VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Strikes and discontent in the French empire and beyond 1947-48

This thesis examines French post-war strikes in a new light. The first half exhumes the subterranean sources of discontent which powered these movements. The memory of wartime hardships or torture endured long after hostilities ended. The preservation of concentration-camp like detention centres, and the erection of confining ONCOR barracks, ensured l’univers concentrationnaire remained a permanent fixture in the psychological and architectural landscape of the immediate post-war years. These factors, combined with exhaustion from overwork, the selective heroism of the battle for production, the judicial persecution of respected maquisards, and rose-tinted portrayal of Eastern Europe in the communist and even centrist press, describe the ‘impossibility of demobilization’ which lurked behind demands for more food or higher wages. Post-war strikes signalled the continuation of grudges left over from World War II and the Occupation. Moreover, news of anti-labour legislation and repression abroad, kept CGT unionists on a constant war-footing and bred fears that similar measures could intrude on French soil.
The second part of the thesis contextualises the 47-48 strikes in a global setting and argues an ‘impossibility of demobilization’ infected police, intelligence services, and administrations throughout France and its empire as well. Colonial authorities interpreted benign strikes as attempts to topple French rule, while anti-communism and xenophobia resulted in the mistreatment and deportation of Polish, Spanish, Italian, and Romanian workers or associations in the metropole; actions which had significant repercussions. Democracies in the West and emerging communist regimes in the East exploited the fallout of the 47-48 strikes. They prompted Quebecois authorities to overreact to unrest in Asbestos, while Dutch economic courts punished trade unionists for sending financial aid to French strikers. Meanwhile, Hungarian, Czech, and Polish communist propaganda machines instrumentalized French strikes, both to discredit capitalist nations in the West at home and to market the ‘superiority’ of communism abroad.

Keywords: French Empire
Transnational Modern French History
Post-World War II France
Industrial Unrest
French Strikes 1947-1948
Advisor: Harris, R
Leveraging structure for optimization in deep learning

In the past decade, neural networks have demonstrated impressive performance in supervised learning. They now power many applications ranging from real- time medical diagnosis to human-sounding virtual assistants through wild animal monitoring. Despite their increasing importance however, they remain difficult to train due to a complex interplay between the learning objective, the optimization algorithm and generalization performance. Indeed, using different loss functions and optimization algorithms lead to trained models with significantly different performances on unseen data.
In this thesis, we focus first on the loss function, for which using a task-specific approach can improve the generalization performance in the small or noisy data setting. Specifically, we consider the top-k classification setting. We show that traditional piecewise-linear top-k loss functions require smoothing to work well with neural networks. However, it is computationally challenging to evaluate the resulting smoothed loss function and its gradient. Indeed, using a naive approach would result in a runtime proportional to the number of combinations of possible k-predictions. Thanks to a connection to polynomial algebra, we develop computationally efficient algorithms to evaluate the smoothed loss function and its gradient. This allows us to train models with stochastic gradient descent (SGD) using the smooth top-k loss function. We show that doing so is more robust to over-fitting than using the standard cross-entropy loss function.
Second, we turn our attention to optimization algorithms. Indeed, while SGD empirically provides good generalization, it requires a manually tuned learning-rate schedule. Obtaining a suitable learning-rate schedule for a given network and data set is a time-consuming and computationally expensive task. In this thesis, we propose novel optimization algorithms to alleviate this issue. In particular, we propose to exploit the structure in three different ways – each one leading to a new optimization algorithm. First, we exploit the piecewise linearity of the activation and loss functions, which results in a difference-of-convex programming approach. Second, we use the compositionality of the model and the loss function with the help of a proximal approach. Third, we exploit the property of interpolating models to derive an adaptive learning-rate for SGD. Empirically, we compare the performance of the three algorithms on various deep learning tasks, and we demonstrate their advantages over state-of-the-art methods while avoiding the need for manual learning rate schedules.

Advisor: Mudigonda, P
Zisserman, A
Essays in Financial Economics

This dissertation consists of three chapters discussing issues in the field of financial economics. The first two chapters are largely empirical; the third chapter is mainly theoretical.
In the first chapter (co-authored with Andrew Meldrum and Wen Yan) we develop a model for pricing hypothetical financial instruments that have their pay-offs tied to the evolution of a country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth ('GDP-linked bonds'). We first develop a no-arbitrage pricing model for these bonds in line with those applied to other financial securities. Absent data on actual prices given lack of trading, we device an alternative empirical strategy for estimation of our model. This strategy entails inferring the risk profile of GDP from a second term-structure model, this time of 'zero-coupon' equities, which can be taken to the data. After estimating the prices of GDP-linked bonds we decompose them into their components (including GDP growth expectations and GDP risk premia) and study their time series and term structure dynamics.
In the second chapter (co-authored with Matias Ossandon-Busch and Dennis Reinhardt) we study the effect of price dislocations in the market for foreign currency (FX) swaps, an important source of funding for banks, on cross-border bank lending. Armed with a detailed balance sheet level dataset for banks operating from the UK, we examine how ex-ante exposure to FX swap-based funding affects the reaction of banks cross-border positions in the face of the mentioned dislocations in pricing. We also explore the role of potential shielding factors, including banks' reliance on intra-group funding.
In the third chapter I develop a theoretical macroeconomic model featuring shocks to the availability of FX funding for banks (`dollar shortage shocks') and central bank swap lines as a monetary policy tool. First, I show that dollar shortage shocks can have significant negative consequences for macroeconomic aggregates by affecting bank lending. Second, I show how the availability of central bank swap lines, through which the local central bank can access foreign currency, can attenuate the negative consequences of dollar shortage shocks on the macroeconomy.

Keywords: cross-border bank lending
central bank swap lines
covered interest rate parity deviations
gdp-linked bonds
Advisor: Ferrero, A
Fixational eye movements - keeping the eyes on target

This thesis presents three different strands of research into fixational eye movements: the detection of microsaccades, the interaction between fixational eye movements and the visual stimulus, and the interplay of microsaccades and drift. Fixational eye movements actively sample the visual stimulus, generating spatial and temporal information about its structure while also preventing fading of the percept.
Two new microsaccade detection methods are presented: the binocular correlation method most suited to data from video-based eye trackers and the monocular microsaccade detection method suited to microsaccade detection from high resolution adaptive optics eye tracking. These methods are systematically compared to the established standard method in the field by (Engbert & Kliegl, 2003) using the F1 score of the precision-recall metric. Manually labelled eye movement data will be made available online to be used as training and testing data for future microsaccade detection methods.
The active responses of fixational eye movements to visual stimuli of different eccentricities, grating orientations, and levels of blur were also investigated. It was found that fixational eye movements exhibit systematic changes in response to stimulus eccentricity and orientation, but not to the different levels of blur tested. To explore possible underlying mechanisms data are presented on correlations of unreferenced motion thresholds and centre estimations with measures of fixational stability. Both were good predictors of fixational stability, suggesting that these or mutual underlying processes contribute to fixational eye movement control.
Microsaccades and drifts are compared for their relative contribution to fixational stability. Traditionally microsaccades were considered to be correcting for the random error introduced by drift, but the data examined in this thesis suggest a complimentary role between microsaccades and drift in stabilising gaze.

Keywords: adaptive optics
microsaccades
microsaccade detection
eye tracking
AOSLO
eye movements
Eyelink
Advisor: Stokes, M
Smithson, H
Quantum chaos in atom optics

This thesis presents an account of experimental and numerical investigations of two quantum systems whose respective classical analogues are chaotic. These are the delta-kicked rotor, a paradigm in classical chaos theory, and the novel delta-kicked accelerator, created by application of a constant external acceleration or torque to the rotor. The experimental realisation of these systems has been achieved by the exposure of laser-cooled caesium atoms to approximate delta-kicks from a pulsed, high-intensity, vertical standing wave of laser light. Gravity’s effect on the atoms can be controlled by appropriate shifting of the profile of the standing wave. Numerical simulations of the systems are based on a diffractive model of the potential’s effect.
Each system’s dynamics are characterised by the final form of the momentum distribution and the dependence of the atoms’ mean kinetic energy on the number and time period of the delta-kicks. The phenomena of dynamical localisation and quantum resonances in the delta-kicked rotor, which have no counterparts in the system’s classical analogue, are observed and investigated. Similar experiments on the delta-kicked accelerator reveal the striking phenomenon of the quantum accelerator mode, in which a large momentum is transferred to a substantial fraction of the atomic ensemble. This feature, absent in the system’s classical analogue, is characterised and an analytic explanation is presented.
The effect on each quantum system of decoherence, introduced through spontaneous emission in the atoms, is examined and comparison is made with the results of classical simulations. While having little effect on the classical systems, the level of decoherence used is found to degrade quantum signatures of behaviour. Classical-like behaviour is, to some extent, restored, although significant quantum features remain. Possible applications of the quantum accelerator mode are discussed. These include use as a tool in atom optics and interferometry, a technique for measuring gravity, and a method of preparing atoms in a particular region of phase space. This may allow measurement of quantum phase space stability, and hence investigation of quantum chaos and quantum-classical correspondence.

Keywords: Atom optics
Laser-cooling
Quantum mechanics
Classical dynamics
Quantum chaos
Chaotic dynamics
Ultracold atoms
Atomic physics
Atom interferometry
Quantum-classical correspondence
Advisor: Burnett, K
Summy, GS
Investigation of differentially expressed genes that contribute to therapeutic effects of bevacizumab  in BRAF mutant melanoma

Malignant melanoma is a highly aggressive and often lethal disease. In 2012, patient outcomes were poor after resection of high-risk stage II and III melanoma, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been implicated in melanoma progression. The phase III AVAST-M clinical trial (recruiting between 2007-2012) randomized patients with high risk melanoma to 1 year of adjuvant bevacizumab (anti-VEGF antibody) or observation. Patients treated with bevacizumab experienced superior disease-free survival (DFS), and BRAFV600E mutation was unexpectedly predictive of benefit. The aim in this project was to investigate this novel association between BRAFV600E and VEGF, based on the hypothesis that BRAFV600E melanomas are dependent on VEGF and more sensitive to its inhibition.
VEGF and CD31 expression were quantified in tissue microarrays (TMAs) and whole mount sections of AVAST-M melanomas. Although no differences were identified between BRAFV600E and wildtype (WT) tumours from TMAs, there was a trend towards higher VEGF and CD31 expression in BRAFV600E whole mounts. In three independent transcriptomic datasets including NanoString analysis of melanomas from the AVAST-M clinical trial, VEGF itself was not differentially expressed, but all identified receptor kinase ROR2 as overexpressed in BRAFV600E melanomas. Differential ROR2 expression was confirmed in a BRAFV600E/WT isogenic melanoma model. ROR2 expression decreased with pharmacological MEK inhibition, supporting regulation by MAPK signalling. In vitro, ROR2 expression associated with invasive and proliferative phenotypes, with novel evidence that ROR2 regulates VEGF secretion in BRAFV600E mutant melanoma cells. The putative ROR2 ligand Wnt5a was also identified as regulated by MAPK signalling, and MEK inhibition of BRAFV600E mutant ROR2-overexpressing cells was shown to suppress Wnt5a expression and VEGF secretion. An exploratory transcriptomic analysis of bevacizumab treated BRAFV600E/WT isogenic melanoma xenografts identified gene expression changes in the tumour and stroma, that were mutually exclusive between BRAFV600E and WT tumours, both basally and after bevacizumab treatment, and included upregulation of ROR2 in the tumours and Wnt5a in the stroma of BRAFV600E xenografts. Finally, as a predictive biomarker in AVAST-M patient samples, patients with melanomas containing high ROR2 expression trended towards a prolonged DFS after treatment with bevacizumab. In summary, this work identifies Wnt5a-ROR2 signalling as upregulated in BRAF mutant melanomas, contributing to increased VEGF secretion and potentially also to bevacizumab response.

Keywords: VEGF
Angiogenesis
BRAF
Melanoma
Advisor: Macaulay, V
Middleton, M
State of play. Play and game in 20th century political thought.

This dissertation aims to make a contribution to our understanding of the 20th century political theory of play. Particularly in the 20th century, play and game analogies become ever more influential in political theory. I suggest that what unites this ‘turn to play’ is the desire to develop a critique of and also an alternative to traditional models of political authority. In response, this thesis is organised around a comparative reading of four influential accounts of politics as play – which focus on play as a political activity, rather than simply using play as a metaphor for politics. Each account offers important lessons for politics as play activity – and taken together they offer a kaleidoscopic perspective on politics as play. However, in presenting these four accounts, the thesis highlights the importance of Johan Huizinga’s conception of politics as play, as a particular engagement with play that remains neglected by political theorists, yet which nevertheless provides vital insight for our understanding of the challenges of 21st century politics.

Keywords: Johan Huizinga
Game Theory; Game models
Reconceptualising Politics
20th Cent Political Thought
Play/Game
Advisor: Frazer, E
Ronald Reagan and race: The evolution of colour-blind conservatism

Ronald Reagan was the most influential American conservative politician of the twentieth century. His name gave rise to an ‘era’ and his politics became an ‘ism’. His two sizable election victories in 1980 and 1984 were record-breaking, and yet, to African Americans his victories symbolised ‘Mourning in America’.
Historiography presents Reagan as the successor in a history of conservative antagonism toward civil rights progression. To some, his presidency represented the zenith of white backlash hostility. This thesis takes a more nuanced approach; seeking to understand the historical roots and development of Reagan’s ideological worldview regarding minority America. In tracing his ideological formulation from his college days in the 1930s, to the end of his presidency in 1989, we see the relationship between Reagan-conservatism and civil rights in a wholly new light.
Overturning our present understanding of Reagan as embodying the ‘white backlash’ narrative, this thesis argues that his vision of ‘colour-blind’ conservatism was a distinct historical tradition. Not only did Reagan fail to pursue the backlash politics of Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy, but he pulled conservatism in a different direction, fracturing the Republican Party. Reagan’s colour-blindness took a broad, universal approach in which the solution to America’s racial problems was to ignore race entirely. Consequently, Reagan opposed affirmative action, the expansion of welfare, and many of the Civil Rights reforms of the 1960s. Yet, as liberal consensus dramatically shifted during Lyndon Johnson’s presidency toward compensatory forms of justice along group-based lines, Reagan’s politics were left outdated and (to some) indefensible.

Keywords: American conservatism
twentieth century United States
colour-blind conservatism
racial politics
Ronald Reagan
Advisor: Davies, G
Bubble dynamics and regime transitions in two-phase flow

Two-phase flows comprise the concurrent flow of two fluids in different physical states. In this thesis we are are concerned with the flow of liquid and gas mixtures through a vertical pipe. Two-phase pipe-flows are categorised into flow regimes which describe the macroscopic geometries of the two fluids. Mathematical models are typically developed for specific flow regimes, and this leads to the study of the transition domain between regimes.
The underlying industrial motivation for the analysis of two-phase flows arises from oil wells. In Part I of this thesis we study a two-fluid model for vertical upwelling flow, and explicitly account for the exsolution of the dissolved gas as the pressure decreases along the well. We find that the application of Henry’s law for the dissolved gas concentration predicts a rapid transition to a foam, which is unexpected and non-intuitive. In order to study ways in which this rapid transition could be avoided, we examine rate-limiting non-equilibrium dynamics by incorporating nucleation and bubble growth dynamics in the two-phase model.
In Part II of this thesis we address the question of how to model the bubbly-to-slug flow regime transition. We develop a master equation to describe the evolution of bubble size and shape in a two-phase flow. The approach is based on the derivation of the Boltzmann equation which is generalised to allow for the description of coalescence and fragmentation. The model provides the foundation for further study of the mechanism of regime transition.

Keywords: two-phase flow
Advisor: Fowler, A
Translational potential of a novel osteoclast inhibitor, eliglustat, in myeloma bone disease

Multiple myeloma is a fatal haematological malignancy, in which the majority of patients either present with or develop a destructive and debilitating osteolytic bone disease. The bone disease is characterised by an increase in osteoclastogenesis and by osteoblast suppression. Current treatments for MM bone disease include bisphosphonates and denosumab, both of which act to inhibit osteoclast formation and thus limit bone resorption. Recently the glycosphingolipid inhibitor miglustat was found to be effective in the treatment of myeloma bone disease. Eliglustat is small molecule drug that inhibits glucosylceramide synthase and is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of Gaucher's Disease. Patients with Gaucher’s disease have an increased risk of MM development, raising the possibility that this drug may be of benefit in MM. This thesis aimed to investigate the efficacy of eliglustat in myeloma bone disease in vivo, and to determine its mechanism of action.
Preliminary data revealed that treatment with eliglustat in a murine MM model reduced osteolytic bone lesion development, associated with a reduction in osteoclast number but no change in osteoblastic bone formation. Eliglustat was also found to be effective in reducing myeloma bone disease in both diet-induced obesity and ageing models of myeloma. The combination of eliglustat and the bisphosphonate, zoledronic acid, was found to have a greater effect to reduce myeloma bone disease than either agent alone, suggesting the potential for combination therapies that allow for dose reductions. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that Eliglustat is likely to inhibit OC formation via preventing degradation of TRAF3 in OC precursors. This could be achieved either by disrupting GSL integrity in the cell membrane or working as an autophagy inhibitor to exert its effect in OC by maintaining TRAF3 protein level.
Taken together, this project identifies a novel mechanism by which GSL inhibition impacts osteoclastogenesis and highlights the translational potential of eliglustat for the treatment of myeloma bone disease.

Keywords: eliglustat
glycosphingolipids
osteoclast
autophagy
Advisor: Simon, K
Edwards, C
Horwood, N
Solid-State Organometallic Chemistry (SMOM): synthesis, alkane dehydrogenation and surface modification of crystalline σ-alkane complexes

This thesis reports the synthesis of single-crystalline σ-alkane complexes of rhodium. These are synthesised by the hydrogenation of precursor alkene or diene complexes in solid/gas single-crystal to single-crystal (SC-SC) transformations, using the Solid-State Molecular OrganoMetallic (SMOM) methodology developed by the Weller group.

Advisor: Weller, AS