VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Reading herem texts as Christian scripture

The thesis investigates the interpretation of some of the most problematic passages of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, i.e. passages involving the concept or practice of herem. The texts under consideration contain prima facie divine commands to commit genocide as well as descriptions of genocidal military campaigns commended by God. The thesis presents and analyses the solutions that Christian interpreters through the ages have proposed to the concomitant moral and hermeneutical challenges. A number of ways in which they have been used to justify violence and war are also addressed.
For the patristic and early medieval eras the thesis aims to be as comprehensive as possible in identifying and analysing the various interpretative options, while for later periods the focus lies on new developments. In addition to offering the most comprehensive presentation of the Wirkungsgeschichte of herem texts to date, the thesis offers an analysis and critical evaluation of the theologico-hermeneutical assumptions underlying each of the several approaches, and their exegetical and practical consequences. The resulting analytical taxonomy and hermeneutical map is an original contribution to the history of exegesis and the study of the interplay between religion and violence.
The cognitive dissonance herem texts cause for pious readers is introduced as an inconsistent set of five propositions: (1) God is good; (2) the bible is true; (3) genocide is atrocious; (4) according to the bible, God commanded and commended genocide; (5) a good being, let alone the supremely good Being, would never command or commend an atrocity. If proposition (4) is assumed, at least one of the deeply-held beliefs expressed in the other four must be modified or given up.
The introduction is followed by four diachronic chapters in which the various exegetical approaches are set out: pre-critical (from the OT to the Apostolic Fathers), dissenting (Marcion and other ancient critics), figurative (from Origen to high medieval times), divine-command-ethics,(from Augustine to Calvin) and violent (from Ambrose to Puritan North America). A concluding chapter presents near contemporary re-iterations and variations of the historic approaches.

Keywords: Bible
Joshua
hermeneutics
1 Samuel
religion and violence
Old Testament
Deuteronomy
reception history
herem
genocide
Advisor: Barton, J
Can social contract theory fully account for the moral status of profoundly mentally disabled people?

My hypothesis is that social contract theory does not satisfactorily explain why we owe a serious concern or respect to profoundly mentally disabled individuals (PMD). This is a problem for social contract theories if we assume, like I do in this dissertation, that the PMD possess a robust moral status (RMS).
My dissertation will explore the main strategies deployed by contractarian and contractualist theorists to bring the PMD within the purview of the social contract, in order to clarify why some aspects of their claims are promising but why they nonetheless fail to fully explain the robust moral status of the PMD. I notably find that they leave morally important dimensions of human relations out of the contractual frame, which means that they exclude the PMD from the scope of justice and morality when they claim that this contractual frame offers the only valid explanation to be a subject of justice and a moral patient.
I do not conclude that this requires us to reject social contract theory altogether, nor do I count it as a reason to question whether the PMD have a robust moral status. In my concluding chapter, I will rather suggest a theoretical frame that has the potential of incorporating both contractual and non-contractual relations within the spheres of morality and justice, because both kinds of relation vehicle important intuitions about what is of value in human life.
This dissertation will contribute to orientate future research on the moral and political grounds for the rights of profoundly mentally disabled people, as well as question or curtail the breadth of certain key assumptions of social contract theories.

Keywords: social contract
social justice
moral status
mental disability
Advisor: Gardner, J
TEM crack tip investigations of SCC

Over the last few years, TEM has become a powerful technique to study cracks and specially crack tips. However, the number of publications including TEM results has not grown as it was expected. The main reason for this might be difficulties in the sample preparation. In this work we present a novel FIB sample preparation technique which has proved to be an ideal tool for preparing cross sectional samples containing crack tips. The morphology of intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) has been investigated in Alloy 600 subjected to constant load and slow strain rate tests in simulated primary circuit pressurized water reactor conditions. Cracks were observed to nucleate at high-angle grain boundaries and propagate to depths of a few tens of micrometer along such boundaries, still in the initiation stage.
Electron diffraction, energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) have been used to identify the different corrosion products and precipitates. Elemental mapping was employed to reveal changes in composition in the crack tip area. Major observations at cracks and grain boundaries include: the presence of different oxides in different locations, differences in grain boundary oxides and open crack/free surface oxides. These observations suggest that IGSCC involves oxygen diffusion through a porous oxide region along grain boundaries to the bare metal. This is a novel concept that offers an alternative to previous mechanisms proposed in the literature e.g. H embrittlement, slip-dissolution, etc., for which no supporting evidence has been found.

Advisor: Jenkins, M
Assessment of collateral blood flow in the brain using magnetic resonance imaging

Collateral blood flow is the compensatory flow of blood to the tissue through secondary channels when the primary channel is compromised. It is of vital importance in cerebrovascular disease where collateral flow can maintain large regions of brain tissue which would otherwise have suffered ischaemic damage. Traditional x-ray based techniques for visualising collateral flow are invasive and carry risks to the patient. In this thesis novel magnetic resonance imaging techniques for performing vessel-selective labelling of brain feeding arteries are explored and developed to reveal the source and extent of collateral flow in the brain non-invasively and without the use of contrast agents.
Vessel-encoded pseudo-continuous arterial spin labelling (VEPCASL) allows the selective labelling of blood water in different combinations of brain feeding arteries that can be combined in post-processing to yield vascular territory maps. The mechanism of VEPCASL was elucidated and optimised through simulations of the Bloch equations and phantom experiments, including its sensitivity to sequence parameters, blood velocity and off-resonance effects.
An implementation of the VEPCASL pulse sequence using an echo-planar imaging (EPI) readout was applied in healthy volunteers to enable optimisation of the post-labelling delay and choice of labelling plane position. Improvements to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and motion-sensitivity were made through the addition of background suppression pulses and a partial-Fourier scheme. Experiments using a three-dimensional gradient and spin echo (3D-GRASE) readout were somewhat compromised by significant blurring in the slice direction, but showed potential for future work with a high SNR and reduced dropout artefacts.
The VEPCASL preparation was also applied to a dynamic 2D angiographic readout, allowing direct visualisation of collateral blood flow in the brain as well as a morphological and functional assessment of the major cerebral arteries. The application of a balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) readout significantly increased the acquisition efficiency, allowing the generation of dynamic 3D vessel-selective angiograms. A theoretical model of the dynamic angiographic signal was also derived, allowing quantification of blood flow through specified vessels, providing a significant advantage over qualitative x-ray based methods.
Finally, these methods were applied to a number of patient groups, including those with vertebro-basilar disease, carotid stenosis and arteriovenous malformation. These preliminary studies demonstrate that useful clinical information regarding collateral blood flow can be obtained with these techniques.

Keywords: magnetic resonance imaging
vessel-selective
perfusion imaging
collateral blood flow
angiography
pulse sequence development
arterial spin labelling
Advisor: Jezzard, P
Cherubim and Seraphim in the Old Testament

This thesis is the first modern joint study of biblical Cherubim and Seraphim. I begin by setting out the recent history of their interpretation, before taking each of the biblical texts in turn. Chapter 1 looks at the references to Cherubim in Ezekiel. I argue that the Cherubim in Ezek. 1-11 are based upon the two large Cherubim in the sanctuary in Jerusalem. I investigate the different traditions represented by LXX and MT versions of Ezek. 28 and identify a tradition which may account for the MT of this chapter. Chapter 2 covers the other descriptions of living Cherubim in the biblical texts in Gen. 3 and Ps. 18. I argue for a conscious link with the Jerusalem Temple in both texts but for their independence from each other. All the references to Cherubim in the Temple and the Tabernacle are looked at in Chapter 3, and I offer a radical re-imagining of the two large Cherubim in the Solomonic Temple and on the Kapporeth in the Mosaic Tabernacle. In Chapter 4 I question the validity of translating the Cherubim Formula as “enthroned upon the Cherubim”, and offer an alternative translation which makes reference to all the Cherubim mentioned in the text. In Chapter 5, looking at the references to saraph, I follow Joines and others in arguing for a serpentine form for the Seraphim, but argue that this identity was forgotten at an early stage of the textual transmission, and that they were then seen as part of Yhwh's heavenly host. Finally, I argue that the role of Cherubim and Seraphim is similar, being primarily apotropaic, but that both are associated with theophany and, less frequently, with heavenly worship.

Keywords: Old Testament
Seraphim
Angels
Cherubim
Advisor: Day, J
Two-photon sensitive protecting groups for biological application

Caged compounds are a class of photosensitive reagents used to stimulate cells with spatial control down to a sub-cellular level, and millisecond temporal control. They comprise of biologically important molecule which is modified with a photolabile protecting group. In the absence of light, caged compounds are physiologically silent but irradiation with light induces the release of biologically active species. Illumination under two-photon conditions is particularly advantageous as it enables restriction of the photolysis volume to ~1 fL and it provides deeper penetration into scattering samples.
This thesis reports the development of new protecting groups for two-photon uncaging in neuroscience. Mechanistically, the deprotection in these novel groups is designed to operate via an intramolecular photoinduced electron transfer (PeT) between the absorbing unit (electron-donor) and the release module (electron-acceptor). The modular design of these cages ensures separation of absorption and release steps, and allows each process to be tuned and optimized independently.
Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the two-photon absorption phenomenon and a historic overview of the uncaging technique. It also discusses recent advances in the development of two-photon sensitive probes used in neuroscience.
Chapter 2 describes the exploration of molecular designs for novel protecting groups. A two-photon absorbing dye (electron-donor; fluorene dye) and three different release units (electron-acceptors; nitrobenzyl, pyridinium and phenacyl) were identified as suitable building blocks for the current project. Efficiency of the intramolecular electron transfer between chosen units was evaluated using model dyads which constitute covalently linked electron-donor and acceptor species.
Chapter 3 is devoted to the synthesis and photophysical evaluation of nitrobenzyl-based protecting group.
Chapter 4 describes the preparation of pyridinium-derived protecting group and demonstrates PeT-mediated release of tryptophan and GABA under one- and two-photon excitation. Hydrolytic instability of pyridinium esters is highlighted.
Chapter 5 reports the synthesis, hydrolytic stability and one-photon uncaging efficiency of phenacyl-based derivatives.
Chapter 6 discusses properties of developed caged compounds and compares them with other compounds reported in literature. It contains overall conclusions and outlook for the current project.
Chapter 7 details the experimental procedures and the characterization of compounds synthesized during this work.
Magnetic studies at low and intermediate temperatures

This thesis contains three major areas of work.
Chapter 1 describes the various film deposition techniques available for the growth of thin films. These different growth methods, substrate preparation and vacuum techniques, are discussed in the context of the effect of the growth process and deposition environment on film structure and quality.
Chapter 2 describes the two film growth chambers.
Chapter 3 describes the origin of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) in magnetic multilayered structures, and investigates the magnetoresistive properties of ion-beam sputtered CoCu multilayered thin films. Different film structures and deposition conditions have been investigated in order to maximise the size of negative magnetoresistance seen.
Chapter 4 investigates the magnetic and giant magnetoresistive properties of sputtered CoCu and CoAg heterogenous alloys. The magnitude of the GMR effect is found to depend on the Co concentration and Co particle size.
Chapter 5 describes an investigation of molecular beam epitaxy (m.b.e.) grown Dy/Y multilayer structures. The temperature dependences of helical magnetic structure in the Dy layers is investigated in two samples of different multilayer structures.
Chapter 6 describes an acoustic interferometer which has been used to measure velocity and attenuation changes in an ultrasonic signal at frequencies of order IGHz. Also described is the production of the thin film piezoelectric transducers used in this technique, which are grown directly onto a single crystal of the material under investigation. The acoustic interferometer is used to investigate the dynamics of of a relaxation process between two time-reversed antiferromagnetic states in DyAlG, and a model for domain growth in this system is postulated.
Chapter 7 investigates the phase diagram of DyPO4 using the acoustic interferometry technique. The observations of hysteresis effects are used to define a mixed phase region below the tricritical point.
Surfactant adsorption and Marangoni flow in liquid jets

This thesis is concerned with the interfacial behaviour of surfactant solutions on short time scales. A gravity-driven laminar liquid jet is used to create a rapidly expanding liquid surface, which exposes the surfactant solution to highly non-equilibrium surface conditions. This expansion causes the surface tension to differ locally from its equilibrium value, generating a (Marangoni) shear stress that acts on the jet surface and retards the surface acceleration.
A boundary-layer treatment of the flow very near the nozzle shows that the cube-root dependence of the axial surface velocity on the distance travelled is altered through the adsorption of surfactant.
A numerical model of the surfactant adsorption process in the jet has been developed within the framework of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program FIDAP. Complemented by the major results from the boundary-layer treatment the Marangoni stress at the detachment point does not exceed the shear stress inside the nozzle and the surface concentration at that point is finite a hybrid CFD model is presented. The hybrid CFD model is extended to incorporate the effects of micelle disintegration. This model extension assumes one micelle species, and the break-down of micelles is modelled using kinetic expressions.
Results from the hybrid CFD model are computed for sub-micellar C16TAB and C14TAB, and for C16TAB in the presence of micelles. The computed results are validated with experimental data.
Models for indices

We consider a market index model for a large portfolio of risky assets traded in the stock market where the correlation is due to a market factor. By taking the limit of a simple systems of stochastic differential equations (SDEs), we obtain a limit stochastic differential equation (SDE) for the index price. We also investigated the limit empirical measure for the infinite system. The density evolves according to a stochastic partial differential equation (SPDE) which we also solve in some special cases. Using our limit SDE, we also try to compare its accuracy numerically with the “real index” calculated from summing the individual stock prices. Lastly, we make use of our limit SDE and empirical density to price different derivatives such as the European call & put option on the index and the European call & put option on the maximum of the constituent stock in the index.
Configuration spaces and homological stability

In this thesis we study the homological behaviour of configuration spaces as the number of objects in the configuration goes to infinity. For unordered configurations of distinct points (possibly equipped with some internal parameters) in a connected, open manifold it is a well-known result, going back to G. Segal and D. McDuff in the 1970s, that these spaces enjoy the property of homological stability.
In Chapter 2 we prove that this property also holds for so-called oriented configuration spaces, in which the points of a configuration are equipped with an ordering up to even permutations. There are two important differences from the unordered setting: the rate (or slope) of stabilisation is strictly slower, and the stabilisation maps are not in general split-injective on homology. This can be seen by some explicit calculations of Guest-Kozlowski-Yamaguchi in the case of surfaces. In Chapter 3 we refine their calculations to show that, for an odd prime p, the difference between the mod-p homology of the oriented and the unordered configuration spaces on a surface is zero in a stable range whose slope converges to 1 as p goes to infinity.
In Chapter 4 we prove that unordered configuration spaces satisfy homological stability with respect to finite-degree twisted coefficient systems, generalising the corresponding result of S. Betley for the symmetric groups. We deduce this from a general “twisted stability from untwisted stability” principle, which also applies to the configuration spaces studied in the next chapter.
In Chapter 5 we study configuration spaces of submanifolds of a background manifold M. Roughly, these are spaces of pairwise unlinked, mutually isotopic copies of a fixed closed, connected manifold P in M. We prove that if the dimension of P is at most (dim(M)−3)/2 then these configuration spaces satisfy homological stability w.r.t. the number of copies of P in the configuration. If P is a sphere this upper bound on its dimension can be increased to dim(M)−3.
Revolutionary allies

In the decade following the Asian-African Conference of 1955, the communist government of the People’s Republic of China took unprecedented interest in its relations with countries in the Middle East. China’s leaders formed particularly strong ties first with Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt, then, beginning in 1958, with the Algerian Front de Libération Nationale (FLN), which at that time was engaged in a bitter struggle for independence from France. The bonds that developed between China and Egypt and between China and Algeria were strengthened by a shared commitment of the governments of these countries to carry out “revolutions” that would challenge Western preeminence in global affairs and establish their own societies as independent voices on the world stage. The common ideological heritage of these three revolutionary countries allowed their leaders to forge connections that went beyond mere expressions of mutual support. Sino-Arab relations in the 1950s and 1960s cannot be explained by a realist narrative of attempts to exert power or influence through high-level diplomacy; rather, the evolving relationships between China and its Arab allies demonstrate how three countries could co-opt one another’s experiences to define and articulate their own nationalist identities on behalf of domestic audiences.
This thesis pays particular attention to two constituencies that played a central role in mediating the development of Sino-Arab relations: Chinese Muslims and Arab leftists. Focusing on publications about Sino-Arab relations written by or intended for members of these two groups makes clear the manners in which domestic ideological concerns shaped the development of international relationships. Sino-Egyptian and Sino-Algerian relations between 1955 and 1965 were primarily symbolic. The perception of international amity gave journalists, policymakers, intellectuals, and religious figures free rein to expound their own distorted interpretations of Chinese and Arab society in order to promote their own ideological causes. These causes, which varied over the course of the decade, included the incorporation of Chinese Muslims into Chinese politics, the conferral of revolutionary legitimacy on Nasser’s government, the celebration of China as a champion of global revolution, the legitimization of the FLN, and the presentation of China as a fully anti-imperialist country in contrast to the Soviet Union. Each of these projects had in common the enduring goal of transforming how citizens of China, Egypt, and Algeria perceived their own national identity.