VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The nonparametric approach to demand analysis: essays in revealed preference theory

This thesis comprises three principal essays, each of which provides a contribution to the literature on the nonparametric approach to demand analysis. In each essay, I develop novel techniques that follow in the revealed preference tradition, and apply them to tackle a series of questions that concern the mechanisms underlying consumer spending decisions. Each technique developed is tightly linked to a particular nonparametric theory of choice behaviour and is explicitly designed for use with a finite set of observations. My work draws heavily upon results from finite mathematics, into which I integrate insights from information theory and integer programming. The output of this endeavor is a set of methodologies that are largely free of auxiliary assumptions over the form of the unobserved structural functions of interest.
Providing greater detail on the work to come, my first essay extends and clarifies the nonparametric approach to forecasting demand behaviour at new budget regimes. Using insights from information theory and integer programming, I construct an operational nonparametric definition of global rationality and develop a methodology that facilitates the recovery of globally rational individual demand predictions. This is the first attempt in the literature to develop a systematic methodology to impose global rationality on nonparametric demand predictions. The resulting forecasts allow for unrestricted preference heterogeneity in the population and I demonstrate how these predictions can be used for coherent welfare analysis. In my second and third essays, I prove new revealed preference testability axioms for models that extend the traditional neoclassical choice framework. Specifically, in my second essay, I address the intertemporal allocation of spending by collectives, whilst my final essay integrates taste variation into the utility maximisation framework. In both of these essays, I develop my testable results into practical algorithms that allow one to recover salient features of individual preferences. In my second essay, a methodology is developed to recover the minimal intrahousehold heterogeneity in theory-consistent discount rates, whilst my final essay develops a quadratic programming procedure that facilitates the recovery of the minimal interpersonal and intertemporal heterogeneity in tastes that is required to rationalise observed choice patterns. Applying these techniques to consumption micro-data yields new empirical insights that are of relevance to the applied literatures on time discounting, family economics and the public policy debate on tobacco control.

Keywords: Revealed preference
consumer demand
Advisor: Crawford, I
Aspects of the metabolism of the lactating rat

The effects of alterations in endocrine and nutritional state on lipogenesis in vivo in mammary gland, liver, white and brown adipose tissue (WAT,BAT) of the lactating rat were investigated. During lactation, lipogenesis was increased in liver, decreased in BAT and unchanged or decreased in WAT; the mammary gland was the major site of lipogenesis. Insulin administration did not increase lipogenesis in the gland any further but it increased it in liver, WAT and BAT. Removal of the pups or suppression of prolactin secretion increased the plasma insulin concentration and lipogenesis in liver, WAT and BAT. There may be a reciprocal relationship between plasma prolactin and insulin, and the hypoinsulinaemia of lactation may be important in restricting lipogenesis in liver, WAT and BAT to promote the direction of glucose to the gland. An oral load of glucose increased lipogenesis in vivo 2-fold in liver of virgin and lactating rats and 8-10- fold in BAT of virgin rats but had no effect on BAT of lactating rats. BAT slices from lactating rats showed decreased rates of lipogenesis in vitro. An oral load of medium- or long-chain triacylglycerol inhibited lipogenesis in mammary gland in vivo (82-89%) This inhibition was reversed when the acini were incubated in vitro. Insulin administration reversed partially the inhibition of lipogenesis in vivo. Long-chain triacylglycerol inhibited hepatic lipogenesis in vivo but medium-chain triacylglycerol increased it 2-fold. Lactating rats fed a high-energy diet had a decreased rate of mammary gland lipogenesis in vivo (60-80%). Glucose uptake and lipogenesis by the isolated acini in vitro correlated with the depressed lipogenesis in vivo. Insulin in vitro reversed glucose uptake and lipogenesis to values approaching those of controls fed on chow diet. In lactating rats the high-energy diet did not affect hepatic and WAT lipogenesis but it increased BAT lipogenesis. In virgin rats the high-energy diet increased WAT lipogenesis but it decreased hepatic and BAT lipogenesis. It is concluded that in lactating rats the highenergy diet results in a decrease in sensitivity of the mammary gland to insulin and in increased partitioning of carbohydrate to BAT while in virgin rats excess carbohydrate is partitioned to lipogenesis in WAT.

Advisor: Williamson, D
Studies in the literary life of Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury

This is a sequence of interlinked studies in the writing and intellectual milieu of Edward Herbert (1582-1648). Both Herbert's work and his acquaintance were impressively diverse: he wrote poetry, and was a friend of John Donne; he wrote philosophy, and corresponded with Descartes - producing the first translation of Cartesian philosophy into English; as a theological writer, he came into contact with the leading scholars of religion, and used their work to create something very different of his own. For Edward Herbert, the brother of the Rev. George, came to be seen as the originator of a new and dangerous movement in religious thought.
The thesis considers his work in roughly chronological order, combining a biographical outline with detailed discussion of his major works, their origins and their influence. The first, on the poetry, takes as a starting-point his relationship with Donne, their exchange of ideas, and Herbert's commemoration of his friend in an unpublished, probably autograph volume of verse. The second takes his major philosophical work, De Veritate. and explores its development from the first manuscript (1619) to the last edition (1645), its divergences from the scholastic teaching he received at Oxford, and the response to the work among some of the leading European thinkers of the day. The third is concerned with Herbert's two works on historical subjects, one near-contemporary, the other on the previous century - the century of the English Reformation: his distinctive views on religion emerge - and hints of a cautious attempt to alert the King to the dangers of his unpopularity. The fourth and fifth chapters consider Herbert's two theological treatises. As with the historical works, one of these is addressed directly to a contemporary readership which is supposed to follow his precepts; the other is rooted in the past, less direct in its polemic, revealing a more profound and complex attitude to the problems he saw in organized religion. The last chapter is more textual than literary: it examines a much-disputed work, the Dialogue, with its manuscripts, with the aim of preparing the ground for a better edition than has yet been produced. The conclusion attempts to sum up Herbert's place in the life of the time, and his legacy to his intellectual "nepotes".
'Words for music perhaps': W.B. Yeats and musical sense

‘Poetry’ insisted Ezra Pound, ‘is a composition of words set to music’: his Cantos remembered ‘Uncle Willie’ downstairs composing, singing poetry to himself. This study examines the nature and effects of W.B.Yeats’s idiosyncratic but profound sense of music. For his poems were compositions set to music. They were saturated with musical themes; syntactically he professed to write for the ear rather than the eye; and he flung himself repeatedly into the breach between music and words, composing ballads, songs, and plays with music, and performing poetry with musical instruments. My thesis is that nature of poetry, spoken, read or sung, obsessed Yeats, and I hold it self evident that such an acutely self-conscious poetry will articulate this obsession: to use his own imagery, will bear the scars of its own birth.
What follows is a study of meaning, obsession, and influence, beginning with what Yeats knew and how he came to poetry: his father’s and his own vocalizations of the musical preoccupations of Scott and Shelley, viewed through the annotations of ‘the first book [he] knew Shelley in’ and the solipsistic singers and instrumentalists of his early verse. The theme of chapter two is Ireland: the musical resonances of Anglo Irish ballads and Irish verse are viewed through Yeats’s aurally-oriented canon-formation, as we examine his instinctual recitations and deliberate approach to Irish folksong through the mediation of Douglas Hyde.
The aesthetics of Wagner, Pater, and the French symbolistes frame the third chapter, which describes how poetry might approach the condition of music in the motivic organization of The Wind Among the Reeds. In chapter four the impact of Nietzsche’s profoundly musical philosophy is correlated for the first time with the exact moments of Yeats’s discovery of his texts, as Yeats’s plays and poetry move from ‘Apollonian’ languor to ‘Dionysian’ energy, from dream to song and dance. My final chapter uncovers the long history of the practical experiments Yeats made to perform poetry with a ‘psaltery’, and their resonating afterlife in subsequent poetry and poets.
No musician himself, Yeats’s musical sense has until now been entirely dismissed: this study shows how central it is to his art and to an understanding of the dominant aesthetic of the age.

Keywords: song
Nietzsche
Shelley
Irish poetry
Ireland
music
Irish writing
Yeats
dance
Pater
Mallarme
Advisor: O'Donoghue, B
Kelly, J
At the vanishing point of law?  : international law and the use of force by Britain and Canada in the Korean War and Afghanistan Conflict

This thesis examines important aspects of Canada and Britain’s participation in the Korean War of 1950-53 and the Afghanistan Conflict of 2001-present with a view to better understanding how international law influenced this participation, and whether key leaders and officials understood said law as a binding and distinct phenomenon. It draws on constructivist International Relations (IR) theory and “interactional” International Law (IL) theory, and employs a method of historical reconstruction and process tracing. I argue that, contrary to what realism might predict, international law helped define and shape each state’s possible course of action in the wars, and the justifications that could be made for their behaviour. More specifically, Canada and Britain’s involvement in the conflicts suggests that, when states use force, international law can play four broad roles: 1) it helps constitute the identities of the actors at issue; 2) it helps regulate the political and military practice of the actors at issue; 3) it permits and legitimates certain political and military practices that otherwise might not be permitted; and 4) it helps structure the process by which agents seek to develop and promote new legal rules and legitimate practice. However, I also contend that, contrary to what IL scholars might predict, the discourse and actions of Canadian and British leaders and officials during the Korean War and Afghanistan Conflict offer mixed support for the hypothesis that, when states use force, policy-makers understand international law as a binding and distinct set of legal rules, and the legal status of these rules impacts their decision-making. In sum, my findings suggest that international law can play important roles in world politics and the use of force by states, but it is unclear whether these effects are attributable to an obligatory quality in law.

Keywords: War
International law
Britain
Canada
Afghanistan Conflict
Korean War
Advisor: Welsh, J
The role of serotonin in the control of mood anf appetite in humans

This thesis addresses the effects of pharmacological manipulations of brain 5- hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, serotonin) and it's precursor, tryptophan, on appetite and mood in humans. Chapter 1 is a presentation of the literature reviewed in order to carry out the studies contained within this thesis. General methods are described in Chapter 2; these include biochemical methods for analysis of plasma tryptophan, and measures and assessment methodologies for analysis of appetite and mood. This chapter also contains a pilot study of the methodology adopted for lowering plasma tryptophan levels.
The first experiment (Chapter 3) examines the effects of calorie controlled dieting on plasma tryptophan, mood and appetite using a longitudinal design. Dieters were compared with a matched control group, and the results demonstrated that whilst dieting does not appear to alter mood or responses to food in a laboratory setting, it does lower levels of plasma tryptophan compared with baseline and with controls. In view of the confounding variables of dieting on mood and appetite, the second experiment (Chapter 4) examined the effects of an acute, laboratory based depletion of plasma tryptophan on these parameters in healthy female volunteers acting as their own controls. Significant depletion of plasma tryptophan was not associated with alterations in mood or appetite.
The third experiment (Chapter 5) addresses the issue of predisposing factors in the effects of tryptophan depletion on mood and appetite. This was carried out with a group of women who had recovered from an eating disorder (bulimia nervosa). These subjects were acting as their own controls but were also compared directly with the non-clinical group of subjects from the previous experiment. This experiment demonstrated interesting differences in the eating behaviour of the two groups, and a significant difference in baseline levels of total plasma tryptophan. There were, however, no effects of tryptophan depletion on mood or appetite in the women who had recovered from bulimia nervosa.
In view of the apparent lack of effect of tryptophan depletion on mood or appetite, the remaining two experiments examine the role of specific 5-HT receptor subtypes in the control of appetite. Chapter 6 examines the effect of meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP), a 5-HT2C receptor agonist on appetite, and Chapter 7 examines the effect of 5-HT3 receptor blockade on amphetamine anorexia. Whilst the data from these experiments do not support a role for these receptor subtypes in appetite, it is suggested that this is a potentially fruitful area for future research.
The results generated by the above experiments are discussed in Chapter 8 in the light of other research findings. The methodologies adopted for these experiments and the implications of these studies for future research are discussed.

Advisor: Cowen, P
On the function and status of prestige finger-rings in the early medieval Germanic world, c.450-700

This thesis explores a method of defining status by understanding the function of objects used as gravegoods. The compact group of early medieval Germanic finger-rings is ideal for such a study.
The rings are first studied in isolation, without reference to the graves in which they were mainly found. They are classified so as to emphasise their function. The main division is between those with a practical function (e.g. as a seal) and those with a purely symbolic or decorative function. It is the former group that defines most accurately their owners' status. This definition is refined by understanding both the skills (e.g. literacy) needed to make the ring, and the ways by which someone gained such a ring.
Analysis of the origins of the different forms of prestige finger-rings shows that contemporary Byzantium inspired the vast majority, though there are few actual Byzantine rings. Very few late Roman or premigration Germanic forms endure.
Having been studied in isolation, the rings are then seen in the context of the grave and of the other objects found with them. This enables their potential contribution to the understanding of Germanic burial rite to be assessed. In the areas of distribution and dating they add little. In the area of status, they refine considerably the present, arbitrary divisions, particularly when interpreted in terms of the model of the 'prestige goods economy'.
Finally continental and Anglo-Saxon ring-wearing practices are compared. Although most influenced by their pre-migration past, the Anglo-Saxons did nevertheless copy a restricted range of continental types, which show that they understood both the practical functions and the corresponding status-implications of these rings.
Anomalism, supervenience, and explanation in cognitive psychology

This thesis defends the claim that the principle of methodological solipsism can play no role in the formation of the theories of cognitive psychology. Corresponding to this negative claim, but assuming a comparatively minor role, will be the positive claim that a scientific psychology ought to deal in explanations which relate mental states in virtue of their semantic contents.
The basis of the case against methodological solipsism is the claim that the explanatory properties invoked by this principle are indivlduation dependent on properties of semantic content. In Chapter I the idea of methodological solipsism will be discussed, and two forms distinguished. One of the versions of methodological solipsism identified invokes the explanatory notion of the narrow content of a mental state. The other version invokes the notion of formal or syntactic properties possessed by mental states. In both cases it will be argued that these properties can be identified only by way of the semantic contents of their associated mental states. The notion of narrow content will be discussed in Chapter II. The case against that version of methodological solipsism which invokes syntactic properties will be constructed in Chapters III-V. The latter argument constitutes the bulk of the thesis, and derives from considerations centred around the principles of anomalism, supervenience, and the relation between them. These arguments are intended to be of independent interest as solutions to certain persistent problems in the philosophy of mind.
Quantum structures in photovoltaic devices

A study of three novel solar cells is presented, all of which incorporate a low-dimensional quantum confined component in a bid to enhance device performance.
Firstly, intermediate band solar cells (IBSCs) based on InAs quantum dots (QDs) in a GaAs p-i-n structure are studied. The aim is to isolate the InAs QDs from the GaAs conduction band by surrounding them with wider band gap aluminium arsenide. An increase in open circuit voltage (VOC) and decrease in short circuit current (Jsc) is observed, causing no overall change in power conversion efficiency. Dark current - voltage measurements show that the increase in VOC is due to reduced recombination. Electroreflectance and external quantum efficiency measurements attribute the decrease in Jsc primarily to a reduction in InGaAs states between the InAs QD and GaAs which act as an extraction pathway for charges in the control device.
A colloidal quantum dot (CQD) bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cell composed of a blend of PbS CQDs and ZnO nanoparticles is examined next. The aim of the BHJ is to increase charge separation by increasing the heterojunction interface. Different concentration ratios of each phase are tested and show no change in Jsc, due primarily to poor overall charge transport in the blend. VOC increases for a 30 wt% ZnO blend, and this is attributed largely to a reduction in shunt resistance in the BHJ devices.
Finally, graphene is compared to indium tin oxide (ITO) as an alternative transparent electrode in squaraine/ C70 solar cells. Due to graphene’s high transparency, graphene devices have enhanced Jsc, however, its poor sheet resistance increases the series resistance through the device, leading to a poorer fill factor. VOC is raised by using MoO3 as a hole blocking layer. Absorption in the squaraine layer is found to be more conducive to current extraction than in the C70 layer. This is due to better matching of exciton diffusion length and layer thickness in the squaraine and to the minority carrier blocking layer adjacent to the squaraine being more effective than the one adjacent to the C70.

Keywords: gallium arsenide
Solar Cells
Photovoltaics
electroreflectance
lead sulphide
Graphene Electrode
Optoelectronics
External quantum efficiency
Indium Arsenide
aluminium arsenide
Advanced characterisation
Fullerenes
quantum dots
zinc oxide
Squaraine
colloidal quantum dots
Advisor: Watt, A
Assender, H
A large displacement finite element analysis of a reinforced unpaved road

A series of finite element predictions of the behaviour of a reinforced unpaved road consisting of a layer of fill compacted on top of a clay subgrade with rough, thin reinforcement placed at the interface, is described in this thesis. These numerical solutions are obtained using a large strain finite element formulation that is based on the displacement method, and are restricted to the case of plane strain, monotonic loading. Separate elements are used to model the soil and reinforcement. In the finite element formulation, an Eulerian description of deformation is adopted and the Jaumann stress rate is used in the soil constitutive equations. Elastic perfectly-plastic soil models are used which are based on the von Mises yield function for cohesive soil and the Matsuoka criterion for frictional material. Emphasis is placed on obtaining new closed form solutions to parts of calculations that are performed numerically in many existing finite element formulations. The solution algorithm is based on a "Modified Euler Scheme". The computer implementation of the formulation is checked against an extensive series of test problems with known closed form solutions. These include the analysis of finite deformation of a single element of material and the calculation of small strain collapse loads. Finite cavity expansion is also studied. This numerical formulation is used to perform back analyses of a series of reinforced unpaved road model tests. The reinforcement tensions, and the stresses at the interface with the surrounding soil, are calculated using the numerical model and discussed with a view to identifying the mechanisms of reinforcement. Two existing analytical design models of the reinforced unpaved road are described and critically reviewed in the light of the finite element results.

Keywords: unpaved roads
soil reinforcement
Advisor: Houlsby, G