VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Towards a doctrine of providence : a response to contemporary critiques

This essay is an attempt to find an approach to the Christian doctrine of providence which takes account of modern resistance to traditional formulations even while criticizing some current assumptions that make inevitable --mistakenly, we believe-- a clash between the scientific view of reality and the biblical picture of a governing and intervening God. Our objective is not to develop a doctrine of providence as such, but simply to set in place some of the epistemological and theological conditions that would make such a doctrinal development possible today.
Our investigation is set against the foil of a prior analysis of several main currents in Greek and Roman metaphysical theology. We proceed to consider the "anthropological pole" of the Judeo-Christian doctrine of providence. First we examine the term "person"; then we conduct an exegetical and historical-theological study of the doctrine of the imago Dei. We argue that the concept of the personal was undiscoverable by speculation and could only have emerged as a consequence of divine revelation; and that this concept is the key to a proper understanding of the biblical doctrine of the imago Dei, the essence of which is the notion of divine-human relationship. We maintain, moreover, that the definition of man as a rational being makes complete sense only when it is integrated in the more comprehensive conception of man as a personal being.
We reinforce this argument by examining the other pole of the doctrine of providence, i.e., the theological. To this end we look at the doctrine of the Trinity. This inquiry forms the basis for the sketch of a theological theory of knowledge in which we apply our relational understanding of the imago Dei to the question of our knowledge of other persons and of things.
We conclude by bringing our findings to bear on the "non-interventionist" view of God's relation to the world. This position is critiqued in a final effort to remove some of the theoretical obstacles which have made it difficult to formulate a doctrine of providence faithful both to the biblical picture of God and to modern philosophical and ethical reflection.
GHz magnetoconductivity and spin resonance studies of strongly correlated systems

This thesis describes a series of experiments probing the millimetre-wave response of the low-dimensional organic superconductors β"-(BEDT-TTF)4[(H3O)-M(C2O4)3]S, κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu(NCS)2 and (TMTSF)2 PF6 in applied magnetic fields.
Chapter 1 introduces the physics of charge carriers in the presence of a mag- netic field and field-induced resonant phenomena in the conductivity of metals. The basic concept of Fermi liquid theory, that of the existence of quasiparticles with effective mass, is presented, as well as the principles of electron spin resonance.
Chapter 2 outlines the experimental technique of millimetre-wave spectroscopy, the principle of guided radiation and the use of metallic resonators and for perturbative measurements. Some results on novel dielectric whispering-gallery resonators and hybrid "tunnel-gap" resonators for potential use in pulsed and destructive field experiments are also presented.
Chapter 3 is a detailed angle-, temperature- and frequency- dependent investigation of electron spin resonance in the family of quasi-two-dimensional charge transfer salts β"-(BEDT-TTF)4[(H3O)M(C2O4)3]S, where M = Cr3+ and Fe3+. The effective spin Hamiltonians for the Cr3+ and Fe3+ ions are identified, and the presence of weak antiferromagnetic correlations established; insight is gained into the relaxation mechanism and the effect of the superconducting state on the localised spins.
Chapter 4 reports the angle-dependent magneto-optical response of isotopically substituted β"-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu(NCS)2. Both normal and superconducting states are investigated, and Josephson plasma resonances and Fermi-surface traversal resonances are identified.
Chapter 5 presents some preliminary results from the investigation of the quasi- one-dimensional Bechgaard salt (TMTSF)2PF6 under hydrostatic pressure and in applied magnetic field. The millimetre-wave response is investigated as a function of frequency as the field-induced spin-density-wave cascade is crossed. Possible evidence for resonant absorptions due to collective spin excitations is reported.
Crack initiation under shock loading : validation of a new testing technique

The evaluation of the dynamic fracture properties with the current impact testing techniques is subject of some controversy, because the crack initiation conditions cannot be established with accuracy. Besides, some of them are limited to low loading velocities and the evaluations are made following a static approach. In consequence, a fundamental study is required with two aims, namely, a development of a new impact testing technique and the analysis of the extension of the fracture mechanics concepts to crack initiation under dynamic loading. These are the objectives of this research project.
The impact testing technique proposed is based on the shock tube technique and is capable to test the specimens, which are central cracked circular plates, under static and dynamic conditions. The findings show that the specimens are loaded uniformly with blast waves, which have an initial ramp that increases steadily without oscillations. The magnitude of the load is controllable and reproducible and the fracture analysis should be based on a dynamic calibration.
This technique has been applied to the evaluation of the dynamic fracture toughness of PMMA following an experimental-numerical procedure. The crack initiation load and the strain rate were measured experimentally and the fracture toughness was calculated numerically with standard solutions and with numerical calculations of the J-Integral with the finite element code ABAQUS.
The problem of crack initiation under pressure load has not been completely solved. Consequently, the significance of the static and dynamic test results was established with the findings of additional experimental and numerical work, which showed that the modulus of elasticity and fracture stress increases with the strain rate, that there is plastic deformation at the crack tip of those specimens tested under static conditions and that the dynamic calculations with ABAQUS involves the interaction of the stress waves with the boundaries. Furthermore, it has to be noticed that the crack tip is under bending stresses. Thus, this test is not a standard plane strain material dynamic test. Finally, conclusions are drawn on the use of the this experimental-numerical technique and its further application.
The impact of immigration on the Australian economy

Australian immigration policy has traditionally been justified as a means to ensure national security and promote economic development. Neither of these rationales retains much contemporary force. A larger population is no longer regarded as critical to Australia's defensive capacity, and the quest for economic development, synonymous with aggregate growth, has been superseded by a concern about per capita growth performance. While humanitarian and cultural justifications for immigration have been advanced, they are either restricted in scope or contentious. Currently, the programme is operating on a large scale without a clear rationale. The purpose of this work is to investigate the economic consequences of immigration, and so consider whether the economic rationale may be recast in an alternative form. In this chapter, the existing literature is reviewed and a strategy for carrying the analysis further is outlined.
Electron transport reactions of denitrification

A study is reported which demonstrates that electron transport to the reductase reactions of denitrification in the bacterium Thiosphaera pantotropha can occur aerobically. Use of dark-type electrodes has demonstrated that the N2O reductase enzyme of this organism is active under aerobic conditions, and that O2 and N2O reduction can occur simultaneously. The reduction of NO3- to N2 gas, even under aerobic conditions, is shown to proceed via NO as an intermediate. It is concluded that the reaction of NO with O2 must be sufficiently slow that it does not effectively compete with the reduction of NO to N2O.
The ability of T. pantotropha to catalyse aerobic NO3- reduction, the first step of the aerobic denitrification process, is shown to correlate with the expression of a NO3- reductase enzyme that is located in the periplasm. This periplasmic enzyme is expressed, and is active, under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. A membrane bound NO3- reductase is also expressed, but only under anaerobic conditions, by this organism. This latter reductase resembles the NO3- reductase of Paracoccus denitrificans in respect of both its catalytic properties and the inhibition of activity in intact cells under aerobic conditions. Mutants of T. pantotropha that lack the membrane bound NO3- reductase, and not only retain but overproduce the periplasmic enzyme, have been obtained via Tn5 mutagenesis. The periplasmic NO3- reductase identified in T. pantotropha bears catalytic and structural similarities to an enzyme previously characterised in some strains of Rhodobacter capsulatus.
The ability of strains of R. capsulatus to reduce NO to N2O is reported together with evidence that there is a discrete NO reductase in this organism. The electron transport pathway to NO reductase has been elucidated. The first identification of a denitrifying strain of R. capsulatus is reported.
Teaching controversial environmental issues in 16-19 A level geography : possibilities and problems

Environmental issues are often controversial and involve a range of possible viewpoints or attitudes. They are poorly understood hi the general population and, even amongst well respected scientists, there is often little consensus as to the causes and effects of environmental problems. Teachers are sometimes accused of exacerbating this situation by indoctrinating children with simplistic 'green slogans', rather than teaching a deeper understanding of the complexity of the issues. However, the advice provided for teachers is contradictory: much of the literature on teaching environmental issues encourages teachers to promote pro-environmental attitudes or behaviour, whilst simultaneously encouraging independence of thought amongst their students. Literature on teaching environmental and other controversial issues suggests several possible teaching strategies, but all are open to criticism on varying grounds and therefore provide little in the way of guidance for teachers.
This study examines the beliefs and practices of three experienced geography teachers in relation to teaching about controversial environmental issues in the Schools' Council 16-19 A level course. This course was one of the first to embrace the teaching of controversial environmental issues, and provides explicit guidance for teachers on the development of students' environmental attitudes. Using unstructured observation, and informant-style interviews with the teachers and their sixth form students, the research investigates the similarities and differences between the teachers' beliefs and practices, and considers the educational problems and possibilities with teaching controversial environmental issues.
The findings reveal a substantial divergence between the teachers' beliefs and the espoused aims of both the environmental education literature and the 16-19 syllabus. These teachers reject the aim of promoting pro-environmental attitudes in favour of a form of balanced learning. This involves the twin aims of providing access to a diversity of viewpoints, whilst maintaining a stance of non-intervention, by which they hope to encourage students to make independent decisions about appropriate environmental behaviour. A variety of imaginative teaching strategies are utilised in the pursuit of these aims. However, the findings of this study also illustrate the difficulties encountered by these teachers in trying to implement their beliefs, problems which can be explained by the influence of various constraints, such as the syllabus and examinations, the students' behaviour and characteristics, the subject matter being taught, and the teachers' own knowledge, pedagogical skills, and attitudes.
Some portraits of the artist in the writings of Wyndham Lewis

This thesis compares the fictional heroes of Wyndham Lewis with those portraits of the artist presented in his discursive prose. Just as there are striking points of likeness between Rupert Birkin and D.H. Lawrence, Stephen Dedalus and James Joyce, so the heroes of Lewis's novels keep reminding us of their creator; all are in some sense portraits of the artist. While fiction and life are admittedly distinct worlds, Lewis's novels often come close to autobiography. His autobiographical writings, on the other hand, are usually stylised to the point of being semi-fictional, I suggest that the figure of Lewis etched in the public imagination - principally by his own discursive essays and autobiographical works - is not simply a self-portrait, but a mode of confronting an often inimical universe. By balancing the embattled personae of his non-fiction with the franker confessions he makes under the seal of fiction, a more complete picture of this extraordinary writer and artist can be achieved. The effect is to make him less a superman and more a man, crossed by conflicting sympathies and hatreds - directed towards himself as well as his enemies. Lewis the man is much more sympathetic than that repellent official portrait of himself which has been so widely accepted by his readers.
Thomas Hardy and the consequences of agnosticism

This thesis reassesses the claim that Thomas Hardy was an agnostic, looking closely at the meanings of agnosticism (in terms of nineteenth-century usage of the word) and how Hardy's reinterpretation of agnosticism manifested itself in his work. By exploring his novels and poetry as they intersect with the intellectual development of agnosticism, it is shown that at the centre of Hardy's work, as at the centre of agnosticism, is an insistence upon final epistemological uncertainty and a rejection of dogmatism. For Hardy, this had application beyond theological questions to broader aspects of human existence.
Chapter One examines Hardy's engagement with the agnosticism of Herbert Spencer, T. H. Huxley and Leslie Stephen. Chapter Two discusses Hardy's exploration of knowledge, through its obscuration by means of secrets, trickery and concealment, in his 'Novels of Ingenuity' (Desperate Remedies, The Hand of Ethelberta and A Laodicean). Chapter Three investigates Hardy's critical reinterpretation of two of Leslie Stephen's agnostic essays in A Pair of Blue Eyes and The Return of the Native. Chapter Four considers The Mayor of Casterbridge and The Woodlanders as Hardy's attempts to contextualise philosophical debates concerning the consequences of non-commitment. Chapters Five and Six discuss Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure, respectively, as Hardy's most thorough explorations of the consequences of agnosticism for morality, through the portrayal of the agnostic heroes, Angel Clare and Jude Fawley. Chapter Seven considers Hardy's poetry as a medium through which he was able to express and explore his version of agnosticism.
The claim of this thesis is that, Hardy, as an artist, was able to take agnosticism further than the Victorian agnostics. As such, his work can be read as a critical reinterpretation of the rationalist principles of agnostic thought within the domain of art.
Enablers and constraints of creation and sharing of knowledge assets : a case of NGO policy advocacy

This dissertation aims to develop and validate a conceptual framework about the enablers and constraints for the creation and sharing of knowledge assets. Knowledge assets are understood as a subset of dispositions to act that is embedded in individuals, groups or artefacts and that allows us to economise the consumption of resources for a given amount of effort (Boisot 1998). The creation of knowledge assets within organisations is seen as a knower-dependent, social and non-linear process of learning that builds on information. Enablers and constraints can be found at any part of this learning process and differ from one information environment to another. The theoretical framework integrates Boisot's Social Learning Cycle (SLC) with an Information Ecology model in order to identify the potential enablers and constraints within specific information environments.
The empirical setting chosen for this research is a group of leading international nongovernmental organisations (INGOs) and their domestic NGO partners, pursuing a policy advocacy strategy in the context of a high-level international donors conference. Policy advocacy refers to a set of activities directed towards influencing decision makers in a way that contributes to benefiting disadvantaged populations. Advocate INGOs and their domestic NGO partners (advocacy communities) gain influence by becoming alternate sources of information to decision makers (Keck and Sikkink 1998); their ability to create and share knowledge assets is then critical.
The research is based on an in-depth case study and qualitative analysis techniques (Eisenhardt 1989; Yin 1989; Marshall and Rossman 1995), focusing on two levels: Intra-organisational and inter-organisational. The collection of data covers a one-year period (February 2003 to February 2004).
The focus on a complex information environment, represented here by transnational advocacy communities, proves valuable in expanding existing theory about the dynamics of the creation and sharing of knowledge assets in and between organisations. The data collected suggests that most constraints are of internal nature and are centred on the value exploiting stage of the SLC. Constraints associated with organisations' cultures, individuals' information processing preferences, and politics are prominent.

Keywords: knowledge
information ecology
Max Boisot
NGOs
knowledge assets
social learning
social learning cycle
knowledge management
Advisor: Feeny, D
An investigation into contextual approaches to requirements capture

Designing innovative computer systems is no longer simply a technical issue. There is now a growing awareness that a grounded understanding of the social and organisational context into which these systems are to be deployed, until recently overlooked, may be critical, particularly in the early phases of design. It is in these stages, known as requirements elicitation, capture or analysis, or more generally Requirements Engineering, that researchers have begun to acknowledge both social and technical concerns in the requirements for systems.
This thesis aims to mediate between a detailed appreciation of the social organisation of the workplace and the technical structure of information technology. In order to do this, we explore the relevance of recent developments in the social sciences, principally ethnomethodology and interaction analysis, for providing an alternative analytic orientation for requirements capture. In particular, we outline the principal characteristics of an approach that takes into account the details of the moment-to-moment production of work activities and communicative practices. It is argued that attendance to such interactional features will improve requirements practice, and hence will ultimately lead to more sensitive designs for supporting collaborative work.
To illustrate this approach, we take as an example the development of particular technologies for a complex work setting - financial trading rooms. Results of the analysis are then used to discuss requirements for systems to support trading. In particular, we consider how issues emerging from this analysis, developed from an ethnomethodological orientation, could inform requirements analysis. In this regard, we investigate approaches to modelling interactional resources, including the use of formal notations developed for sequential and communicating processes, and provide requirements analysts with sensitivities by which to consider naturalistic settings. This forms the basis for mutually dependent investigations: on the system design side, drawing on the model to allow consideration of conflicts introduced by technological choices; and on the social science side, providing an agenda for renewed investigation into the domain. We conclude by discussing the pre-requisites necessary so that approaches in this thesis could be integrated within the software development process.
Epic poetry of the Trecento : Dante's Comedy, Boccaccio's Teseida, and Petrarch's Africa

This thesis locates Dante's Divine Comedy (1307-1318), Boccaccio's Teseida (c.1340-1), and Petrarch's Africa (c. 1338-9) within a developing tradition of epic poetry. The works are usually treated separately, and are classed as epic to a varying degree, but I show that a reading of them as epic in light of each other enhances understanding of each, and illuminates more generally a history of the epic genre. I explore the extent to which the authors considered epic to be a distinct literary form, and counteract the notion that there was no conception of the genre in the Middle Ages. I show that similar responses to key areas of epic writing underlie surface differences between the poems. Where critics have tended to explore classical influences, I emphasise the importance of medieval epic texts for the formation of all three poems. I argue that in important respects the Comedy constitutes a new epic model for Petrarch and Boccaccio. I focus on Dante's development of the classical warrior hero into the contemporary Christian poet-hero, exploring his development of themes from 12th century Latin epics including the Anticlaudianus and Alexandreis. I suggest that the resulting emphasis on the theme of poetry is echoed in the Teseida and Africa. I argue that the Teseida revolves around issues of genre that are played out through the poems' gods and heroes, and that ultimately it resolves itself as a Dantean epic, through the hero Arcita. I show that the focus on poetry in the Africa, achieved both through the inclusion of poets as characters (including Petrarch himself) and by the explicit discussion of poetry within Book IX in particular, and the location of a Christian god at the heart of this historical narrative, reflect a treatment of key issues that bears similarity to that of Dante in the Comedy.