VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Honorific statuary in the third century AD

The habit of honouring outstanding individuals with statues was common throughout the Roman Empire. Yet after the end of the Severan reign at the beginning of the third century AD, a decrease in honorific statues is generally assumed to have taken place. This thesis aims to evaluate this hypothesis, focusing specifically on the years AD 222-285. The thesis is assessing the contemporaneous imperial remains for the Roman Empire as a whole and the evidence from four exemplary cities that are particularly conspicuous in their statuary production and display, both before and after the time frame under investigation (Leptis Magna, Athens, Ephesus, Aphrodisias). The purpose is to explore the standards, conventions, and limitations of statuary practice in Roman society in a synthetic and comparative analysis and thereby to evaluate its political and social role during a state of internal and external instability, labelled 'the third century crisis'. By providing concrete figures, the practice of the third century can be juxtaposed with both the antecedent and subsequent centuries and this will facilitate a more coherent insight into the overall development and changes in Roman honorific statuary practice. The results suggest that the assumed decline in the number of statuary installations might have to be re-evaluated. It has become apparent that in order to obtain comparable numbers, the inclusion of imperial family members in any statistical evaluation is indispensable, a factor which has previously been disregarded. A gradual decrease cannot be supported and neither can a decrease in the appreciation of honours.

Keywords: Emperor
Portrait
Leptis
Athens
Roman
Inscription
Aphrodisias
Ephesus
Imperial
Statue
Lepcis
Ephesos
Advisor: Smith, R
Imitation in literary theory and practice in Italy, 1400-1530

The standard works on Renaissance literary criticism in Italy devote little space to the period before 1530; and though they recognise the importance of the imitation of literary models in Quattrocento literature, they concentrate on the statements on imitation by Petrarch and Poliziano, and consider only theory. This thesis challenges that traditional view by examining the substantial contributions to imitation theory made by humanists between Petrarch and Poliziano and by adopting a comprehensive approach which embraces both theory and practice, both Latin and vernacular works. The main objective of this research is to demonstrate that imitation is the key to literary theory and practice in the period, and to suggest that literary criticism in the Quattrocento is worthy of more detailed attention.
After an initial chapter on the Trecento, Chapters Two to Four consider the role of imitation in the first half of the Quattrocento, examining the works of Bruni; the contributions of educators such as Vergerio, Barzizza, Antonio da Rho (whose De Imitationibus Eloquentie is studied here for the first time in its full version) and Guarino; and the polemic between Poggio and Valla, which marks a crucial stage in the development of Ciceronianism.
Chapters Five and Six are devoted to the rise of vernacular humanism between 1430 and 1480, dealing with imitation in the works of Alberti and Landino, who outline a programme of development for the volgare based on the imitation of both the content and the stylistic techniques of Latin authors.
Chapters Seven to Nine study the three major literary disputes between 1480 and 1530, showing that the two polemics on imitation between Poliziano and Cortese and between G.F.Pico and Bembo are linked with the quarrel between Barbaro and G.Pico on eloquence and philosophy. An analysis of each dispute both in relation to the other polemics and in the context of the other works of each participant permits a modification of the received view of Cortese as the first Ciceronian; illustrates the proximity rather than the divergence of the views of Pico and Barbaro; and by examining a little-known letter of G.F.Pico demonstrates that his views on imitation are developed about a decade before his exchange with Bembo. Finally, after illustrating Bembo's application of Ciceronianism to his vernacular works and to his Historia Veneta, the thesis concludes by suggesting that with Bembo one stage of the imitation debate comes to a close.
Theology and university: Friedrich Schleiermacher, Karl Hagenbach, and the project of theological encyclopaedia in nineteenth-century Germany

This study examines the rise, development, and crisis of theological encyclopaedia in nineteenth-century Germany. As introductory textbooks for theological study in the university, works of theological encyclopaedia addressed the pressing questions facing theology as a ‘science’ (Wissenschaft), a rigorous, critical discipline deserving of a seat in the modern university. The project of theological encyclopaedia, I argue, functioned as the place where theological reflection and the requirements of the institutional setting in which that reflection occurred—here the German university—converged. I explore its roots as a pioneering idealist model for organizing knowledge in the German university system in the late eighteenth century. I focus especially on Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834), the father of modern Protestantism and principal intellectual architect of the University of Berlin (1810). Schleiermacher’s programme transformed the scholarly theological enterprise into one defined in terms of science. That transformation laid the groundwork for the later historicization of theology, which I investigate in the two predominant ‘schools’ of German university theology in the middle of the nineteenth century, the Hegelian ‘speculative’ school and ‘mediating theology’ (Vermittlungstheologie). Among the latter, I emphasize the remarkable international influence of the Swiss-German Karl Hagenbach (1801–74), whose theological encyclopaedia was among the most widely read theological books in German-speaking Europe from the 1830s through World War I. Finally, I analyze the project’s downfall in the context of Wilhelmine Germany and the Weimar Republic, beset by radical disciplinary specialization, a crisis of historicism, and the attacks of dialectical theology. Throughout, I contend that theological encyclopaedia represented the institutionalization of the idea of theology as science, which furnishes an explanatory grid for understanding the relationship between theology and the university. The project resulted in a powerful synthesis that fundamentally shaped the reigning theological paradigms in nineteenth-century Germany and beyond.

Keywords: Karl Hagenbach
Friedrich Schleiermacher
university theology
historicism
theological encyclopaedia
Friedrich Schelling
Wissenschaft
organization of knowledge
speculative theology
theology as science
historicization
mediating theology
academic theology
Advisor: Zachhuber, J
The reception of English fictional and non-fictional prose in Catalonia (1916-38), with particular reference to Edwardian literary culture and associated debates concerning the novel in England, France and Catalonia

The present study opens up the field of Catalan connections with English literature. The importance of Edwardian influences on the general transmission of English authors and works is demonstrated. Original data on the reception of G.K. Chesterton, the Edwardian figure with a most remarkable impact in Catalonia, is brought to light (Chapter 1, Appendix 1), followed by discussion of the presence of H.G. Wells and G.B. Shaw and an account of the reception of Well's early fiction (Chapter 2); their influence sheds new light on the aspiration of an élite to modernise Catalan culture. Catalan translations of English fictional works produced in the period 1918-38 (Chapter 3, Appendix II) are linked to the reception of the roman anglais in the context of the crisis of the roman à thèse, and the meditating influence of French criticism is revealed.
The values of romance, adventure, and the common man (from Defoe to Stevenson, from Stevenson to Conrad) constitute the recurrent thread associated with the English tradition and with the Edwardian fictional canon, as these were mediated from France to Catalonia. This panorama of transmission enhances an understanding of Catalan views of the novel, in the light of Edwardian values (Chapter 4), as exemplified in Carles Riba's critical appraisal of two Catalan authors, in the appeal of Joseph Conrad's narrative technique and its influence on J.M. de Sagarra, as well as in the comparison of Frank Swinnerton's Nocturne (a best-seller of 1917) and its Catalan counterpart, M. Teresa Vernet's Les algues roges. This thesis also includes a chronology of the reception of Chesterton and a list of Catalan translations of English works of fiction.
A method for the identification of biological pathways

Plenty of gene variants have been associated with disease, indicating widespread genetic heterogeneity, which leaves the molecular basis of complex diseases unclear. However, it is widely postulated that the products of genes whose mutations are implicated in the same disease function together in the same biological pathways and it is the disruption of these pathways that underlies the disease. Such pathways are not well defined and their identification could help elucidate disease mechanisms. To discern molecular pathways of relevance to complex disease, I have inferred functional associations between human genes from diverse data types and assessed these associations with a novel phenotype-based method. I could confirm the hypothesis that dysfunctions of genes associated with each other in terms of functional genomic and proteomic data tend to give rise to the same disease. Examining the functional association between disease-associated gene variants, I have found that genes implicated through de novo sequence variants are biased in their coding sequence length and that longer genes tend to cluster together in gene networks, leading to exaggerated p-values in functional studies. I have controlled for the confounding bias and, testing different data sources, found that an integrated phenotypic-linkage network offers superior power to detect functional associations among genes mutated in the same disease. Applying these methods to clinical phenotypes related to intellectual disability, I have observed an increased predictive potential in identifying genes associated with these phenotypes. I have also performed case–control association analyses of variants from an exome-sequencing study of Parkinson’s disease and tested the functional associations of the mutated genes. I have advanced a framework for the identification of biological pathways disrupted in complex disorders, also demonstrating the suitability of this method to functionally sub-cluster the gene variants underlying a complex disorder, with implications for the understanding of disease mechanisms.

Keywords: gene networks
genomics
computational biology
Advisor: Webber, C
Ponting, C
Multi-scale modelling of blood flow in the coronary microcirculation

The importance of coronary microcirculatory perfusion is highlighted by the severe impact of microvascular diseases such as diabetes and hypertension on heart function. Recently, highly-detailed three-dimensional (3D) data on ex vivo coronary microvascular structure have become available. However, hemodynamic information in individual myocardial capillaries cannot yet be obtained using current in vivo imaging techniques. In this thesis, a novel data-driven modelling framework is developed to predict tissue-scale flow properties from discrete anatomical data, which can in future be used to aid interpretation of coarse-scale perfusion imaging data in healthy and diseased states. Mathematical models are parametrised by the 3D anatomical data set of Lee (2009) from the rat myocardium, and tested using flow measurements in two-dimensional rat mesentery networks.
Firstly, algorithmic and statistical tools are developed to separate branching arterioles and venules from mesh-like capillaries, and then to extract geometrical properties of the 3D capillary network. The multi-scale asymptotic homogenisation approach of Shipley and Chapman (2010) is adapted to derive a continuum model of coronary capillary fluid transport incorporating a non-Newtonian viscosity term. Tissue-scale flow is captured by Darcy's Law whose coefficient, the permeability tensor, transmits the volume-averaged capillary-scale flow variations to the tissue-scale equation. This anisotropic permeability tensor is explicitly calculated by solving the capillary-scale fluid mechanics problem on synthetic, stochastically-generated periodic networks parametrised by the geometrical data statistics, and a thorough sensitivity analysis is conducted. Permeability variations across the myocardium are computed by parametrising synthetic networks with transmurally-dependent data statistics, enabling the hypothesis that subendocardial permeability is much higher in diastole to compensate for severely-reduced systolic blood flow to be tested. The continuum Darcy flow model is parametrised by purely structural information to provide tissue-scale perfusion metrics, with the hypothesis that this model is less sensitive and more reliably parametrised than an alternative, estimated discrete network flow solution.

Keywords: homogenisation
blood flow
microvascular networks
Darcy flow
microcirculation
Advisor: Shipley, R
Smith, N
Chapman, S
Theoretical problems in global seismology and geodynamics

In Chapter 2, we consider the hydrostatic equilibrium figure of a rotating earth model with arbitrary radial density profile. We derive an exact non-linear partial differential equation describing the equilibrium figure. Perturbation theory is used to obtain approximate forms of this equation, and we show that the first-order theory is equivalent to Clairaut's equation.
In Chapter 3, a method for parametrizing the possible equilibrium stress fields of a laterally heterogeneous earth model is described. In this method a solution of the equilibrium equations is first found that satisfies some desirable physical property. All other solutions can be written as the sum of this equilibrium stress field and a divergence-free stress tensor field whose boundary tractions vanish.
In Chapter 4, we consider the minor vector method for the stable numerical solution of systems of linear ordinary differential equations. Results are presented for the application of the method to the calculation of seismic displacement fields in spherically symmetric, self-gravitating earth models.
In Chapter 5, we present a new implementation of the direct solution method for calculating normal mode spectra in laterally heterogeneous earth models. Numerical tests are presented to demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of this method for performing large mode coupling calculations.
In Chapter 6, we consider the theoretical basis for the viscoelastic normal mode method which is used in studies of seismic wave propagation, post-glacial rebound, and post-seismic deformation. We show how the time-domain solution to the viscoelastodynamic equation can be written as a normal mode sum in a rigorous manner.

Keywords: viscoelasticity
seismic wave propagation
normal modes
Advisor: Woodhouse, J
Thomson, C
Long distance entanglement distribution

Developments in the interdisciplinary field of quantum information open up previously impossible abilities in the realms of information processing and communication. Quantum entanglement has emerged as one property of quantum systems that acts as a resource for quantum information processing and, in particular, enables teleportation and secure cryptography. Therefore, the creation of entangled resources is of key importance for the application of these technologies. Despite a great deal of research the efficient creation of entanglement over long distances is limited by inevitable noise. This problem can be overcome by creating entanglement between nodes in a network and then performing operations to distribute the entanglement over a long distance.
This thesis contributes to the field of entanglement distribution within such quantum networks. Entanglement distribution has been extensively studied for one-dimensional networks resulting in "quantum repeater" protocols. However, little work has been done on higher dimensional networks. In these networks a fundamentally different scaling, called "long distance entanglement distribution", can appear between the resources and the distance separating the systems to be entangled. I reveal protocols that enable long distance entanglement distribution for quantum networks composed of mixed state and give a few limitations to the capabilities of entanglement distribution.
To aid in the implementation of all entanglement distribution protocols I finish by introducing a new system, composed of an optical nanofibre coupled to a carbon nanotube, that may enable new forms of photo-detectors and quantum memories.

Keywords: Networks
Entanglement
Percolation
Advisor: Jaksch, D
The chemical composition of soil solutions extracted from top soils in the Oxford area

Although the soil solution lies at the centre of many of the processes which occur in soils, little information is available on the chemical composition of the soil solutions of field soils, or on the temporal and spatial variability of such solutions.
The suitability of an immiscible fluid centrifugation method for obtaining samples of the soil solution was evaluated. The method was found to be substantially free from interferences and well suited to routine use. It was adapted for use with soils of low bulk density. Yields of soil solution from soils at or near field capacity ranged from 20 to 50% of the total water present. However little or no soil solution could be extracted from dry soils. Displaced solutions were analysed for about 20 solutes principally by inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy.
Typical solute concentrations in soil solutons from six neutral and calcareous soil series in the Oxford area were in the range 10-2.4 to 10-3.4 M for Na, K, Ca, S, Cl, N03, alkalinity and dissolved organic carbon (DOC); 10-3.4 to 10-4.4 M for Mg, Si and P and <10-5.33 M for B, Li r Y, Ba, Mn, Cu, Fe, V, Zn, Al, Pb f Ni, Cd, Co, Sr and Mo.
Short-range (5-10 m) variability was significantly less, and between-soil series variability significantly more, than the variability found between grass fields on the same soil series for most solutes. The main exception to this was N03 which exhibited a large between-field variability. In general, soil solutions from arable soils were more dilute than those from nearby pasture soils. Solutions from poorly drained sites on a heavy clay soil were more concentrated than those from freely draining sites on the same soil series.
A year-long sampling programme showed that with the exception of P and alkalinity the concentrations of solutes in the soil solution changed significantly with time. The temporal range in the concentrations of solutes was found to increase in the order Si-Pandlt;alkalinity-Feandlt;Naandlt;Ca-Sr-Mg-Cuandlt;S-DOCandlt;K-Znandlt;Cl-pHandlt;Mn.

Advisor: Beckett, P
Kinniburgh, D
Beckett, D
Analysis of mating type protein interactions in Coprinus cinereus

The A mating type factor of the hymenomycete fungus Coprinus cinereus is a multi-allelic gene complex that controls mating compatibility and sexual development. It contains up to four pairs of specificity genes, the a, b, c, and d gene-pairs. Each gene-pair codes for two homeodomain transcription factors with distinct classes of homeodomain motifs. Mating compatibility between the A42 and A6 factors depends solely on the different alleles of the b gene-pair, b1-1 and b2-1 in A42 and b1-3 and b2-3 in A6. The b1-3 and b2-3 genes of A6 were isolated and the complete DNA sequences of genomic and cDNA clones were determined. Construction of chimeric genes using the A42 and A6 b genes identified the N-terminal regions of the A proteins as being responsible for allele specificity. Analysis of protein-protein interactions showed that b1 and b2 proteins from different alleles of the same gene-pair can dimerise, whereas proteins from the same allele pair can not. It was shown that a region of 90 amino acids at the N-terminus of the b2-3 protein is sufficient for dimerisation with b1-1. This region is predicted to contain an amphipathic helix. A comparison with the equivalent region in the b2-1 protein identifies a similar helix. This suggests that a compatible A mating type reaction and thus allele specificity is recognised by the ability to dimerise through this domain. Polyclonal antibodies were raised against the b1-1 protein and a heterologous yeast expression system was established for testing potential DNA target sites of the b1-1 and b2-3 proteins, both techniques offering potentially useful tools for further molecular analysis of the A mating type proteins.

Advisor: Castleton, L
IO power from within? UNHCR's surrogate statehood in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda

This thesis examines the role of international organizations (IOs) at the domestic level. While International Relations (IR) offers an extensive literature on IOs, with understandings of IOs ranging from instruments of states to autonomous actors, it tends to ignore the role of IOs working at the domestic level, with an 'on-the-ground' presence of their own, and what this means for the IO's relationship with the state.
The thesis develops a heuristic framework for understanding what is called IO 'domestication', which outlines a range of ways an IO can work domestically. It then focuses on one type domestication in particular: surrogate statehood, or cases where an IO substitutes for the state by providing services, executing functions of governance, and assuming authority in a given locale. The framework identifies indicators of surrogacy, the conditions for IO surrogacy, and reasons why it is sustained. It also considers the various types of relationship that can emerge from IO surrogacy between the IO and the state, ranging from states that willingly choose to abdicate responsibility to the IO, to states that partner with the IO. Empirically, the thesis examines these relationships through the case studies of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, which present a spectrum of UNHCR’s surrogacy over time.
Ultimately, the thesis puts forth a counterintuitive claim: IOs that take on surrogate state properties actually have less influence on the states in which they are working. The analysis draws on two mechanisms to help explain this outcome: marginalisation of the state, and responsibility shifting.

Keywords: international organisations
refugees
international relations
surrogate state
UNHCR
Advisor: Betts, A
Welsh, J