VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The Seoul of cats and dogs: a trans-species ethnography of animal cruelty and animal welfare in contemporary Korea

Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Seoul from July 2012 until July 2013, this dissertation offers a novel perspective on human-animal interactions and public discourses regarding livestock versus pet moral boundaries in contemporary Korea. I aim to explore how Koreans struggle to make sense of the tension between the emergence of animal welfare and the perpetuation of traditional health behaviours that involve animal processing. The focus will be on why participants in my study, whether activists or not, defended both animal ethics and cat and dog meat consumption, while including Korean animals in fluid and instrumental conceptions of Koreanness. I have analysed a variety of discourses produced by both Korean and non-Korean, academic and non-academic stakeholders, in order to reveal the on-going tension between these powerful ubiquitous ideas and the lived experience of Koreans today. Moreover, I examine how the aesthetics of cruelty and empathy is employed in order to singularize livestock into companion animals thereby transgressing cultural taboos regarding Western ethics of species separation. I also demonstrate that converging and conflicting economic, political, social and cultural agendas are responsible for making Korea’s public discourses about animal welfare very unsettled. My research thus contributes to key anthropological debates about the cross-cultural circulation and cross-fertilisation of moral values that impact the ethics of post-industrial human-animal interactions; and about the influence of policy dialogue, at both national and international levels, on applied animal ethics, cultural stigmatization and the reinforcement of national sentiment.

Keywords: Korea
food integrity
East Asia
anthropology of Korea
dog
species turn
South Korea
animal cruelty
animal studies
contemporary
zooanthropology
multi-species
ethnography
animal welfare
trans-species
animals
pets
human-animal relations
dog meat
cat meat
livestock
cat
anthrozoology
anthropology
animal ethics
Advisor: Daniels, I
Lewis, J
The behavioural ecology of the Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) in Iceland

During the last 20 years studies of various mammals and birds have shown that social organization is highly variable between and within species, and that such variation can frequently be explained on the basis of variation in food habits and food dispersion. This study is an attempt to discover the major ecological pressures affecting social organization and reproductive fitness of Arctic foxes in Iceland.
Foxes were both studied at an individual level, by monitoring movements of radio-tagged foxes and observation of fox behaviour in demarcated study areas, and at the population level, by analysis of available foxhunting records, as well as material and information provided by foxhunters.
The most common form of social organization was found to be a breeding pair, while social groups of 3-4 individuals also occur, particularly in coastal habitat, which is more productive and spatially more heterogenous with respect to food dispersion, than inland habitat.
The Arctic foxes were found to occupy well defined, but fairly flexible group territories, whose borders were advertised by olfactory, auditory and visual signals. In one coastal region, three such territories ranged in size from 8.6 km2 to 18.5 km2, while there was an indication that territories were larger in inland habitats.
In coastal habitats, foxes feed mainly on oceanic prey and do not show cycles in abundance. In inland habitat, foxes show a functional response to the 10 year population cycle of ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus), their main prey in winter. Litter sizes remain stable, however, due to little interannual variation in the foxes' summer diet, which consists mostly of migrant birds.
Mean litter size at birth is 5-3 ± 1.7 S.D. and mortality from factors other than foxhunting is about 15% up to the age of weaning. Annual mortality in adults is about 50%, mostly due to foxhunting. Most vixens breed already as yearlings, while dog-foxes are more likely to show delayed breeding.
In inland habitats there is balanced polymorphism with regard to colour morph, but in coastal habitats blue foxes have an overall selective advantage. Inland foxes are smaller than coastal foxes. Both size and colour affect reproductive fitness.

Advisor: Macdonald, D
Deconstructing the trypanosome cytoskeleton: from structures to functions via components and complexes.

Trypanosomatid protozoan parasites are the causative agents of a number of diseases responsible for the death of thousands of people in developing countries. There is currently little hope for the development of vaccines and existing treatment regimens are associated with high toxicity. Trypanosoma brucei is the etiological agent of devastating parasitic disease in humans and livestock in sub-saharan Africa. The pathogenicity and growth of these parasites are intimately linked to their shape and form which are in turn derived from a highly ordered microtubule-based cytoskeleton. Here I have investigated some of the critical structures of the cytoskeleton in terms of their molecular composition with a view toward interrogating their functions.
I have used a combined reverse genetics/comparative proteomics approach to identify over 20 novel components of the paraflagellar rod, an essential structure for the mammalian infective form of the parasite. I have iterated this approach to define interdependent sub-groups within the cohort which provide clues to the function of the paraflagellar rod.
I next applied the same comparative proteomics techniques to investigate the differences between the protein composition of two life-cycle stages of the parasite. I have identified novel components of a unique mobile transmembrane junction called the flagella connector, and of the flagellum attachment zone, a structure that is essential for cell division. In addition I have defined a pair of paralogous cytoskeletal proteins that show life-cycle stage specificity.
Finally, I have used electron tomography, reverse genetics and in situ protein tagging to define the morphology of the flagellar pocket collar, a critical structure required for parasite viability, and provide new insights into its molecular composition, function and biogenesis.

Keywords: flagellum
Kinetoplastid
Trypanosome
cytoskeleton
proteomic
Advisor: Gull, K
An econometric investigation into the role of risk and expectations with special reference to store livestock

The role of expectations theory and risk perception is examined in relation to the structure of store livestock markets in England and Wales.
Economic and biological features of store production are identified in the beef, dairy, pigs and sheep sectors. The axiomatic base of risk theory is examined and the Expected Utility approach of defining risk is adopted. Allied to the analysis of risk is the role of expectations in store markets. Two major expectations hypotheses are employed which act as a second, and parallel, research investigation to risk in the store markets: Adaptive and Rational Expectations are chosen.
The assumptions and modelling approaches that underlie the analysis are outlinedo This then provides a framework in which the influences of risk and expectations are examined.
An ex post analysis of grazing risk is undertaken,, Farmers typically underutilise grazing resources, possibly as a result of the greater risks involved in feeding ruminant stock in this way. It is shown that grassland production, on average, can be intensified without incurring additional risk in terms of more variable output.
The temporal structure of store livestock demand is then investigated on ex ante grounds with subjective risk defined on the basis of the Adaptive Expectations rule. Significant risk responses were found in the store steer, heifer and pig sectors.
The demand analysis is then generalised to a full simultaneous and recursive model employing the Rational Expectations hypothesis, The implications of the solution procedure are outlined and the results indicate that risk perception associated with store demand in the pigs market and both store supply and demand in the sheep market are important features of trading. The results of using two different expectations models are then compared. General conclusions are drawn and the overall influence of risk in the store markets is assessed.

Advisor: Jones, G
Peters, G
The treatment of the recent past in nineteenth-century fiction, with particular reference to George Eliot

This thesis examines a practice of nineteenth-century novelists which has often been mentioned by critics but never studied in detail - the setting of much of their work in a period a generation or two before the time of writing. Its main focus is on the fiction of George Eliot set in the recent past: Scenes of Clerical Life (1857-58), Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Felix Holt, The Radical (1866), and Middlemarch (1871-72). However I begin by looking briefly at the pioneering novel in the field, Waverley (1814), and go on to discuss three more novels by Scott - Guy Mannering (1815), The Antiquary (1816) and Redgauntlet (1824) - as well as three by Thackeray: Vanity Fair (1847-48), Pendennis (1848-50) and The Newcomes (1853-55). Since I aim to discover the attitudes these writers adopted to the recent past, and conveyed to their first readers, this study involves discussion not only of the periods in which the novels are set, but also of the periods in which they were written, so as to establish the knowledge and preconceptions which the books' early readers brought to bear on the fiction. Where possible I quote the responses of actual contemporary readers, notably those of the early reviewers. This thesis draws attention to the various functions a setting in the recent past could serve in nineteenth-century fiction: to arouse nostalgic feelings for a vanished but remembered past, or sympathy for the people of the past, to point out that change is sometimes more apparent than real, to comment obliquely on contemporary issues, to highlight the unchanging features of human nature and human predicaments, to examine the role of the individual in effecting change.
Laser spectroscopy of caesium dimers

We have obtained spectra of 10 vibrational bands of the Cs2 (2)3∏u ← ϰ3∑+9 system. The molecules were formed in a supersonic free jet expansion, and were excited by light from a single mode CW dye laser. The total laser induced fluorescence was measured at 90° to the incident light and molecular beam, using a photomultiplier. Using a slit system to image a selected part of the interaction region, we have reduced the Doppler width to about 350MHz.
We have been able to resolve the discrepancy between the different vibrational band positions given in two previous papers. Our vibrational bands show broad rotational contours, but we have not been able to resolve individual rotational lines.
We have also obtained rotationally resolved spectra of the bandhead region of 22 vibrational bands of the Β1∏9 ← X1∑+u system. We found that the frequencies of the bandheads agreed with the bandhead positions deduced from the Dunham coefficients of a previous work. We have developed a theoretical model of the rotational structure and intensity distribution, taking into account optical pumping and the small solid angle subtended by the detector. By fitting this model to the experimental spectrum of the v' = 3,u∿ = 0 band using least squares optimization, we were able to extract rotational constants and line positions. We found that these line positions were in good agreement with those from the previous work.
We have discussed how such spectroscopic data may be used in a determination of the s-wave scattering length of caesium, and we have reviewed the validity of the scattering length and other pararneterisations of low energy Cs-Cs interactions.
Development of small molecule inhibitors of the bromodomain-histone interaction

Bromodomains bind to acetylated lysine residues 1 to mediate a wide range of biological processes, including the assembly of transcriptional machinery at modified histones. This thesis describes the design of small molecule inhibitors of bromodomains, with particular focus on the bromodomain of CREBBP.
A fragment based approach was employed to investigate bicyclic amides as acetyl lysine mimics. Initially the benzoxazinone scaffold (BNZ) 2 was shown to be a novel, ligand efficient bromodomain inhibitor. Structure based elaboration of the BNZ scaffold was employed to direct substitutions towards the region of CREBBP with greatest variability compared to other bromodomains. Ultimately, the compounds in this series were limited to micromolar affinity for CREBBP, but provided useful structure activity relationships.
Subsequently the dihydroquinoxalinone scaffold (DHQN) 3 was also shown to be a novel acetyl lysine mimic. Attachment of the optimum side group identified in the BNZ series led to the discovery of the first sub micromolar inhibitor of CREBBP. A co crystal structure with CREBBP revealed that the side group of this compound bound in a newly identified induced fit pocket, mediated by a cation π interaction. A combination of structural, functional and computational studies confirmed that the cation π interaction contributed significantly towards the binding affinity of these ligands. Further work to elaborate the DHQN core, or develop an alternative acetyl lysine mimic into a CREBBP inhibitor, did not lead to an improvement. However, the optimum compound 4 was shown to displace CREBBP from chromatin in a cell based assay.
Overall, cyclic amide based fragments were developed as CREBBP inhibitors, providing some of the first bromodomain ligands with nanomolar affinity outside of the BET family. In the process, key structural information about binding of ligands to CREBBP was revealed. Compound 4 provides a tool with which to study the biological implications of aberrant CREBBP activity and to investigate the therapeutic potential of bromodomain inhibition.

Keywords: organic chemistry
bromodomain
ligand discovery
epigenetics
Advisor: Conway, S
Brennan, P
A ware Afrikaner

This thesis investigates the creation of Afrikaner identity, more particularly the role of an individual in the shaping of public consciousness, in order to help comprehend how 'Afrikaner' identity was propagated. The focus is on Eugene Marais's career from 1890 to 1936, a period in which the Afrikaner language was standardised and changing socio-economic forces produced the conditions under which class and regional fragmentation yielded to pan-South African Afrikaner identity. This thesis does not retell the story of Marais's life. Neither does it give an overview of the rise of Afrikaner nationalism. Instead, it lies between these two poles. Marais represents two important foci of research: those who assisted in the self-conscious construction of Afhkanerdom and those who came to be seen as ware Afrikaners (true Afrikaners) and volkshelde (heroes of the people). This thesis tells a story woven from two contrapuntal narratives. The first speaks of an individual's life and work, the second, of a wider context of culture-brokers and the process of creating ethnic consciousness. The initial two chapters trace the workings of Afrikaner identity from the pre-South African War interaction between politics and those coming increasingly to define themselves as Afrikaners, to the interplay of ethnicity and language within the divided cultural elite. The discussion then turns to the use of popular science by this elite, in the making and propagation of an Afrikaner identity. The following two chapters consider the interaction of the Afrikaner with other groups, exploring cultural osmosis between ethnic communities and the image of another race in Afrikaans literature. Finally, the myth-making of the Afrikaner, particularly the creation of a volksheld, is considered, to examine the interplay of ethnicity, politics and memory.

Advisor: Trapido, S
On the theory of amorphous solids and of excitons

This thesis consists of two completely separate parts: In part I some problems related to phonons in amorphous solids are considered, whilst Part II is devoted to the study of excitons in Cuprous Oxide (Cu2O).
Part I.- A theoretical model, suitable to treat vibrations in tetrahedrally coordinated amorphous systems is developed and permits the study of a number of situations of current interest. Three of these situations are studied in detail:
1) The local response of hydrogen in amorphous silicon when a single silicon is attached to one, two or three hydrogens. The differences between these three configurations are discussed and a direct connection with experimental results is suggested.
2) The interesting case of an amorphous alloy, where both, topological and substitutional disorder are present. This is treated within the spirit of the Coherent Potential Approximation. The particular alloy chosen (Si-Ge) is readily tractable because oithe similar bond characteristics of both components, which allows the neglect of force constant changes.
3) The Raman spectrum of AX2, glasses. The model adopted permits the investigation of the local response at the defect sites for a number of defects. In order to explain the defect lines observed in the experiments, four plausible defect configurations are considered: a missing A-X bond, a X-A double bond, an A-A bond, and a square ring (two tetrahedra sharing an edge).
A simple model to calculate the Raman response in amorphous solids is also outlined.
Part II.- The valence band of Cu20 is studied in detail to account for the deviations from the hydrogenic law of the exciton spectrum. The appearance of the two series of excitons is explained in terms of a spin-orbit splitting of the valence band in the centre of the Brillouin Zone, using a Tight-Binding Approximation. The deviations of the lowest exciton levels from their expected values are seen to arise from an admixture of the two components of the split -off valence band due to direct Coulomb and exchange interactions. The Hamiltonian used corresponds to the so called "Spherical Approximation" and the results obtained are in remarkable agreement with the experiments.

Advisor: Elliott, R
The outside within: national language and identity in Japanese contemporary discourse on gairaigo

This thesis is concerned with the relation between the notion of national language and identity, in particular the manner in which a shared sense of national belonging is expressed and reproduced through the display of public attitudes towards foreign loanwords in society. Employing the case study of contemporary Japan, this research seeks to uncover the process by which a national language is conceived of as a symbol of national identity that requires the exclusion of certain loanwords from the perceptual framework of this national language. To this end, contemporary Japanese discourse on language has been scrutinised, drawing on nationwide newspaper entries published between 1991 and 2010 on the subject of foreign loanwords known as 'gairaigo' in Japanese. Through this analysis, the thesis argues that the fierce debate on the use of loanwords can be understood as a particular manifestation of the ongoing (re-)negotiation of Japanese national identity. On the whole, criticism and praise of the use of loanwords are found to be grounded upon a desire to establish specific understandings of Japaneseness in reference to the otherness symbolised by loanwords. Both parties in the debate are, therefore, highly reliant upon notions of national consciousness, challenging the common view that debates over the use of foreignisms are merely that of an opposition between nationalists who argue for the purity of language and internationalists who argue against such normative boundaries in language. In this context, it is argued that loanwords represent a foreignness, or otherness, felt within a society that constructs an 'internal other', or 'outside within', to a Japanese 'self', the identity of which is neither autonomous nor clearly delineated.

Keywords: Discourse
Identity
Sociolinguistics
Japanese
Advisor: Frellesvig, B
DNA origami assembly

This thesis describes my investigations into the principles underlying self-assembly of DNA origami nanostructures and discusses how these principles may be applied. To study the origami folding process I designed, synthesized and characterized a polymorphic tile, which could adopt various shapes. The distribution of tile shapes provided new insights into assembly.
The origami tiles I studied were based on scaffolds derived from customized plasmids, which I prepared using recombinant DNA technology. I developed a technique to monitor incorporation of individual staples in real time using fluorescence, measuring small differences in staple binding temperatures (~0.5-5 degrees C). I examined the tiles using Atomic Force Microscopy and I found that a remarkably high proportion of polymorphic tiles folded well, which suggests that there are assembly pathways, arising from strong cooperation between staples. In order to analyse the tile shapes quantitatively, I developed a specialized image processing technique. For validation of the method, I generated and analysed simulated data, and the results confirmed that I could measure individual tile parameters with sub-pixel resolution.
I studied eleven variants of the polymorphic tile, and I proved that minor staple modifications can be used to change the folding pathway dramatically. The strength of cooperation between staples affects their behaviour, which is also influenced by their length and base sequences. Paired staples are particularly significant in assembly, and there are clear parallels with protein folding.
I describe in an Appendix how I applied origami assembly principles in the development of my concept for an autonomous rotary nanomotor utilizing the sequential opening of DNA hairpins (already used for linear motors). This device represents an advance over non-autonomous rotary motors and I have simulated its performance.
In this thesis I have answered important questions about DNA origami assembly, and my findings could enable the development of more sophisticated DNA nanostructures for specific purposes.

Keywords: DNA Nanotechnology
Biological Physics
Self-assembly