring children’s ontologies of digital voice assistants

At its very core, this exploratory mixed methods inquiry investigated to what extent the growing presence of digital voice assistants, such as Alexa, Siri or the Google Assistant, might introduce changes to today’s childhood environments which translate into consequences that go far beyond their immediate purposes. In particular, based on an integrative review of different academic perspectives, especially related to children’s cognitive development and the formation of so-called ‘ontological belief systems’, the inquiry explored the presence of Alexa et al. within today’s childhood environments as well as children’s engagement with and ontological perception of such devices. In order to elicit these insights, the inquiry partly relied on self-developed data collection techniques, such as the ‘Human-Centred Turing Test Game’. The integrative analysis of children’s focus group data (n=26, age range = 6 to 10 years) and parental survey data (n=68), which were collected non-randomly in a German municipal elementary school population, resulted in two main empirical claims as the basis for future research: firstly, children’s engagement with digital voice assistants is not always a means to an end but sometimes an end in itself, therefore suggesting that these devices might be able to establish themselves as independent engagement partners during childhood and beyond. Secondly, since children’s ontological perceptions of Alexa et al. firmly oscillate between distinct ontological domains, one could suspect that these devices leave unprecedented marks on cognitive development trajectories.

Advisor: Siraj, I