VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The "greater goods" response to the argument from divine hiddenness

Arguments from divine hiddenness attempt to demonstrate that the apparent hiddenness of God is a reason for thinking God does not exist. One of the most prominent arguments from divine hiddenness maintains that if God existed He would do what He could to ensure that all persons have access to conscious personal relationship with Him. But since such relationship is impossible for those who do not believe God exists, God would ensure that everyone has evidence sufficient to believe that He exists. That there are people who do not believe God exists due only to a lack of evidence is therefore a reason for thinking that God does not exist. One of the most prominent ways to respond to this kind of argument from divine hiddenness is to maintain that God withholds evidence of Himself in order to bring about some greater good or another.
But there are a few challenges facing these “greater goods” responses. First, some proposed greater goods benefit only someone other than the nonbeliever; one might argue that God would not withhold evidence sufficient for belief from one person entirely for the benefit of another person. Second, some proposed greater goods presuppose libertarian free will; but it has been argued that God would not allow such free will due to the great evil it brings about. Third, if a conscious personal relationship with God is greater than all other goods we might wonder how there could be goods for the sake of which God would be willing to withhold such relationship from some people. Finally, if God is infinitely resourceful and if all goods come from God, it is somewhat puzzling how there could be goods which preclude conscious personal relationship with God. In this thesis I aim to address these challenges to greater goods responses to the hiddenness argument.

Advisor: Leftow, B
The unruly mind

This thesis is an evaluation of doxastic normativism. Doxastic normativism is the theory that belief is essentially normative, and that the norm of belief is a constitutive norm. After introducing the taxonomy of normativist views I use throughout the thesis, I discuss four versions of doxastic normativism: state normativism, conceptual normativism, intentional teleologism, and teleo-functionalism. The first two are those traditionally referred to as “doxastic normativism”, and they are the main targets of the thesis. Discussion of the second two is less extensive, and serves to show that the central problem for normativism lies not in the kind of normativity that it claims is essential to belief, but in the attempt to make any normative property whatsoever a necessary condition for belief. I develop undercutting objections to two arguments for state normativism and to one argument for conceptual normativism. My objections draw on i.a. the semantics of correctness ascriptions, the norms of other intentional states, the nature of rationality, and the evidential sensitivity of belief. Then there are several rebutting objections, drawing on non-agential mental states, the normative classification of epistemically deviant mental states, and difficulties for state-differentiation through norms. The discussions of teleologism and teleo-functionalism demonstrate that these views, although making much weaker claims about belief, fall prey as well to the main problems identified for the core normativist views. The thesis closes on a chapter offering reflections about the reasons behind the failures of normativism, as well as a descriptive theory of belief that I argue can fulfil the explanatory desiderata of doxastic normativism.

Advisor: Williamson, T
Child, T
Prioritising indigenous representations of geopower: the case of Tulita, Northwest Territories, Canada

Recent calls from progressive, subaltern and postcolonial geopoliticians to move geopolitical scholarship away from its Western ontological bases have argued that more ethnographic studies centred on peripheral and dispossessed geographies need to be undertaken in order to integrate peripheralised agents and agencies in dominant ontologies of geopolitics. This thesis follows these calls. Through empirical data collected during a period of five months of fieldwork undertaken between October 2014 and March 2015, it investigates the ways through which an Indigenous community of the Canadian Arctic, Tulita (located in the Northwest Territories’ Sahtu region) represents geopower. It suggests a semiotic reading of these representations in order to take the agency of other-than/more-than-human beings into account. In doing so, it identifies the ontological bases through which geopolitics can be indigenised. Drawing from Dene animist ontologies, it indeed introduces the notion of a place-contingent speculative geopolitics. Two overarching argumentative lines are pursued. First, this thesis contends that geopower operates through metamorphic refashionings of the material forms of, and signs associated with, space and place. Second, it infers from this that through this transformational process, geopower is able to create the conditions for alienating but also transcending experiences and meanings of place to emerge. It argues that this movement between conflictual and progressive understandings is dialectical in nature. In addition to its conceptual suggestions, this thesis makes three empirical contributions. First, it confirms that settler geopolitical narratives of sovereignty assertion in the North cannot be disentangled from capitalist and industrial political-economic processes. Second, it shows that these processes, and the geopolitical visions that subtend them, are materialised in space via the extension of the urban fabric into Indigenous lands. Third, it demonstrates that by assembling space ontologically in particular ways, geopower establishes (and entrenches) a geopolitical distinction between living/sovereign (or governmentalised) spaces and nonliving/bare spaces (or spaces of nothingness).

Keywords: CANADIAN HIGH NORTH
Neoliberal city
High modernism
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
ATHAPASKAN
NON-REPRESENTATIONAL GEOPOLITICS
MATERIAL DIALECTICS
MORE-THAN-HUMAN Geography
COMMUNITY BASED CO-MANAGEMENT
Signs
Metaphysics
CANADA
Urban fabric
OTHER-THAN-HUMAN Geography
Perspectival anthropology
POSTMATERIALIST GEOPOLITICS
Ethnography
Social spaces
SAHTU DENE AND METIS COMPREHENSIVE LAND CLAIMS AGREEMENT
INDIGENOUS
NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Progressive research approach
Geopolitics
Animism
GEOPOWER
ARCTIC
ONTOLOGY
DENE
SUBARCTIC
SAHTU DENE AND METIS
Production of space
Speculative
INDIGENOUS GEOPOLITICS
INDIGENISED GEOPOLITICS
Sahtu Dene
Denendeh
Advisor: Powell, R
Thornton, T
Teachers’ perception of mathematical tasks.  An exploration of what teachers ‘saw’ in a published task, and how this changed as a result of experience of enactment of the same task.

What do teachers perceive when presented with a mathematical task? This study reviewed the literature on tasks, teachers’ use and relationship with tasks, perception and teachers’ pedagogical decision making. Three teachers’ submitted written planning notes, and interview responses were analysed to identify lesson images representing their intended use of a particular task. Teachers’ beliefs, knowledge and goals were related to these lesson images, and the impact of the teachers’ observation of an enactment of the task was discussed.
The three teachers had distinct plans for how they intended to use the same task, as shown in lesson images inferred from their written scripts and interviews. This difference in intended use reflected variation in how the task was perceived, and in how teachers’ beliefs, knowledge and goals informed pedagogical decision making. Teachers adapted the task better to align with their own beliefs, knowledge and goals, but the design of the task also allowed and constrained teachers’ decisions. Teachers formed a relationship with this particular task, which they either developed, challenged or acquiesced to, based on their differing perception of the task. Some teachers’ experience of enactments of the task – observation of another teacher’s lesson, and teaching their own lesson – led to changes in teacher’s goals as reflected in their revised plans.
Useful revisions to teachers’ plans were made after teaching using the task, which was too late for students in those lessons. An implication for future practice is to investigate ways in which teachers might refine lessons prospectively by more effectively anticipating student learning. The established Japanese practice of kyozai kenkyuu is offered as one such practice which offers this prospect.

Keywords: MTEd2016
Mathematics
MTEd
Encouraging growth in beginning mathematics

This study explores the beliefs and practices of two beginning primary mathematics teachers participating in a short-term collaborative action research project. The aim of the project was to investigate how they asked questions, what kind of questions they asked and how they responded to children’s answers. It then investigated the impact of a short intervention that aimed to encourage growth in their questioning techniques, in particular growth in two of the domains of Clarke and Hollingsworth’s (2002) Interconnected model: their personal domain (knowledge and beliefs) and their domain of practice.
The study was carried out in a context where teachers generally have not participated in any pre-service education. The Ministry of Education curriculum and the approach to teaching and learning can be most accurately described as instrumentalist. The participating teachers work in a group of Egyptian schools where mathematics is taught through the medium of English. Improving the quality of classroom discourse is a priority for the owners of the group.
In the lessons before the intervention, questioning consisted predominantly of short, highly scaffolded testing questions asked of the whole class, with children ‘chorusing’ answers. Both teachers mostly reacted to children’s answers to acknowledge whether they were correct or incorrect or sometimes ignored incorrect answers. After the intervention the questioning was much more targeted. Both teachers asked considerably fewer testing questions and scaffolding was greatly reduced. There was qualitatively different discourse in the post-intervention lessons, with both teachers attempting to follow-up incorrect as well as correct answers and involve more children.
The study suggests that even a short intervention within this context can encourage growth in beginning teachers’ questioning techniques and highlights possible areas for further research and support.

Keywords: MTEd
Mathematics
MTEd2016
Understanding the role of ADAM15 in osteoarthritis

A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 15 (ADAM15) is a member of the ADAM family of metalloproteases, which plays important roles in a wide variety of biological functions. A previous study demonstrated that Adam15-null mice developed accelerated age-dependent OA, suggesting that ADAM15 has protective effects in the joint. Despite this potentially important role, little is known about how ADAM15 exerts its biological functions or is regulated in joints. In this project, I demonstrated that ADAM15 expression in the joint decreases with age. This correlates with a decrease in IL-13 expression with age. I showed that IL-13 up-regulates ADAM15 in vitro, suggesting that reduced IL-13 expression with age may underlie the observed reduction in ADAM15 expression with age. In parallel, I showed that ADAM15 is not a highly active sheddase, as multiple mass spectrometry proteomic analyses did not identify convincing ADAM15 substrates. However, proteomic analysis of surface proteins in ADAM15-knockdown HTB-94 cells showed that ADAM15 may regulate the surface abundance of SLC26A2, an important sulfate transporter in cartilage. In summary, the reduction of ADAM15 in aged cartilage and, potentially, the consequent reduced cell surface level of SLC26A2 may elevate risk for OA in aged joints.

Advisor: Troeberg, L
Nagase, H
Designing a teaching programme for student teachers of mathematics: A trigonometry case study

This research investigated whether mathematics teacher education sessions on trigonometry which are planned, using the Knowledge Quartet (Rowland, Huckstep and Thwaites, 2005), develop the confidence of prospective teachers in their own ability to teach trigonometry.
The research was carried out in a Teaching School, which has a unique Schools Direct Mathematics programme, where the subject specific sessions are planned and delivered by two mathematics teachers working in the school. Through the use of an action research method it was found that mathematics teacher education sessions on trigonometry planned around the Knowledge Quartet improved the confidence of prospective teachers to teach trigonometry. This research goes onto to suggest that longitudinal research into the use of the Knowledge Quartet in planning teacher educational sessions would be the next intelligent step.

Keywords: MTEd2016
Mathematics
MTEd
Atom probe tomography research on catalytic alloys and nanoparticles

Catalyst is a key component in the chemical industry, with more than 90% of total chemical products reliant on their use. However, the working mechanisms are in many cases still not fully understood. For heterogeneous catalysts, in which the reactions normally occur on solid phase materials, a better understanding of the catalytic surfaces, and how they evolve under reactive environments is recognised as the next step forward in the field.
This work presents a study utilising atom probe tomography (APT), combined with an in-situ reaction cell, to understand the initial oxidation processes of catalytic NiFe and NiCo model alloy systems. In order to improve reliability of results, a protocol was developed to clean the sample surfaces by field ion evaporation, eliminate sample surface contamination before in-situ oxidation was then performed.
APT was successfully applied to these alloys to characterise oxide development as a function of exposure time and temperature. APT also demonstrated surface enrichment induced by oxide formation remained after reduction of the alloy. The successful application of APT on the model alloys led to the next goal which was to associate the data to real catalytic particles. To achieve this, work was extended into the field of nanoparticle catalysts.
Nanoparticles with similar compositions to the model alloys were fabricated by chemical synthesis and were examined initially by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The main goal of this phase was to investigate the surface segregation behaviour of the particles, identifying common behaviours with the model alloys. However, the presence of residual complex chemical environments around the particles following synthesis made APT analysis difficult. Therefore, an alternative method of particle fabrication was explored to better control the resulting materials for easier application of atom probe for nanoparticle analyses.
Metallic nanoparticles of Ag, AuCu, AuNi, and AuNiMo were made by an inert gas condensation method, deposited on suitable support materials and were subsequently analysed by APT, facilitated by an improved sample preparation method. Surface segregation on individual nanoparticles was detected. Together with other complementary surface-probing techniques, a complete understanding of these particles from micrometre down to the level of individual particles was achieved. The potential for APT is highlighted to play a key role in this approach to realise a complete understanding of the chemical order, microstructure in multimetallic nanoparticles designed for catalysis.

Keywords: atom probe tomography
materials
nanoparticles
Advisor: Bagot, P
Moody, M
Martin, T
BLOCUL - an ethnography of a Romanian block of flats

Based on a long-term ethnography inside a block of flats in Piatra-Neamț, Romania, this thesis explores how individuals, through everyday creative engagements with their apartments, try to come to terms with the uncertainties of a rapidly changing society — one caught between the vulnerabilities of both socialism and capitalism. It examines the inhabitants’ capacity for self-organization, with a focus on the daily life of a block administrator overseeing the maintenance and repair of his ageing building. By paying close attention to a range of infrastructural elements often taken for granted — from water taps and boilers, to balconies and windows — my research offers new insights into how people negotiate complex relationships of trust and suspicion in the light of degrading infrastructure. Within the context of increasingly decentralized resources, I also demonstrate various difficulties involved in sustaining day-to-day practices of energy-saving, and discuss the block inhabitants’ multifaceted understanding of the “common good”. Finally, I emphasize how apartment renovations are fuelled by motivations that are at once aesthetic and functional, and thus problematize the distinction between these two categories that has dominated anthropological studies of the built environment to this day. My thesis contrasts the well-established literature about the home — that pays attention to aesthetics and identity at the micro-scale of the domestic space — with recent studies about infrastructure that typically examine macro-scale, functional reasons for urban transformations. Overall, I argue for a more prominent role for the study of home infrastructures in anthropology, while also contributing to debates about housing and energy policies.

Keywords: visual methods
urban anthropology
postsocialism
Advisor: Daniels, I
Modelling normal tissue toxicity in pancreatic chemoradiotherapy

The relationship between radiation dose and toxicity in pancreatic chemoradiotherapy is not well understood. Clinically, excessive normal tissue toxicity is avoided by placing a constraint on the volume of the organ receiving a dose above a threshold. Dose-volume constraints lack spatial information which may be important in determining normal tissue response.
Spatial dose distribution information can be found in dose-surface maps (DSMs). A dose-surface map is a 2-dimensional virtual unwrapping of the surface dose of on organ. Due to the complex geometry of the duodenum, previous methods for unwrapping tubular organs for spatial toxicity modelling are insuficient. A geometrically robust method for producing dose-surface maps, specifically for the duodenum, was created in order to characterise the spatial dose distribution.
This unwrapping methodology was shown to be generalisable to simple organs such as the stomach, and extendable to more complex organs such as the bronchial tree. A graphical user interface to create dose-surface maps from organs in commercial treatment planning systems was also demonstrated.
Duodenal and stomach dose-surface maps were created for patients from two pancreatic chemoradiotherapy trials, ARCII and SCALOP, treating locally-advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC). New spatial features were extracted from dose-surface maps and their correlation with upper-gastrointestinal toxicity quantified and compared to traditional dose-volume metrics. The predictive power of some of these new metrics were found to be superior to dose-volume metrics in the stomach, but no significant correlation was found in the duodenum.
Duodenal motion throughout treatment occurs both due to respiratory motion and peristalsis. On board imaging using cone-beam CT (CBCT) during individual treatment fractions shows that interfraction variability is non-systematic and cannot be predicted. While abdominal compression is able to restrict some interfraction motion, it is unable to control peristaltic changes. Accumulated duodenal dose-surface maps from these images were created to investigate the differences between the planned and delivered dose.

Advisor: Hawkins, M
Van den Heuvel, F
George, B
Essays on school choice

This thesis, written in a three-article/chapter format, explores several questions that are at the centre of the theoretical and empirical debates around school choice in developing countries. The implementation of India’s national school choice policy provides the context for this inquiry. The policy (hereafter referred to as the 25 percent mandate) sets aside 25 percent of places in private schools for children from disadvantaged backgrounds with government paying the tuition fee to private schools. The empirical analysis in based on three primary datasets and several secondary data sources relating to the applicants to the 25 percent mandate (children aged 7-8 years) in the south Indian state of Karnataka.

Advisor: Eggers, A
Dercon, S
Roles of quaternary architectures in immunoglobulin glycosylation and antibody-based therapeutics

Immunoglobulins play a key role in humoral immunity and have emerged as an important class of biotherapeutics. While the IgG1 backbone tends to be the conventional choice in these recombinant therapies, several therapeutics that focus on other immunoglobulin isotypes are being developed.
With the exception of IgA Fc, the conserved glycan of IgD, IgM, IgG and IgE projects across the surface of an immunoglobulin domain with the two opposing glycans packing within the homodimeric Fc structure. This apparent similarity in structure is largely reflected in shared glycosylation status with most classes containing oligomannose-type glycosylation. However, IgG deviates from this pattern and displays complex-type glycans, albeit with characteristic restriction on glycan branching and the levels of galactosylation. Given that these conserved N-linked glycan sites show divergent processing states despite ostensibly having similar local environments within the Fc domains, we probed the impact of quaternary protein architectures in controlling immunoglobulin glycosylation. We expressed domain fragments of these four related immunoglobulin classes and examined their resulting N-glycosylation status by mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography. We also assess the impact of Fc-based oligomeric architecture on glycosylation. Together, we show that quaternary architecture influences glycosylation in both native and engineered immunoglobulin formats and is an important consideration in the optimization of Fc-based therapeutics.
In the second study, we exploited the different cell recruiting properties of IgE and IgG Fc domains by combining them into a single biologic with a tandem Fc format. We developed a panel of engineered antibodies and examined their glycosylation, thermal stability and ability to simultaneously engage multiple receptors. We showed that the Fc domains function independently and are capable of mediating the cellular interactions of both antibody isotypes. Broadening the effector functions of trastuzumab and related antibodies may provide a route to improved therapies against secondary breast cancer.
Finally, we also attempted to establish whether the conserved N394-linked glycans could be removed or must be preserved in IgE, especially when utilising this antibody class for oncology indications. We generated three variants of IgE trastuzumab: a wild-type construct carrying the full seven N-linked glycosylation sites, an Fc mutant N394S, and a ‘stabilised’ version of the Fc mutant N394S. We examined their glycosylation, thermal and storage stability, receptor binding properties, and ability to mediate monocytic killing of tumour cells. We showed that removal of the N394-linked glycans greatly compromised the stability and effector functions of trastuzumab IgE. However, the triple mutation Y339S/L359T/V361T could partially restore these features in the trastuzumab IgE N394S mutant.
Collectively, such knowledge could be applied to help develop better antibody-based biotherapeutics.

Advisor: Zitzmann, N
Crispin, M