VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Anisotropy and spin relaxation in the condensed phase

Chapter 1 introduces the concept of spin, how spins interact, and how the spin state in a radical pair can affect the outcome of a chemical reaction between the unpaired electrons. The computational methodology for simulating such radical pairs is also discussed.
Chapter 2 discusses anisotropy in the singlet recombination yield of a radical pair in a carotenoid-porphyrin-fullerene triad, containing many hyperfine couplings. The singlet yield was calculated as a function of the direction of an applied magnetic field, using symmetry in the molecule to reduce the size of the problem. The symmetry reduction was partially successful, however it was not possible to include all the hyperfine couplings in the molecule.
Chapter 3 introduces a radical pair located on a flavin ligand and a tryptophan residue in the protein cryptochrome, and discusses the spin-relaxation mechanism of singlet-triplet dephasing. Magnetic field effect curves, describing the formation of a secondary radical pair as a function of applied magnetic field, were found to be broader in longer-lived radical pairs, due to dephasing caused by spin-selective recombination to the singlet ground state. Additional singlet-triplet dephasing may occur due to hopping of one of the unpaired electrons, between a zone of strong exchange interaction and a zone of negligible exchange interaction, although this is an incomplete description of the spin-relaxation.
Chapter 4 discusses the effect of rotational tumbling on spin-relaxation in the flavin-tryptophan radical pair in cryptochrome. Simulations indicated that the resulting modulation of anisotropic hyperfine couplings contributed modestly to spinrelaxation during transient absorption measurements, but was insufficient to explain the lack of an experimental low-field effect, or to explain the width of the experimental magnetic field effect curves as a function of magnetic field strength.
Chapter 5 discusses magnetic field effects on the mutual annihilation of a pair of triplet excitons in tetracene and anthracene crystals. The experimental singlet recombination yield was found, for the first time, to be modulated as a function of the direction of a applied magnetic field as weak as 2 mT. Simulations indicated that this anisotropy arose due to the zero field splitting of the electronic state in each triplet exciton. The direction of the external magnetic field altered the singlet component of the eigenstates of the Hamiltonian, and therefore altered the timeaverage of the singlet probability of a triplet exciton pair. This is different to the already established mechanism under a strong magnetic field, where the anisotropy arises from level crossings of eigenstates.

Keywords: photolyase
cryptochrome
tetracene
anthracene
radical pair
triplet exciton
Advisor: Hore, P
Protecting the rights of consumers - clickwrap contracts and direct-to-consumer genetic testing

This thesis examines the regulation of the direct-to-consumer genetic testing industry through analysis of the industry’s use of wrap contracts (clickwrap and browsewrap), A significant portion of the thesis consists of a comparative document review of the publicly available wrap contracts of DTCGT companies provided tests for health purposes. It also considers other regulatory responses to date. Due to the lack of industry specific regulation it argues that the use of wrap contracts can be viewed as a means of industry self-regulation and a form of private legislation. This means that governance is skewed heavily in favour of companies and it creates an imbalance in the respective rights and obligations of the parties – company and consumer – which is likely to result in consumer detriment. It is argued that certain types of terms commonly include in DTCGT contracts, including: unilateral variation clauses; some exclusion clauses; choice of law clauses; indemnity; and consent clauses are likely to be deemed unfair and unenforceable under UK law. It recommends that in the short-term the Competition and Markets Authority should undertake a compliance review of DTCGT contracts in order to improving contracts for consumers. In the long term, companies should also be complying with data protection law, as well as legislation on medical devices and the provisions of the Human Tissue Act and there may be a need for industry specific legislation.

Keywords: direct-to-consumer genetic testing
genetic information
consumer protection
browsewrap contract
clickwrap contract
Electoral rules and legislative behaviour: cross-national micro-level evidence from the Bundestag and the UK House of Commons, 2005-2015

This thesis presents a new approach to the long-standing question of how electoral rules influence the behaviour of legislators. It begins with the argument that fresh empirical advances can be made by moving beyond the pervasive but rigid assumption that all legislators want to be re-elected and, by extension, that every incumbent values this goal to the same degree. Rather, I propose that individual Members of Parliament (MPs) vary in the extent to which they personally desire or depend upon re-election. Following the principles of a difference-in-differences design, this observation allows me to devise a theoretical framework capable of testing whether MPs' vote-seeking behaviour differs within parliaments in a way that varies predictably across countries. Specifically, I propose that in electoral systems where party-centric behaviour increases re-election chances, MPs particularly invested in the goal of re-election should cater to the party to an even greater extent than their colleagues. Conversely, in systems where a personal vote can generate electoral gains, MPs most ambitious for re-election should engage in this type of vote-winning strategy to the greatest extent. I test this prediction across the UK House of Commons and the German Bundestag, and within Germany's mixed-member system. Newly-collected biographical data on over 1700 MPs is used to conduct the first systematic MP-level operationalisation of re-election ambition based on legislators' career backgrounds. Career politicians are thereby identified as those most ambitious for re-election. Using voting behaviour from 1.8 million vote choices in legislative roll-calls as a proxy for the degree to which an MP caters to the party or to his or her personal reputation, the quantitative multilevel analysis reveals strong evidence for the proposed behavioural pattern. The contribution made by this study is two-fold. First, it uncovers the interaction between electoral rules and individual re-election ambition as a new explanation for MP-level variation in legislative behaviour. Second, its research design overcomes shortcomings in previous empirical tests for the existing theory on how electoral rules impact MP behaviour (e.g. Carey and Shugart 1995), producing more robust evidence in support of this influential framework.

Keywords: Electoral System Design
Roll-call Voting
Legislative Studies
House of Commons
Quantitative Research Methods
German Bundestag
Electoral Studies
Advisor: Zubek, R
Assembling Egypt's business-state relations: cosmopolitan capital and international networks of exclusion, 2003-2016

This dissertation argues that conventional analysis of business-state relations fails to capture the nuances of networks shaping Egypt's neoliberal reform experience. Instead, it posits that both the 'business-state' and 'domestic-international' divides should be reconsidered—with categories better understood based on the nature of individuals' socio-economic capital (Bourdieu 1986). I argue that only by using such a framework can we make visible insidious forms of resource capture and economic exclusion.
On the macro-level, this dissertation tells a story of elite resource capture that occurred alongside Egypt’s experience of economic liberalization. While particular attention is paid to reforms of the 2000s, I also trace developments to roots laid by international partnerships and platforms established during the first IMF-led reform project of the Mubarak era in the 1990s.
On the micro-level, this is a story of some of the central networks of 'globalizers' (Springborg and Henry 2010)—or individuals who rose to become chief mediators for internationally funded initiatives to empower Egypt's 'private sector.' I examine their ascent in the industrial policy-making space during the tenure of the first businessman cabinet member, Rashid Mohammed Rashid (2004-2011). I focus on the role of these networks in capturing the central 'business development' programs initiated alongside the reforms of the 2000s, which I argue served as platforms for accessing both immediate rent streams, as well as for shaping industrial policies to gain future rents.
I then follow a handful of these individuals as they secure one highly controversial industrial policy: the Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) trade agreement between Egypt, Israel and the US. In particular, I highlight the web of individuals and organizations mobilized in the process, providing close examination of the small cohort standing at the center of negotiations. I draw from targeted interviews and participant observation conducted over three years of fieldwork and triangulate findings with printed sources including corporate press releases, leaked US embassy cables and evaluations by international development organizations.

Advisor: Armbrust, W
China-India rivalry and the border war of 1962:  PRC perspectives on the collapse of China-India relations, 1958-62

After Indian Independence in 1947 and the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, China and India began a period of friendship and cooperation, leading to the Bandung Conference in 1955 and the declaration of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in 1954. Just under a decade later, however, the two new nations were at war in the Himalayas. This thesis examines Chinese views of India as the relationship collapsed between 1958-62, culminating in the China-India Border War of 1962. While much of the current literature argues that the collapse of China-India relations was driven by a territorial dispute in the Himalayas, or by a conflict of interests over the Himalayan region, this thesis aims to widen our understanding of China's view of India during these years, demonstrating that CCP leaders and officials saw India as a comprehensive threat to the PRC, and that India loomed much larger in the early PRC worldview than is generally understood. After examining the periods between 1950-53 and 1954-57, during which the two new nations defined their policies towards one another and began their attempted friendship, this thesis will focus on three core arguments in order to shed light on the years of collapse. First, that the CCP saw India as a threat to the core values of the PRC and to the project of creating a 'New China'. Second, that the CCP saw India as a threat to its international agenda, particularly in Asia and Africa. Third, that the CCP saw India as actively working with both the United States and Soviet Union against the PRC, as the two superpowers competed for influence in India, heightening the threat that India posed. As such, this thesis will argue that CCP leaders and officials viewed India as a comprehensive threat overall, much beyond the border dispute. In doing so, this thesis aims to widen our understanding of China's view of India during these years in which relations rose and fell, and to help to explain India's importance to the early PRC.

Advisor: Harrison, H
Mitter, R
Perceptions of institutions of justice: comparative study in English and Russian lower courts

This dissertation examines how ordinary people in England and Russia form their perceptions of legal institutions in their experiences with lower courts. This work is based on a qualitative study involving interviews and observations in county and magistrates' courts in England and courts of Justices of the Peace in Russia, a number of focus groups with the court users and the judges, as well as a variety of secondary sources. The goal of this study is to investigate the inner workings of the English and Russian legal cultures through the analysis of stable attitudes towards legal institutions and their interplay with the people's perceptions of their individual experiences. My examination of these complex sets of ideas and images includes the analysis of people's preconceptions about institutions of justice, people's perceptions of administrative and procedural models, their interaction with court administration and legal professionals, and evaluations of the final outcomes of their cases. I argue that perceptions of legal institutions even at the lowest level are linked to the traditional images of courts in the Russian and English societies. The perceived position of legal institutions within the framework of the state, i.e. the level of their independence and impartiality, is one of the leading factors that shape people's long-standing attitudes of trust in legal institutions. The availability of administrative and procedural mechanisms that create and reinforce perceptions of transparency, equality, and reliability of legal institutions in people's everyday experiences contributes to the creation of stable attitudes of institutional trust. People’s perceptions of the English and Russian lower courts reflect how ordinary citizens see the law and the institutions of justice in their countries, and how they perceive their own ability to obtain justice with the use of official legal mechanisms. These perceptions reveal the underlying relationships between people, law, and legal institutions in different societies and, therefore, contribute to our understanding of legal cultures.

Keywords: comparative legal culture
legal culture
Russian courts
Advisor: Kurkchiyan, M
Central nervous system autoimmunity in neuropsychiatric disorders

The recent history of autoimmune neurology is marked by the discovery of many central nervous system (CNS) antibody-mediated diseases. These disorders are caused by antibodies that target important proteins expressed in the neuronal surface, which are believed to be directly pathogenic. These antibodies are immunoglobulin G (IgG) isotype and, as such, have the potential to cross the placenta during gestation. Foetal exposure to CNS-targeting antibodies could alter developing neuronal circuits, leading to disease. However, the consequences of exposure to these antibodies during neurodevelopment has hardly been considered. To study the relationship between maternal antibodies towards neuronal surface proteins and neurodevelopmental disorders in the foetus a dual approach was undertaken. First, pregnancy serum samples from mothers of children later diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder and from mothers of children with typical development were screened for the presence of neuronal surface antibodies. Next, the effects of pathogenic neuronal surface antibodies in the offspring were assessed in a maternal-to-foetal transfer mouse model. Antibodies to neuronal surface proteins in the gestational serum, particularly CASPR2 antibodies, were found to associate with an increased risk of mental retardation and disorders of psychological development in the progeny. The animal model showed that mice exposed in utero to CASPR2 antibodies have long term behavioural sequelae and histological findings suggestive of abnormalities in brain development.
These findings support a model in which maternal antibodies towards foetal neuronal proteins cause long-term behavioural deficits and permanent abnormalities at the cellular and synaptic level in a subset of children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Keywords: Autoantibodies
Neurodevelopmental disorders
animal model
Advisor: Vincent, A
Harrison, P
Investigating the active role of mechanical force during T-cell activation

The role of mechanical force has gained increasing interest in the field of cell biology owing to the realisation that cells are continually subject to stresses and strains induced by the cellular environment. Cells are known to be able to sense and react to forces imposed on them by their local environment as well as being able to directly impart force during motility, adhesion and cell division. This is also true for cells of the adaptive immune system, specifically during the intimate cell-cell interaction occurring between the T-cell and Antigen Presenting Cell (APC), known as the Immunological Synapse (IS). This highly selective process by which a T cell is able to bind, recognise and react to only foreign antigens has been the focus of intense study due to its crucial importance in the adaptive immune response. The actin cytoskeleton is known to play an essential role in the formation and maintenance of the IS, but questions remain regarding the influence of forces generated by actin during this process. With the aim of measuring mechanical force generated at the IS, we present a novel method combining the super resolution imaging technique, Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) microscopy and Traction Force Microscopy (TFM). Using the tunable kinetics of the 1G4 Jurkat T-cell system in combination with high spatial and temporal resolution microscopy we demonstrate that actin dynamics at the IS is antigen dependent and show by TFM that force generation occurs on two distinct time scales during activation, mediated by the actin cytoskeleton. Together, the results highlight the intimate links between the dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton, force generation and the antigen response of T cells during activation.

Advisor: Fritzsche, M
Eggeling, C
Consumer engagement with microblogs: the role of the social CEO

This research aims to draw the attention of both marketing practitioners and academics to the potentially influential role of CEOs as ambassadors of their firms on social media. In particular, using a mixed methods approach, the study explores the ways in which CEOs use microblogs in dialogue with consumers, and measures the marketing effectiveness of such efforts. The main objective is to understand how different microblogging factors work to influence consumer engagement, thereby identifying the microblogging style of corporate executives that is most likely to result in the greatest customer engagement.
Through investigating how CEOs use microblogs in engaging consumers, the study addresses two main research question: "How should consumer engagement be conceptualized, defined, and measured in a microblogging context?" and "How do specific individual (e.g. firm, consumer) factors effect and/or interact to generate particular consumer engagement levels with a CEO microblog?".
This study makes three specific contributions to the emergent research area on consumer experience and behaviour within an interactive social media environment. First, by providing a comprehensive conceptualization of consumer engagement in a microblogging context. Secondly, by developing and implementing a scale to more effectively measure consumer engagement with a CEO's microblog, and finally by identifying and testing various consumer - and firm - related engagement antecedents. The study's research findings also offer clear prescriptions for strategic marketing communicators in designing effective microblogging strategies to capitalize on the capabilities of social media in engaging consumers.

Advisor: Reynolds, J
Stephen, A
A coming of age: drama at St John’s college, Oxford in the early modern period

In charting the remarkable rise of St John's College, Oxford, from struggling, new-born foundation in 1555 to spectacular host of King Charles and Queen Henrietta in 1636, I demonstrate how the theatrical tradition developed by the community of St John’s men negotiated and articulated their college's political and economic transformation. My research has uncovered the centrality of drama to college life and the fundamental significance of collegiate identity and tradition to the university men, showing that if we are to build a synoptic view of 'university drama' in early modern England, we must construct it from an understanding of 'college drama'.

Deep into the eighteenth century the culture of Latin writing and speaking at Oxford and Cambridge continued to shape all aspects of life in the academies, and yet it is the comparatively few plays written in English which have received the most attention, leading to a distorted view of the university drama. My approach is to restore the neglected Latin sources to their rightful place at the heart of the investigation and, by providing a combination of close textual analysis and translation, to push forward their integration into the mainstream of English Renaissance theatre criticism.

Chapter 1 examines the intercollegiate networks which supported St John's College in the early days of its development as a centre for drama, highlighting Christ Church’s role as an older, richer sibling to its up-and-coming rival. Chapter 2 analyses the communal function of the college drama, demonstrating that, although each performance was the creative work of individual writers and performers, it relied upon the investment of the college membership as a whole. In Chapter 3 I highlight the influence which changing practices in student recruitment had on the pedagogical and theatrical culture of the community over time, identifying the particular impact of the 'Mulcaster generation' on St John's at the turn of the seventeenth century. Chapter 4 connects drama, politics, and religion to show how ambitious alumni such as Archbishop-Chancellor William Laud used the college stage to test and groom potential protégés; students proving themselves before peers, patrons, and sometimes even royalty, performed a rite of passage which enhanced their career prospects.

Advisor: Poole, W
Bate, J
Uncertainty in climate response to carbon dioxide and implications for mitigation policy

Global mean surface air temperature (GMST) change, due to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, is a fundamental measure of human induced climate change and its associated impacts. Estimates of the magnitude of GMST response to a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide (equilibrium climate sensitivity or ECS) remains uncertain over a broad range between 1.5-4.5K. Expected economic damages associated with climate change are strongly sensitive to this broad uncertainty, creating challenges in constructing mitigation policies to limit peak warming.
In this thesis I explore uncertainty in the climate response through two methods. I show that potential constraints on the climate response using observations of a recent decade and planetary energy balance models are consistent with a low climate response that is not sampled by multi-model or perturbed physics ensembles of general circulation models (GCMs). I therefore subsequently set out to explore the physicality of the lower bound of climate response uncertainty in GCMs by conducting an emulator-driven perturbed physics ensemble search for low ECS models. I find a set of GCMs with ECS between 1.5K and 2K, driven primarily by negative feedbacks in tropical low cloud with GMST warming. Achieving low ECS is associated with reduced simulation fidelity relative to the standard version of the GCM, but fidelity reductions are judged to be insufficient to assuredly rule out an ECS between 1.5-2K in the real climate system.
This experiment highlights the difficulty in further reducing climate response uncertainty in the near future. I therefore propose a new framing of mitigation policy that focuses on using physical methods to index the future evolution of policy variables to emergent climate change. Such a framing could lead to adaptive mitigation policies, aimed at limiting peak warming, that are demonstrably more robust under currently irreducible physical climate response uncertainty than conventional mitigation scenarios.

Advisor: Allen, M
Ingram, W
Lowe, J