VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo’s 'Suma de la política': The Civic Kingdom-City and Spanish Vernacular Humanism

The dissertation is an edition of Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo’s 'Suma de la política' with an introductory essay that focuses on the main political and ethical ideas addressed in the treatise, the texts and sources used, and the general implications that the text and its author have in the context of Spanish vernacular humanism. The introductory essay underscores that Arévalo’s writing in Spanish is much more novel and interesting than literary critics have often recognized and points out that Arévalo’s attitudes toward Renaissance humanism are more open than several acclaimed scholars have been willing to admit, or at least to recognize. This edition intends to supplant Mario Penna’s (1959), as his text has many errors and a limited critical apparatus. Moreover, I have added commentary on the treatise, located many of the numerous texts and authors mentioned by Arévalo in his text, and offered a complete critical apparatus that includes not only Penna, but also the first copy to appear in print of Arévalo’s work by Juan Beneyto Pérez (1943) and a recent French translation—based on Penna’s text—by Beátrice Leroy (2015). Both the edition and the introductory essay intend to provide a reliable scholarly edition, as well as new perspectives on one of Castile’s most important, yet not fully appreciated, political and ecclesiastical figures of the fifteenth century. Moreover, the edition and introduction will offer new insights and views on the impact of the recent revival of Classical thought through Renaissance humanism in the reconfiguration and reorganization of government in Castile, especially through the lens of the monarchy’s attempts to rein in the nobles and (re)construct society, politics, and literature around the king himself.

Keywords: Nobility
Renaissance humanism
Ethics
Vernacular humanism
Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo
Politics
Monarchy
Suma de la política
Advisor: Lawrance, J
Morrás, M
A qualitative exploration of postgraduate students’ and lecturers’ perspectives on whether their experiences of higher education reflect an ‘Intellectually Humble Dialogic Space’

My dissertation explores whether self-reported experiences of higher education from lecturers and postgraduate students reflect an ‘intellectually humble dialogic space’; this is a conceptual space representing a disposition to rigorously consider opposing ideas to beliefs held, where ideas are presented in a manner where they are rigorously considered to be true relative to alternatives; finally, it is a space where participants incorporate the most truthful ideas in developing their deeply held beliefs.
Utilising a pragmatic, qualitative approach, ten lecturers and ten postgraduate students in the social sciences participated in semi-structured interviews centred on whether their experiences of higher education reflected an intellectually humble dialogic space. Through a comparative thematic analysis inspired by Braun and Clarke (2007), results showed that lecturers are less certain of the positive epistemic status (or truth) of their beliefs compared to students. Students’ beliefs were mainly confirmed resulting in an increased motivation to act on their beliefs because of their experiences of higher education. Lecturers were also more favourable to disagreement, with students being described as intolerant towards differing views. Experiences reflected that higher education encouraged a harsh treatment of lecturers’ deeply held beliefs when they were students, but now (due to factors such as fear of complaint and precarity of employment) students deeply held beliefs are not challenged. Overall, the experiences of both lecturers and students did not reflect an intellectually humble dialogic space.
Suggestions for future research are made. The themes identified in this small scale, exploratory study could be used as a framework for investigating differing contexts of higher education in terms of their reflection of an intellectually humble dialogic space (or related concepts).

Keywords: dialogue
intellectual freedom
dialogic education
self-formation
higher education
humility
intellectual humility
Visual and thermal odometry with Deep Neural Networks

Accurate camera ego-motion estimation, widely known as Visual Odometry (VO), remains a key prerequisite for many applications in computer vision and robotics. Conventional VO, which relies on hand-crafted feature engineering, is prone to drift and can easily lose track as the extracted features contain outliers and unknown noise. This is problematic for application which requires robustness and high level accuracy such as for tracking UAV position in underground tunnel or estimating firefighter position in emergency operation. To alleviate the problem of noisy feature engineering, machine learning algorithms, especially Deep Neural Networks (DNN), have been used in the past few years to automatically learn robust odometry features from large amounts of data. However, despite some promising results, several fundamental drawbacks still exist in terms of accuracy, efficiency, and applicability to visually-denied environments.
The work presented in this thesis tackles these shortcomings by proposing a novel network architecture and optimization strategy for DNN-based odometry estimation. To address issues of accuracy and long-term consistency, we propose to train DNN-based VO using both a windowed-based composite transformation loss and relative transformation loss through curriculum learning. With this approach, we can improve the generalization ability of the network for both translation and rotation by 21% and 16% respectively. We also propose the use of an attention network to conditionally re-weight image features such that the network can produce more accurate poses whilst being more amenable to interpretation. This method improves translation and rotation estimation by 27.8% and 43.1% respectively over the model without attention.
The second contribution deals with the efficiency problem of DNN-based VO by proposing the first distillation approach for camera pose regression. We demonstrate that distilling knowledge from a deep pose regression network can be done effectively if we emphasize the knowledge transfer only when we trust the teacher network prediction. We also show that a distilled network can be further compressed with factorization and could be more generalizable due to low-rank constraints. Our proposed approach can reduce the number of student parameters by up to 92.95% (2.12× faster) whilst keeping the prediction accuracy very close to that of the teacher.
Finally, we deal with the issue of tracking in visually-denied environments by proposing the first DNN-based thermal-inertial odometry system. Since thermal images inherently lack robust features, we design the network to not only extract features from the thermal images, but to also hallucinate visual features given thermal image as the input. Through extensive evaluation across two datasets, we conclude that our proposed method can produces accurate odometry estimation with less than 2 m absolute trajectory errors on average.

Keywords: deep neural networks
multi-modal inference
knowledge distillation
deep learning
deep visual odometry
thermal-inertial odometry
visual odometry
Advisor: Trigoni, A
Markham, A
Ammonium-directed epoxidation in the asymmetric syntheses of dihydroconduramines and conduramines

This thesis centres on the asymmetric syntheses of a family of synthetic products: dihydroconduramines and conduramines. The work aims to use the ammonium-directed epoxidation methodology as a key step in all cases.
Chapter 1 introduces a review of literature reports relating to the biological activity and synthetic strategies to access dihydroconduramines and conduramines.
Chapter 2 investigates the olefinic oxidation protocol of racemic N-protected anti- and syn-2-aminocyclohex-3-en-1-ols. Concise syntheses of racemic dihydroconduramines (±)-A-2 and (±)-C-2 are also presented.
Chapter 3 describes the syntheses of enantiopure N-protected anti- and syn-2-aminocyclohex-3-en-1-ols in order to access enantiopure dihydroconduramines. Investigation of the surrogacy of these substrates to the racemate is also undertaken.
Chapter 4 details the asymmetric synthesis of four new enantiopure dihydroconduramines from an appropriate enantiopure anti-2 aminocyclohex-3-en-1-ols.
Chapter 5 details the asymmetric synthesis of six enantiopure dihydroconduramines from an appropriate enantiopure syn-2 aminocyclohex-3-en-1-ols.
Chapter 6 investigates the olefinic oxidation protocol of primary, secondary and tertiary racemic allylic amino alcohols, derived from ring-opening of benzene oxide with primary, secondary and tertiary amines.
Chapter 7 describes concise asymmetric syntheses of six conduramines, including four new, from enantiopure allylic amino alcohols, derived from ring-opening of benzene oxide with (R)-α-methylbenzylamine.
Chapter 8 contains full experimental procedures and characterisation for all compounds synthesised in chapter 2-7.

Keywords: Epoxidation
Asymmetric synthesis
Dihydroconduramines
Chemoselectivity
Stereoselective synthesis
Conduramines
Regioselectivity
Diastereoselectivity
Amino alcohols
Ring-opening
Advisor: Davies, S
Negotiation transparency and consistency in configurable protocols: an empirical investigation

Configurability (also known as agility), is a protocol design framework that allows protocols to support multiple values for parameters such as the protocol version and ciphersuite. At the beginning of a new protocol session, both communicating parties, e.g. client and server, negotiate these parameters to reach a mutual agreement on optimal values for these parameters, which will be used for the rest of the session. The parameters negotiation phase is critical as it defines the security guarantees that the protocol can provide in a particular session. Hence, it has been an attractive target for downgrade attacks. While the literature has looked at the authenticity and integrity of parameters negotiation in configurable protocols to prevent downgrade attacks under the man-in-the-middle attacker model, negotiation transparency and consistency under other attacker models have been largely overlooked.
Are there unexplored attacker models that can result in a downgrade? Can a semi-trusted server discriminate against its clients without being detected? Can two clients' requests to the same server receive inconsistent security guarantees? Can we achieve a better balance between security and backward compatibility?
In this thesis we aim to answer these unexplored interrelated questions, with a focus on the TLS protocol as one of the most important and widely used configurable protocols. To this end, we first introduce a taxonomy of downgrade attacks in the TLS protocol and application protocols using TLS. Second, we define three types of negotiation models based on a new notion we introduce, which we call the "negotiation power". Third, we introduce a novel attacker model which we call the "discriminatory" model. Fourth, through a measurement-based case study on the Forward Secrecy property and the TLS protocol, we find that there are indeed servers that select non-Forward Secrecy, nevertheless they support it, proving that, in the same vein, discrimination downgrade attacks can go unnoticed. Fifth, through two measurement-based case studies in TLS and HTTPS, we quantify inconsistencies in HTTPS and TLS responses to requests that differ in subtle variables that are not expected to affect the received security guarantees. Namely, we quantify inconsistent servers' responses to requests with versus without the www. prefix, and to requests from different geographic locations. Finally, we examine the concept of "prior knowledge" to reduce the downgrade attacks' surface. The results of this thesis introduce transparency and consistency as needed properties in configurable protocols, and show that they are not perfectly achieved in widely used protocols today such as TLS and HTTPS.

Keywords: consistency
www
inconsistency
attack
internet
discriminatory
security
downgrade
transparency
network
scan
configuration
configurable
protocol
model
HTTPS
transport
application
fine-grained
measurement
TLS
discrimination
SSL
defense
confusion
attacker
Advisor: Martin, A
MCI progression classification for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease using machine learning and deep learning methods

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia, affects more than 520,000 people in the UK. It is a progressive disease and its causes still remain unclear. Besides the traditional neuropsychological test, imaging biomarkers are playing an increasingly important role for AD detection and especially for early stage diagnosis including prediction of the transition from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to AD. The use of structural imaging such as T1 MRI for AD diagnosis has been widely explored, however, the application of PET imaging to AD is relatively novel, with new tracers appearing. In addition, the development of machine learning and deep learning algorithms can help researchers and clinicians build computer-based image analysis tools, which can be used to further enhance the AD diagnosis results by utilising image features that cannot be easily interpreted directly by human eyes. This thesis focuses on the development of such image analysis methods for the prediction of MCI to AD conversion.
We first propose the use of novel features, based on complexity measurement, from volumetric amyloid PET images, which we use as input to a nonlinear Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. We tested this method using the novel PET features alone or in combination with standard PET metrics and MRI-derived features, obtaining state of the art accuracy.
Our second main contribution involves the development of a deep learning model using two parallel 3D Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to combine the information from amyloid PET and T1 MRI. Deep learning methods in this area are typically limited by the small size of available PET datasets. We show that prediction accuracy is improved by combining “diagnostically similar” datasets together as a form of augmentation (progressed MCI + pAD against stable MCI, as well as progressed MCI + pAD against stable MCI + healthy volunteer).
Our third major contribution explores a new method for augmentation using data synthesis through a conditional Generative Adversarial Network (cGAN), which can generate new amyloid PET images from volumetric T1 MRI scans, for which there is much larger availability. The generated amyloid images are used to augment the original progressed MCI dataset to address the problem of data imbalance. The results showed that the accuracy for MCI to AD prediction using generated data augmentation method outperformed traditional augmentation methods substantially.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease
Machine learning
Deep learning
Advisor: Grau, V
New reactivity and selectivity in rhodium-catalysed hydroacylation

This thesis documents the development of two new rhodium(I)-catalysed methodologies. The first shows the use of 1,4-dicarbonyl systems in hydroacylation for the preparation of synthetically valuable alpha-N-amido ketones. The second method is a dynamic kinetic resolution process for the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds.
Chapter 1 introduces the concept of rhodium-catalysed hydroacylation and presents a literature review covering key developments in the field of intra- and intermolecular hydroacylation, with a focus on chelating aldehydes that can be used to overcome decarbonylation. The advancement of enantioselective hydroacylation reactions has also been briefly summarised in this chapter.
Chapter 2 describes that readily available alpha-N-amidoaldehydes are effective substrates for intermolecular Rh-catalysed alkyne hydroacylation reactions. The catalyst [Rh(dppe)(C6H5F)][BArF4], allows a broad range of aldehydes and alkynes to be used as substrates, delivering alpha-N-amido ketone products in high yields and high levels of regiocontrol. The use of alpha-N-amido aldehydes as substrates establishes that 6-membered rhodacyclic intermediates provide suitable chelating stability to enable productive hydroacylation.
Chapter 3 presents the development of enantioselective Rh-catalysed alkyne hydroacylation of beta-amido aldehydes via dynamic kinetic resolution. The method delivers enantiomerically enriched 1,3-dicarbonyl products in a highly enantioselective fashion with good yields and high regiocontrol, using a combination of cationtic Rh, commercially available (R)- DMMGarphos ligand and Cs2CO3. To the best our knowledge, this is the first example of dynamic kinetic resolution in intermolecular hydroacylation.
Chapter 4 summarises the research work done and the potential future work.
Chapter 5 documents the experimental data and procedures.

Keywords: Amido ketones
Rhodium catalysis
1,3-Dicarbonyls
Intermolecular hydroacylation
Enantioselective alkyne hydroacylation
Dynamic kinetic resolution
Aldehyde
Advisor: Willis, M
Mapping of signalling pathways using a FACS-based forward genetic approach

Since its inception, the central goal of functional genomics has been to gain a mechanistic understanding of how genes operate and interact with each other to regulate cellular and organismal phenotypes. To this end, screening approaches have been designed to systematically perturb the activity of every genetic element in the genome and identify mutants affecting defined phenotypic traits. Only recently, screenable phenotypes in mammalian cell systems moved past “fitness” and onto detection of molecular markers’ gradients at single cell resolution. This thesis describes the interrogation of regulatory gene networks behind key intracellular signalling pathways using a Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS)-based approach coupled to haploid genetic screening.
After establishing the technology’s robustness and reproducibility in the first result Chapter, a set of iterative screens is performed in the presence of pharmacological and genetic perturbations to dissect mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) activation and tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα) pro-inflammatory signalling.
Data presented in the second result Chapter demonstrate that, contrary to previous assumptions, Ragulator subunit LAMTOR4 is not strictly required for in mTORC1 activation under steady-state conditions. Furthermore, LAMTOR4 is part of a “synthetic-sick” interaction with tumour suppressor gene FLCN, resulting in inhibition of cell proliferation which could be therapeutically relevant.
The third result Chapter describes a novel regulatory mechanism of TNFα-dependent pro-inflammatory signalling through transcriptional modulation of its receptor TNFR1. The effect is mediated by the largely uncharacterised proteins QRICH1, SEPHS1 and ZNF652, the first two of which functionally, and possibly also physically, interact.
Together, this thesis details how genetic screening for modulation of molecular makers can advance understanding of functional cellular signalling network.

Keywords: SEPHS1
FLCN
LAMTOR4
functional genomics
QRICH1
FACS
haploid cells
mTORC1
insertional mutagenesis
TNFR1
Advisor: Gyrd-Hansen, M
Nijman, S
Brennan, P
The biological standard of living in Mexico: c.1850-1992

In the present study I analyse the long-run dynamics of adult average height in Mexico and the influence of the country’s environmental/socioeconomic context on this average height. Three main questions guide the course of this study: How did inequality evolve during the second half of twentieth century in Mexico? Did the processes of industrialisation and urbanisation affect the evolution of average height in Mexico? If so, can it be asserted that for such period in Mexico physical stature is determined more by environmental factors rather than biological ones?
Results from the empirical analysis show that: (1) for the period 1951-1992, Mexico showed a positive but moderate trend; (2) for the period 1953-1982, once current and original individual and local characteristics were controlled for, the results suggest that urbanisation/overcrowding had a positive effect on heights, but that there were also costs related to urbanisation that reduced this net positive effect; (3) for Mexicans born during 1962-1986, three main findings were obtained: (a) wealthier parents produced taller children; (b) while height increases could be observed across the socioeconomic ladder, the differences between socioeconomic groups persisted; and (c) tallness increased the probability of reaching relative upper class positions, and reduced the probability of descending to the lower ones.
These results contribute to the present literature on anthropometric history for the Mexican case. Firstly, present findings contribute to extend height series for Mexico until the end of twentieth century. Secondly, both the urbanisation penalty and the gender comparison findings are new for the post 1950s Mexican historical period. And thirdly, anthropometric analysis from the mirror of economic history permits to evaluate economic results of Mexico from a perspective that captures several effects that are closed related to poverty and inequality. In particular, results for the second half of twentieth century show that positive and constant economic growth during such period was not reflected in the same proportion on the biological standard of living for all Mexicans. In particular, the implemented model of development, in which a significant effort was allocated around Mexico City, was not enough to reduce inequality. To sum up, these results show that inequality and not only economic growth matters.

Keywords: standard of living
Mexico
anthropometric history
Advisor: Fitzgerald, E
Partisanship and personal vote-seeking in parliamentary behaviour

Incumbent politicians can use parliamentary behaviour to generate a 'personal vote': electoral support attracted to an individual candidate rather than their party label. This personal vote-seeking has consequences for accountability, representation, and policymaking, yet its prevalence varies extensively. Existing explanations of this variation focus on the consequences of electoral institutions and the characteristics of individual members of parliament (MPs). This thesis adds to a much smaller literature linking MPs' personal vote-seeking to characteristics of its intended audience: voters. Specifically, I argue that partisanship among voters reduces MPs' incentives for engaging in personal vote-seeking, by limiting its effectiveness. When voters have stronger ties to political parties, they are less likely to reward or punish MPs for their individual qualities and performance. As a consequence, lower partisanship among citizens should lead to more extensive personal vote-seeking by MPs. I test this argument in two stages. First, I test its voter-level implications. Using a quasi-experiment in New Zealand and a survey experiment in the United Kingdom (UK), I find evidence that partisanship does make voters less likely to reward MPs for their individual behaviour in parliament. Second, I test its MP-level implications. Analysing legislative behaviour in the UK House of Commons, I find evidence that MPs' personal vote-seeking efforts can be linked to variation in voters' partisanship over time, and (less consistently) between constituencies. Taken together, these findings offer new evidence that voters' relationships with political parties shape MPs' electoral strategies and parliamentary behaviour. This suggests an important link between how voters think about politics, and how their representatives conduct it.

Advisor: Zubek, R