VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Religion and natural law in Interregnum England: Thomas Barlow on human obligation

This thesis recovers the distinctive contribution of the English Reformed divine Thomas Barlow (1608/9-1691) to the development of natural law theory, mainly through an extensive study of his manuscripts at The Queen’s College, Oxford. Facing the breakdown of conventional norms and order during the English Civil War and the Interregnum, Barlow embarked on an investigation of human obligation by nature and God. In pursuing this inquiry, he drew on a wide range of leading contemporary jurists and theologians on the Continent, including the Dutch lawyer Hugo Grotius, the Jesuit theologian Francisco Suárez, and the Dutch Arminian (Remonstrant) leader Simon Episcopius. Despite the stark theological differences between Barlow and these scholars, their expositions of natural law, divine positive law, and obligation formed the core of Barlow’s thinking.
As this thesis demonstrates, Barlow stands out as the central figure in England who inherited the Grotian legal framework consisting of natural law and divine positive law and refined this using the resources of Catholic and Remonstrant legal scholarship. In the 1650s, Barlow’s sophisticated ideas of natural law and divine positive law had direct implications not only for national questions of church government, toleration, and political authority, but also for more local and individual issues of marital ethics, diet, and attendance at communion. For Barlow, at the heart of all these questions was the problem of human obligation. Moreover, Barlow’s approach to the question of excommunication from this perspective of human obligation suggests an alternative way to understand the debate on church and state that involved figures like Thomas Hobbes and Thomas Erastus. Although Barlow developed his thought in Interregnum Oxford under Oliver Cromwell’s government, his theory of human obligation would reach far and wide, shaping the late seventeenth-century discussion of law and obligation, of which John Locke was part.

Keywords: Interregnum
Hugo Grotius
Queen's College
Thomas Hobbes
natural law
Simon Episcopius
Thomas Barlow
Francisco Suárez
Thomas Erastus
Advisor: Mortimer, S
Rate effects for monopile foundations

Monopile pile foundations are the most commonly used support system for offshore wind turbines in Europe. These foundations are subject to lateral loading, which is cyclic in nature, with the loading rate and load eccentricity varying with time. Under extreme conditions, such as the emergency stop of the turbine, yawing or ship impact, transient loading is applied to the monopile, and a high loading rate is induced in the surrounding soil. With the increase in the soil loading rate, soil strength can be enhanced, leading to a higher pile capacity. These beneficial phenomena, known as rate effects, have been principally reported in element testing research and observed in laterally-loaded monopile testing in glacial till and dense marine sand in the Pile Soil Analysis (PISA) project. However, current design methods have yet to include rate effects, and more data are required to quantify rate effects to inform optimised monopile design.
This thesis systematically explores rate effects on the response of monopiles to lateral loading through laboratory-floor model testing in artificial dry sand and naturally-formed saturated stiff clay. First, a new loading apparatus for model pile testing was developed. It features a high-speed loading system which can apply rapid loading to the pile, and the height of the loading point is variable to investigate load eccentricity effects. Next, monotonic and uni-directional one-way cyclic lateral loading tests were conducted at different loading rates. In addition to rate effects, model piles were tested for various vertical loading and load eccentricities to study combined load effects. Finally, rate effects were quantified based on test data. It was found that rate effects are evident in monotonic and cyclic lateral loading in stiff clay (approximately 10% increase in capacity per log-10 cycle of the pile rotation rate). In contrast, rate dependency in dry sand appears to be negligible.
Together with the experimental work, a new practical monopile design model is developed under the hyperplasticity framework in this thesis. The model captures the coupled moment-horizontal load response using a yield surface approach. In addition to lateral soil resistance, base resistance can be implemented in the model. Furthermore, rate effects for monopiles can be modelled by incorporating rate-dependent functions. To simulate pile response to cyclic loading, the Hyperplastic Accelerated Ratcheting Model (HARM) can also be integrated into the design model. Theoretical modelling results are presented in this thesis to demonstrate the performance of the model.

Advisor: Byrne, B
Houlsby, G
A quantitative study of the relationships between second language (L2) learners’ characteristics and their academic English writing performance 

While interest in L2 writing research has increased substantially in recent years, research on learner’s characteristics (e.g., individual differences, learning strategies and socio-psychological factors) remains relatively scarce. Drawing on the theoretical framework of L1 negative transfer, socio-cognitive orientation and social and emotional learning (SEL) theory, this dissertation develops an operational definition of learner characteristics and explores the relationships between L2 learners’ characteristics and their academic English writing performance. This research project was based on a questionnaire survey to 229 undergraduate students at one public university in Shanghai, China, with results analysed statistically (multiple and hierarchy regression). Participants’ essays were assessed by holistic ratings of wiring quality. The findings from this research showed that many variables such as individual differences (i.e. year of study, English and writing proficiency), learning strategies (i.e. writing teachers, overseas study, editing and proofreading) and socio-psychological factors (i.e. writing self-confidence and anxiety, teaching and learning context) significantly predicted participants’ academic writing performance. The main conclusion to be drawn from this research was that L2 learners’ individual differences explained the greatest amount of variation in their writing scores. In terms of methodological approach, this dissertation recommends that future work should conduct in a qualitative or mixed-methods way to explore L2 learner’s ideology of academic writing in depth. Further, this dissertation suggests that future studies should consider taking ESL context into account so that a more comprehensive study involving all conceptual L2 learners is included. Discussion including a comparison to previous literature and pedagogical implications were also discussed.

Keywords: RDM
RDM2020
individual differences
L2 learners
learner characteristics
socio-psychological factors
learning strategies
academic writing
Advisor: Lindorff, A
The social construction of domestic space in the Brezhnev era

This thesis examines the historical grounds and constitutive elements of the Soviet public discourse on women’s roles in the 1960s-1980s, and how this discourse was reflected and realised in private, or family, communication. Taking as a starting point discussions on the decrease in the birth rate and the availability of leisure time for women, I analyse the insights of newly produced knowledge: how social sciences participated in the construction of public discourse, to what extent policymakers engaged with social sciences research, and what the impact was of new knowledge in communication between the media and a wider, largely female, audience.
I argue that Soviet social sciences, although they acknowledged the global trends that had brought about changes in the family throughout the world, remained faithful to Marxism-Leninism and biological determinism. This fact limited their analysis of the social and economic outcomes of urbanisation, as well as of the ‘second shift,’ the combination of paid jobs and unpaid homemaking that shaped married women’s lives. At the same time, their studies on time expenditure contributed to public awareness of this ‘second shift.’ Demographic research directed government on towards legislation on maternity leave, improved working conditions for women, as well as improved services, such as crèches, canteens, or laundries. This state patronage, however, was juxtaposed with propaganda promoting pro-natalist policies and articulating the increasing social demand for a ‘good wife,’ who would prioritise her family over socially active roles.
The thesis argues that Soviet discourse on domestic space supported and at the same time devalued the concepts it was based on. This contributed to the contradictory role of the woman in the family. She was responsible for receiving and adopting the state discursive directives for all family members, and while doing so, she manifested her own agency, taking personal elements, family circumstances, and historical experience into account.

Keywords: doing gender
discourse analysis
second shift
welfare state
Soviet history
gender studies
family roles
social policy
Advisor: Kelly, C
Investigating DNA replication perturbance induced by CRISPR-Cas9 variants

Single-Stranded DNA breaks (SSBs) represent one of the most abundant DNA lesions occurring in the cells of living organisms. If encountered by the DNA replication machinery, SSBs can be converted into double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs). Homologous recombination (HR) pathways are deployed to repair these DSBs and initiate replication restart. However, HR-mediated replication restart, whilst helping to ensure that DNA replication is completed prior to cell division, is a potential cause of genome instability due to the possibility of recombination between ectopic homologous sequences, and the compromised stability and fidelity of the restarted replication fork. In this study, I have established a site- and strand-specific nicking system using CRISPR-Cas9 nicking variants (Cas9n) to investigate the formation and repair of replication associated DSBs in fission yeast. I discovered that SSBs induced by Cas9n in the leading/lagging strand template are converted into two-ended DSBs upon concerted replication fork stalling and fork convergence at the SSB. The Cas9n induced replication associated DSBs give arise to high levels of direct repeat recombination through Rad51 mediated Synthesis Dependent Strand Annealing (SDSA)/Sister Chromatid Exchange (SCE) and Rad52 mediated Single Strand Annealing (SSA). I have also shown that Cas9n induced SSBs in both leading and lagging strand templates can trigger Break-Induced Replication (BIR) and associated template switching downstream. Other than SSBs, DNA-protein complexes are also proposed to be major impediments to ongoing DNA replication. Examples of such barriers include the programmed DNA-protein barrier RTS1 and non-programmed DNA-protein barriers such as lacO-LacI. To further investigate what happens when replication forks encounter DNA-protein complexes in fission yeast, I used catalytically dead Cas9 (Cas9d) to create a site-specific barrier. As the Cas9d-DNA complex contains an R-loop, it may mimic other R-loop containing protein complexes such as the transcription machinery and, therefore, provide a model for better understanding of transcription-replication conflicts. I found that Cas9d is only a weak barrier to DNA replication in fission yeast, yet it can strongly induce direct repeat recombination that is primarily driven by Rad51. Intriguingly, this recombination is restricted to ~2kb region adjacent to the gRNA binding site and does not lead to any recombination dependent replication (RDR) associated template switching downstream of the gRNA site. These features distinguish Cas9d from the RTS1 replication fork barrier, which causes a wider spread of recombination activity adjacent to it and high levels of template switching downstream.

Keywords: Replication perturbance at Cas9/Cas9n induced SSBs/DSBs
Cas9d
Replication perturbance at catalytically dead Cas9
as a R-loop associated DNA-binding protein barrier
CRISPR-Cas9
Advisor: Whitby, M
Dengue virus evolution and vertical transmission in Wolbachia-infected Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes


Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of dengue, which causes an estimated 100 million infections annually. Biocontrol methods, specifically using the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia for population replacement of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes and population suppression, have recently emerged as novel strategies for dengue vector control. However, the evolutionary adaptation of DENV under Wolbachia pressure within Ae. aegypti could potentially compromise the antiviral properties of this bacterium, thereby affecting the long-term efficacy of this approach in dengue prevention. In addition, the influence of Wolbachia on the vertical transmission of DENV in wild-type Aedes aegypti mosquitoes remains unexplored.
In Chapter 3, I developed a robust whole-genome sequencing assay designed to recover DENV genomes. This assay laid the foundation for the evolutionary exploration detailed in Chapter 4, where I detected and investigated the adaptive variant E203K of DENV-wMel within Ae. aegypti. I have shown the fitness trade-off of this variant in the absence of wMel infection in Ae. aegypti and in human cells. In Chapter 5, I demonstrated that vertical DENV transmission in field-reared Ae. aegypti does occur but is rare, and this vertical transmission rate is reduced significantly in the presence of wMel.
Overall, this thesis contributes to understanding the molecular evolution of DENV in Wolbachia-infected Ae.aegypti, and the significant inhibitory effect of Wolbachia on vertical transmission of DENV. These results have addressed some vital questions in the field of dengue biocontrol and provides insights regarding the long-term benefits of Wolbachia- introgression field releases.

Keywords: mosquito
Dengue virus
Wolbachia
evolution
Advisor: Simmons, C
Yacoub, S
Perceptions of marriage, family and work in Nigeria : a study of Lagos market women

This study investigates Nigerian women's views and perceptions of marriage, family and work as represented by Lagos market women traders. The analysis centres primarily on a small market which I have called Koso, even though data collected from other market women traders in Lagos are also incorporated into the analysis.
Women's views are compared with that of men in order to discern the extent to which these differ or are in congruence with those of men, on such issues as: changing definitions of marriage, function of bride-wealth (termed by the Yoruba owó ōrí), relationships between co-wives, between a wife and her husband's mother and sisters, between a married woman and her uterine kinsmen, the rights and obligations between husbands and wives, role of sex in marriage, attitudes towards divorce, and the like.
The study concludes that Koso women's models of their lives are heavily influenced by the dominant models of male Yoruba (Nigerian) society. However, certain differences emerge. For instance, the study indicates, among other things, that women's perceptions of the institution of polygyny are at variance with the male dominant models. Thus, while women agree with men that this institution has certain values that are good, this belief is based on conceptions of polygyny that differ markedly from their male counterparts. In the women's view, polygyny is seen as defending their interests in that it reduces the woman's obligations towards her husband and his kinsmen, as well as lessening the senior wives' burdens, thereby allowing them more time in which to concentrate on their trading ventures as well as their children.
Continued in thesis ...

Keywords: Lagos
Nigeria
marriage
women merchants
market women
family
merchants
perceptions
markets
work
Advisor: Ardener, EW
Myeloid cells at the onset of colitis in the context of IRF5 deficiency

Innate immune cells are at the frontline of balancing the host response to microbiota and dietary antigens in the intestine. Dysregulation of the intestinal immune system can lead to chronic inflammation like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Emerging evidence supports a regional specialization of immune cells due to different microenvironments along the gastrointestinal tract. Macrophages are known to play a pivotal role in homeostasis and in orchestrating the initiation and maintenance of inflammation. Neutrophils are the first immune cells to be recruited to the site of inflammation and are used as a hallmark of disease in IBD. The tissue microenvironment and the microbiota are two major factors influencing immune cell function in the intestine.
Interferon Regulatory Factor 5 (IRF5) is a transcription factor expressed in myeloid cells, activated during inflammation and mediating the transcription of pro-inflammatory mediators. Recently, its role in murine colitis was uncovered alongside a previously undefined role in controlling neutrophil activation.
In this thesis, we set out to investigate the the spatiotemporal patterns of myeloid cell infiltration over a time course of Helicobacter hepaticus + aIL10R mediated model of murine colitis. We discovered a distinct infiltration of neutrophils in areas of higher inflammation, together with a two-fold monocyte recruitment wave. Recent studies have demonstrated the ability of neutrophils to tailor their functions to mount tissue-specific and transcriptionally regulated inflammatory responses. Despite their central role in the onset of inflammation, modulation of their function and its effect in diseases is understudied. As Irf5-/- mice were completely protected from colitis at peak of inflammation, we aimed to unravel the mechanisms by which immune cells interact and set up the pro- inflammatory microenvironment. By deleting a IRF5 specifically in neutrophils using a novel genomic mouse model, we deciphered the crucial role of neutrophils in mediating monocyte recruitment through lower CCL2 secretion. Our results thus open a new area of investigation as well as lead to novel therapeutic avenues targeting neutrophil activation.
Furthermore, we investigated immune-microbe crosstalk at the onset of Helicobacter hepaticus + aIL10R-mediated colitis, by modulating the microbiome through cohousing. We found a major role of the microbiome in regulating neutrophil function, acting via IRF5. Microbiome sequencing revealed a selection of bacterial species significantly associated with inflammation, warranting further investigation in the exact molecular mechanisms involved. We found higher lipocalin 2 secretion by Irf5-/- neutrophils, which could lead to an altered microbiome, as well as affect the function of other immune cells.

Keywords: spatiotemporal pattern
colitis
Mucosal immunology
immune-microbe crosstalk
The Brady collection and the mediation of eighteenth-century women's performance in theatrical ephemera

This thesis explores the mediation of eighteenth-century women’s dramatic performance in contemporary print both within, and outside of, the theatre. Taking the performance ephemeron as its subject, and the theatrical archive as its setting, it interrogates the presence of eighteenth-century actresses’ performances in specific forms of printing found in one collection. This is the Brady Collection, a large assemblage of theatrical ephemera dating from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, collected by Francis Bridgford Brady (1890-1981) and held at Christ Church Library, Oxford.
Using a series of case studies of individual print forms to reflect on the mediation of performance, this thesis analyses the interconnected relationship between theatrical celebrity, gender, and print in the period. It adopts an interdisciplinary and self-reflexive methodology to explore the different layers of mediation that pervade theatrical performance, printing, and the writing of theatre histories.
This work opens with an overview of the Brady Collection and its collector as crucial context for the following chapters that interrogate individual forms of theatrical ephemera. Chapter 1 argues that the theatrical playbill, and its typography, played a crucial role in constructing an actress’s career. Chapter 2 considers how an actress’s theatricality is translated into text by the printed epilogue. Chapter 3 turns to theatrical portraiture, arguing that portraits published by John Bell appear to mediate an imagined instance of performance read against an actress’s repertoire. The fourth and final chapter, homing in closely on the Brady Collection, uses a case study of a scrapbook of Sarah Siddons to explicate the mediatory power of the theatrical archive itself. Additional appendices provide limited lists of some of the Brady Collection’s significant contents that are relevant to and can serve as a guide for, fellow researchers interested in eighteenth-century theatrical ephemera and its collection.

Keywords: epilogues
actresses
women
ephemera
eighteenth century
playbills
mediation
prints
archives
performance
theatre
scrapbooks
Advisor: Ballaster, R
Williams, A
Following (big) data in the smart city: control rooms, expertise and obligatory passage points in Santiago's public transport

Smart cities and big data have been at the forefront of urban discussions and projects over the last decade. Big data has arisen as a critical feature of the smart city to face urban challenges, usually framed by projects and policies promoting a direct relationship whereby more volume, variety, velocity and fine-detailed data will necessarily lead to better-informed decisions and, therefore, to the more effective and efficient government of cities. However, these approaches generally ignore how big data circulates and what it does.
In this dissertation, I offer an alternative to previous formulations of big data in the smart city. Accordingly, I aim to analyse how data circulates in Santiago de Chile's public transport and what it does when it circulates. Drawing on the case of Santiago de Chile's public transport, I describe and analyse the emergent configurations, practices and governing techniques which enable big data to circulate. This creates what I call the data dispositif.
I work with an experimental "following the data" methodology to identify how data circulation problems and their subsequent solutions emerge in Transantiago after more than ten years of implementation. Accordingly, I find that enabling big data circulation requires taking care of three emerging problems: the problem of control room fragmentation, the problem of experts and expertise, and the problem of translation. I argue that these problems are generative of specific solutions, taking the form of policies, indicators, standards, and new skills, which together produce new arrangements that allow data to circulate in ways beyond the initial operational objectives of public transport.

Keywords: transport
critical data studies
big data
transantiago
smart cities
science and technology studies
Advisor: Rose, G
Schwanen, T