VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Giovanni Baglione

This thesis explores Baglione's contributions to art and to the history of art by examining the nature of his artistic and critical originality and the significant influences thereon.
In the work for which he is best known, Le Vite... (1642), Baglione was an interesting and generous critic who was unusually receptive to pictorial effects, even when in architecture and sculpture. He assesses Caravaggio's accomplishments with well chosen observations thereby breaking his restriction to discuss only accessible works of art.
A broad view of his paintings and drawings shows Baglione's complex, original and thoughtful voyage of discovery assisted by the intelligence with which he absorbed artistic influences, particularly from Raphael and the Cavalier d'Arpino. His refined style of drawing distances him from Caravaggio. In paintings from the first decade, light and shadow give form to graceful figures enveloped in voluminous garments. After 1610 the compositions become more inventive and increasingly Baroque. Baglione's attempt to make a synthesis out of ideal generalization and naturalistic description and to explore new subject matter constituted a search for a "maniera propria" that combined stylistic originality with a penchant for unusual iconography.
The most important trends in Baglione's draughtsmanship are the tendency towards a broader, freer handling and the versatility with which he handles the technical means at his disposal. Though he often crosses over the line into the Baroque, the idealism of his Tusco-Roman formation and fondness for angular lines constrain him from fully yielding to a dynamic disposition. His very personal style can be seen in a number of drawings from the 1620s and 1630s that attain a remarkable pictorial aspect and a Baroque quality of sensual presence. His sophisticated use of the three chalk technique prefigures the form dissolving effects to be popularized by Watteau. At the same time, the defining contour line that emphasizes integrity is not abandoned.
Characterisation of Nespas, a non-coding imprinted RNA

Nespas is the non-coding antisense transcript of the imprinted Gnas cluster; it is expressed from the paternal allele and is located on mouse distal chromosome 2. In this thesis new transcripts of >10 kb and 0.8 kb have been identified. The 0.8 kb transcript is a spliced variant that is retained in the nucleus and its 3’ end lies approximately 30 kb from the start site. Transcription from the Nespas promoter does not proceed beyond this point. A collection of previously known splice variants have also been detected and are exported to the cytoplasm. Nespas is expressed in the embryo during the second half of gestation and peaks at 13.5 dpc. Nespas is imprinted in the placenta at 11.5, 15.5 and 17.5 dpc. The Nespastm4Jop allele, to truncate the Nespas transcript 10.5 kb from the start site, has been transmitted through the germline and a breeding colony established. Preliminary analysis shows Nespas has a regulatory function. A second targeting construct to truncate Nespas 12.5 kb from the start site has been designed and assembled to investigate whether the 3’ end of the Nespas transcript that is transcribed upstream of the Nesp promoter is required for Nespas-mediated silencing of Nesp.

Keywords: imprinting
long non-coding RNA
Advisor: Peters, J
Brown, G
The demise of corporate insolvency law in India

The subject of this thesis is the operation of corporate insolvency law in post-colonial India. Indian corporate insolvency law has been widely condemned as dysfunctional, critics complaining of extreme delays and a series of associated harms to creditors in the disposal of formal proceedings. Surprisingly little is known, however, about why the law has ‘failed’ creditors in this way - why the law operates as it does. That is the question that motivates this thesis. The thesis reports the results of an in-depth study of the introduction and development of India’s two principal insolvency procedures for corporate debtors: liquidation (under the Companies Act 1956) and rescue (under the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act 1985, for industrial companies). The most significant contribution made by the thesis is the reporting of new evidence of the influence of judges on the development of these two insolvency procedures over time, drawn from an original analysis of a large body of Indian case law. This evidence suggests that the role of the courts (or more specifically, the role of judges) has been significantly underestimated in previous attempts to explain the demise of corporate insolvency law in post-colonial India.

Keywords: Indian law
Law and development
Insolvency law
Bankruptcy law
Banking
Law and finance
Advisor: Armour, J
Competition law, state aid law and free-movement law:  the case of the environmental integration obligation 

This thesis investigates competition law, State aid law and free-movement law in their interaction with Article 11 TFEU’s obligation to integrate environmental protection requirements into all activities and policies of the Union. The Article is formulated in broad and sweeping terms which makes integrating environmental protection requirements complex and context-dependent. The challenge of integrating environmental considerations is further increased as such integration in competition, State aid and free- movement law is different from other areas of EU action. The three areas are the core provisions protecting the internal market by prohibiting certain actions of the Member States and undertakings. Unlike in other areas, the EU is therefore not in the position to develop or design the actions but has to scrutinise the measure according to pre-established parameters. To address this challenge, a novel functional approach to environmental integration is developed. The approach should facilitate a better understanding of environmental integration and in particular its application to competition law, State aid and free-movement law. An important element of this thesis equally the comparison between the three areas of law. It sheds light on conceptual issues that are not only relevant to the integration of environmental protection. The comparison advances the understanding in relation to questions such as how restrictions are defined and how the respective balancing tests are applied. The contribution of this research is therefore twofold. One the one hand, it compares how the different tests in competition, State aid and free-movement law operate, thereby offering opportunities for cross-fertilisation. On the other hand, this comparison and the improvements suggested as a result help to conceptualise environmental integration thereby paving the way for a more transparent and consistent integration of environmental protection in competition, State aid and free-movement law.

Keywords: four freedoms
environmental integration
Article 11 TFEU
competition law
state aid law
free movement law
internal market law
Advisor: Ezrachi, A
Ziegler, K
Complexity issues in general purpose parallel computing

In recent years, powerful theoretical techniques have been developed for supporting communication, synchronization and fault tolerance in general purpose parallel computing. The proposition of this thesis is that different techniques should be used to support different algorithms. The determining factor is granularity, or the extent to which an algorithm uses long blocks for communication between processors.
We consider the Block PRAM model of Aggarwal, Chandra and Snir, a synchronous model of parallel computation in which the processors commu- nicate by accessing a shared memory. In the Block PRAM model, there is a time cost for each access by a processor to a block of locations in the shared memory. This feature of the model encourages the use of long blocks for communication.
In the thesis we present Block PRAM algorithms and lower bounds for specific problems on arrays, lists, expression trees, graphs, strings, binary trees and butterflies. These results introduce useful basic techniques for parallel computation in practice, and provide a classification of problems and algorithms according to their granularity. Also presented are optimal algorithms for universal hashing and skewing, which are techniques for sup- porting conflict-free memory access in general- and special-purpose parallel computations, respectively.
We explore the Block PRAM model as a theoretical basis for the design of scalable general purpose parallel computers. Several simulation results are presented which show the Block PRAM model to be comparable to, and competitive with, other models that have been proposed for this role. Two major advantages of machines based on the Block PRAM model is that they are able to preserve the granularity properties of individual algorithms and can efficiently incorporate a significant degree of fault tolerance.
The thesis also discusses methods for the design of algorithms that do not use synchronization. We apply these methods to define fast circuits for several fundamental Boolean functions.

Advisor: McColl, W
The making of the Single European Act

This thesis is a contemporary history of one episode in the United Kingdom's experience of the European Community (EC). It charts the making of the Single European Act (SEA) from its early 1980s' origins, through the bargaining process of the Dooge Committee and 1985 intergovernmental conference (IGC), to the SEA itself. By studying the origins of a specific treaty, the thesis analyses the impact of EC membership on one west European nation state and places the historical episode in its wider context.
The historical method is appropriate for studying these events despite the contemporary nature of the period. Detailed, empirical analysis of the episode reveals most fully the complexities of the process of European integration as this member state experienced it. But the thesis also draws on academic disciplines beyond the faculty of history: these include comparative politics, economics, international relations, European law and international political economy. The study of the SEA enters their various internal debates, especially over the nature of the state and international system (chapter one), but keeps its historical approach.
The thesis addresses the making of the Single European Act by asking two questions. First (chapters two, three and four), why did the United Kingdom agree to formal reform of the EC and ultimately the 1985 intergovernmental conference? Second, once the conference had opened (chapters five and six), why did the Single European Act take the specific form that it did, despite the United Kingdom's efforts?
Answers to these two questions confirm elements of the two competing theories on integration; neo functionalism and neo-Realism. The answers also demonstrate that neither theory can fully explain all that happened, when it happened or why. One reason is that two distinct processes were at work: theory to date had not distinguished them, but close empirical analysis revealed their important differences.
The first proces was informal, economic integration which usually took place among societal actors. This underpinned and informed the British Government's policy preferences. The second was formal integration, state-led codification through bargaining which (surprisingly) did not follow the premises of the latest theoretical endeavour, 'intergovernmental institutionalism'. The distinction between the two processes and the actors they involved, and also their interrelationship are among the thesis's contributions to the theoretical debate.
Functional characterisation of synuclein-based novel genetic mouse models

Synucleins are highly conserved presynaptic proteins with unknown function. α-synuclein plays a key role regulating dopamine homeostasis and is intimately involved in Parkinson’s disease (PD) pathogenesis. However, the normal/pathological role of α-synuclein remains unidentified. Studies exploring its function are limited as current transgenic mouse models do not fully recapitulate PD pathology. This thesis reports the functional characterisation of two novel synuclein-based mouse models.
I report the molecular and functional characterisation of transgenic mouse lines with wild-type or A30P-mutant human α-synuclein genomic locus carried within a bacterial artificial chromosome. SNCA-A30P&plus;Snca-/- mice exhibited a highly physiologically relevant expression pattern of the transgene, including expression in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and a specific, age-related loss of TH&plus; cells in the SNpc, the key region of preferential cell loss in PD, compared with non-transgenic Snca -/- littermate controls. Analysis of dopamine signalling using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FCV) showed young adult SNCA-A30P&plus;Snca-/- mice had an approximately 20% lower evoked extracellular dopamine concentration ([DA]o) compared with non-transgenic Snca -/- littermate controls, a decrease specific to the dorsal striatum. This difference diminished with age and could not be attributed to changes in dopamine reuptake/content.
I detail the behavioural and neurochemical phenotype in mice lacking all three synucleins (α/β/γ). Functional compensation between synucleins emphasises the importance of studying their effects by removing all three proteins simultaneously. Triple-null mice exhibited hyperactivity in a novel environment reminiscent of a hyperdopaminergic-like phenotype, but showed no phenotype in anxiety or motor related tests. FCV revealed synuclein triple-null mice had a two-fold increase in [DA]o, specific to the dorsal striatum and not attributable to changes in dopamine reuptake/content, changes in striatal nicotinic receptor activity nor calcium-dependent changes in dopamine exocytosis.
Together, the analysis from these two novel mouse models reveal synucleins play an important role in altering synaptic function in the dorsal striatum (the region selectively affected in PD) and contributes to growing evidence suggesting synucleins are negative regulators of synaptic dopamine release.

Keywords: transgenic mouse models
Parkinsons disease
fast-scan cyclic voltammetry
dopamine
alpha-synuclein
basal ganglia
synuclein
Advisor: Wade-Martins, R
Cragg, S
Photo-CIDNP and protein folding

The work described in this thesis is concerned with the development of new applications of the photo-CIDNP (photochemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization) technique to aspects of protein structure and folding.
Chapters 1 and 2 are introductory chapters; Chapter 1 describes the theoretical basis of the CIDNP phenomenon in terms of the underlying spin chemistry of the radical pair mechanism, while Chapter 2 presents the apparatus, photosensitizer and pulse sequences used, along with some important experimental considerations.
Chapter 3 describes how 15N CIDNP can be used to probe the accessibility of tryptophan side-chains in both native and denatured states of proteins. The polarization of indole nitrogens in uniformly 15N labeled protein is detected in a two-dimensional 15N-1 H NMR heteronuclear correlation experiment.
Chapter 4 describes two new techniques offering considerable improvements in the quality of photo-CIDNP spectra of proteins. Both focus on the problem of progressive photo-degradation of the flavin dye and in both cases a larger number of scans can be accumulated before the flavin is exhausted than would otherwise be possible.
In Chapter 5, the potential of stopped-flow photo-CIDNP spectroscopy for the study of protein folding is explored. Rapid dilution of denatured protein into a buffer solution is used to initiate a refolding process which is followed using short laser pulses to generate 1H CIDNP in the side-chains of exposed aromatic residues.
In Chapter 6, the field dependence of amino acid photo-CIDNP intensities is investigated using a stopped-flow CIDNP device that allows sample irradiation over a range of magnetic fields (0.1-7 T) within the bore of a 9.4 T NMR magnet and rapid transfer into the NMR tube for detection.
Finally, in Chapter 7 two photo-CIDNP techniques that probe the exposure of aromatic residues in partially folded states are described. Both involve transfer of polarization to the native state for detection. One approach achieves this kinetically by rapid refolding, and the other involves monitoring exchange cross peaks in a two-dimensional CIDNP spectrum under conditions where the two states are interconverting.
Mere appearances: appearance, belief, &amp; desire in Plato's Protagoras, Gorgias, &amp; Republic

This thesis examines the role appearances play, with notable continuity, in the psychology and ethics of Plato's Protagoras, Gorgias, and Republic. Common to these dialogues is the claim that evaluative appearances are almost invariably false: what appears to be good or bad is typically not in fact so and what is good or bad typically does not appear so. I argue that this disparity between apparent and real value forms the basis of Plato's diagnoses of a wide range of practical errors: psychological phenomena like akrasia, mistaken conceptions of the good like hedonism, and the influence of cultural sources of corruption like oratory, sophistry, and poetry. It also, relatedly, forms the basis of his account of lower passions like appetite, anger, or fear. Such passions are especially prone to lead us astray because their objects -- appetitive pleasures like food, drink, or sex, for example -- present especially deceptive appearances. One of the principal aims of this thesis is to show that this presents a significant point of agreement between the psychologies of the Protagoras, Gorgias, and Republic. In all three dialogues, I argue, motivational errors result from a specific kind of cognitive error: the uncritical acceptance of appearances. Plato's early and middle psychologies differ in their account of the subject of this error -- in the Protagoras and Gorgias, the whole person; in the Republic, the appetitive or spirited part of a person's soul -- but not in their basic theory of how our passions arise or, crucially, why they are liable to motivate us towards harmful ends.

Keywords: Republic
Plato
Gorgias
Protagoras
Philosophy
Appearances
Psychology
Advisor: Irwin, T
The reign of Anastasius I, 491-518

Anastasius' long rule at the turn of the sixth century has tended to be neglected, yet it was a critical time in the history of the Later Roman Empire. On his accession, there were many problems facing the state: conflicts, both internal and external, religious disputes, and financial and administrative chaos. It is the aim of this thesis to assess the significance of Anastasius' reign, with a systematic survey of the key areas of imperial government.
After an introductory chapter examining the primary sources, the second and third chapters consider revolts and wars. Chapter Two looks at two internal uprisings, that of the Isaurians (491-498) and that of Vitalian (514-516).
The third chapter concentrates on external conflicts and political relations. The first section considers the Persian offensive (502-506) and the role of the Arabs, while the second part examines the ambiguous position of Theoderic in Italy, and explores how Anastasius sought to stabilize the balance of power with counter-alliances with the Franks and Burgundians.
Chapter Four deals with the doctrinal schism dividing the orthodox from the monophysite. It outlines the background to this crisis and investigates the vicissitudes of Anastasius' policy as he sought to reconcile increasing eastern monophysitism with the west's intransigent orthodoxy.
Chapter Five examines Anastasius' financial rehabilitation of the state and concludes that his success lay in a much wider reorganisation of the empire's resources: he restructured the fisc and introduced changes to municipal administration, agrarian legislation and the organisation of the army. This chapter also considers measures to halt the escalating violence of the faction riots, and it closes with a survey of the emperor's building policy.
The thesis concludes that Anastasius' reign resolved many of the problems facing the empire in the fifth century, paving the way for Justinian in the sixth.
Barabási-Albert random graphs, scale-free distributions and bounds for approximation through Stein's method

Barabási-Albert random graph models are a class of evolving random graphs that are frequently used to model social networks with scale-free degree distributions. It has been shown that Barabási-Albert random graph models have asymptotic scale-free degree distributions as the size of the graph tends to infinity. Real world networks, however, have finite size so it is important to know how close the degree distribution of a Barabási-Albert random graph of a given size is to its asymptotic distribution. Stein’s method is chosen as one main method for obtaining explicit bounds for the distance between distributions. We derive a new version of Stein’s method for a class of scale-free distributions and apply the method to a Barabási-Albert random graph. We compare the evolution of a sequence of Barabási-Albert random graphs with continuous time stochastic processes motivated by Yule’s model for evolution. Through a coupling of the models we bound the total variation distance between their degree distributions. Using these bounds, we extend degree distribution bounds that we find for specific models within the scheme to find bounds for every member of the scheme. We apply the Azuma-Hoeffding inequality and Chernoff bounds to find bounds between the degree sequences of the random graph models and the given scale-free distribution. These bounds prove that the degree sequences converge completely (and therefore also converge almost surely) to our scale-free distribution. We discuss the relationship between the random graph processes and the Chinese restaurant process. Aided by the construction of an inhomogeneous Markov chain, we apply our results for the degree distribution in a Barabási-Albert random graph to a particular statistic of the Chinese restaurant process. Finally, we explore how our methods can be adapted and extended to other evolving random graph processes. We study a Bernoulli evolving random graph process, for which we bound the distance between its degree distribution and a geometric distribution and we bound the distance between the number of triangles in the graph and a normal distribution.

Keywords: power law
Stein's method
random graph
scale-free
Advisor: Reinert, G