VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Criterion changes in relative discrimination tasks

The thesis begins with accounts of various models of discrimination and of previous studies of sequential effects. It is mainly concerned with the study of discriminations in serial response tasks in which the difficulty of the discriminations varies from trial to trial. All the experiments reported were concerned with the discrimination between two lines of different length which were presented simultaneously in a display. There were always two levels of difficulty of discrimination, which were mixed in random sequence.
The first two experiments demonstrated that the RT's to displays were affected by the average difficulty of the preceding displays ("local difficulty bias effect"). In Experiments 3, 4, 5 and 7 it was shown that the overall difficulty of a run of displays also affected the mean RT to all the displays in a run ("overall difficulty bias effect"). It was seen that the direction in which the RT's were affected by local difficulty bias was sometimes different from the direction of the effect of overall difficulty bias, suggesting that subjects may be aware of both local and overall average difficulty levels.
Experiments 4, 5 and 6 showed that instructions to be fast modified the effects of bias, but that instructions to be cautious did not increase the effect of bias. Experiment 7 investigated the effect of increasing the actual difference between the easy and difficult discriminations - but was rather inconclusive.
In Experiment 8 the RSI was varied and showed no major effect on local difficulty bias, showing that these effects were due to other factors than the time between trials. It also supported an hypothesis considered in earlier experiments that when a criterion is not being used (either during the interval between decisions, or while another criterion is being used) it will drift towards a value that will give rise to more cautious decisions.
When displays were easy to discriminate subjects were able to track their speed to the errors they made, but they were not able to do so when the discriminations were more difficult. Whether the displays were easy or difficult, subjects were able to track their speed to the average difficulty of the displays. In general, as the average difficulty of the displays increased ( as the proportion of difficult displays in a mixed run of easy and difficult displays increased ), so the mean RT of the immediately following displays became slower (local effect). It was suggested that subjects' adjustments in performance which were induced by difficulty bias or instructions could be explained by changes in the values of criteria.
The role of pH signalling in stomatal responses

The role of cytoplasmic pH in guard cell signal transduction was investigated in epidermal strips of Commelina communis.
The cytoplasmic pH of guard cells was measured by dual excitation ratio confocal laser scanning microscopy. Large transient alkalinisations occurred for up to 20 minutes both during closure, in response to ABA and calcium, and opening in response to IAA and fusicoccin. Therefore the direction of the pH change does not determine the direction stomatal movement in Commelina communis in contrast to previous reports in Paphiopedilum tonsum. Furthermore, CO2 caused a slow acidification during stomatal closure, indicating that pore movements are not always associated with a transient cytoplasmic alkalinisation.
The internal pH of guard cells was buffered by low concentrations of isobutyrate. Small reductions in stomatal closure in response to ABA and calcium were observed, however, responses to CO2, IAA and fusicoccin were unaltered. High levels of isobutyrate stimulated wide stomatal opening for all stimuli. Therefore manipulation of cytoplasmic pH only give limited support in the case of ABA and calcium that cytoplasmic pH changes are either necessary for or modulate stomatal movements.
The observed pH changes may therefore be a consequence of the mechanism underlying pore movement rather than genuine cytoplasmic signals per se, A model is described based on strong ion and weak acid chemistry which predicts that the observed pH transients result from changes in the concentrations of chloride and malate which charge balance the potassium fluxes during stomatal movements.
No suitable fluorescent indicator was found to measure pH in either the apoplast or vacuole. However the volume of the guard cell lumen, vacuole, nucleus and chloroplast were directly measured during stomatal movements and the cytoplasmic volume was calculated. These volumes were used to re-calculate compartmental pH and ion concentrations from previous reports.
Loans, bequests and taxes where abilities differ : a theoretical analysis using a two-ability model

Three problems that are associated with differences in abilities are investigated using a model with two ability groups.
The first concerns the capital market. With differing abilities which cannot be identified, lenders are unable to predict borrowers' outputs and hence whether they will default or not. The penalty for default is assumed to be that borrowers are in future unable to obtain loans. To enforce contracts it is therefore necessary for the current payment to be less than the value of future access to the capital market. It is shown that this implies lenders should make the payment for borrowing a share in the output since this enables them to receive the maximum amount obtainable from each borrower without precipitating default.
The second concerns the distribution of wealth and inheritance when there is an imperfect capital market. The only capital people can use is their own savings and inheritance; with differing abilities the productive capacity of the economy then depends on the distribution of wealth. One of the ability groups is much better than the other at organising production; they found, expand or maintain fortunes whereas the low ability individuals dissipate any inheritance they receive. The various types of equilibrium are categorised and the effect of inheritance taxation is considered. The latter is then compared with a wage tax. Either can plausibly be superior on the basis of the change in Rawlsian social welfare for a given yield.
The final problem concerns the redistribution of income by taxation. It is argued that if differences in abilities lead to people supplying different types of labour which are combined together to produce output, the endogeneity of wages may make a considerable difference to optimal linear tax rates. In this case there is not only the usual redistribution via the fiscal system but also redistribution via the production function. These may be reinforcing or opposing. It is shown that in plausible cases the production effect may outweigh the fiscal so that net redistribution to the poor involves a wage subsidy financed by a lump sum tax.
Lipid-protein interactions and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor function

The effect of bilayer composition, specifically the presence of cholesterol, upon the function of the reconstituted nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAcChoR) was investigated using stopped-flow fluorescence. The nAcChoR was purified and reconstituted from the electroplaques of Torpedo nobiliana, using affinity column chromatography, into bilayers of defined composition and the function of each sample assessed and compared with those of the native receptor.
Investigation of the effect of bilayer composition upon the kinetics of agonist binding to the nAcChoR, using the fluorescent acetylcholine analogue, Dns-C6-Cho, established that the receptor pre-existed in equilibrium between the resting and two desensitised states. However, Dns-C6-Cho inhibited channel gating at high concentrations and another fluorescent probe was sought.
The kinetics of carbachol induced nAcChoR conformational changes, reported by ethidium bromide (a non-competitive inhibitor) fluorescence, in native membranes were characterised and an assay developed to investigate whether cholesterol mediated rapid conformational changes in reconstituted samples. It was found that ethidium bromide reported on the carbachol-induced development of the fast desensitised state from the open channel state, and that this conformational change was sensitive to changes in bilayer composition. The onset of fast desensitisation from the open channel state was not observed when the receptor was reconstituted into DOPC or DOPC-DOPA bilayers. However, increasing the cholesterol content in these bilayers increased the amplitude of the component reporting this conformational change, while the observed rate at which it occurred was independent of bilayer cholesterol content. This result agrees with the suggestion that cholesterol facilitates channel opening and the onset of fast desensitisation by binding to specific sites on the nAcChoR and that these must be occupied for a functionally viable receptor (Jones and McNamee, 1988).
Deadlock and deadlock freedom

We introduce a number of techniques for establishing the deadlock freedom of concurrent systems. Our methods are based on the local analysis (or at worst a directed global analysis) of networks. We identify the relationships between these techniques and the range of their application within a framework of deadlock freedom types that we have defined. We also show that the problem of proving total correctness may be translated to one of proving deadlock freedom, with the consequence that our techniques for proving deadlock freedom may be utilised to effect a total correctness proof.
Laboratory studies of halogen-containing and organic species of atmospheric importance

This thesis describes laboratory studies of the kinetics of some reactions of atmospheric significance. The species of interest were Cl atoms, IO radicals and several organic compounds. In particular, the chemistry of acetone and the acetonylperoxy radical was investigated. These species are of importance in the troposphere and the stratosphere, where they may influence the concentrations of HOx, NOx and O3.
The experiments were performed using low-pressure discharge-flow tubes coupled to a variety of detection techniques, including conventional methods such as resonance fluorescence (RF) and electron-impact mass spectrometry (EEVIS). However, much of the thesis is concerned with the development of techniques that offer a greater sensitivity and selectivity, namely, laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and chemical-ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS).
The reactions of Cl atoms with acetone and butanone were monitored with Cl RF. The study of the former reaction was extended in order to obtain information about the chemistry of the acetonylperoxy radical. IO was observed with LIF. This work involved the first reported coupling of IO LIF to a discharge-flow tube. The system was shown to be a suitable method by which to study reactions of IO. The results of these investigations demonstrate that reaction with Cl and IO may be an important sink for several organic compounds in the marine boundary layer.
The design, construction and commissioning of the EIMS system is described. The apparatus was used in an attempt to follow the self-reaction of the acetonylperoxy radical by monitoring the products. The complications that arose during the study illustrated the need for a more versatile form of MS. It was decided to convert the instrument to a CMS system that would allow direct observation of the peroxy radical. The construction of two ion sources, one employing a cartridge of polonium-210 and the other a simple discharge, as well as an electrostatic ion guide, is described. The discharge source was shown to be better suited to the low-pressure conditions.
Investigations of short-pulse ultraviolet laser interactions with gas targets

This thesis presents investigations of interactions of a 380 fs, 248.6 nm KrF laser beam focused to intensities up to 1018 W/cm2 with gas targets of Helium and Neon. At these intensities, the targets are rapidly ionised by the process of optical field ionisation. The purpose of these investigations is two-fold. Firstly, we determine the relative importance of plasma heating mechanisms and investigate the scaling of electron temperature with density to ascertain whether an optically-ionised XUV recombination laser, utilising the 3s-2p transition in a Lithium-like ion, is viable. Such a laser requires, for the case of Neon, the production of very cold (<50 eV) electron temperatures at electron densities of the order of 5 x 1020 cm-3 , and optical-ionisation to the Helium-like stage of Neon (Ne8+). The results are compared and contrasted to computer simulations of the electron temperature. Secondly, we investigate the process of harmonic generation. We show that, contrary to commonly held beliefs, it is possible to generate shorter harmonic wavelengths from ions using a short wavelength laser than from atoms using longer wavelengths. We also show high harmonic generation efficiencies from neutral Helium at lower intensities (~1015 W/cm2) away from the laser focus. The results are compared to, and found to be matched well by, simulations which predict the single atom/ion harmonic response.
The independent form : Henry James's criticism of the novel

The thesis provides a comprehensive survey of James's criticism and the introduction briefly outlines its contribution in supplementing and correcting studies of single aspects. The first chapter, 'The Young Reviewer', deals with James's criticism before his move to Europe. It shows the close relationship between James's prescriptive approach and the crusading, nationalistic idealism of his editors, and examines both the traditionality and the originality of James's analytic method. By analysing James's reviews of other critics, it establishes his developing critical principle of flexible eclecticism, derived largely from Sainte-Beuve. The second chapter, 'James and French Realism', examines James's complex relationship with his French contemporaries, his concern to modify their formalism by moral evaluation and his search for a compromise between real and ideal. Though suggesting that there were aspects of French realism to which James remained blind, it emphasises his growing tolerance of other methods, exemplified in his 1902 essay on Zola, but suggests, too, the deep-rooted mistrust of simplistic naturalism which made James dissatisfied with Zola's theory. The third chapter, 'English Controversies', examines further this ambivalent view of realism, in the context of James's relationships with Besant, Howells, Stevenson and Wells, and his growing view of the novel as the formal realisation of an individual perception. It stresses the originality of tnis formalism in the context of English criticism, but also the continuity between James's early idealism and later belief that art 'makes life'. Though some of James's late criticise is narrowly defensive, his major critical contribution is his fertile, creative understanding of fictional problems and the last chapter, 'The Legacy of the Prefaces', emphasises this aspect rather than his justification of point of view. James is both formalist and moralist: his intelligent eclecticism, exactly suited to the protean novel, makes it unwise to force him into any rigid critical category.
The economic relations between Nazi Germany and Franco Spain, 1936-1945

During the course of the Spanish Civil War Nazi Germany's intervention on behalf of General Francisco Franco and his fellow insurgents became increasingly dominated by economic considerations. National Socialist policies vis-à-vis Nationalist Spain developed into a programme of large-scale economic exploitation. Under the command of Hermann Goring two companies were founded in Spain in late July 1936 (HISMA) and in Berlin in early October 1936 (ROWAK) to take control not only of National Socialist supply operations for Franco but also of the whole economic relationship between Nazi Germany and Nationalist Spain. During the course of the civil war HISMA/ROWAK managed to alter the trading pattern between Spain and Germany away from mainly fruit imports towards a substantial increase in raw material supplies. As British companies controlled most of the pyrite and iron ore mines of Spain and were therefore directly affected by Franco's redirection of ore exports to Germany, this development was challenged by the British government. The Nazi regime was only partly successful in reducing non-German economic influence in Spain. Aware of the temporary nature of Franco's dependence on German war matériel, Hermann Goring initiated the MONTANA project in 1937 to build up a German-owned mining empire in Spain. While the purchase of Spanish mines by HISMA/ROWAK was reluctantly accepted by Franco in late 1938, the Nazi regime was left with very little time to proceed even further with its economic "colonization" of Spain. The outbreak of war in September 1939 put an effective halt to German-Spanish economic relations until the defeat of France in summer 1940 led to a reopening of rail links to Spain. Subsequent - unsuccessful - negotiations on a Spanish entry into the war were dominated by economic considerations. From 1941 onwards an increasing trade and clearing imbalance developed in favour of Spain. Germany was desperate to import certain goods from Spain, particularly wolfram ore, a vital raw material for German armaments producers. Yet, the Allied economic warfare campaign in Spain led to huge price increases and during the period 1942 to 1944 the Nazi regime found itself forced to export growing amounts of war matériel to Spain. The Allied invasion of France in 1944 finally led to the effective end of German-Spanish trade relations, although both regimes tried to maintain them until Hitler's final defeat.
Ecological parasitism of baboons and lions

This thesis investigates the epidemiology of intestinal parasites in wild populations of two social animals, olive baboons (Papio anubis) in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, East-Africa, and lions (Panthera leo) in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro-Crater, Tanzania. These populations have been observed for over 20 years and detailed information on individual hosts was available for analysis with the parasitological data allowing to address questions about the relationship of host genetics and social behaviour to parasite infection.
The baboons were infected with seven different helminths as well as two types of protozoans. Fifteen morphologically different parasites were found in the lions. All baboons and almost all lions were parasitized. Parasite distribution in both host species was overdispersed. Spatial differences in parasite infection in the baboons and lions emerged as the strongest effect on heterogeneity of infection. Parasites of both host species showed seasonal and temporal variation. Parasite-parasite associations did not appear to have a strong impact on overall patterns of infection in either baboons or lions. Across all parasite taxa, age (with one exception in baboons), sex, reproductive status and group size had little significant influence on parasite burden. For baboons age-prevalence and age-severity profiles resembled those for the same parasites in humans. Correlations between baboon social rank and parasite burden were equivocal. Parasite infection was not correlated with size of baboon female genital swelling. Two lion populations were compared, an inbred and an outbred. Only one parasite, Spirometra spp., had a significantly higher prevalence in the inbred population, contrary to expectations.
Results of this study suggest that any effects on levels of infection in these wild populations due to social behaviour, genetics, sex and reproductive effort may be masked by the stronger influence of environmental and/or behavioural components of exposure, at least in the short term. This implies that the importance of factors such as genetics or social behaviour on infection may not always be apparent and may be dependent on the details of the local ecology of both host and parasite at the time the system is studied.
The printed transmission of lyrics in Italy from 1470 to 1530 : the book of verse

The present work catalogues, describes and discusses the production in print of vernacular poetry in Italy from the editio princeps of Petrarch's Canzoniere (1470), to Bernbo's Rime (1530).
The chronoloqical span considered encompasses radical transformations which took place in the world of literature, and which regarded both questions of text-transmission (the passage from script to print and the establishment of a sound printing trade) and literary transformations stricto sensu: the birth of a vernacular Literature, of a vernacular Language and of vernacular literary genres.
The thesis investigates the typographic development of the book of verse, to see how it affected the nature and contents or the texts carried and ultimately also the definition of the canzoniere genre as the privileged, "official" form of writing poetry. Attention is focused both on the letter and structure of the texts and on the bibliographical environment in which they travelled. The thesis is therefore divided into two parts: Part one Writing and printing vernacular verses: towards the definition of a literary genre, discusses the production of vernacular poetry in the fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century in its historical context and in the forms of its production. collection and publication. Part two: The book as a material object, deals more directly with bibliographical questions.
A Short-title Catalogue of all the book of verse printed in Italy in Italian vernacular between 1470 and 1530 and a Descriptive Catalogue, providing the bibliographical descriptions of roughly half of the editions listed in the Short-title Catalogue appear at the end of Part one and Part two respectively. The work is completed by a Chronological index of the editions and by an Index of printers and printing centres.
The theory of parity non-conservation in atoms

In this thesis we are concerned with calculating the parity non-conserving (PNC) E1 transition matrix elements for the caesium 6s1⁄2 → 7s1⁄2 transition and the thallium 6p1⁄2 → 7p1⁄2 and 6p1⁄2 → 6p3⁄2 transitions using the Equations of Motion (EOM) formalism. We add the weak interaction Hamiltonian to derive the PNC EOM. Taking a subset of the EOM terms gives the Random Phase Approximation equations and their PNC counterpart. Solving these, we obtain good agreement with similar calculations by other groups.
In order to estimate correlation effects we use a parameterised semi-empirical potential which is adjusted to give the best fit with experimental data for the valence and excited state energy levels. Including the potential in the EOM and PNC EOM gives us very accurate values for the parity conserving transitions. For the PNC transitions we obtain
Caesium 6s1⁄2 → 7s1⁄2 0.895 (1±0.03) × 10-11 (-iea0QW/N)
Thallium 6p1⁄2 → 7p1⁄2 -7.85 (1±0.05) × 10-11 (-iea0QW/N)
Thallium 6p1⁄2 → 6p3⁄2 -28.4 (1±0.07) × 10-11 (-iea0QW/N)
These are in very good agreement with the most extensive Many-Body Perturbation Theory calculations performed. Using our value for the caesium transition matrix element and the latest experimental results gives a value of QW = ~ 71.8 ± 1.8 ± 2.1 where the first error is experimental and the second is theoretical. This corresponds to a value of the standard model sin2ΘW = 0.230 ± 0.009 which is to be compared with the current world average value of 0.230 ± 0.005.
We investigate the single particle EOM terms that were not included in the above calculation and find that they are concerned with the Exclusion Principle violating terms that are implicitly included in an RPA calculation. Other terms represent the valence contribution to certain two particle effects. Since the main two particle terms have not been included however, these correction terms do not lead to a significant increase in the accuracy of the calculation.