VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Recording classical music in Britain: the long 1950s

During the 1950s the experience of recording was transformed by a series of technical innovations including tape recording, editing, the LP record, and stereo sound. Within a decade recording had evolved into an art form in which multiple takes and editing were essential components in the creation of an illusory ideal performance. The British recording industry was at the forefront of development, and the rapid growth in recording activity throughout the 1950s as companies built catalogues of LP records, at first in mono but later in stereo, had a profound impact on the music profession in Britain. Despite this, there are few documented accounts of working practices, or of the experiences of those involved in recording at this time, and the subject has received sparse coverage in academic publications.
This thesis studies the development of the recording of classical music in Britain in the long 1950s, the core period under discussion being 1948 to 1964. It begins by considering the current literature on recording, the cultural history of the period in relation to classical music, and the development of recording in the 1950s. Oral history informs the central part of the thesis, based on the analysis of 89 interviews with musicians, producers, engineers and others involved in recording during the 1950s and 1960s. The thesis concludes with five case studies, four of significant recordings – Tristan und Isolde (1952), Peter Grimes (1958), Elektra (1966-67), and Scheherazade (1964) – and one of a television programme, The Anatomy of a Record (1975), examining aspects of the recording process.
The thesis reveals the ways in which musicians, producers, and engineers responded to the challenges and opportunities created by advances in technology, changing attitudes towards the aesthetics of performance on record, and the evolving nature of practices and relationships in the studio. It also highlights the wider impact of recording on musical practice and its central role in helping to raise standards of musical performance, develop audiences for classical music, and expand the repertoire in concert and on record.

Keywords: Recording engineer
History and analysis of recording
Classical music
Sound recording industry
1950s
Record producer
Advisor: Clarke, E
Experimental and theoretical techniques for quantum-enhanced metrology and optical quantum information processing

Over the last few decades, quantised excitations of the electromagnetic field have proven to be an ideal system with which to investigate and harness quantum optical phenomena. The techniques developed have enabled fundamental tests of quantum mechanics as well as practical applications in quantum metrology and quantum information processing. Advancing to larger-scale entangled quantum systems will open up new regimes of quantum many-body physics, allowing us to probe the limits of quantum mechanics and enabling truly quantum-enhanced technologies. However, moving towards this goal will require further experimental and theoretical innovations. The work described in this thesis focuses on several different aspects of optical quantum information, but are ultimately all linked by this long-term aim. The first part of this thesis describes a novel method for strain-based active control of quantum optical circuits and a new method for the characterisation of high efficiency detectors. Building on this, I discuss in detail two different fields of quantum optics that stand to benefit from these techniques. I initially consider quantum-enhanced metrology, including work aimed towards demonstrating a truly better-than-classical phase measurement, and a theoretical exploration of multiple-phase estimation. Finally, I focus on linear-optical quantum information processing, exploring in detail the use of time-frequency encodings for quantum computing.

Keywords: Quantum metrology
Quantum optics
Quantum information processing
Advisor: Walmsley, I
Ediacaran discoidal impressions and related structures from Newfoundland, Canada and the Long Mynd, Shropshire, UK: their nature and biogenicity

The nature of the Ediacaran macrobiota (c. 580-541 Ma) remains puzzling. These first assemblages of large, complex fossils may have included early animals; giant microbial forms; and organisms representing radically different body plans that went extinct. Discoidal impressions – some forming the base of Ediacaran fronds but most found as isolated discs – dominate the Ediacaran macrobiota. However round markings may also be formed in a variety of abiogenic ways. This study investigates the nature and biogenicity of discoidal impressions from two Ediacaran successions: the c. 560-Ma upper Burway Formation, Longmyndian Supergroup, Shropshire, UK; and several sites on the Bonavista and Avalon Peninsulas, Newfoundland, Canada, ranging in age from 565–c. 560 Ma.
The investigation involved fieldwork, photography, serial grinding through cross-sections, and optical and scanning electron microscopy. It concludes that several Longmyndian discoidal forms are pseudofossils formed by sediment injection resulting from small-scale fluid escape inferred to be driven by microbial mat sealing. Turning to clearly biogenic impressions, comparison of the varied morphologies of holdfast discs associated with fronds preserved under ash and sand from several Newfoundland sites leads to a generic model of their architecture as consisting of enclosed chambers, a complex construction perhaps for strength or possibly symbiosis. Detailed observations of the rayed disc Hiemalora suggest that it may have had an amoeboid lifestyle. Finally, the key Ediacaran taxon Aspidella is separated from the discs Ediacaria and Spriggia, with which it has been synonymized, and interpreted as a possible polyp-like animal capable of limited movement. This thesis thus demonstrates that the earliest reported Ediacaran discoidal impressions are abiogenic, produced by mat-influenced processes particularly relevant to the Precambrian, and proposes models and interpretations for several key Ediacaran forms that have important implications for both the nature and diversity of the Ediacaran macrobiota, and early animal evolution.

Keywords: Ediacaran biota
Discoidal Ediacaran fossils
Hiemalora
Aspidella
Advisor: Brasier, M
McIlroy, D
Robinson, S
Some aspects of the anti-predator responses of two species of stickleback

Hoogloand, Morris and Tinbergen (1957) demonstrated that the spines of two species of sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus and Pygosteus pungitius, are an effective defence against the pike (Esox lucius) and perch (Percha fluviatilis) as predators, and the present study was undertaken to compare the fright behaviour (i.e. responses to a predator) of the same two species.
[Abstract continued in thesis]
Please note that thesis text is blurred
The science of Parliament: building the Palace of Westminster, 1834-1860

This thesis examines science's role in the construction of Britain's new Houses of Parliament between 1834 and 1860. Architecturally the Gothic Palace embodies Victorian notions of the medieval and romanticized perceptions of English history. Yet in the mid-nineteenth century, the building not only reflected, but was involved in, the very latest scientific knowledge. This included chemistry, optics, geology, horology, and architecture as a science itself. Science was chosen, performed, trusted, displayed, contested, and debated through the physical space of government. Parliament was a place where science was done. Not only was knowledge imported to guide architectural construction, but it was actively produced within the walls of Britain's new legislature. I argue that this attention to science was not coincidental. Rather, it was a crucial demonstration of the changing relationship between science and politics. Science was increasingly asserted to be a powerful form of knowledge, and to an institution struggling to secure authority in the uncertainty of reformed British politics, it appeared a valuable resource for credibility. Contextualizing the use of science at Parliament in the political instability of the 1830s and 1840s emphasizes how the use of new knowledge was a potent practice of constructing political authority.

Advisor: Whyte, W
Synthetic phosphorylation of kinases for functional studies in vitro

The activity of protein kinases is heavily dependent on the phosphorylation state of the protein. Kinase phosphorylation states have been prepared through biological or enzymatic means for biochemical evaluation, but the use of protein chemical modification as an investigative tool has not been addressed. By chemically reacting a genetically encoded cysteine, phosphocysteine was installed via dehydroalanine as a reactive intermediate. The installed phosphocysteine was intended as a surrogate to the naturally occurring phosphothreonine or phosphoserine of a phosphorylated protein kinase. Two model protein kinases were investigated on: MEK1 and p38α. The development of suitable protein variants and suitable reaction conditions on these two proteins is discussed in turn and in detail, resulting in p38α-pCys180 and MEK1-pCys222. Designed to be mimics of the naturally occurring p38α-pThr180 and MEK1-pSer222, these two chemically modified proteins were studied for their biological function.
The core biological studies entailed the determination of enzymatic activity of both modified proteins, and included the necessary controls against their active counterparts. In addition, the studies on p38α-pCys180 also included a more detailed quantification of enzymatic activity, and the behaviour of this modified protein against known inhibitors of p38α was also investigated. Both modified proteins were shown to be enzymatically active and behave similarly to corresponding active species.
The adaptation of mass spectrometry methods to handle the majority of project's analytical requirements, from monitoring chemical transformations to following enzyme kinetics was instrumental in making these studies feasible. The details of these technical developments are interwoven into the scientific discussion. Also included in this thesis is an introduction to the mechanism and function of protein kinases, and on the protein chemistry methods employed. The work is concluded with a projection of implications that this protein chemical modification technique has on kinase biomedical research.

Keywords: Cysteine
Protein chemical modification
Site-selective protein modification
Phosphocysteine
Phosphorylation
Protein mass spectrometry
Enzyme inhibition
Enzyme kinetics
Biomolecular recognition
p38α
MEK1
Protein kinases
Enzymatic activity
Advisor: Davis, B
Jones, L
Substrate recognition by holocytochrome c synthase in cytochrome c biogenesis system III

C-type cytochromes are ubiquitous proteins with crucial functions in organisms, which include electron transfer and apoptotic signalling. In eukaryotic organisms, mitochondrial cytochrome c is located in the intermembrane space, and it is a component of the electron transport chain; it is responsible for transferring electrons from Complex III to Complex IV. The regulated release of cytochrome c from mitochondria results in the activation of a signal transduction pathway leading to controlled cell death, or apoptosis. In mitochondrial c-type cytochromes, the heme is bound to both cysteines of a CXXCH motif located near the N-terminus. The covalent heme attachment in c-type cytochromes, the final step in its biosynthesis, is achieved by different cytochrome c biogenesis systems in different organisms. Out of these systems, System III, found in many eukaryotes, has a single component - holocytochrome c synthase (HCCS) which is the enzyme responsible for the catalysis of heme binding to cytochrome c. HCCS recognises apocytochrome c as a substrate upon the import of the apocytochrome from the cytosolic space to the mitochondrial intermembrane space. The requirements of amino acid sequence for HCCS recognition had remained an intriguing question, despite the relatively long period since the discovery of the enzyme. Thus, HCCS in System III and its substrate recognition is the subject of this thesis.
This thesis describes the experiments showing that the N-terminal region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c protein is important for substrate recognition, as well as further characterisation of this sequence by mutagenesis. Out of several highly conserved residues in the N-terminus, a phenylalanine residue in the N-terminus is identified to be critical for heme attachment by HCCS. The role of this phenylalanine residue in the interaction between the two proteins was probed by substituting it with a range of residues. Furthermore, the importance of the spacing between the key phenylalanine residue and the CXXCH motif was investigated. A single-cysteine variant of the mitochondrial cytochrome c with a single bond to the heme is produced by HCCS, but heme attachment only occurs if histidine is present as an axial ligand to the heme iron. Replacement of the histidine with other potential iron-ligating residues abolished heme attachment. These results bring insight into the critical features in amino acid sequence of cytochrome c for the substrate recognition specificity of HCCS.
Sequence analysis on the N-terminal region of mitochondrial cytochromes c in a variety of organisms reveals evolutionary implications for cytochrome c biogenesis systems. It also attempts to explain the reason for negative results in previous chapters for the analysis of the N-terminal region of cytochrome c. An improved method for human HCCS production is also described in this thesis, for the exploitation of purification and characterisation in future studies of HCCS.

Advisor: Ferguson, S
Stevens, J
The use of maps and models to evaluate surveillance policies for dengue

Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease that has gone from isolated sylvatic spill-overs to a pathogen of global public health importance in less than a century. Surveillance and control efforts have continually lagged behind contemporary needs and this thesis investigates the pressing need to reassess the current geographic limits and case burden of dengue including how these are measured.
First, the global distribution of reported dengue infections was mapped. In many areas dengue reporting is sparse as it can be asymptomatic or clinically similar to other diseases. The maps identified surveillance gaps, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, where targeted efforts are needed to reliably measure the contemporary global extent of dengue transmission.
Second, the global case burden of dengue was estimated by pairing risk maps with longitudinal cohort study data. This gave the first cartographic estimate of dengue cases and at 390 million per year (95% CI: 284-528) was over three times the World Health Organization official estimate. Reconciling these estimates with reported case data allowed an assessment of existing national surveillance strategies.
Third, existing methods for outbreak identification were compared. High burden dengue outbreaks are preventable if timely and appropriate measures are applied. This analysis suggested, however, that commonly used outbreak definitions are not consistent, which could have an adverse effect on outbreak response. An alternative framework for outbreak identification based on healthcare capacities is thus outlined.
Fourth, an analysis was undertaken that quantified how mosquito vectors place geographic and seasonal limits on dengue transmission. This involved updating estimates of mosquito longevity which were integrated with temperature-dependent dynamic transmission models to produce global maps. These suggested that while temperature places strong limits on the distribution of dengue in some settings, mosquito ecology may be more important in others.
Finally, these findings are discussed in the context of global dengue surveillance gaps, with recommendations of how these can be addressed at a time when providing an evidence base for deployment of new control strategies will be critical.

Keywords: map
dengue
global health
mosquito
modelling
Advisor: Hay, S
Among ghosts and tigers: The Chinese in the Russian Far East, 1917-1920

This thesis examines the experiences of the overseas Chinese in the Russian Far East during the revolutionary and Civil War period from 1917 to 1920, as well as their responses to the upheaval. Bucking the current trend towards transcultural history, the thesis argues that Chinese identity and nationalist language were of prime importance to this community. By concentrating on Chinese-language sources, the thesis re-privileges the community's internal discourses and highlights the prevalence of nationalist rhetoric across the Sino-Russian border. It also sites the Chinese community's use of nationalist language within the context of the global diaspora, for which questions of national weakness and revival were also pressing.
Going further, the thesis postulates the presence of "Chinese nationalism with Russian characteristics", in which the issues surrounding Chinese nationalism as a whole were heightened. It shows that the rhetoric of “national humiliation" and victimhood were particularly immediate to the community in the Russian Far East, since it was located at one of the epicentres of imperial contestation. In practice, this led to a modus vivendi with the Reds and a decisive turn against the Whites. Furthermore, the chaos of the revolutions and Civil War imbued this nationalism with an opportunistic quality. The collapse of Russian state power became the "opportunity of a thousand years" for China to redress past wrongs. This allowed the overseas community to work closely with local authorities and the Beijing government to achieve shared goals. New civil society organisations with community-wide aims were formed. Beijing extended its diplomatic reach in the form of new Far Eastern consulates. Finally, common nationalist rhetoric underpinned China's successful attempt to re-establish its civilian and military presence on the Amur River. "Chinese nationalism with Russian characteristics" could be effectively harnessed to secure multi-level and cross-border cooperation.

Advisor: Andreyev, C
The Ovidian love elegy in England

This thesis begins by outlining the origins of the elegy as a literary form, passing from the fragmentary remains of the Greek elegy, and of Roman love—poets before Catullus, to a brief discussion of the poetry of Catullus, Propertius and the elegists of the Corpus Tibullianum, indicating in each case the main differences between the literary attitudes of these posts and those of Ovid. A detailed analysis is made of the Ovidian erotic code, as contained in the Amores, the Ars and the Remedia, and other of the Amatoria such as the Heroides and the pseudo-Ovidiun Pulex, demonstrating inter-relationships between these works, and also any correspondences to particular components of Ovid's code in the works of earlier Greek and Roman love-poets.
Some attempt is next made to show to what sitent Ovid's themes and mannerisms were adopted by continental poets of the sixteenth century. Neo-Latin poetry is first dealt with, as represented by Joannes Secundus, Beza, Bonnefonius and the writers included in the Carmina Illustrium Poetarum Italorum, 1576, the Delitiae CC. Italorum Poetarum, 1608, the Delitiae c. Poetarum Gallorum, 1609, and the Delitiae Poeterum Bel icorum, 1614. Vernacular writers discussed in this context include Alamanni, Ariosto, Bembo, Berni, Boiardo, della Casa, Chiabrera, Guarini, Marino, Mauro, Poliziano, Serafino, Tasso and Varchi in Italy and de Balf, du Bellsy, Belleau, Marat, Ronsard and Théophile in France.
[See thesis for complete Abstract]

Keywords: Ovid
Classical Literature
Elegy
Searching for new particles at the Large Hadron Collider: theory and methods for extradimensional supersymmetry

The hierarchy problem of the electroweak scale is an intriguing puzzle which can conceivably be solved during upcoming runs of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Supersymmetry (SUSY) is an attractive potential solution to this problem, though the fact that no supersymmetric particles have been discovered thus far raises fine tuning of most models to &order;(1%). Extradimensional SUSY is especially interesting in light of this fact since certain models are easier to reconcile with LHC data. This thesis discusses two different extradimensional SUSY scenarios: auto-concealment and Maximally Natural SUSY (MNSUSY). The auto-concealment mechanism applies when the lightest ordinary superymmetric particle (LOSP), a brane localized state, promptly decays to the Kaluza-Klein (KK) tower of a bulk lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). This dynamically realizes the compression mechanism for hiding SUSY as decays into the more numerous heavier KK LSP states are favored. LHC limits on LOSP squarks weaken to ≲ 450 GeV while limits on LOSP right-handed sleptons evaporate. Slepton searches perform poorly in this case because LHC analyses are blind to compressed slepton spectra. To help fill this gap, this thesis presents a monojet-like search sensitive to the very compressed range 3 GeV < m &itilde; − m&Tilde;x01 < 24 GeV. The analysis should allow LHC14 with 100 fb−1 to search for degenerate left-handed selectrons and smuons in the compressed region up to m &itilde;L ≲ 150 GeV. In addition, it should be sensitive to m &itilde;L ≲ 110 GeV for auto-concealed SUSY. To expand the class of extradimensional SUSY models the LHC is able to test this thesis also describes the Lagrangian and mass matrices of MNSUSY, which are needed to implement this model in the Feynman rules generator program FeynRules for use in Monte Carlo programs for collider simulations. It also describes benchmark scenarios useful for the first collider phenomenology studies.

Keywords: collider search
supersymmetry
Large Hadron Collider
extradimensional supersymmetry
LHC
Advisor: March-Russell, J
Barr, A
Accretion and star formation in quasars

Studying the interplay of accretion and star formation is crucial to our understanding of galaxy evolution. The new generation of radio surveys are able to play a key role in this area, since both processes produce radio emission. As we probe low radio-luminosities, the two main populations are star-forming galaxies and radio-quiet quasars (RQQs). How they contribute to the total radio emission is under debate, with previous authors arguing that star formation dominates. In this thesis I investigate the relative levels of radio emission due to accretion and star formation in RQQs.
Firstly, I select a sample of 74 quasars from the VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations (VIDEO) survey, whose depth allows me to study very low accretion rates and/or lower-mass black holes. By comparing radio emission from the quasars with that from a control sample of galaxies, and calculating two independent estimates of star-formation rate, I show that this emission is predominantly related to the accretion process. A second sample of 72 RQQs is obtained from the Spitzer-Herschel Active Galaxy Survey, spanning a factor of &Tilde;100 in optical luminosity over a narrow redshift range at z&Tilde;1. This enables evolutionary effects to be decoupled when comparisons are made with the VIDEO sample. I reduce radio data from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) for these objects, and find further support that accretion makes a significant contribution to the radio emission in RQQs. In addition, the levels of accretion and star formation appear to be weakly correlated with each other, and with optical luminosity.
These findings offer an insight into how the mechanisms behind galaxy evolution may interact differently in RQQs compared to their radio-loud counterparts. They also have important implications for modelling radio populations below 1mJy, which is necessary for the development of the Square Kilometre Array.

Advisor: Jarvis, M