VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Self-presentation in Ramessid Egypt

Elite self-presentation through the biographical genre is a defining element of ancient Egyptian high culture from the Old Kingdom until the Roman period. My thesis centres on the biographical texts produced during the Ramessid period (c. 1280-1070 BCE), a time of significant change in elite domains of representation. Since biography has not been seen as a significant genre of this period, these texts, which are inscribed on statues, stelae, temple walls, and in tombs, have not been gathered together or studied as a corpus. Yet they are a key to exploring the diverse and highly individual ways in which a self could be fashioned and presented. I take a holistic approach to the interpretation of these texts, in order to examine the ways in which they were incorporated into their spatial and visual settings and could extend beyond them.
My introduction sets out my aims and the broader anthropological framework which I apply to the Egyptian sources. The following four chapters are case-studies. Chapters two to four are organised according to site (Thebes and el-Mashayikh, Karnak, and Abydos), comparing strategies of self-presentation in tomb and temple contexts. The fourth is thematically oriented, and looks at the image and role of the king in non-royal biographies. In the final chapter, I draw together the results of my individual case-studies, discussing their common textual themes, the interplays of traditional and innovative motifs within them, as well as the implications of their diverse monumental contexts.
I hope to demonstrate that the holistic approach I apply is relevant for the study of monumental discourse in other periods in Egyptian history and has the potential to locate the Egyptian material within broader frameworks for the study of premodern societies.

Advisor: Baines, J
Molecular and structural characterisation of the human Fibrillin-1 N-C terminal interaction

Fibrillins are modular, disulphide-rich glycoproteins that assemble into microfibrils in the extracellular matrix (ECM). These microfibrils are critical structural elements of many non-elastic and elastic connective tissues. They also regulate the availability of transforming growth factor-β signalling molecules in the ECM. Defects in microfibrils are associated with acquired and inherited connective tissue disorders. In particular, mutations in the human FBN1 gene, which encodes fibrillin-1, are associated with a spectrum of diseases, including Marfan syndrome (MFS).
One of the proposed initial steps in microfibril assembly is the interaction between the N- and C-terminal regions of fibrillin monomers. The minimal regions of human fibrillin-1 required for an interaction in vitro were previously identified: the four N-terminal domains, from the fibrillin unique N-terminal (FUN) domain to the third epidermal growth factor-like (EGF) domain (FUN-EGF3), and the three C-terminal calcium-binding EGF-like (cbEGF) domains (cbEGF41-43). Here, fragments corresponding to these regions were produced and shown to interact in pull-down and surface plasmon resonance assays. In addition, the structure of the FUN-EGF3 fragment was determined using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This showed the novel structure of the FUN domain and the interdomain interfaces in this region of fibrillin.
Combining structural and sequence conservation data may help to identify regions of FUN-EGF3 important for binding to cbEGF41-43. Here, the interaction was probed by site-directed mutagenesis. However, substituting individual residues in FUN-EGF3 with alanine did not abrogate binding to cbEGF41-43. Three MFS-associated residue substitutions were also introduced into the FUN-EGF3 fragment. While they did not abolish the interaction with cbEGF41-43, they did cause misfolding. Two of these substitutions, N57D and W71R, also resulted in the defective secretion of a larger N-terminal fragment by fibroblast cells, suggesting a potential mechanism of disease pathogenesis. Although specific residues involved in the N-C interaction were not identified here, the FUN-EGF3 structure will be vital for understanding the molecular surfaces involved in microfibril assembly and growth factor binding.

Keywords: N-terminus
Fibrillin
microfibril assembly
elastic fibre
extracellular matrix
structure
Advisor: Handford, P
Redfield, C
Momentary immortality: Greek praise poetry and the rhetoric of the extraordinary

This thesis takes as its starting point current views on the relationship between man and god in Archaic and Classical Greek literature, according to which mortality and immortality are primarily temporal concepts and, therefore, mutually exclusive. This thesis aims to show that this mutual exclusivity between mortality and immortality is emphasised only in certain poetic genres, while others, namely those centred on extraordinary achievements or exceptional moments in the life of a mortal, can reduce the temporal notion of immortality and emphasise instead the happiness, success, and undisturbed existence that characterise divine life. Here, the paradox of momentary immortality emerges as something attainable to mortals in the poetic representation of certain occasions. The chapters of this thesis pursue such notions of momentary immortality in the wedding ceremony, as presented through wedding songs, in celebrations for athletic victory, as presented through the epinician, and at certain stages of the tragic plot. In the chapter on the wedding song, the discussion focuses on explicit comparisons between the beauty of bride and bridegroom and that of heroes or gods, and between their happiness and divine bliss. The chapter on the epinician analyses the parallelism between the achievement of victory and the exploits of mythical heroes, and argues for a parallelism between the victory celebration and immortalisation. Finally, the chapter on tragedy examines how characters are perceived as godlike because of their beauty, success, or power, and discusses how these perceptions are exploited by the tragedians for certain effects. By examining features of a rhetoric of praise, this thesis is not concerned with the beliefs or expectations of the author, the recipient of praise, or the surrounding milieu. It rather intends to elucidate how moments conceived of as extraordinary are communicated in poetry.

Keywords: Greek comedy
Greek tragedy
hymenaeus
Greek lyric poetry
Pindar
Greek religion
immortality
Sappho
epinician
wedding song
Advisor: Hutchinson, G
Domestic counter-terrorism in a global context: a comparison of legal and political structures and cultures in Canada and the United Kingdom’s counter-terrorism policy-making

Although both Canada and the United Kingdom had experienced terrorism prior to the attacks that occurred in the United States on September 11, 2001, Roach has argued that the events of that day ‘produced a horrible natural experiment that allows us to compare how international institutions and different countries responded’. Arguably, the most significant international response post-9/11 was the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373, which set a 90-day deadline for states to implement measures in accordance with the Resolution.
Despite the fact that both Canada and the United Kingdom already had in place extensive provisions to deal with terrorism, both countries responded swiftly and their legislative responses reflect the histories and legal, political and social cultures of each country. This thesis tests the hypothesis that national security remains a bastion of national sovereignty, despite the force of international legal instruments like UN Security Council Resolution 1373 and, as such, the evolution of counter-terrorism policies in different jurisdictions is best analyzed and understood as a product of local institutional structures and cultures.
To test this hypothesis, this thesis engages in comparative analyses of legal and political structures and cultures within Canada and the United Kingdom. It analyses variations in the evolution of counter-terrorism policies in the two jurisdictions and explores the domestic reasons for them. In its analysis of security certificates and bail with recognizance/investigative hearings in Canada, and detention without trial, control orders and TPIMs in the UK, this thesis reveals how domestic structures and cultures, including the legal system, the relative stability of government, local human rights culture, and geopolitical relationships all influence how counter-terrorism measures evolve.

Keywords: security
criminal law
Canada
United Kingdom
human rights
anti-terrorism
international law
Advisor: Zedner, L
The worship of clay images in Bengal

The thesis examines the contemporary Bengali practice of worshipping clay images. By clay is understood 'unbaked' clay. The thesis makes a distinction between 'baked clay' (terracotta) images and 'unbaked' clay (terracruda) images and examines the preference for worshipping terracruda images.
The worship of clay images is examined within the context of image worship in general in India, referring to the classical iconographical canons and other texts in which clay is mentioned as a suitable medium for the making of religious icons. The study is restricted to the Hindu religion. The thesis does not restrict itself to a purely iconographical approach.
The thesis discusses the artistic tradition that gave rise to the clay images of Bengal,as well as attempting to understand the religious significance of the images. In tracing the tradition, the author has used vernacular sources as well as early records of travellers. In describing the contemporary technique of clay image making, the author has relied on recorded interviews and photo-documentation taken during a three month period of fieldwork in West Bengal.
The thesis establishes that there has been a tradition of worshipping clay images in Bengal that is at least two centuries old and suggests that there are earlier precedents for the tradition. It also concludes that it is a strongly regional tradition that developed in Bengal and influenced the neighbouring states of Bihar, Assam and Orissa. The worship of terracruda images in Bengal is a regional practice that is the product of both classical and 'folk' influences.
Accurate telemonitoring of Parkinson’s disease symptom severity using nonlinear speech signal processing and statistical machine learning

This study focuses on the development of an objective, automated method to extract clinically useful information from sustained vowel phonations in the context of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The aim is twofold: (a) differentiate PD subjects from healthy controls, and (b) replicate the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) metric which provides a clinical impression of PD symptom severity. This metric spans the range 0 to 176, where 0 denotes a healthy person and 176 total disability. Currently, UPDRS assessment requires the physical presence of the subject in the clinic, is subjective relying on the clinical rater’s expertise, and logistically costly for national health systems. Hence, the practical frequency of symptom tracking is typically confined to once every several months, hindering recruitment for large-scale clinical trials and under-representing the true time scale of PD fluctuations.
We develop a comprehensive framework to analyze speech signals by: (1) extracting novel, distinctive signal features, (2) using robust feature selection techniques to obtain a parsimonious subset of those features, and (3a) differentiating PD subjects from healthy controls, or (3b) determining UPDRS using powerful statistical machine learning tools. Towards this aim, we also investigate 10 existing fundamental frequency (F_0) estimation algorithms to determine the most useful algorithm for this application, and propose a novel ensemble F_0 estimation algorithm which leads to a 10% improvement in accuracy over the best individual approach. Moreover, we propose novel feature selection schemes which are shown to be very competitive against widely-used schemes which are more complex. We demonstrate that we can successfully differentiate PD subjects from healthy controls with 98.5% overall accuracy, and also provide rapid, objective, and remote replication of UPDRS assessment with clinically useful accuracy (approximately 2 UPDRS points from the clinicians’ estimates), using only simple, self-administered, and non-invasive speech tests.
The findings of this study strongly support the use of speech signal analysis as an objective basis for practical clinical decision support tools in the context of PD assessment.

Keywords: statistical machine learning
pattern recognition
Parkinson's disease
Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS)
feature selection
signal processing
Advisor: Little, M
McSharry, P
Howell, P
Postcolonial Cosmopolitanism: between home and the world.

The thesis aims to address criticisms of cosmopolitanism that characterise it as an elite discourse, by exploring the role that it might play in Third World resistance movements. In doing so, it complicates the landscape of international normative theory, which has traditionally been mapped as a debate between cosmopolitanism and communitarianism. Part I of the thesis argues that cosmopolitanism and communitarianism can function as languages in which First and Third World states respectively justify exercises of power that impede the self-determination of Third World societies. These discourses of power frame the condition of postcoloniality, which might be understood – borrowing the terminology of International Society theorists – as an entrapment of Third World societies between 'coercive solidarism' and 'authoritarian pluralism'. A normative worldview committed to enhancing the scope for self-determination of such societies must be critical of the production of both external and internal environments that are hostile to the enjoyment of self-determination by Third World peoples. Part II of the thesis explores the political challenges of sustaining such a critique by studying four theorists of resistance who perceive themselves as manoeuvring between hostile external and internal environments. It analyses the political thought of Rabindranath Tagore and Edward Said, who were both leading figures of anti-colonial nationalist movements but also fierce critics of nationalism. It also studies the activism of two leaders in the field of 'anti-globalisation' protest – Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatistas in Mexico and Professor Nanjundaswamy of the Karnataka State Farmers' Association in India – who struggle against both national elites and global capital. Part II concludes that if resistance in the condition of postcoloniality must grapple simultaneously with both a hostile 'outside' and 'inside', it must speak in mixed registers of universalism and particularity. Cumulatively, the thesis demonstrates that the language of common humanity operates in ways that are both oppressive and emancipatory, just as the language of community is a source of both repression and refuge. Normative theory that does not seek to hold both in tension fails the needs of our non-ideal world.
Formation of germinal centres in the rat

This thesis demonstrates a method based on the monoclonal antibody (mAb) HIS22 for distinguishing germinal centre B cells (GCC-B) of rat lymph nodes both in situ and in suspension. In two-colour flow cytometric studies, GCC-B were clearly identified as HIS22-negative, Ig-kappa-positive. For non-irradiated rats injected intravenously with B cells of the opposite kappa allotype, the relative distribution of donor B cells in GCs seven days after immunisation was calculated from FACS analysis using HIS22 and two anti-kappa alloantibodies. There were two general findings using this assay: (1) IgD-negative B cells found in the thoracic duct preferentially act as germinal centre precursor cells (GCPC), especially IgD-negative (memory) B cells isolated from primed donors, and (2) B cells primed to the specific, immunising antigen can immigrate into developing or well- developed germinal centres while unprimed B cells, one day or more after immunisation, cannot.
A subset of T-helper cells, as indicated by their labelling with mAb ER3, make up the vast majority of T cells found in lymph node or splenic germinal centres; a necessary role for these cells in helping B cells form germinal centres was found. A subset of ER3-positive T-helper cells is 0X22-negative, implying that some ER3-positive cells are memory T cells.
A previous suggestion that the Oxford mAb 157.6 recognises rat IgD was confirmed by immunoprecipitating the antigen from cell-surface iodinated proteins and comparing the pattern with that of mAb MARD-3 (anti-6 heavy chain). 157.6 labels 40%-60% of all IgD-positive cells (depending on the strain) and therefore identifies a serological heterogeneity of rat IgD.

Advisor: Hunt, S
The synthesis of branched sugars and iminosugars

Iminosugars, carbohydrate analogues in which nitrogen replaces the endocyclic oxygen, have attracted much interest due to their biological activity. Iminosugars inhibit carbohydrate-processing enzymes, thereby affecting many biological processes. Several iminosugars are licensed drugs, with many more compounds undergoing clinical trials. The main subject of this thesis is the synthesis and evaluation of novel iminosugars, particularly the effects of structural modifications on the biological activity of these compounds.
Chapter 1 describes the role of carbohydrate-processing enzymes in the body, and explores the therapeutic applications of iminosugars that arise from their activity against these enzymes. Examples of substituted iminosugars are reviewed, and the effects of substituents on enzyme inhibition are described.
Chapter 2 concerns methyl-branched swainsonine derivatives. Swainsonine has shown potential as a cancer treatment through its inhibition of α-mannosidase. The synthesis of (6R)- and (6S)-C-methyl D-swainsonine is described; both compounds were potent and selective α-mannosidase inhibitors (IC50 3.8 μM, 14 μM). Although less active than the parent compound, their selectivity for Golgi mannosidase over lysosomal mannosidase may be more important than the absolute value against the model enzyme.
Chapter 3 describes the synthesis of a 2-C-methyl L-fucose derivative. A diastereoselective Kiliani reaction allowed the formation of a single lactone bearing a new quaternary centre. The utility of this intermediate in accessing di-branched iminosugars was explored; however, attempts to introduce nitrogen to the lactone lacked the necessary stereoselectivity.
Chapter 4 relates to the synthesis of pyrrolidine iminosugars, specifically methyl amides. Two enantiomeric dihydroxyproline amides were synthesised; the D-proline derivative was a potent β-N-acetylhexosaminidase inhibitor (IC50 values of up to 3.6 μM), but the L-enantiomer was completely inactive. Inhibition of N-acetylhexosaminidases is relevant to the treatment of cancer and lysosomal storage diseases, and this work contributed to a wider project investigating the effects of altered stereochemistry on the biological activity of pyrrolidine amides.

Keywords: natural products
iminosugars
swainsonine
pyrrolidine
synthesis
pharmaceuticals
Advisor: Fleet, GWJ
The organisation of the illegal tiger parts trade in China

The thesis is a study of how Chinese illegal tiger parts trading networks are organized. In particular, this thesis tests in a qualitative manner the causal relationship between three independent variables and the network organizations of these markets. The three independent variables are “ethnicity”, “level of enforcement” and “proximity to the source country”. The thesis also discusses the dynamics of the illegal transactions of tiger parts products. Legitimate meditators or dispute resolutions mechanisms are lacking in the underworld so the risks, which the parties undertake during trading, are far higher. This thesis explores how illegal transactions are enforced, carried out and honored in this trade. In order to map the organization of the tiger trade, I conducted fieldwork in three trading hubs across China: Lhasa. Kunming and Xining.
I discovered five tiger parts trading networks, three of which specialized in the trading of tiger skins and two in tiger bones. Within these networks, the level of perceived but not the actual level of risk influences the decisions of the actors in the network. Entry into the network is easy when the perceived level of enforcement is low. In these settings, there is no ethnic restriction for entering the network; the supplier is willing to trade with anyone with a trustworthy reputation. On the other hand, accessibility to the network is strictly controlled when actors perceive a high level of enforcement in their operating environment. Under this setting, the organization of the network becomes more exclusive and ethnically homogenous, as shown in the Tibetan tiger skin-trading network in Lhasa and the tiger bone-trading network in Kunming. The proximity of the tiger source country to the re-distribution sites (fieldwork cities) also influences the organization of the networks. When the level of enforcement is low and the tiger source country is far away from the re-distribution sites, a monetary deposit is required in order to show that the buyer is serious about his/her request, as shown by the tiger skin-trading network in Kunming.

Keywords: smuggling
wildlife
sociology
organised crime
trust
Advisor: Varese, F
Quantification and finitism

My aim is to clarify Wittgenstein's foundational outlook. I shall argue that he was neither a strict fmitist, nor an intuitionist, but a finitist (Skolem and Goodstein.)
In chapter I, I argue that Wittgenstein was a "revisionist" in philosophy of mathematics. In chapter II, I set up a distinction between Kronecker's divisor-theoretical approach to algebraic number theory and the set-theoretic style of Dedekind's ideal-theoretic approach, in order to show that Wittgenstein's remarks on existential proofs and the Axiom of Choice are in the constructivist tradition. In chapter in, I give an exposition of the logicist definitions of the natural numbers by Dedekind and Frege, and of the charge of impredicativity levelled against them by Poincaré, in order to show, in chapter IV, that Wittgenstein's definition of the natural number in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus was constructivist. I also discuss the notions of generality and quantification, and Wittgenstein's later criticisms of the notion of numerical equality.
In chapter V, after discussing the current strict finitist literature, I reject the contention that Wittgenstein's remarks give support to such a programme, by showing that he adhered to a potentialist view of the infinite, and, moreover, that his "grammatical" approach provides him with an argument against strict finitism. In chapter VII, I also reject the identification of his remarks about "surveyability" with the strict finitist insistence on "feasibility."
I
n chapter VI, I describe the Grundlagenstreit about the status of Π01 -statements. Wittgenstein views on generality, induction, and the quantifiers lead to a rejection of quantification theory which sets him apart from intuitionism, and closer to finitism. I also examine Wittgenstein's argument against the Law of Excluded Middle.
In the last chapter, I discuss Wittgenstein's prescriptions for the formation of real numbers, showing that they imply a constructivization of the Cauchy sequences of the type of Bishop or of the finitist "recursive analysis", and the rejection of the intuitionistic notion of choice sequences.