VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Children of deaf adults in Ireland: bilingualism in Irish sign language and English, and biculturalism in hearing and deaf cultural communities

Hearing children raised by d/Deaf adults (CODAs) are a unique group in terms of their linguistic and cultural upbringing. They are potential members of the Deaf community, if their parents pass on sign language and Deaf culture to them, and at the same time they pass as typical members of the hearing community, acquiring the spoken language and majority culture of the community. To date, very little research has looked at CODAs and no research has looked at adult Irish CODAs as a linguistic and cultural minority. This study aims to begin filling this gap in the literature and explore the language, culture and identity of Irish CODAs.
This study used mixed methodology and two distinct samples. Questionnaires and follow-up interviews were used with a sample of 18 Irish CODAs. Additionally, a focus group was conducted with 3 leaders of the Deaf community in Ireland in order to include the perspectives of d/Deaf individuals and the Deaf community regarding CODAs.
The findings indicate that Irish CODAs identify with a CODA identity. They see bilingualism in Irish Sign Language (ISL) and English, and biculturalism in Irish hearing and Irish Deaf cultures, as key aspects of that identity. They see themselves as members of the Irish Deaf community but can struggle to construct a role for themselves in the Deaf community due to their status as hearing individuals, and in the hearing community due to low awareness on the part of hearing individuals about Deaf culture and ISL. These findings highlight the need for greater awareness about CODAs in the Deaf community, and for the hearing community to increase their awareness about the Deaf community for an improved minority-majority community co-existence, and suggest that more support is needed for CODAs within the education system to ensure their linguistic and educational potential is achieved. The results also indicate that there are many promising areas for future research where CODAs can teach us more about issues such as language maintenance, sign and spoken language bilingualism and minority-majority identity construction.

Advisor: Briggs, J
Praising the process: can effort-graded feedback improve the motivation, engagement and attainment of students with the formative assessment process?

This study built on a previous piece of my research, which found that student perceptions of the efficacy of feedback do not always match what both teachers and the literature might expect. A new model of written feedback was implemented in the classroom that praises the process of learning as opposed to the outcome.
2 collaborating teachers implemented a criteria-driven effort grade feedback intervention in conjunction with standard practice of constructive written comments. 50 year-10 students from 2 mixed attainment science sets were studied in terms of their motivation for learning, engagement with the feedback process and resulting attainment before and after intervention. The effectiveness of the intervention was assessed using action research methodology in two cycles gathering evidence from the collaborating teacher and students using interviews and questionnaires.
Analysis of the data showed that reactions to the intervention from both teachers and students were positive. Students initially struggled to identify and reflect on their own effort, often over-estimating it when compared to teacher assessment. Throughout the intervention, however, refinements to the effort-criteria, based on evidence gathered in the action research process, enabled increased student awareness of effort and ability to apply consistent grading. Motivation to learn improved and homework completion rates increased from 35% to 90%. Students showed better engagement with the feedback process and increased reflection and utilisation of written comments. A marginal increase in attainment was noted, though the limitations in using this as a measure with a small sample and short duration are discussed.
Contemporary educational research and implications for future practice are discussed; wider-use of effort-grading in feedback is indicated to verify findings in different subject areas. Teacher collaboration is crucial in achieving this and the practicalities of larger-scale roll-out are considered.

Keywords: MLT
MLT2016
Formative assessment
Advisor: Childs, A
Modelling cell migration, proliferation and interactions on growing domains

Motile and proliferative cell populations in growing tissues are a common feature of mammalian embryonic development. The aim of the work presented in this thesis is to develop models that better describe the behaviour of motile and proliferative cell populations on growing domains. We motivate our study by investigating the behaviour of melanoblasts, a migratory and proliferative cell population responsible for fur pigmentation in the embryonic mouse. We then develop mathematical models to describe cell populations with cell-cell interactions such as adhesion and repulsion, cell populations where spatial correlations established by cell proliferation play an important role, and scenarios where cell populations consist of different species. We also develop methods to improve the identification of motility parameters in migratory cell populations. The processes we model often occur at developmental phases that are difficult to observe experimentally, and so mathematical and computational modelling can play a central role in understanding the behaviour of motile and proliferative cell populations in growing tissues.

Advisor: Baker, R
Yates, C
Optimal water quality in the Trent river basin

The thesis examines the theoretical bases for determining optimal pollution levels in the Trent River Basin, demonstrates that neither the organization of a so-called "market in pollution rights" nor the construction of marginal effluent treatment cost and marginal damage functions is a practical means of finding those levels, and proposes ways for using existing data and the Trent Research Programme river model to determine "roughly optimal" pollution levels.

[Abstract continues in thesis]
Protestant epistolary counselling in early modern England, c. 1559-1660

My thesis argues for the significance of individual spiritual counselling within post-Reformation English Protestantism. In particular, it demonstrates the prevalence of pastoral letter-writing and explores the purpose and dynamics of these networks. This research represents the first large-scale, comparative examination of a frequently neglected topic. It draws on many little-known letter collections and a number of unexplored manuscripts, alongside some more familiar epistolary sources.
Chapter one situates my research in relation to existing literature on individual spiritual counselling and confession. As a counterpoint to the scholarly claim that contemporary accounts of the post-Reformation ministry emphasise the centrality of preaching at the expense of almost all other pastoral functions, I demonstrate the importance which many divines attributed to directing individual consciences, as well as highlighting contemporary thought on the role of the laity as providers of religious counselling. Chapter two uses Nehemiah Wallington's manuscript volume of exemplary spiritual correspondence to demonstrate the importance of epistolary counselling in the ministries of several early modern clergymen. The second section of the chapter argues that Wallington's own engagement with epistolary counselling ultimately served to uphold ministerial authority. Chapter three investigates the spiritual letter-writing relationships of early seventeenth-century Protestant ministers and their gentry patrons and demonstrates the significant potential which existed for clergymen to exercise religious agency and influence with pious elites. Chapter four explores the authoritative and spiritually intimate correspondences in which Richard Baxter engaged with laypeople from across the social spectrum during the 1650s. Current knowledge of his counselling of the Derbyshire gentlewoman, Katherine Gell, is extended through an original reflection on the significance of networks of pastoral direction in early modern English Protestantism. Chapter five explores the nature of religious advice-giving amongst the laity and uncovers its pious motivations. This characteristically 'godly' activity is both compared and contrasted with contemporary clerical counselling.

Keywords: Epistolarity
Pastoral practice
Protestant piety
Advisor: Maltby, J
Apetrei, S
Applications of rhodium-catalysed hydroacylation in heterocycle synthesis

The work compiled in this thesis documents the development of new methodologies towards the synthesis of a range of N-containing heterocycles. These methods utilise intermolecular Rh(I)-catalysed hydroacylation of chelating aldehydes with alkynes and alkenes to install carbonyl groups, which are exploited in subsequent heterocycle forming cascades.
Chapter 1 presents a literature review of the development of both intramolecular and intermolecular rhodium-catalysed hydroacylation, with the focus of different methods to suppress decarbonylation and promote constructive catalysis. A brief description of some precedented examples of hydroacylation in heterocycle synthesis is also included.
Chapter 2 describes the optimisation studies for the hydroacylation of S-/N-chelating aldehydes with terminal and internal propargylic amines. The studies are largely focussed on achieving high regioselectivity for the linear gamma-amino enone product. The cyclisation of these gamma-amino enone adducts to form pyrrole rings is also described.
Chapter 3 presents the de novo one-pot cascade synthesis of mono-, di- and tri- substituted pyrroles via a highly regioselective hydroacylation pathway. The pyrroles are exploited in further modifications to access fully substituted heteroaromatic systems or in a three-component coupling of aldehydes, propargylic amines and boronic acids or alkynes to access 'traceless' pyrrole rings. The one-pot cascade methodology is extended to the synthesis of dihydropyrroles, through the hydroacylation of allylic amines, which grants access to pyrrolidine rings via diastereoselective reductions.
Chapter 4 details the initial investigations towards the development of rhodium- catalysed hydroacylation of ynamides with chelating aldehydes. This provides access to beta-amino enones in a regioselective manner. These hydroacylation products, which are known to be versatile building blocks, are subsequently exploited in the synthesis of five- and six-membered heterocycles via bi-nucleophilic additions.
Chapter 5 discusses the conclusions of the research and the potential for further work.
Chapter 6 compiles the experimental procedures and data.

Keywords: Hydroacylation
Heterocycle synthesis
Rhodium catalysis
Organic synthesis
Advisor: Willis, M
The musical ode in Britain, c.1670-1800

The musical ode, which developed during the 1660s and 1670s as a means of celebrating occasions of particular significance (often by setting a specially written text), remained popular throughout the eighteenth century, and can be regarded as the earliest form of large-scale secular choral music to have developed in England. This dissertation discusses the nature of the genre (including its relationship with the poetical ode), and surveys the contexts in which odes were composed and performed. It is supplemented by a catalogue which lists some 270 examples of the genre.
Among the earliest odes were those written for performance at the court in London. These have already been the subject of musicological study, but although they were the biggest stylistic influence on the other odes written during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, they were not quite the earliest examples of the species. At the University of Oxford, the practice of performing specially composed odes to enhance academic ceremonial dates from at least 1669, and the custom continued throughout the following century. The odes on St Cecilia's Day also originate in the late seventeenth century, but although the works performed in London between 1683 and 1701 have received some scholarly attention, odes on the same theme written later in the century, along with works performed at a number of provincial centres, have not hitherto been discussed in the context of the wider ode genre. Also neglected have been the birthday odes performed at the Vice-regal court in Dublin during the eighteenth century. These complement the London court odes, but have not previously been listed or discussed in detail.
Other odes were written for charitable causes, and to commemorate a miscellaneous array of occasions, including military victories and the inauguration of new buildings. In addition, in the latter half of the eighteenth century, some composers responded to developments in the poetical ode by setting libretti which had no 'occasional' inspiration, but which were notable literary achievements in their own right.

Keywords: musical
odes
Britain
settings
ode
poetry
Advisor: Johnstone, H
Systems-level analysis of the mitotic checkpoint

The mitotic checkpoint regulates a critical transition in the eukaryotic cell cycle. It delays exit from mitosis until all chromosomes have become bi-oriented. In spite of an impressive body of work uncovering mechanistic aspects of the mitotic checkpoint, a detailed understanding of how the mitotic checkpoint operates as a control system continues to evade us. Here, I present three systems-biological studies aimed at elucidating distinct aspects of the mitotic checkpoint control system.
Using a combination of dedicated experiments and mathematical modelling, we investigate the fragile response of the mitotic checkpoint to precocious separation of sister chromatids in Drosophila neuroblasts. We show that the lack of a robust response to precocious loss of sister chromatid cohesion results from systems-level crosstalk between error correction and the checkpoint effector module.
Applying dynamical systems theory in the analysis of a live-cell imaging dataset following the degradation of APC/C:Cdc20-susbtrates in RPE1 and HeLa cells that are arrested in prometaphase and treated with different doses of CDK1 inhibitor, we present a simple mathematical model of the mitotic checkpoint as parsimonious explanation for the observed response to CDK1 inhibition. The model gives rise to a bistable switch, which is discussed as a useful tool to conceptualise the transition of from prometaphase to metaphase and from metaphase to anaphase in terms of disengagement and inactivation of the mitotic checkpoint.
Employing a simple mathematical model of phosphatase regulation at mitotic exit as a tool in the analysis of a phosphoproteomics dataset, we examine how the decision to silence the checkpoint is dispatched to initiate diverse processes underpinning mitotic exit. We identify new substrates of the phosphatase PP2A:B55, and describe a mechanism whereby substrates are recognised by PP2A:B55 and their rate of dephosphorylation is encoded electrostatically.

Keywords: Cell Cycle
Bistability
Spindle Assembly Checkpoint
Mitotic Checkpoint
Mathematical Model
Live-cell imaging
Advisor: Novak, B
Mechanisms and prevention of protein aggregation

The deposition of amyloid in the central nervous system is associated with prevalent neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. This thesis studies the mechanisms and prevention of amyloid formation in vitro. We speciﬁcally focus on Parkinson's disease associated α-synuclein (α-syn). Using novel labeling methods we introduce NMR observable labels onto lysosomal protein glucocerebrosidase (GCase), a leading cause of Parkinson's disease. By introducing NMR active labels we are able to study GCase dynamics and screen potential drug therapeutics (chapter 3). Furthermore, we analyze the three way interaction between GCase, α-syn and lipids. We conclude that GCase is able to effectively chaperone α-syn under lysosomal conditions, both preventing amyloidogenesis and destabilizing mature amyloid ﬁbrils (chapter 4). Additionally, a model chaperone-aggregate system is investigated to gain insight into the mechanisms of small heat shock protein chaperoning, and how such mechanisms prevent aggregation (chapter 5). Finally, a high resolution crystal structure of RNA editing enzyme Cid1 is presented, whilst not directly linked to aggregation, many of the techniques used in this thesis were ﬁrst developed on Cid1 (chapter 7). Together, we utilize NMR, X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy and native mass spectrometry to elucidate aspects of protein aggregation mechanisms and prevention.

Keywords: NMR
Aggregation
Amyloid
Advisor: Gilbert, R
Baldwin, A
Teaching Philosophy at Key Stage 3: An intervention in pedagogical strategies in selective grammar schools

This dissertation discusses the importance of task design when planning lessons. This action research project gave me the opportunity to think about the importance of task design and think about what is the point in the tasks as teachers we plan.
I carried out evaluation of my own personal historic lesson plans to help understand the planning of tasks and then planned two schemes of work. These schemes of work were planned and developed with the use of literature, students’ feedback and my own personal reflection. Learning diaries were used in the second feedback to give students more ownership of their learning and inform me for future planning.
Findings indicated that knowledge is an important factor when planning lessons and developing task design. Knowledge should be at the forefront of planning. Knowledge has been discussed in detail (Firth, 2015b, Lambert, 2011 & DfE, 2013). The introduction of the new curriculum has allowed knowledge to be at the forefront of planning and given teachers the opportunity to think about task design centred around knowledge. Enquiry learning was also thought about with knowledge. Enquiry learning is a complex idea that needs to be carefully used in lessons to ensure knowledge is not lost.

Keywords: MLT
Teaching
MLT2016
Teaching Philosophy
Investigations of improved heat transfer instrumentation for cooled turbine stages

This thesis describes the development of heated double-sided thin film gauge configurations for transient heat transfer measurements. By heating the substrate it is possible to measure the heat flux over a range of wall temperatures, which improves the resulting regression and leads to a more accurate determination of the adiabatic wall temperature and the heat transfer coefficient. The heated gauges can be used to measure the heat transfer of a film-cooled high-pressure turbine stage with engine-realistic combustor exit flows (hot-streaks and swirl) in order to study turbine aero-thermal performance in the presence of cooling flows. This thesis also presents the aerodynamic and heat transfer design as well as the mechanical assessment of the first fully cooled turbine stage for the Oxford Turbine Research Facility (OTRF). The high-pressure turbine stage is designed for lean-burn combustor interaction effects and has engine-state external cooling features.
Platinum thin film resistive gauges are the most advanced instrumentation for transient heat transfer measurement where high frequency response is required. Double-sided thin film gauges, consisting of two thin film temperature gauges mounted on either side of an insulating layer, have the advantage that the driving temperature difference is directly determined at the point of interest. A new gauge design is presented, which combines double-sided thin film gauges with the possibility to heat the substrate layer. Two arrangements of heated gauges have been developed, namely double-sided gauges with an underside thin film heater and self-heating double-sided gauges. These gauges yield an improved regression without the need for complex heating systems. The lateral conduction effects have been investigated using analytical models. The performance of different gauge types is quantified based on the quality of the regression. The heated gauge arrangements have been tested in the OTRF under engine-representative conditions on uncooled and cooled MT1 high-pressure nozzle guide vanes. Measurement strategies have been implemented to obtain the time-dependent temperature trace over a range of heating powers and calculate the convective heat transfer. This improved measurement technique allows for an accurate determination of non-dimensional parameters such as the Nusselt number and the film cooling effectiveness.

Keywords: Heat Transfer Instrumentation
Advisor: Povey, T
Zakat in Nablus (Palestine): Change and continuity in Islamic almsgiving

The anthropology of ethics is a project of developing a common language in order to describe and to analyse ethical tensions as they manifest themselves across different traditions as well as changing social and historical contexts. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in the Palestinian city of Nablus in the West Bank, this thesis contributes to the anthropology of ethics with an analysis the virtuous spending of wealth – with a particular focus on zakat (Islamic almsgiving) – as it emerges through the Islamic discursive tradition. This stirs up wider issues, such as the trajectory of an ethical tradition in a politically repressive context. Historically, Nablus has been subject to different instances of foreign rule. Since 1967, the city has been under Israeli military occupation.
This thesis shows how social interactions constitute a field of ethical practice. References to the Islamic Scriptures surfacing in greetings, conversations, and transactions in Nablus can be read as invoking an Islamic system of value. Acts of generous giving are sometimes inserted into this system, which unfolds in the context of the political economy of Israeli occupation. In this wider landscape, zakat in Nablus emerges both as (1) a socially embodied virtue realized within and through social relations; and as (2) an institutionalized practice carried out by zakat institutions, which since the 1970s have mainly evolved in a legal framework defined by state of Jordan. Analysing zakat on these two levels, this thesis grants insights into how military occupation, modern state administration, and capitalism fragment and inflect the Islamic discursive tradition, e.g. by foregrounding certain aspects of the Scriptures over others. With a view to embodied practices of zakat and ethical interactions, Islamic discourse manifests a certain plasticity and continuity. Conceiving wealth and scarcity as inherently ethical problems rooted in social interactions, the Islamic tradition notably provides a conceptual language of wider relevance.

Keywords: ethics
calculation
lateral disciplining
generosity
social interactions
personhood
plasticity
social life of Islamic discourse
modern state
ethnography
abundance
surveillance
anthropology
rizq
state
poverty
Islamic system of value
thawab
Islam
public gaze
scarcity
value
sadaqa
political economy
security
ethical tradition
capitalism
self
tawakkul
paranoia
zakat
discursive tradition
repression
exchange
wealth
gift
inflection
Advisor: Clarke, M
Friendship

There are three ways of approaching a philosophical study of friend— ship which would be of value: an historical survey of the occurrence of the notion in philosophical thinking; a scholarly interpretation of the neglected writings on friendship, in particular Aristotle‘s treatment of the subject; and a direct attempt to provide a theory of friendship as a peculiarly neglected moral phenomenon. In this thesis I shall concentrate on the latter two tasks, though necessarily in an incomplete way. A full treatment of any one of these project would involve work and space beyond the scope of such a thesis. Thus the bulk of what follows consists of a study of Plato's Lysis, Aristotle's discussion in Books VIII and IX of the Nicomachean Ethics, and direct treatment of the theory of friendship and its relation to moral philosophy.
Taken from Introduction; continued in thesis ...