VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Wildlife is our oil: conservation, livelihoods and NGOs in the Tarangire ecosystem, Tanzania

The Tarangire ecosystem of northern Tanzania is proclaimed a site of global biodiversity significance. The economic value of wildlife in Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks is substantial and growing. Maintaining the health of these parks is important to Tanzania’s overall tourism industry and macroeconomic health. A considerable proportion of Tarangire’s wildlife leaves the park for approximately six months a year, migrating onto village lands under the jurisdiction of local communities. Of particular importance are grazing and calving areas in the Simanjiro Plains. Conservation of the ecosystem’s migratory wildlife populations largely depends on maintaining these habitats on communally owned lands. However, populations of most large mammal species have declined by over fifty percent in the last decade. The progressive conversion of pastoral rangelands to agriculture is believed to be a major contributing factor to this decline. Community-based conservation (CBC) interventions in the Tarangire ecosystem aim to increase the combined economic returns from wildlife and pastoral livestock production in order to reduce incentives for non-wildlife compatible agricultural land-use change. Increased State investment in CBC, continued growth in photographic and hunting tourism revenues, and large infusions of funding from international conservation organisations suggest that substantial potential exists for CBC to play a significant role in poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation. This thesis examines the fortunes of CBC in the Tarangire ecosystem. It uses a household survey conducted in a village earning substantial wildlife tourism revenues to show that wildlife benefits are concentrated in the hands of the elite, and have limited livelihood or conservation impacts. By documenting the root causes of local resistance to conservation, this thesis explains the failures of new conservation strategies in Tanzania.

Keywords: International NGO
Tanzania
Tarangire
Conservation
Pastoralism
Advisor: Brockington, D
Daley, P
Molecular pathological investigation of the pathophysiology of fatal malaria

Malaria remains one of the world's major health problems, especially in developing countries. A better understanding of the pathology and pathophysiology of severe malaria is key to develop new treatments. Different approaches have been used in malaria research including the in vitro co-culture models with endothelial cells and both murine and simian animal models. However these are open to controversy due to disagreement on their representativeness of human disease. Using human post-mortem tissue in malaria research is another important approach but is practically challenging, limiting the availability of post mortem samples from malaria patients.
The work in this thesis had two main themes. First I examined the role of the endothelial signalling Angiopoetin-Tie-2 receptor pathway in malaria. Ang-2 has been shown to be a significant biomarker of severe and fatal malaria. I examined the tissue specific expression of proteins from this pathway in post-mortem brain tissues from fatal malaria cases, but found no difference between cerebral malaria and non-cerebral malaria cases. Ang-2 correlated with the severity of malaria in these patients. An attempt to examine the interaction of hypoxia and the Ang-Tie-2 pathway in vitro using a co-culture model of human brain endothelial cells was unsuccessful due to contamination of the cell line.
The second part of the thesis aimed to utilise molecular pathology techniques including miRNA and whole-genome microarrays. I have shown for the first time that these can be successfully applied to human post-mortem tissue in malaria. First I used archival tissues to examine the microRNA signature in the kidney of patients with malaria associated renal failure. Second I optimised a protocol to preserve post mortem tissue for molecular pathology, from an autopsy study in Mozambique. Using the subsequent total mRNA transcriptomic data and bioinformatics analysis this work has expanded our knowledge of differential gene expression and the families of genes which are dysregulated in the brain in response to malaria infection.

Keywords: microRNA
cloning
african
malaria
pathology
hypoxia
autopsy
microarray
cerebral malaria
cell culture
luciferase assay
tie-2
molecular pathology
tissue quality
acute kidney injury
malaria associated acute renal failure
angiopoietin
asian
Advisor: Day, N
Turner, G
Enforced maximisation

The theory of 'enforced maximisation' claims that whatever decision procedures individuals and firms adopt, maximisation of utility for individuals and profits for firms will be selected for by the forces of competition. Competition thus enforces maximisation. Evolutionary arguments are typically employed to support these claims, either individually or jointly.
A behavioural economic theory may have three basic components: a theory of preferences, of beliefs, and of the behaviour of individuals in social institutions (particularly firms). To each of these the approach of enforced maximisation has been applied. Becker has argued that people have stable self-interested preferences as the result of selection along sociobiological lines; Muth has argued that individuals' beliefs can be assumed to be represented in a rational expectations fashion, because if they did not do so an arbitrage profit would result, and rational agents would therefore exploit it. Friedman has argued that firms' can be assumed to be profit maximisers because if they did not, analogous to natural selection, they would go out of business.
This thesis argues that these claims are individually unsustainable, and in seme form jointly inconsistent. The demonstration uses a series of criteria for deciding between rival explanations. First, it is argued that the sociobiological account of preference formation is deeply problematic, particularly in its account of self-interest and altruism. Second, it is demonstrated that the selection-based argument for the rational expectations account of belief-formation fails. Third, it is shewn why profit maximisation is not necessarily enforced by the market.
Finally, the selection for firm's profit maximisation behaviour relies on selection of utility maximising individual behaviour, and such a reliance may be inconsistent with the programme of the theory of 'enforced maximisation'.
Voltaire à l'ouvrage: une étude de ses traces de lecture et de ses notes marginales

The aim of the present study is to paint an overall picture of how Voltaire interacted with the books that made up his personal library. Situated at the crossroads between history of the book, literary history and literary studies in the standard meaning of the term, it seeks to deepen our understanding of the ways in which Voltaire used his books and of the different types of notes that he left in them. These notes are of course texts in themselves – short ones, to be sure, but texts all the same – and their material, literary and polemical significance have never before been studied in depth. We begin by classifying the marginalia according to the function they seem to have played for Voltaire and, based on their material characteristics, by developing methodologies to analyse these short manuscripts, along with the non-verbal markings that accompany them. An analysis follows of the ways in which Voltaire used the white spaces in his books, then of the links that can be established between the signs of his reading and the genesis of his published works. Finally, we study the poetics of the marginal notes as well as the dynamics at work in the annotated library as a whole. Throughout, Voltaire’s notes and reading habits are placed in the context of the critical literature that has grown up around the subject of marginalia. Along the way, we compare his marginal notes to those of other literary figures of the period, for the subject of this study is clearly the marginalia of a writer, which are necessarily inextricably linked to his principal activity – writing. Indeed, one might speak of an interpenetration, of a blurring of boundaries between reading and writing. Beyond the marks of Voltaire's reading, the study of marginalia raises questions that are relevant for other non-canonical and paratextual materials. To place them in the spotlight transforms their status, and a note that was 'marginal' comes to be considered a text in its own right.

Keywords: Voltaire
books and reading
marginalia
history of the book
Advisor: Cronk, N
The optimal application of common control techniques to permanent magnet synchronous motors

Permanent magnet synchronous motors are finding ever increasing use in hybrid and electric vehicles. This thesis develops a new control strategy for Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSMs) to reduce the motor and inverter losses compared to conventional control techniques. The strategy utilises three common control modes for PMSMs; brushless DC with 120°E conduction, brushless DC with 180°E conduction, and brushless AC control.
The torque and power output for each control mode is determined for an example motor system using a three phase axial flux YASA motor and an IGBT inverter. The loss components for the motor and inverter are also estimated using a combination of analytical and simulation techniques and results are then validated against experimental measurements. Efficiency maps for each control mode have been used to determine an optimal mode utilisation strategy, which minimises the total system losses and maximises the available motor torque output.
The proposed control strategy switches between the three control modes without interruption of motor torque to maximise the system efficiency for the instantaneous operating speed and demanded torque output. The benefits of the new strategy are demonstrated using an example vehicle over a simulated drive cycle. This yields a 10% reduction in losses compared to conventional brushless AC control.

Keywords: space vector modulation
vector control
permanent magnet synchronous motor
Advisor: McCulloch, M
Development and optimisation of three-dimensional freeze-dried collagen-based scaffolds

Three-dimensional collagen/chitosan scaffolds fabricated by freeze-drying technique in 96-well polystyrene and PDMS plates were optimized during this study. Surface tension is, by and large, one of the most limiting factors in fabricating freeze-dried scaffolds in small format well plates. Traditionally, bowl-shaped top surfaces of collagen/chitosan scaffolds were common in polystyrene 96-well plate; whereas for PDMS 96-well plate, dome-shaped surfaces were formed. These surface tension phenomena are not desirable in cell studies especially during initial cell seeding. A combination of surface treatment and change of freeze-drying regime were developed to mitigate the surface tension problem in PS and PDMS 96-well plates respectively. Collagen/chitosan scaffolds of varying concentration and composition were experimented in both polystyrene and PDMS 96-well plates. Thin water film treatment with UV cross-linking was successfully used to eliminate meniscus in PS well plates; pre-cooling, on the other hand, was utilised to treat scaffold solutions in PDMS well plates. The resultant matrices all had flat top surfaces and average thickness of 1 mm. As expected, scaffolds with lower overall polymer concentration or, from a compositional perspective, scaffolds with high chitosan content generally had larger pores. Microscopic observation by multi-photon microscope was performed and chemical analyses were conducted to characterize the surface-treated scaffolds. In addition, scaffolds were tested in vitro using DLD-1 cells, hMSCs and fibroblasts for their biological performance. The purpose of this study was to address the problem of using small format culture wells for the fabrication of freeze-dried collagen-based scaffolds for studies of cell growth in 3D culture and in microfluidic perfusion bioreactors.

Keywords: tissue engineering
3D
freeze-drying
scaffolds
Advisor: Cui, Z
Local decision-making in multi-agent systems

This thesis presents a new approach to local decision-making in multi-agent systems with varying amounts of communication. Here, local decision-making refers to action choices which are made in a decentralized fashion by individual agents based on the information which is locally available to them.
The work described here is set within the multi-agent decision process framework. Unreliable, faulty or stochastic communication patterns present a challenge to these settings which usually rely on precomputed, centralised solutions to control individual action choices.
Various approximate algorithms for local decision-making are developed for scenarios with and without sequentiality. The construction of these techniques is based strongly on methods of Bayesian inference. Their performance is tested on synthetic benchmark scenarios and compared to that of a more conservative approach which guarantees coordinated action choices as well as a completely decentralized solution. In addition, the method is applied to a surveillance task based on real-world data.
These simulation results show that the algorithms presented here can outperform more traditional approaches in many settings and provide a means for flexible, scalable decision-making in systems with varying information exchange between agents.

Keywords: distributed decision-making
multi-agent systems
Advisor: Roberts, S
A mediaeval court physician at work: Ibn Jumay''s commentary on the Canon of Medicine

Ibn Jumay''s (d. c. 594/1198) commentary on the Canon of Medicine by Ibn S&imacr;n&amacr; (d. 428/1037) occupies an important place in the history of medicine for it is the first Canon commentary written by a physician and thus stands at the start of a tradition extending over 500 years. In addition, it is a so-far neglected source for our understanding of mediaeval Islamic medicine. The present thesis analyses the commentary with the aims of (1) determining the methods by which the court physician composed his treatise and (2) understanding why Ibn Jumay' undertook to prepare a commentary on one of the most thorough medical compendia of the middle ages.
Chapter One presents the biography of Ibn Jumay', reveals that his religion had little impact on his writings and surveys his library which played a pivotal role in the composition of the commentary. Chapter Two investigates Ibn Jumay''s methodology in the entire commentary; it reveals that with his philological and source-critical methods Ibn Jumay' wanted to establish an authoritative reading of the Canon and to demonstrate the high degree of his erudition. Chapter Three focuses on selected passages in the commentary in form of three case studies. Ibn Jumay''s comments on anatomy/dissection, assorted materia medica and headaches demonstrate the court physician’s reverence for ancient authorities and his quest to revive and refine their teachings. Chapter Four contextualises Ibn Jumay''s methods and agenda by comparing them to those of other relevant scholars of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
The thesis concludes by arguing that Ibn Jumay''s commentary was part of his revival of the art of medicine and his attempt to gain power in the medical tradition by attaching his name to one of the greatest scholars of his time — the ra'&imacr;s Ibn S&imacr;n&amacr;.

Keywords: Islamicate Medicine
Ibn Sina
Mediaeval Cairo
Jewish Physicians
Ibn Jumay
twelfth-century
Avicenna
Mediaeval Islamic Medicine
Dissection
Anatomy
Islamic Medicine
Advisor: Savage-Smith, E
Silverstein, A
From bilateralism to Cold War conflict : Pakistan's engagement with state and non-state actors on its Afghan frontier, 1947-1989

The purpose of this thesis is to assess Pakistan’s relationship with Afghanistan before and after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. I argue that the nature of the relationship was transformed by the region becoming the centre of Cold War conflict, and show how Pakistan’s role affected the development of the mujahidin insurgency against Soviet occupation.
My inquiry begins by assessing the historical determinants of the relationship, arising from the colonial legacy and local interpretations of the contested spheres of legitimacy proffered by state, tribe and Islam. I then map the trajectory of the relationship from Pakistan’s independence in 1947, showing how the retreat of great power rivalry following British withdrawal from the subcontinent allowed for the framing of the relationship in primarily bilateral terms. The ascendance of bilateral factors opened greater possibilities for accommodation than had previously existed, though the relationship struggled to free itself of inherited colonial disputes, represented by the Pashtunistan issue. The most promising attempt to resolve the dispute came to an end with the communist coup and subsequent Soviet invasion, which subsumed bilateral concerns under the framework of Cold War confrontation. Viewing the invasion as a major threat, Pakistan pursued negotiations for Soviet withdrawal, aligned itself with the US and gave clandestine support to the mujahidin insurgency. External support enhanced mujahidin military viability while exacerbating weaknesses in political organization and ideology. Soviet withdrawal in 1989 left an unresolved conflict. Faced with state collapse and turmoil across the border, heightened security concerns following loss of US support, and intensified links among non-state actors on both sides of the frontier, the Pakistan government drew on its recently gained experience of working through non-state actors to attempt to maintain its influence in Afghanistan. There would be no return to the relatively stable state-state ties prevailing before 1979.

Keywords: Jihad
Cold War
Mujahidin
Bilateral Relations
Pakistan
Pashtunistan
South Asian History
Soviet Invasion
Insurgency
Afghanistan
Advisor: Johnson, R
Devji, F
Defining the neural correlates of pain and analgesia in health and disease

Chronic neuropathic pain affects up to 8% of the United Kingdom population and is a difficult condition to manage. It is established and maintained through many mechanisms, including central sensitisation (CS) in the spinal cord and brainstem. Neuropathic pain manifests as spontaneous pain, sensory loss and evoked hypersensitivity. The development of novel treatments for neuropathic pain is challenging, in part due to inadequate experimental models of clinically relevant pain. The use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques for imaging acute and increasingly tonic states enables the assessment of the neural correlates of evoked hypersensitivity and persistent pain, with the goal of developing appropriate biomarkers to test new therapies. This thesis develops novel techniques for the assessment of ongoing pain states and their modulation by therapies.
We first identified a suitable human experimental model of CS using topical capsaicin, and an fMRI pipeline for the investigation of supraspinal involvement in pain hypersensitivity. In a placebo-controlled study, we then demonstrated the improved sensitivity of fMRI above subjective reports in detecting the efficacy of a known analgesic as compared to an ineffective active compound in a small cohort. To translate this to the more clinically relevant symptom of spontaneous pain, we developed and validated the use of a multi-inversion time pseudo-continuous arterial spin labelling (ASL) imaging and analysis pipeline for the neural assessment of tonic states and the absolute quantification of cerebral blood flow (CBF).
Current evidence from structural and functional studies suggests a direct role for the posterior insula cortex in the encoding of nociception and pain. Using the ASL pipeline, we found that only a CBF change in the posterior insula region was correlated with the changing perception of persistent capsaicin-induced pain, and in a separate experiment showed that suppression of CBF in this region by gabapentin was related to the drug's suppression of subjective pain perception. We also demonstrated in a cohort of phantom limb patients that pain relief resulting from transcranial direct current stimulation of the deprived sensorimotor cortex is neurally represented by a decrease in posterior insula CBF.
In a separate study, we showed that baseline CBF in the periaqueductal grey can predict individuals who are most vulnerable to pain and hypersensitivity following the induction of capsaicin-related CS.
Taken together, these findings suggest that fMRI can be used as a tool to assess the efficacy of established and novel analgesics, with the midbrain reticular formation and posterior insula cortex being prime candidates as biomarkers of CS mechanisms and persistent pain respectively. Relatedly, ASL-fMRI may also be an effective technique for evaluating individuals' susceptibility to pain following inflammation or injury.

Keywords: FMRI
ASL
tdcs
pain
neuroimaging
central sensitisation
phantom limb pain
analgesia
Advisor: Tracey, I
Rural settlement within the hinterland of conurbations

The post war years have seen a steady flow of inmigration into the rural hinterlands of conurbations, eminating both from the surrounding rural areas and from the urban complexes themselves. By 1981 over one fifth of Britain's population was resident in a rural district, the majority falling within zones close to urban centres. This study, based on one year's participant observation in seven settlements within southern Staffordshire, part of the rural hinterland of the West Midlands Conurbation, and southern Hampshire, adjacent to the Southampton - Portsmouth axis, the South Hampshire Conurbation, assess this process. Using the technique of Cluster Analysis, three broad groupings of settlement are identified: the small agricultural settlement, the urbanised commuter village, and settlements in a process of transition between the two. The development of the case settlements, representatives of these three groupings, is assessed in relation to their historical and geographical context, with emphasis being placed on land tenure and local planning policy. An analysis is undertaken of the "hinterland population", the diverse populations now resident within the rural hinterlands. Nine broad groupings emerge from this population, identifiable with reference to socio-economic characteristics and ways of life, and these are examined in relation to their use, their environments, social networks and patterns of behaviour, and perceptions of their place of residence. These groups are represented in various proportions within each settlement type, in relation to the dominant housing class found there. As a result a variety of community forms are seen to be developing, with a polarisation of settlements along class lines. Running concurrently with this, two theoretical concepts are introduced based on the approach of Symbolic Interactionism. These are the Triadic Relationship, and Place Centredness, which provide a more humanistic framework for the analysis. The inclusion of these concepts enables an assessment to be made of the notions of "rurality" and "truly rural population".