VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
High risk feminism in Colombia: women's mobilisation in violent contexts

Against all odds, in uncertain and violent times, Colombian women are mobilising for gender justice. They do so even when they face ongoing violence and personal threats from a variety of armed actors. The questions arise: how and why do women mobilise in contexts of high violence and insecurity? Despite a well-established tradition of studying women’s social movements in times of conflict, and of high risk collective action more generally, there is a lacuna when it comes to analysing feminism as a mobilisation strategy. My research uses the case studies of the Liga de las Mujeres Desplazadas (League of Displaced Women, LMD), and AFROMUPAZ (Afro-Colombian Women for Peace) to illustrate the utility of an original framework – High Risk Feminism – to explain how and why women chose to act collectively, despite the real and threatened dangers that this implies. The thesis further looks to a similar setting (an invaded neighbourhood in Riohacha, La Guajira) where displaced women do not mobilise, in order to strengthen the parameters of the HRF framework. In all, it posits that we will see a specifically feminist type of mobilisation emerge when a leader is able to form a charismatic bond with participants by framing participation as ‘worth it’ in a domain of losses, despite the risks this incurs.

Keywords: Mobilisation
High Risk Feminism
Displacement
Colombia
Advisor: Payne, L
The politics of literature in Chilean post-transition to democracy novels: portraits of society and the political status of women in the narrative of Diamela Eltit and Alberto Fuguet

This thesis explores the relationship between literature and politics through a study of novels published by Diamela Eltit (1949-) and Alberto Fuguet (1964-) in the Chilean post-transition to democracy period (i.e.: after the year 2000). It attempts to demonstrate that Chilean post-transition to democracy literature foregrounds the socio-cultural legacies inherited from the dictatorship (1973-1990), which have been to a great extent endorsed by the Chilean neoliberal transition to democracy. This thesis considers the more recent narrative fiction published by these authors as representative of Chilean post-transition to democracy literature, that is, a literature that shares a politico-historical legacy inherited from the Chilean dictatorship, and highlights a social imaginary permeated by the contemporary neoliberal politico-cultural project imposed by the military and to a great extent endorsed by the transition to democracy. In doing so, this work focuses on questions related to the portrayal of contemporary Chilean society and the political status of women.
Commitment in literature does not necessarily come from the author’s subjectivity or intention, but from his or her study of society and the way in which s/he presents it. Literary commitment, whether overt or not, remains fundamental in the case of contemporary Chilean writers, who have inherited a neoliberal socio-cultural context imposed by a dictatorship, and who may deploy strategies to either disseminate, perpetuate or resist such a cultural model, creating new ones. Therefore, the values to which literature commits can be traced in the case of both the overtly politically committed author and the apparently apolitical one. This methodology allows us to reveal the way in which Eltit and Fuguetʼs writing projects represent different but implicitly related views of Chilean society as well as two semi-canonical standpoints which are prominently representative of the twenty-first century Chilean literary sphere.

Keywords: Chilean post-transition to democracy literature
Diamela Eltit
Literature and politics
Alberto Fuguet
Advisor: Bollig, B
Perinatal outcomes in HIV-positive women

In 2015, the majority (80%) of the 1.2 million HIV-positive pregnant women globally, most of whom reside in sub-Saharan Africa (91%), received antiretroviral treatment (ART) for the prevention-of- mother-to-child-transmission (PMTCT). The use of Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment (HAART) during pregnancy improves maternal health, reduces mother-to-child-transmission to &LT;1%, and reduces horizontal HIV-transmission to serodiscordant couples. Consequently, in 2016, WHO recommended that all HIV-positive women of reproductive age initiate lifelong HAART. Despite the benefits of ART, an increasing body of conflicting evidence continue to report high rates of adverse perinatal outcomes in HIV-positive pregnant women, with no clarity on whether this is attributable to HIV-infection, ART or underlying confounding. This thesis explored the association between maternal HIV-infection, ART and perinatal outcomes, using 3 rigorous methods.
A systematic review and pairwise meta-analysis showed that ART-naïve maternal HIV-infection significantly increased the risk of preterm birth (PTB), low birthweight (LBW), small for gestational age (SGA), and stillbirth. This effect was most prominent in sub-Saharan Africa, it persisted after adjustment for confounders and was directly correlated with the clinical stage of disease. Secondly, a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised control trials showed PI-based HAART and NNRTI-based HAART, both of which are recommended for PMTCT in developed and developing countries, to be the most efficacious ART for PMTCT but also associated with the highest risks of PTB, spontaneous PTB, LBW and very LBW compared to other commonly used ART. Lastly, prospectively collected data on a South African cohort of HIV-negative and HIV- positive women on a predominantly NNRTI-based HAART regimen, with pregnancies dated by early ultrasound (&LT;l14 weeks gestation), was used to determine the association between HIV/ART and perinatal outcomes in a “real-world” context. The limited power of the study, and high background incidence of adverse perinatal outcomes in HIV-negative women prevented multivariate analyses from detecting an independent association between maternal HIV/ART and PTB, LBW or SGA.
The findings of this thesis highlight the importance of recent efforts by national governments and international stakeholders (WHO, USAID, UNAIDS) to accelerate ART coverage in HIV-positive women of reproductive age; however, it also shows that an unintended negative consequence of the current HAART regimens recommended for PMTCT will be a significant increase in the burden of adverse perinatal outcomes that directly contribute to neonatal and under-5 mortality, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Advisor: Kennedy, S
Hemelaar, J
Acquisition and reconstruction methods for hybrid 2D/3D diffusion MRI

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been increasingly used in neuroscience studies, particularly for mapping white matter tracts in the brain. Typically, diffusion MRI is acquired using a two-dimensional (2D) single-shot echo planar imaging sequence, which allows rapid acquisition and reduced sensitivity to subject motion. However, conventional 2D diffusion MRI faces many limitations, such as long TR (repetition time) which lead to low SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) efficiency, and long scan times with advanced diffusion protocols which usually require a large number of diffusion directions and/or b values. These limitations become more acute at high spatial resolution. Three-dimensional (3D) methods have also been developed for diffusion MRI, but they are not widely used for acquiring data in vivo due to the challenges in subject motion. Hybrid 2D/3D methods, including 3D multi-slab acquisition and simultaneous multi-slice acquisition, have been recently proposed to address the limitations of conventional 2D and 3D methods. However, 3D multi-slab acquisition faces the problem of slab boundary artefacts, which could decrease the image quality and propagate into diffusion quantifications. Simultaneous multi-slice acquisition would suffer from significant noise amplification when in-plane under-sampling is also applied. The work in this thesis seeks to develop acquisition and reconstruction methods to improve hybrid 2D/3D diffusion MRI. A new method is proposed to correct slab boundary artefacts in 3D multi-slab imaging, which jointly estimates the slab profile and underlying image using a nonlinear reconstruction. Correction results demonstrate superior performance compared with previously proposed methods. A k-q acquisition and reconstruction approach is developed to accelerate diffusion MRI based on Gaussian process methods. Here, we target improvements to simultaneous multi-slice imaging, demonstrating high acceleration factors in combination with in-plane under-sampling. Combinations of hybrid 2D/3D acquisitions with the ultra-high field of 7T are also investigated, which could enable high resolution diffusion MRI without substantially compromising SNR. The methods developed in this work are expected to improve the data quality and scan efficiency of diffusion MRI.

Advisor: Miller, K
Koopmans, P
Topics in analytic and combinatorial number theory

In this thesis we consider three different issues of analytic number theory. Firstly, we investigate how residues modulo q may be expressed as products of small primes. In Chapter 1, we work in the regime in which these primes are less than q, and present some partial results towards an open conjecture of Erdős. In Chapter 2, we consider the kinder regime in which these primes are at most qC , for some constant C that is greater than 1. Here we reach an explicit version of Linnik's Theorem on the least prime in an arithmetic progression, saving that we replace 'prime' with 'product of exactly three primes'. The results of this chapter are joint with Prof. Olivier Ramaré.
The next two chapters concern equidistribution modulo 1, specifically the notion that an infinite set of integers is metric poissonian. This strong notion was introduced by Rudnick and Sarnak around twenty years ago, but more recently it has been linked with concepts from additive combinatorics. In Chapter 3 we study the primes in this context, and prove that the primes do not enjoy the metric poissonian property, a theorem which, in passing, improves upon a certain result of Bourgain. In Chapter 4 we continue the investigation further, adapting arguments of Schmidt to demonstrate that certain random sets of integers, which are nearly as dense as the primes, are metric poissonian after all.
The major work of this thesis concerns the study of diophantine inequalities. The use of techniques from Fourier analysis to count the number of solutions to such systems, in primes or in other arithmetic sets of interest, is well developed. Our innovation, following suggestions of Wooley and others, is to utilise the additive-combinatorial notion of Gowers norms. In Chapter 5 we adapt methods of Green and Tao to show that, even in an extremely general framework, Gowers norms control the number of solutions weighted by arbitrary bounded functions. We use this result to demonstrate cancellation of the Möbius function over certain irrational patterns.

Keywords: Metric poissonian property
Analytic Number Theory
Additive Combinatorics
Diophantine inequalities
Advisor: Green, B
Latin poetry and the idea of Rome in the Greek novel

My doctoral project focuses on texts known as the 'ancient Greek novels'. I am interested in how the novels—and imperial Greek literature more generally—interact with Latin literature and Roman power. The major claim of the thesis is that the Greek novelists Chariton, Xenophon of Ephesus, Achilles Tatius, and Longus (writing under the Roman Empire in the first three centuries CE) are engaging meaningfully with literature written in Latin, especially Augustan poetry of the first century BCE. The claim has never been systematically explored, and runs counter to received wisdom. The thesis demonstrates that the novelists are invested in Latin literature (especially Vergil and the elegists) and Roman cultural narratives, and potentially lays the groundwork for a major overhaul and re-evaluation of the way we read imperial Greek literature. It draws two major conclusions: (i) that the Greek novels are deeply invested in Latin literature and Roman cultural narratives at the level of poetics, and (ii) that this literary engagement is part of a more subterranean political agenda through which the texts articulate a resistance to Rome and empire.
Chapter 1 explores the novelists' literary and ideological appropriation of the elegiac metaphors of seruitium and militia amoris. Chapter 2 analyses Chariton’s engagement with the Aeneid. Chapter 3 pursues Chariton’s relationship with Ovid’s epistolary and exilic poetry, as well as with Latin elegy more generally. Chapter 4 examines Achilles’ use of Latin elegy as part of his redefinition of the novelistic genre. Chapter 5 explores how Achilles mediates his version of Roman foundation narratives such as Romulus’ Asylum, and the rapes of the Sabine women, Lucretia, and Verginia. Chapter 6 examines the gamut of Longus’ responses to Latin literature and Roman culture, including Vergil, Ovid, the Lupercalia, and Romulus and Remus. The Appendices tabulate undiscussed allusions.

Advisor: Whitmarsh, T
Heyworth, S
Assessment and translation of novel biomarkers for diagnosis of maturity onset diabetes of the young due to HNF1A variants

HNF1A-MODY is the most common form of monogenic diabetes, but due to low awareness among clinicians and limited availability of genetic testing in many countries, the majority of cases are misdiagnosed as type 1 or type 2 diabetes. In clinical practice, it is apparent that some young adults with non-autoimmune diabetes share several features of MODY and type 2 diabetes. Hence, I aimed to understand the range of genetic variation in HNF1A in this group and whether we could use biomarkers to help identify those with HNF1A alleles likely to be influencing their diabetes status.
I performed HNF1A sequencing in 1058 subjects with non-autoimmune diabetes diagnosed below 45 years of age and identified 26 rare non-synonymous HNF1A alleles in 30 probands and 8 relatives. A systematic assessment assigned a likely damaging functional effect to 50% of these HNF1A alleles. The assessment of HNF1A alleles and their experimental characterisation unveiled the complexity of the genotype-phenotype relationship and continuity of the functional spectrum of HNF1A alleles from benign through likely benign, likely damaging to damaging effect.
To clarify the performance of C-reactive protein (CRP) and N-glycan profile as biomarkers of HNF1A-MODY, I evaluated them in the above unselected sample of individuals who also underwent HNF1A sequencing. I have shown that 3-antennary fucosylated N-glycans and CRP were significantly lower in subjects with likely damaging HNF1A alleles in this group when compared to participants without HNF1A variants. Both biomarkers distinguished individuals with likely damaging HNF1A alleles from those without HNF1A variants with a C-statistic of 0.82-0.92. Plasma levels of these biomarkers negatively correlated with the predicted pathogenicity of HNF1A alleles.
The expression of several steroidogenesis enzymes had been reported to be reduced in the liver cells of Hnf1a knock-out mice. Hence, I assessed the urinary steroid profile in individuals with HNF1A-MODY and age- and BMI-matched non-diabetic subjects and those with type 2 diabetes. The activity of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 was reduced and the activity of 5β-steroid reductase increased in individuals with HNF1A-MODY. Their performance in selecting subjects with HNF1A-MODY was inferior to that of CRP and 3-antenary fucosylated glycans.
In summary, my thesis has shown the complexity of the interpretation of genetic variation which is crucial for an accurate diagnosis and the assessment of potential biomarkers for genetic disease. Careful evaluation of the functional effect of HNF1A alleles identified on sequencing informs diagnosis in individuals with early-onset diabetes. Furthermore, the combination of functional assessment and clinical phenotype can guide management in those without canonical monogenic phenotypes found to have variant HNF1A alleles.

Advisor: McCarthy, M
Owen, K
Dynamical mass loss from unstable giants

Giant stars are believed to lose significant fractions of their total mass over their lifetimes, but the mechanisms responsible for this are ill-understood. One possible mechanism is dynamical mass loss – a hydrodynamical process in which matter is ejected from the stellar surface in ballistic outflows.
In this thesis, dynamical mass loss is studied in three stellar regimes: common-envelope objects, asymptotic giant branch stars, and red supergiants. Using hydrodynamical simulations performed with the stellar evolution code MESA, we examine the dynamical behaviour and stability of stars in each of these regimes.
We examine the dynamical properties of common-envelope objects during the slow spiral-in phase using a parameterised 1-dimensional model of orbital dissipatory heating.
We find that the envelope becomes unstable to high-amplitude dynamical pulsations that can lead to repeated mass-ejection events capable of removing the entire envelope and terminating the common-envelope phase. We estimate this process's \alpha efficiency value and suggest how these results might be employed in parameterised common-envelope models.
We employ coupled evolutionary and hydrodynamical simulations of AGB stars to study their dynamical properties as they traverse the TP-AGB and examine their dependence on basic stellar properties and on the thermal pulse cycle. We find that these models experience large amounts of dynamical mass loss, and we construct a parameterised model to estimate its strength. We find that this model is successful at locating the termination of the AGB.
We apply a similar approach to a study of RSGs, and find that dynamical mass loss also emerges in this regime. We estimate the conditions under which this occurs and discuss how this mechanism may resolve theoretical problems relating to the Humphreys-Davidson limit and the progenitors of SNe IIn.
We conclude that dynamical mass loss is likely to form a vital part of the mass-loss histories of cool giant stars.

Keywords: Mass loss
Hydrodynamics
Stars
Stellar evolution
Advisor: Podsiadlowski, P
Glucagon and glucose counterregulation: pancreatic α-cell function and dysfunction during hypoglycaemia

The glucagon-secreting α-cell is vital for the maintenance of glucose homeostasis and prevention of hypoglycaemia. Despite its importance many aspects of α-cell physiology are disputed. Thus, in this thesis, I aimed to elucidate several features of α-cell function – exploring how autonomic signals are integrated by the cell and how diabetes leads to its dysfunction.
The autonomic response to hypoglycaemia results in increased acetylcholine and adrenaline in the islet vicinity, which stimulate glucagon secretion. The mechanisms underlying these effects were investigated using live [Ca2+]i imaging and patch-clamp electrophysiology. Adrenaline was found to target the α-cell via a β-adrenergic mechanism, inducing TPC2-mediated Ca2+ release from the (endo)lysosomal stores, which triggered calcium-induced calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Acetylcholine also induced ER Ca2+-release via muscarinic Gq signalling. However, a component of the effect resulted from activation of a nicotinic pathway that evoked P/Q-type Ca2+ channel influx.
The glucagon response to hypoglycaemia is lost in diabetes. To investigate the effect of hyperglycaemia on α-cell function at low glucose, the Fh1βKO type 2 diabetic mouse model was used. In these mice, prolonged hyperglycaemia led to blunted glucagon secretion at low glucose. Using live pH imaging, it was shown that this was caused by hyperglycaemia increasing flux through Na+ coupled glucose transporters (SGLTs), disrupting Na+-dependent acid extrusion and inducing cytoplasmic acidification. The resulting build-up of protons was speculated to compromise mitochondrial ATP production leading to the observed glucagon secretory defects. The effects of insulin-induced hypoglycaemia on δ-cell [Ca2+]i activity were also investigated. Increased SGLT2 transport and low [K+]o, features of insulin-induced hypoglycaemia, were both shown to increase [Ca2+]i activity in δ-cells, stimulating somatostatin secretion and consequently suppressing glucagon secretion. Together these data suggest that glucagon secretion at low glucose is lost due to the combined effects of hyperglycaemia-driven intrinsic dysfunction and insulin-induced somatostatin secretion.

Keywords: Diabetes
Glucagon
Alpha Cells
Advisor: Rorsman, O
Tarasov, A
Aspects of categorical physics: a category for modelling dependence relations and a generalised entropy functor

Two applications of Category Theory are considered. The link between them is applications to Physics and more specifically to Entropy.
The first research chapter is broader in scope and not explicitly about Physics, although connections to Statistical Mechanics are made towards the end of the chapter. Matroids are abstract structures that describe dependence, and strong maps are certain structure-preserving functions between them with desirable properties. We examine properties of various categories of matroids and strong maps: we compute limits and colimits; we find free and cofree constructions of various subcategories; we examine factorisation structures, including a translation principle from geometric lattices; we find functors with convenient properties to/from vector spaces, multisets of vectors, geometric lattices, and graphs; we determine which widely used operations on matroids are functorial (these include deletion, contraction, series and parallel connection, and a simplification monad); lastly, we find a categorical characterisation of the greedy algorithm. In conclusion, this project determines which aspects of Matroid Theory are most and least conducive to categorical treatment.
The purpose of the second research chapter is to provide a categorical framework for generalising and unifying notions of Entropy in various settings, exploiting the fact that Entropy is a monotone subadditive function. A categorical characterisation of Entropy through a category of thermodynamical systems and adiabatic processes is found. A modelling perspective (adiabatic categories) that directly generalises an existing model is compared to an axiomatisation through topological and linear structures (topological weak semimodules), where the latter is based on a categorification of semimodules. Properties of each class of categories are examined; most notably a cancellation property of adiabatic categories generalising an existing result, and an adjunction between the categories of weak semimodules and symmetric monoidal categories. An adjunction between categories of adiabatic categories and topological weak semimodules is found. We examine in which cases each of these classes of categories constitutes a traced monoidal category. Lastly, examples of physical applications are provided. In conclusion, this project uncovers a way of, and makes progress towards, retrieving the statistical formulation of Entropy from simple axioms.

Keywords: Entropy
Diagrammatic reasoning
Strong maps (matroids)
Advisor: Vicary, J
Heunen, C