VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Modulation of visual-motor responses by the perception of object affordance, automatic imitation  and action agency

When we interact with the environment in our everyday life the relationship between what we see and what we do is under continuous coupling, i.e., our perceptions and actions are built through a continuous reciprocal flow of information between sensory and motor processes. This thesis reports a series of experiments investigating perception-action coupling in terms of modulation of response selection and execution processes by the perception of object affordances, automatic imitation and action agency.
In Chapter 2, I focused on demonstrating the automaticity of the action priming effect directing attention and its relationship with awareness of object affordances. Different from the classical studies on object affordances, I addressed this relationship through attentional effects to avoid SRC effects as a confound. The result suggested that, at least for error rates, when the relationship between an object and its action-related stimulus is explicit, affordances can elicit an attentional bias towards a representation of the action that a recently seen object affords.
In Chapter 3, I investigated the temporal aspects of automatic imitation focusing on the discussion regarding the stage of information processing where the interfering effects of observing an incongruent action takes place. The results demonstrated that the automatic imitation effect interferes not only with response selection but also with response execution, therefore providing new evidence of the reach of perception-action coupling effects.
In Chapter 4, I investigated the role of a prominent self-stimulus and the sense of agency in the automatic imitation effect. The results clearly demonstrated that automatic imitation effects can be modulated as a function of self-related information, reducing sensitivity to observed movements as a consequence of self-focus.
Overall, this thesis demonstrated a strong relationship between perception and action affecting the response process. Actions can be primed by the perception of either object affordance properties or by the perception of actions performed by others.

Keywords: social cognition
action agency
automatic imitation
object affordance
Advisor: Heyes, C
Yeung, N
Attentional control of goal directed behaviour

The ability to modulate behaviour in a goal directed manner, is fundamental to all aspects of life. To become goal directed, attention must be configured to bias perception and action in favour of the current directive. This competitive process allows expansive possibilities to be moulded into coherent purposeful behaviour. It allows intention to become action.
The following thesis can be broken down into two parts. The first part is comprised of three empirical chapters that examine the functional consequences and neural underpinnings of impaired attentional control following stroke.
The second part is comprised of two empirical chapters aimed at more specific experimental questions. These chapters propose novel paradigms aimed at answering finer grained questions regarding the structure of attentional control.
Part I: Chapter 2 examines the functional consequences for patients with impaired attentional control. Chapter 3 takes a subset of patients from the previous chapter and uses a voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping approach to examine damage associated with impaired attentional control. Chapter 4 utilises a BiFactor model to examine whether executive dysfunction manifests differentially after frontal and posterior damage.
Part II: Chapter 5 proposes a novel paradigm that allows better dissociation of errors associated with the breakdown of goal directed behaviour. Chapter 6 examines how attention is distributed during concurrent processing and maintenance activities.

Keywords: Functional Status
Stroke
Lesion Mapping
Advisor: Demeyere, N
Husain, M
Conflicted fatherhood in Greek tragedy

This thesis explores the depiction of fathers in Greek tragedy in terms of the conflict between the expectations and responsibilities of fatherhood and other areas of male activity and identity
Chapter 1 provides historical, literary and scholarly context. Chapters 2 and 3 examine the often difficult relationship between paternal responsibility and political concerns. Chapter 2 explores Agamemnon’s decision to permit the expedition against Troy by sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia, as recounted in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon and depicted in Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis. Chapter 3 focuses upon the interplay of politics and paternity in plays on Theban myths; it examines the depictions of Creon in Sophocles’ Antigone and Euripides’ Phoenician Women as deliberately contrasting responses to the challenge of establishing priority between political and paternal responsibilities, before moving on to a comparison of tragic accounts of Oedipus’ curse upon his sons as an instance of a father’s behaviour exerting considerable, damaging influence upon public life. Chapters 4 and 5 explore tragedy’s depiction of various superhuman fathers. Chapter 4 demonstrates that tragedy sets the complex and extensive mythical, literary and religious traditions concerning Heracles at odds with the demands of conventional fatherhood. Chapter 5 considers the portrayal of divine fathers in tragedy; after outlining various trends in extant and fragmentary plays, it focuses upon Euripides’ Ion as a case-study for the disruptive and distanced nature of divine paternity in the genre. Having explored these various conflicts between fatherhood and other areas of activity and responsibility, the thesis culminates in an examination of the conflict over fatherhood itself. Chapter 6 explores the competing representations of a specific father in Sophocles’ Ajax, and the impassioned conflict over the duties of fatherhood more generally in Euripides’ Alcestis, before culminating in an extensive examination of contested fatherhood in Euripides’ Orestes. The thesis demonstrates that fatherhood in Greek tragedy is pervasively and significantly conflicted. This conflict is not only an important factor in our understanding of the plot, themes and characterisation of many of these works, but also a crucial point of contact and engagement between the plays themselves and the discourse of contemporary Athenian society.

Keywords: tragedy
father
fatherhood
Greek
conflict
Advisor: Rutherford, R
The Zhou identity: its construction, perception and development in the early Western Zhou (1045—978 B.C.)

This thesis investigates how the collective “Zhou identity” was formulated and experienced by various groups of people living in the Zhou territory at the beginning of the Western Zhou period, from the reign of King Wu to King Kang (1045—978 B.C.). It examines a wide range of archaeological materials including bronze ritual vessels, bronze weapons and ceramics from sites either under the Zhou court’s direct control, or those whose occupants had political ties with the court. It analyzes and presents the data using distribution maps, quantitative tables and inventories, as well as visual analyses.
The Zhou identity is the individuals’ experience of participating in the Zhou military, ritual and dietary system so that the individuals project themselves as an integral part of those systems.
In examining the Zhou identity, two main questions are addressed. First, what policies did the Zhou court of the early Western Zhou period initiate to establish and promote a Zhou identity? Second, how effective were these policies? The central court established a royal Zhou military, ritual and dietary system, requiring participants to use the same weapon to fight in the same way, and to use the same ritual set to perform rituals in the same way, as well as to use the same ceramic set to cook and eat in the same way. When inhabitants join these systems, they would visually and behaviorally become a Zhou member, therefore experiencing and embodying the Zhou identity in the military, ritual or dietary context. However, these measures of the Zhou court were not entirely effective; many did not participate, or engage fully, in some or all of the new systems. Their experience of the Zhou identity was situational, contextual and not permanent.

Advisor: Rawson, J
Responses to Lollardy and the evolution of English religion, c.1400-1450

The study of the religious controversies associated with the legacy of John Wyclif has seen extensive expansion in recent years. Lollard religion and spirituality have been studied both at the textual and at the sociological level. This thesis will approach the period instead from a theological and intellectual-historical perspective, focusing on theological texts created in response to Lollardy. It will detail how attempts to defend and preserve 'orthodoxy' led to new forms of diversity and tension in English religion over time. It will suggest, however, that certain characteristic theological positions and strategies were constants even through these diverse voices.
The first chapter examines a set of homiletic and related materials from around the first decade of the century. It tracks common interests in authority, ecclesiology, virtue, and scripture alongside divergent priorities for the church, and varied strategies for opposing Lollardy. The second chapter surveys Nicholas Love's devotional translation, The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, arguing that the work is shaped by a similar agenda, which again emerges in discussions of theological authority. Chapter 3 addresses Thomas Netter’s 1427 Doctrinale, demonstrating that this too is influenced by a polemic and apologetic agenda in its systematic theology. The fourth chapter shows similar preoccupations later on in the very different theology of Reginald Pecock, whose own stated purpose of 'repressing' Lollard error led him into conflict with his emphasis on reason and accessibility in religion. In the fifth chapter this is balanced with the figure of Thomas Gascoigne who demonstrates the continued survival of many of the theological and devotional concerns of Lollardy in the absence of an anti-Lollard agenda.
The conclusion draws together the findings of this study, noting the rich diversity of responses to Lollardy in form and genre, but also the persistence of certain common preoccupations and strategies. Discussions of the nature of virtue and the right locus of authority were deployed not only to debate particular Lollard critiques of the church, but to construct theologies with little or no room for such critiques in principle, and assert an institutional church unaccountable to independent external criticism. Not only the conclusions, therefore, but the reforming attitude and authority sources of Lollardy were consistently excluded. The defining feature of Lollardy's influence lay in the varied, but consistent, re-incarnation of this recurring theological agenda.

Keywords: Lollards
Lollardy
Heresy
Hermeneutics
Advisor: MacCulloch, D
Ghosh, K
Instigating and monitoring transdermal drug delivery using ultrasound-mediated cavitation

Injections are a commonly used and widely accepted method of drug administration to prevent and treat diseases. Although using a needle and syringe provides a rapid, lowcost, and direct way of administering almost any kind of therapeutic agent into the body, it is a painful and invasive method leading to issues of patient compliance and needle–phobia. The delivery of drugs through the skin (transdermal delivery) is an attractive alternative approach because it is non-invasive and has low associated risks. However, the penetration of molecules into/through the skin is severely restricted by the outermost layer of the skin (stratum corneum). Initial studies of ultrasound-mediated, cavitation-enhanced transdermal drug delivery have shown great promise by utilising a gel formulation containing polymeric cavitation nuclei to help deliver a model immunogen (Ovalbumin) into the skin. However, enhanced adoption of this technology to permit delivery of several classes of therapeutic agents requires further validation and optimisation and is currently stymied by the lack of real-time monitoring when used across a broad range of therapeutic classes and environmental conditions. Such monitoring is especially important in situations where the dose of the delivered therapeutic agent needs to be precisely defined. Therefore, the focus of this thesis is to achieve transdermal delivery using cavitation-enhanced transport and develop methodologies to monitor or at least confirm successful delivery in real-time. [abstract continued in thesis]

Keywords: Immunization
Nanocups
murine model
Drug monitoring
Ultrasound
Sumatriptan
Microbubble
Drug delivery
DNA vaccine
Transdermal delivery
Drug delivery device
Migraine
Skin
Vaccination
Cavitation
Passive acoustic detection
Advisor: Coussios, C
Carlisle, R
Geological and metallogenic evolution of the Palaeoproterozoic Adam Ahmed mouloude region of the Reguibat Shield, Western Sahara

The Adam Ahmed Mouloude Region of the Liberated Territories of Western Sahara is a previously unstudied region of the Reguibat Shield. Crucially, the region covers a large portion of the ‘Contact Zone’ between the Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic components of the Reguibat Shield, exposed as only a small wedge in neighbouring Mauritania. Two distinct tectonic terranes were identified in the study area, the Leaareig Terrane (ca. 2.22 to 2.15 Ga) in the west and the Sfariat-Bu Daira Terrane (ca. 2.14 to 2.09 Ga) in the east. The Sfariat-Bu Daira Terrane contains the only known anorthosite complex to contain both megacrystic and massif-type anorthosite, normally formed in different tectonic settings at different periods in the Earth’s history.
Strong geological and geophysical correlations between the Leaareig and Sfariat-Bu Daira Terrane formed the basis for the proposal of the first geodynamic model for the formation of the West African Craton. This model includes the formation of two volcanic arc terranes (>2.13 Ga), their collision with each other (~2.13-2.12 Ga), a collisional event between the now fully assembled Palaeoproterozoic Terrane with the Archaean Terrane (~2.10-2.09 Ga) followed by mantle delamination and widespread post-collisional magmatism (2.09-2.02 Ga).
The Leaareig and Sfariat-Bu Daira Terranes are highly prospective for gold with the potential for other types of mineral deposits including magmatic Ni-Cu-(Co-PGE) sulphide, platinum group element-bearing chromitite, orthomagmatic Fe-Ti-V oxide and Superior-type Iron.

Keywords: Voisey’s Bay
Morila
Orthomagmatic Fe-Ti-V
Orogenic gold mineralisation
Baoulé-Mossi
Fe-Ti-V
Chromitite-hosted PGE
Sfariat Bu-Daira
Burkina Faso
West African Craton
Boromo
Agarasras Lakhadar
Sittampundi
Eburnean
Metallogenesis
Anorthosite
chromite chemistry
Palaeoproterozoic
Houndé
Temmimichate-Tsabaya
massif-type
tectonic settings
Anajim Guebli
ophiolite
Banfora
mafic
Leaareig
ultramafic
Kéména-Man
Liberated Territories of Western Sahara
megacrystic anorthosite
massif-type anorthosite
Algeria
chromite
magmatic sulphide
island arc
Oum Abana
Man-Leo
geochronological
megacrystic
Western Sahara Geology
Intrusion-related Gold
Geological map
Leo-Man
Fe-Ti-V oxide
Palaeoproterozoic Archaean Contact
Birimian
Western Sahara
Mg#
Guelb Koujil
Riche Anajim
Kenema-Man
Agarasras
lithological correlation
Orogenic Gold
Archaean-Palaeoproterozoic Boundary
Massif type
continental arc
Sassaiate-Temmimichate– Tsabaya
petrology
WAC
Taghsoumat- Aghsoumal
Paleoproterozoic
eburnean
Sfariat
Reguibat Shield
Elmalhat Anorthosite Complex
Mauritania
Megacrystic
chromitite
Advisor: Robb, L
Waters, D
Expression of S-phase cyclins affects sensitivity to DNA damage response modulators

DNA replication stress triggers an intra-S phase checkpoint that is dependent on Ataxia- Telangiectasia and Rad3 related (ATR) kinase signalling. Due to the central role of ATR in the S phase checkpoint, it has been proposed that inhibition of ATR activity could selectively target tumour cells with defects in DNA damage-induced G1 cell cycle checkpoints through accumulation of DNA damage resulting in cell death. However, resistance is a major challenge arising from long-term use of such kinase inhibitors, thus previous work in the laboratory generated independent clonal cell lines (from PC-9 human non-small cell lung cancer cells) that are resistant to AZD6738, a selective ATR inhibitor, which notably expressed lower levels of S phase cyclins.
The aim of this study was to modulate levels of cyclins E1 and A2 to determine their impact on sensitivity to ATR inhibition. Firstly, parental and resistant cells were characterised in response to ATR inhibition. Secondly, cyclins were overexpressed in parental and resistant cells to observe sensitisation of cells to ATR inhibition, and finally, cyclin A2 knockdown was induced in parental cells.
Methods used to investigate response to ATR inhibition included cell proliferation assays, western blot, flow cytometry and live-cell microscopy. Results showed that cyclin modulation had a significant but modest effect on response to ATR inhibition, probably due to strict control of total cellular cyclin levels. Notably, early (post-mitotic) expression of cyclin E1 was detected in ATR inhibitor sensitive PC-9 cells, whereas ATR inhibitor resistant cells exhibited relatively delayed cyclin E1 expression. RNA sequencing and FACS analyses point to the role of the cyclin E-pRb-E2F pathway in inducing premature S phase entry in sensitive cells.
In conclusion from our study, a contributing factor determining sensitivity to ATR inhibition may be the timing of S phase cyclin expression. Specifically, early cyclin E1 expression may indicate the sensitivity of a cell line to ATR inhibition.

Advisor: Ryan, A
Pilgrim flasks: chronological and cultural transformations from the New Kingdom to the Napatan period

Ceramic pilgrim flasks were prevalent across the Eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, and were adopted into Egypt during the reign of Thuthmosis III. Their changing synchronic and diachronic usage across these contexts has however been little explored, and research demonstrates their integral position in commodity exchange. This approach sheds light on how Egyptian colonial practices in New Kingdom and Post New Kingdom Nubia affected material culture. During the course of this study, I applied typological and anthropological methodologies to pilgrim flasks to examine how vessel use changed across this cultural border, and the disparate ways this can be represented in the archaeological record. I collated 1635 pilgrim flasks from across Egypt and Nubia to approach three research questions:
1. How does pilgrim flask morphology change as it moves across the cultural landscape between Egypt and Nubia?
2. How were pilgrim flasks used? Do the deposition patterns of flasks suggest shifting usage between the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BCE) and the Early Napatan (c. 700– 500 BCE) in these regions?
3. What can these vessels ultimately reveal about cultural practices in Nubia, both before and after the withdrawal of the Egyptian colonial control at the end of the New Kingdom?
I developed new typologies for Egypt and Nubia to compare the different morphological and distribution patterns visible. This revealed distinct regional practices associated with the form. The application of Practice models to the data scrutinised the divergent meanings associated with the vessel across these traditions, which were associated with both wine and perfumed oils in Egypt, but libation practices in Nubia. Pilgrim flasks were affected by colonial practices in Nubia and were swiftly appropriated into new habitus traditions. Their use in mixed colonial towns contributed to the ethnogenesis of an urban habitus that inspired institutions in the Early Napatan state.

Keywords: Nubia
Pilgrim flasks
Sudan
Egyptology
Nubian Ceramics
Advisor: Hulin, L
McNamara, L
Parkinson, R
Late bloomers’ politics: the rise of Muslim citizenship politics and the case of the popular front of India

This thesis analyses the emerging trend of Muslim minority politics in India. It aims to illustrate that a fundamental shift has occurred over the last 20 years: from an identity dominated, self-serving and inward-looking approach by Muslim community leaders, Islamic authorities and social activists that seeks to protect Islamic personal law and culture, towards an inclusive debate centred on socio-economic marginalisation and minority empowerment. At the core of this thesis is an analysis of the recent academic literature on Muslim citizenship politics and the growing involvement of Islamist organisations and movements in the democratic process and electoral politics. It also suggests that further scrutiny is needed of the assumption that Muslim politics and Islamic movements are incompatible with the democratic political framework of the modern nation state in India and elsewhere. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork undertaken since 2011, this thesis is predominately concerned with Muslim activists, and members and affiliates of the Popular Front of India (PFI), a growing Muslim minority movement. The distinctive feature of the PFI is that unlike the often-studied ulama-led orthodox and reformist groups, this movement is directed by a politically conscious lay middle class leadership, who attempt to advance the claims of the minority Muslim population within India’s democratic framework. India’s democracy compared with the mostly authoritarian regimes in the Middle East provides us with a fresh framework to understand this moderation phenomenon within Islamist movements. The thesis also attempts to demonstrate that religious groups are able to play a role in democratic politics, development, and policy making, which is often ignored within political theory.

Advisor: Bano, M
The economic geography of development banking for sustainable development

The topic of this thesis is the economic geography of development banking for sustainable development. There are two primary research questions pursued in the thesis. The first question is: are development banks effective financial institutions for sustainable development? The second question is: what impact does the spatial scale of a development bank have on its possible effectiveness for sustainable development?
The conceptual framework is comprised of four inter-related concepts: theoretical space, contextual place, structure of channels and organizational flow. The research was undertaken with a mixed-methods approach. The research was pursued in a case study format, and consisted of a close examination of four development banks: the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Uganda Development Bank Limited (UDBL), the New York Green Bank (NYGB) and the Connecticut Green Bank (CGB). The four development banks were chosen for a combination of reasons, including spatial scale, varied geographical contexts and accessibility.
The thesis resulted in three sets of conclusions, focusing on the effectiveness of development banks, the relevance of spatial scales for development banks and the conceptual foundations and methodology of assessing development banks. First, with regards to effectiveness, I conclude that development banks satisfice their mandates regarding the promotion of development, with the external context of a development bank significantly impacting its effectiveness. Second, with regards to spatial scales, I conclude that the optimal spatial scale of a development bank is related to the scale of the intervention that the development bank intends to make and what may be needed for development outcomes to be reached. Third, with regards to conceptual foundations and methodology, I conclude that the conceptual foundations upon which development banks exist are partially supported by empirical observation, and that analyzing the effectiveness of a complex institution can be meaningfully simplified by limiting the analysis to a single factor of analysis. The conclusions of the research could have a significant impact on the collective understanding of the role development banks can play in global efforts towards sustainable development.

Advisor: Clark, G