VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Fernando Pessoa's detective fiction

In this thesis I set out to write the first in-depth study of Pessoa's detective stories. I approached this task in three steps: firstly, by tracing Pessoa's interest in the genre of crime fiction, his readings and influences. Secondly, by analysing the themes and structure of the Quaresma stories. Thirdly, by placing them in the context of Pessoa’s written output. The first step is addressed in the first two chapters of the thesis, where I study the connections between Pessoa and Anglo-American detective fiction, as well as how he adapted foreign models to a Portuguese context. The second step of my approach is developed in chapters 3 to 5. In the first of these I focus on the construction of Quaresma as a literary character. My key finding is that the texts featuring him are composed by two kinds of writing: on the one hand narrative prose, including descriptions, actions and elements that further the plot; on the other, an essayistic prose which consists of Quaresma’s long speeches expounding his theories on criminal investigation, philosophy, psychology, and reasoning. Chapters 4 and 5 study several of the Quaresma stories from the point of view of gender relations and how these shape the construction of plot and character. At this juncture I use Lacanian and Derridean readings on Poe's 'The Purloined Letter', having previously established that author's influence on Pessoa. The third and final step of my thesis is an attempt to interpret Pessoa’s detective fiction in relation to his wider work: I propose a reading of the Quaresma stories, other prose texts and heteronymity as parts of a literary project of creating non-narrative fictions.

Advisor: Pazos-Alonso, C
Decision making, agenda setting, and preference shaping in Ghana’s agricultural climate change adaptation policy regime: a political ecological perspective

Where power lies and how it is conceived in studies of environmental governance is not often discussed. The development and implementation of agricultural climate change adaptation policies calls on diverse stakeholder groups, each with their own interests and objectives. How debates around policy design and content are resolved is shaped by the power and influence of actors within the adaptation regime. Smallholder farmers are often considered marginalized within the adaption policy development and implementation process in Ghana, and in the developing world more broadly. This study seeks to demonstrate the ways in which smallholder farmers are susceptible to domination by other actors within adaptation policy regimes, and to identify the features of those regimes (institutional and otherwise) that enable one group to wield influence over another. This dissertation seeks to make power the subject of analysis instead of, in the words of Mitchell, "an answer known in advance", providing a more thoroughgoing synthesis of power than previous treatments in environmental governance literature. Drawing on the field of political ecology, I aim to provide an alternative to the predominant view of powerlessness among smallholders as a product of limited capability or adaptive capacity (i.e. power-to) and towards powerlessness as a relational construct (i.e. power-over). To that end, I adopt Steven Lukes’ dimensional framework of power-as-domination to illustrate that associating power with 'behaviorist' (i.e. visible decision making and agenda setting) theories alone is to adopt too narrow a view. Instead, a third dimension of power, preference shaping, which examines the way in which certain actors are "denied privileged access to their own reasons for actions" is necessary. I extend Lukes' analytical framework to include three replicable sources of preference shaping: dominant narratives and discourses, prevailing rationalities of governance, and systemic institutional bias. The results suggest that, true to political ecology, the study of adaptation policy in Ghana begins in contradiction: while climate adaptation policy is politically charged and contested at international levels, and it remains surprisingly devoid of politics at the sub-national levels. Adaptation policy development has been effectively 'rendered technical' in Ghana, eroding the need for active participation from non-experts in policy decision making, and leading to the neglect of important underlying political forces (a-politicization) that shape adaptation outcomes through policy implementation. This thesis extends important findings from development theory, particularly the work of Ferguson and Murray Li, in to the adaptation context, builds on an expansive body of power in social science literature, and develops a novel methodology for empirically mapping influence in complex system regimes.

Advisor: Thornton, T
The role of CD1a-restricted T cells in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis

In recent years, T-cells that recognise lipid ligands presented by CD1 molecules have been described. CD1a is highly expressed by Langerhans cells of the epidermis and it has been shown that CD1a-restricted T-cells circulate at high frequencies, infiltrate the skin and recognise natural skin lipids. Epidermal CD1a- expressing cells are enriched in AD lesions, however pathways associated with CD1a presentation and AD have not been studied.
The aim of this project was to investigate the role of CD1a-restricted T-cells in the pathogenesis of AD.
The use of target APCs with absent MHC expression (K562 cells) enabled investigation of polyclonal T cell, and HDM responsive CD1a-reactive T cell line responses from many genetically unrelated donors. These T cells were enriched in the blood and skin in patients with AD, and produced a number of cytokines known to be relevant to AD pathogenesis. Using the skin suction blister technique and antigen challenge system, these cells were found to infiltrate human skin following HDM antigen challenge in AD patients.
In order to define the underlying mechanisms, we fractionated total HDM extract and found that CD1a reactivity resided within the protein fraction of HDM, which could be explained by HDM-derived secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) activity. T cell responses were dependent on HDM-derived sPLA2, which most likely generates neolipid antigens for presentation via CD1a. T cell lines were also generated to further characterise these cells, and produced a broad range of type 1 and type 2 cytokines on stimulation with HDM and other phospholipase containing allergens.
Filaggrin insufficiency is associated with AD and filaggrin was observed to inhibit HDM-derived sPLA2 activity and T cell responses from the blood and skin ex vivo.
In summary, the data identify a novel pathway of AD cutaneous inflammation in which HDM-derived sPLA2 generates antigenic neolipids for presentation to CD1a- reactive T cells, and define sPLA2 inhibition as a novel function of filaggrin, with potential therapeutic implications.

Advisor: Ogg, G
Imaging-based analysis of antibody superagonism

Activating antibodies against the T-cell costimulator CD28 fall into two categories: those that require an additional stimulus, such as an anti-TCR antibody, to fully active a T cell are termed "conventional antibodies" (CAs), and those that induce such strong signalling that T cells become activated in the absence of TCR ligation are referred to as "superagonists" (SAs). It was proposed that SAs are particularly potent because they sterically exclude large phosphatases such as CD45 more efficiently from signalling receptors versus CAs. To test this, we stimulated T-cell lines with an anti-CD28 SA or CA immobilised on glass surfaces. Although no TCR ligand is present, we confirmed that the expression of the TCR is nevertheless required for SA-induced signalling on glass. We showed that the SA is only active on glass when it is immobilised via its Fc, and that signalling is sensitive to the dimensions of the antibody/CD28 complex relative to those of CD45. We then visualised the organisation of these proteins by imaging. When treated with the SA, T cells form contacts with the glass slide that exclude CD45 &Tilde; 2-fold more efficiently versus CA treatment, and both antibody-bound CD28 and CD45 slow down their diffusion to a greater extent under SA versus CA treatment. Both the exclusion of CD45 and the restriction of CD28 and CD45 diffusion appear to be steric effects, caused by the SA bridging a narrow gap between cell and glass surface. We hypothesize that SAs induce particularly potent signalling by protecting CD28 from dephosphorylation by CD45 via (1) spatially segregating the two proteins, and (2) reducing their encounter rate by slowing them down, while kinases continue to diffuse and have access to CD28. In summary, our results provide evidence that antibody superagonism is driven by size-dependent local perturbations in kinase and phosphatase organisation and diffusion.

Advisor: Davis, SJ
Theopoetics: Kierkegaard and the vocation of the Christian creative artist

In this doctoral dissertation I examine the development of Kierkegaard's sense of vocation as a Christian creative artist by research into his journals and published works, as well as investigating how this was influenced by his scriptural hermeneutic. I then attempt to sketch some starting points for a theology of Christian creative artwork contextualised within modern theological aesthetics by drawing upon this examination. I argue that Kierkegaard began writing without documented reflection on his intentions and communicative methodology, but was nonetheless a religious author from the start of his career, as his text The Point of View for my Work as an Author later claimed. I trace how he began with a more "indirect" approach in his writing and gradually developed a theory of "indirect communication", though there were more "direct" elements present in his work from the beginning (the "first authorship"), yet as he continued in his authorial career he became ever more "direct" in his mode of communication (the "second authorship"), until it eventually became exclusively more "direct" religious writing (the "attack on Christendom"). I conclude that the most concise and complete formulation of Kierkegaard's mature conception of his task as a Christian artist becomes "to communicate Christianity in Christendom" in a more direct mode—to explain straightforwardly what authentic Christianity is in an age of cultural, purely nominal religion. I allow that this task is in some ways unique to his own historical situation but contend nonetheless that a consideration of it is profitable for contemporary theology because of the many different ways that he attempted to carry it out. In Kierkegaardian terms, and following on from resources in Kierkegaard and his use of scripture, I argue constructively from all of this that more "direct" communication is the more valuable form of communication to the Christian creative artist for theological reasons, but that more "indirect" communication can still be useful, in the task of communicating creatively through art.

Keywords: creative artwork
Theopoetics
artist
Creativity
Kierkegaard
theological aesthetics
vocation
Christian
Advisor: Rasmussen, J
‘I am Zambia’s redeemer’: populism and the rise of Michael Sata, 1955-2011

This thesis explores the broad continuities in the strategies that individual leaders in Africa have employed to mobilise political support across different historical periods and party systems, from the late colonial to the post-colonial era, and from single-party to multiparty systems. It examines this question through a historical biography of Michael Sata, a political leader in Zambia whose life and career, like those of several other Zambian individual politicians, cut across the main divides in the country’s political history: the late-colonial period (1953-1964), the one-party state (1973-1991) and the era of multiparty democracy (since 1991). Sata's experiences also span a number of political organisations such as the United National Independence Party (from the early 1960s to 1991), the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (1991-2001) and the Patriotic Front (2001-2011).
I argue that Sata employed several political strategies such as populism, clientelism, ethnic appeals and coalition building to mobilise support across these historical epochs and party institutions. The existing literature on Zambian political change has largely focused on ethnicity, which has taken attention away from the fact that most ethnic politics has had, as this thesis demonstrates, a populist component. More broadly, what this study demonstrates is the utility of historical biography in understanding political change. Examining the life of an individual whose experiences cut across supposed turning points and disruptions, or the institutions that have come and gone with them, captures not only change but continuities too, which are generally missing in many accounts of political life in Africa, and consequently allows us to gain new and unique insights.

Keywords: Biography
Politics
Zambia
History
Populism
Advisor: Cheeseman, N
Deutsch, J
TOPK as a novel determinant of radiosensitivity

Radiotherapy is the use of ionising radiation to induce localised DNA damage to cancerous tissues, leading to cell death and disease control. In order to maximise tumour growth control and to limit damage of the healthy surrounding tissues and the consequent side effects for the patient, molecular determinants of tumour radioresistance are investigated as potential clinical targets.
A high-throughput siRNA colony formation assay screen in HeLa cervical carcinoma cells previously published by our laboratory identified modulators of radiosensitivity. From the list CSF1R, EPHB2, GAK and TOPK, were selected and validated. TOPK (T-LAK cell-originated protein kinase, also known as PDZ-binding kinase, PBK) was selected for further investigation because it is overexpressed in most malignancies but not in normal tissues, apart from testis and placenta. Knockdown of TOPK was shown to induce radiosensitisation in a panel of cancer cell lines with no significant effects on normal cells.
A role for TOPK in the cell cycle response to ionising radiation (IR) was discovered in HCT116 colorectal cancer cells, with alterations in the G1/S and G2/M checkpoints. Furthermore, immunoprecipitation experiments identified a physical interaction between TOPK and CDKN1A (p21) at 8 hours after IR. Apoptosis and the number of multinucleated cells were significantly increased in TOPK depleted cells exposed to IR, suggesting the possibility of aberrant mitosis and mitotic catastrophe in these cells. High TOPK expression in early breast cancer patients was shown to be associated with poor recurrence-free survival. In addition, immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis on samples from prostate cancer patients identified a strong correlation between high levels of TOPK and poor clinical response to radiotherapy.
In order to facilitate future in vivo experiments, an HCT116 shRNA stable knockdown cell line was developed and two commercially available TOPK inhibitors were tested and optimised.
Taken together, these data suggest that TOPK is a molecular determinant of radiosensitivity with a great potential for future clinical applications.

Keywords: therapeutic window
disease
TOPK
gene therapy
PBK
Tumour
Ionising
Radiation
Radiotherapy
Advisor: McKenna, G
Studies of the Fanconi anemia pathway

The human genome is constantly challenged by various DNA damages, where several DNA damage repair pathways are required to guard the integrity of our genome. One type of lesion is DNA interstrand crosslink (ICL), which prevents any cellular process requiring the separation of the two DNA strands, and could lead to missegregation of chromosomes and mitotic catastrophe. The Fanconi anemia DNA damage repair pathway (FA pathway) has been shown to be responsible for the repair of ICLs. To date, there are 21 FA proteins identified that participate in the repair process. Among them, the FANCD2/FANCI heterodimer plays an important role in orchestrating the recruitment of the downstream repair proteins. Upon the appearance of ICLs, the FANCD2/FANCI complex is monoubiquitinated, and localised to the sites of DNA lesion. While the molecular mechanism of how the FA pathway operates is emerging, there are still questions remaining, such as if there is a sensor for ICLs being able to activate the FA pathway, or the timing of the recruitment of the FANCD2/FANCI heterodimer to damaged chromatin. In this thesis, first, I will describe the identification and characterisation of a novel ICL sensor protein, UHRF1, and its role in the activation of the FA pathway. Second, I will describe the first cryo-EM structure of the human FANCD2/FANCI complex, which led to the discovery of the functionally important Tower domain in the C-terminal of FANCD2. In addition, our work reveals that the FANCD2/FANCI complex is recruited to damaged chromatin prior to its monoubiquitination.

Advisor: Cohn, M
Carbon nanotubes In DC and microwave superconducting circuits

This thesis presents an effort towards integration of superconductor-contacted carbon nanotubes into microwave circuits, as a new tool for building quantum circuits. Carbon nanotubes show a wealth of quantum phenomena demonstrated in transport experiments by different groups in the last two decades. With the development of circuit QED, one can study these phenomena using on-chip microwave circuits. Moreover, in superconductor-contacted nanotubes, Andreev reflection of the particles at the interfaces leads to the formation of Andreev bound states. A pair of such states can potentially serve as a new type of a qubit.
Here, fabrication and measurement techniques of superconductor contacted carbon nanotubes and superconductor/normal metal bilayer microwave circuits is developed, and their behaviour is studied.
In superconductor-contacted nanotubes the full range of contact transparencies is investigated, showing different transport phenomena such as Coulomb blockade, Kondo effect and Fabry-Pérot interference. In addition, the interplay of these effects with multiple Andreev reflection phenomena and the superconducting proximityinduced non-dissipative current transport through the nanotube is studied.
The proximity effect is studied using microwave resonators made of superconductor/ normal metal bilayers. Characteristic parameters of the bilayers, such as the critical temperature and the magnetic penetration depth are reliably extracted from the measurements.
Finally, the two experiments are brought together in the first step towards using superconductor-contacted nanotubes in quantum microwave circuits. The successful realization of such circuit is achieved, where the Coulomb blockade in a nanotube quantum dot is probed with a microwave field.

Keywords: Condensed Matter
Advisor: Leek, P
Ultra-thin oxide films

Oxide ultra-thin film surfaces have properties and structures that are significantly different from the terminations of the corresponding bulk crystals. For example, surface structures of epitaxial ultra-thin oxide films are highly influenced by the crystallinity and electronegativity of the metal substrates they grown on. Some enhanced properties of the novel reconstructions are related to catalysis, sensing and microelectronics, which has resulted in an increasing interest in this field.
Ultra-thin TiOx films were grown on Au(111) substrates in this work. Two well-ordered structures within monolayer coverage – honeycomb (HC) and pinwheel – were generated and investigated. Special attention has been paid to the uniform (2 × 2) Ti2O3 HC phase including its regular structure and imperfections such as domain boundaries (DBs) and point defects. Linear DBs with long-range repeating units have been observed; density functional theory (DFT) modelling has been used to simulate their atomic structures and calculate their formation energies. Rotational DBs/defects show up less frequently, however a six-fold symmetrical 'snowflake' DB loop stands out. Two types of point defects have been discovered and assigned to Ti vacancies and oxygen vacancies/hydroxyl groups. Their diffusion manners and pairing habits have been discussed within an experimental context.
The results of growing NbOx ultra-thin films on Au(111) are also presented in this thesis. An identical looking (2 × 2) HC structure to the Ti2O3 ultra-thin film has been formed; a stoichiometry of Nb2O3 is suggested. Another interesting reconstruction is a hollow triangle structure. Various sizes have been found, and sides of these equilateral triangles all show a double-line feature aligned along the 〈 1 ˉ1 0〉 directions of the Au(111) lattice. Chemical composition characterisations of NbOx thin films are still required as is DFT modelling.
Experimental techniques used in this thesis include scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), low energy electron diffraction (LEED), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Ultra-thin oxide films were created by physical vapour deposition (PVD) in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) systems.

Keywords: 2D material
thin film
scanning tunnelling microscope
niobium oxide
nanomaterial
Au(111) substrate
surface reconstruction
surface science
epitaxial growth
titanium oxide
domain boundary
Advisor: Castell, M
Foreign news in colonial Algeria, 1881-1940

This thesis looks at how news shaped people's relationship to the world in Algeria under French rule. This territory operated under an uncertain legal status that made it both a part of France and a colony, and within it lived a society divided between European settlers and Muslim natives. Accounts of recent events helped Algerians determine what was domestic and what was foreign in a place where those two notions were highly contested. Colonialism did not close Algeria off from the world or open it up, instead it created a particular geography.
In a series of case-studies taken from across Algeria, this thesis investigates a wide range of types of news: manuscripts, rumours, wire dispatches, newspapers, illustrations, songs, newsreels, and radio broadcasts. It focuses on the period in which Algeria's legal status as part of France was most certain, from the end of the conquest and the consolidation of Republican rule in the 1880s to the outbreak of the Second World War. In this period, authorities thought the influence of outside events on Algeria was a bigger threat than disturbances within. Because of this, state surveillance produced reports to monitor foreign news, and these form the backbone of this study. But state attempts to manage the flow of news had unintended effects. Instead of establishing effective censorship, authorities ended up spreading news and making it more politically sensitive. Settlers, supposedly the state’s allies, proved highly disruptive to state attempts to control the flow of information.
Through a social history of information in a settler colonial society, this research reconsiders the relationship between changes in media and people's sense of community. From the telegraph to the radio, new technologies worked to divide colonial society rather than tying it together, and the same medium could lead to divergent senses of community.

Advisor: McDougall, J