VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Extrinsic and radiation induced point defects in diamond

Methods for measuring Electron Nuclear Double Resonance (ENDOR) from optically created paramagnetic states in diamond have been developed. These were used in conjunction with conventional Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) and
ENDOR measurements to investigate extrinsic and radiation induced point defects in natural and synthetic diamond.
ENDOR has unambiguously identified the ionized di-nitrogen (or A) centre as two identical nitrogen atoms in neighbouring substitutional sites. The nitrogen hyperfine and quadrupole parameters for the defect have been accurately measured. Molecular orbital theory calculations showed the unpaired electron to be almost 100% localized in the antibonding orbital between the nitrogen atoms. The N-N bond has extended to 1.86 Å. The 13C ligand hyperfine interaction with six equivalent nearest neighbours was measured. The centre is created by photons of E >3.0 eV, either by ionization of the A-centre, or by electron capture in [N-N]²+ . It decays logarithmically with respect to time, with a temperature independent rate below 50K indicating electron tunnelling through barriers of random width.
The first ENDOR measurements on an optically excited state in diamond have been made. These identified the 5A2 excited state of the neutral vacancy in radiation damaged natural diamond. The measured hyperfine interactions with nearest and next-nearest neighbour 13C ligand atoms showed the defect symmetry to be Td. The unusual EPR line shape has been explained, and reasons for the non-Boltzmann population distribution within the spin manifold are suggested. The decay lifetime on removal of illumination has been measured.
A combination of low temperatures and high frequency EPR has been applied to the W11-W14, and Rl radiation damage defects in neutron irradiated type Ib diamond. Boltzmann depopulation between the spin sublevels allowed measurement of the sign of the fine structure interaction and the determination of the effective spins. The Wll centre was identified as an excited state, and explanations for the unusual depopulation behaviour of the W14 centre were presented. This is the first time this technique has been applied to diamond.
Intrinsic radiation damage defects in a 50% 13C enriched type IIa synthetic diamond were examined and the R1 defect was shown to be optically active.
Being conformed to Christ in community : a study of maturity, maturation and the local Church in the undisputed Pauline epistles

This thesis explores Paul's conception of maturity, paying special attention to the maturation process and the role of the local church in facilitating this process. Although maturity is a subject central to Paul's theology it is often overlooked in Pauline studies. The thesis is an exegetical-theological study of the seven generally accepted epistles, which makes heuristic use of three studies for the purpose of illuminating Paul's thoughts regarding maturity: a survey of modern psychology, an analysis of the writings of the community of Qumran and an analysis of Philo's presentation of the Therapeutae.
We argue that Paul understood his apostolic commission to involve delivering mature believers on the day of Christ and this suggests that the concept of maturity was important to his life, work and thought. Paul's understanding of maturity reflects a tension arising from the apocalyptic and eschatological framework underlying much of his thought. Believers are to become in character what they are declared to be in status. It is suggested that the central motif of Paul's conception of maturity is believers being conformed to the image of Christ. This is a process that begins here and now whereby believers' attitudes and actions become aligned with those exhibited by Christ, who provides the defining standard of maturity for Paul.
We suggest that for Paul there are five means used by the Spirit to conform believers to the image of Christ and these five means are presented and analyzed as components of the maturation process. They are: identifying with Christ, enduring suffering, experiencing the presence of God, receiving and living out wisdom from God, and imitating a godly example.
The thesis concludes by arguing that Paul expected the local church to facilitate this process of maturation so that believers' participation in a local assembly would result in their being conformed to Christ. The church does this by facilitating the five components of the maturation process.
To hell and back: a study of the concepts of hell and intercession in early Islam.

This dissertation is primarily a study of the idea of temporary Hell-fire punishment for the grave sinners of the Muslim community. The doctrine is taught by Islamic orthodoxy, both Sunni and Shi'i, but its historical development has not been examined by modern scholars. The present study is offered as a preliminary investigation of this concept.
Probably under influence from the Judaeo-Christian tradition, the concept of temporary Hell-fire punishment found its way into the nascent Muslim theology of the early second century A.H. But at the time of its emergence (c. 700-750 A.D.), and for many decades afterwards, the idea faced resistance from 'scripturalists' within Muslim society who found no explicit support for it in the Qur'an. Muslim traditionalists sought to reconcile it with the text of the Qur'an, and eventually adopted it as a theological solution to the divisive and long-standing question of the fate of the Muslim grave sinner in the next world.
Within the early Muslim community, however, there also existed the belief, first attested on a Dome of the Rock inscription (c. 691-2 AD), of the eschatological intercession (shafa'a) of the Prophet. The Qur'an had not explicitly granted the Prophet such a privilege, but given the 'monotheistic' precedent of prophets and holy men as intercessors, and a widely-held esteem among pre-Islamic Arabs for the figure of the 'intercessor' (shafi'), it was not long before Muhammad was acknowledged as the intercessor par excellence on the Day of Resurrection. For the first 150 years, there were almost no discussions about the Prophet's shafdca, but sometime between the second and third century A.H., the issue, according to the our Iraqi historical sources, became a point of controversy. This was probably because Muslim scripturalists, who had opposed the idea of temporary Hell-fire, were now resisting the traditionalist doctrine that the Prophet's shafa'a would help grave sinners exit from Hell.
Case-control study of invasive staphylococcus aureus disease - host genetic susceptibility and bacterial population structure

Staphylococcus aureus is a major pathogen associated with serious community-acquired and nosocomial disease. It is carried nasally at some time by 70% of the population, yet severe disease is relatively uncommon.
Two case-control studies were conducted in Oxford, UK and Thailand to examine bacterial and host genetic determinants of severe S. aureus disease. Over 800 cases and 1,600 healthy control individuals were recruited into the two studies.
The genetic population structures of S. aureus disease and carriage isolate populations from the Oxford study were studied and compared using phage typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and multilocus sequence typing. Natural populations of S. aureus have a well-defined clonal population structure, but there was no evidence for the existence of hypervirulent clones.
The presence or absence of 33 putative bacterial virulence determinants was examined. After adjusting for the effect of clonality, seven determinants (fhbA, cna, sdrE, sej, eta, hlg and ica) were significantly more common in invasive isolates; all contributed independently to virulence.
In the host genetic studies a functional single nucleotide polymorphism at amino acid position 131 of the Fc gamma receptor IIA (FcyRIIA) gene was significantly associated with severe disease. In addition an additive x additive epistatic interaction was found between this FcyRIIA polymorphism and the functional FcyRIIIB NA1/NA2 polymorphism. These significant associations were present when community-acquired disease cases were considered alone, but absent in hospital-acquired disease cases. The putatively functional polymorphisms in genes coding for mannose binding lectin and Tolllike receptor 2 were not associated with disease.
Both bacterial and host factors are important in determining the occurrence of severe S. aureus disease. In hospital-acquired infection it is likely that acquired host, bacterial and environmental factors predominate, lessening the importance of any host genetic component.
Some peripheral effects of thyroid stimulating substances

T.S.H. is the major physiological thyroid stimulator. Pathological thyroid stimulators may occur in certain disease states. In human Graves' disease thyroid stimulating immunoglobulins are produced and may be the cause of thyrotoxicosis.Some of these (L.A.T.S.-P) are human specific in their actions whereas others (L.A.T.S.) can affect the thyroids of other mammals. Pharmacological thyroid stimulation may be produced by a variety of substances including catecholamines and indolealkylamines. The physiological significance of this is considered. Following a brief review of the effects of these substances it is concluded that T.S.H. and L.A.T.S. probably act on the same thyroid receptor whereas separate receptors exist for catecholamines and indolealkylamines.
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Persistence of protection against invasive bacteria-memory b cell response in infants after immunisation

Rapid waning of antibody and vaccine effectiveness is observed following infant immunisation with protein-polysaccharide conjugate vaccines. This is despite the demonstrable presence of immunological memory. However, disease can develop within a few days of carriage acquisition of encapsulated bacteria. Persistence of functional antibody, therefore, appears to be the key determinant of long-term protection against invasive bacterial diseases. Antibody persistence is thought to depend on the survival of long-lived plasma cells and memory B cells generated in germinal centres (GC).
Using the ELISpot method, the kinetics of the B cell response following a booster dose of MenC conjugate vaccine (MenCV) at one year of age, and following a 2 dose-primary course of a new tetravalent meningococcal vaccine (MenACWY-CRM197) given at 2 and 4 months of age, were determined. It was found that priming with these vaccines induced protective antibody levels in the majority of children but detectable memory B cells only in a subset of children. A strong association was found between the level of polysaccharide-specific antibody and memory B cells produced after priming, and the persistence of functional antibody at one year of age.
The kinetics of a primary B cell response were determined in healthy adults after immunisation with rabies vaccine, and compared to the B cell response following primary immunisation with MenCV in 2 months old infants. The timing of appearance of the B cells in peripheral blood was similar in infants and adults, although the magnitude of the response was slightly lower in infants.
These observations suggest that long-term humoral immunity induced by immunisation with protein-polysaccharide conjugate vaccines in early infancy depends on the production of adequate GCs during priming. The children who generate efficient GCs during priming (identified by higher production of memory B cells, plasma cells and Abs) may best maintain protective antibody levels in the long-term, while those children generating less efficient GCs, have a smaller B cell pool, lower antibody response during priming, and might not maintain protective antibody levels in the long-term.
Mechanistic studies on isopenicillin n synthase

The mechanism of penicillin formation through the action of the enzyme isopenicillin N synthase (IPNS) on the substrate δ-(L-α-aminoadipoyl)-L-cysteinyl-D-valine and synthetic analogues, still raises many unresolved questions, despite many years' extensive investigation.
In order to investigate the stereochemistry of formation of the second ring in the product, N-δ-(L-α-aminoadipoyl)-3α-hydroxymethylpenicillin, resulting from incubation of δ-(L-α-aminoadipoyl)- L-cysteinyl-D-vinylglycine with IPNS, the deuterium labelled tripeptides δ-(L-α-aminoadipoyl)- L-cysteinyl-E-[3,4-2H2]-D-vinylglycine and δ-(L-α-aminoadipoyl)-L-cysteinyl- Z-[3,4-2H2]-D-vinylglycine were synthesised and incubated with recombinant IPNS. The pattern of deuterium labelling was retained in the penam products, indicating stereospecific ring closure. The unlabelled and labelled penicillins were converted to their corresponding γ-lactones, and the 1H NMR coupling constants for the C(3)H-C(8)H2 system used to assign the 8-Pro/? and 8-ProS resonances of the unlabelled lactone. Comparison with the labelled lactones indicated that the parent penicillins had been formed via syn addition of sulphur and oxygen across the double bonds of the respective tripeptides. This stereochemistry is consistent with a mechanism involving [2πs + 2π] cycloaddition of an Fe=O species to the olefln.
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Staphylococcus aureus toxins: expression and control

Staphylococcus aureus was discovered in 1880 by the Scottish surgeon Sir Alexander Ogston. Its ability to utilise a panoply of secreted and cell associated virulence factors, combined with an ability to rapidly adapt to antibiotic selective pressure, has led it to become one of the most important Gram positive pathogens of our time. It plays a significant role in chronic diseases such as eczema, as well as the acute and potentially life threatening conditions toxic shock syndrome (TSS), meningitis, pneumonia and staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (SSSS) to name just a few. Its presence in hospitals is endemic in many countries, where methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains have earned the 'superbug' moniker.
Using a large, well-defined, clinical strain collection in combination with isogenic lab strains, this study endeavored to characterise the genetic factors associated with S. aureus toxicity, and identify novel means of controlling toxin expression.
We found that:
• A broad range of toxicities exists among S. aureus strains, that the beta- and delta-haemolysins are involved, and that hospital acquired-MRSA (HA-MRSA) strains are less toxic than MSSA or community acquired-MRSA (CA-MRSA).
• NaCl and the emollient Oilatum downregulate toxin expression.
• The mecA gene, conferring methicillin resistance, mediates mutation rates.
• The large type II SCCmec element of HA-MRSA confers a significant metabolic burden which is mitigated by the down regulation of toxins.
• The smaller type IV SCCmec element of CA-MRSA does not confer a significant metabolic burden, enabling CA-MRSA to utilise their full arsenal of virulence factors.
Some theories of creative process of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centures: a context for T.E. Hulme

The purpose of this thesis is to reconstruct the theory of creative process present in the writings of T. E. Hulme, and to juxtapose it with some other theories which either influenced it or with which it has been associated. It argues that there is no inconsistency in Hulme's simultaneous advocacy of a new "classicism" and his incorporation into his aesthetic of tenets analogous to ones typical of the English Romantic and French Symbolist traditions. His rejection of "romanticism" is seen to have been a disapproval of a certain attitude which coloured the way in which art had been discussed. His selfdescribed aim is seen to have been the redescription, with the aid of the new psychology, of phenomena which in the idealist traditions had been attributed to supernatural causes.
Each of the accounts of creative activity considered is divided, broadly, into what it has to say about the artist's "apprehension," "articulation" and "product." Chapter I contrasts the two French movements with which Imagism has been linked: the positivist aesthetic of Parnassianism and the idealist one of Symbolism. The theories of Walter Pater and the young W. B. Yeats are considered in Chapter II, and claims about their status as English Symbolists are assessed in the light of the previous discussion. Chapters III and IV describe the scientific reinterpretations of Symbolist principles found in the work of Theodule Ribot, Remy de Gourmont and Henri Bergson. The appeal for Hulme of the demystification achieved by these writers is illustrated in Chapter V, where the detailed reconstruction of his theory reveals much evidence of their influence. Chapter VI considers the changes in Hulme's view of art corresponding to his shift of interest to the visual arts. Chapter VII compares Hulme's account of poetic activity and the theory developed by Ezra Pound on behalf of Vorticism.
The blood volume in man and animals

In general two methods have been used for the determination of blood volume in man and animals. These are, the CO method which measures plasma volume directly. Total blood volume in each case is calculated from the cell to plasma ratio give by the central venous or arterial haematocrit. Both methods have been subject to criticism; the CO method on the grounds of technical difficulties in CO in blood analyses and the fact that it may include an unknown quantity of muscle myoglobin in addition to circulating haemoglobin; the dye method because injected dye substances disappear from teh circulation and degree of dilution in the plasmas is calculated by extrapolation of the disappearance curve. In addition, the assumption that the central venous haematocrit is truely representative of the ratio of the body's total red cell volume to plasma volume has been questioned. If 'body' haematocrit and the central venous haematocrit are identical, simultaneous determinations of total blood volume by the CO method and the dye method should give equal values.
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Studies of transient intermediates

Ketene was flash photolysed at wavelengths greater than 160 nm. The photolysis lamp was of a four electrode pair design, with Marx - Bank circuitry, operating at 1000 J with a 1/e decay time of < 4 μs. The photolysis products were analysed by gas chromatography. Experiments were largely limited to studies of ketene with inert gases, hydrogen, and methane, and the mixed photolysis system, ketene + azomethane. The experimental results were compared with kinetic simulations based upon Merson's method of numerical integration of coupled differential equations. The programme included a realistic simulation of the lamp profile, and varied the step length, until the error in a single step was < 10-4%.
The major new result is the observation of "singlet products", ethane and methane, at limiting high inert gas pressures, in mixtures containing low pressures of hydrogen. Various schemes are suggested to explain this result; the most satisfactory one implicates CH2 (1B1) in the reaction system. At low pressures, acetylene was formed in larger quantities than could be explained by any kinetic scheme involving CH2. Its presence is attributed to heating effects or to alternative decomposition modes of CH2CO at low pressure.
The rate constants for reaction of CH2 (3B1) + CH3, and of CH2 (1A1) with H2, CH4 and CH2CO are discussed. The rate constant for reaction of CH2 (1B1 with H2 is estimated on the assumption of a fluorescent lifetime of 10-6 s. The effect of O2, NO, and CO as CH2 scavengers is also discussed.
RRKM calculations for several radical - radical reactions are presented. The reactions - of the various electronic states of methylene and the photolysis of ketene are discussed in terms of electronic symmetry.
Some experiments in optical pumping

The work reported in this thesis consists of an investigation into three aspects of optical pumping in Helium.
Optical pumping in He⁴
This work was initially directed towards repeating the observations of Colegrove and Franken (ref. 2), who first reported experiments to produce atomic alignment by optical pumping in He⁴. This was achieved, and the theory and experiments were extended to cover the case of polarisation.
The 2³S₁
term in He⁴ is metastable and is used as the ground level in an optical pumping experiment. The metastable atoms are created by exciting a weak electrodeless glow discharge in low pressure He⁴ gas.
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Deep inelastic muon-nucleon scattering

This thesis reports some results from an experiment using a high energy muon beam incident upon a liquid hydrogen target performed at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Illinois, USA. It is solely concerned with the inclusice muon scattering distributions. The results reported are derived from the analysis of data taken at two incident momenta, 96 GeV/c and 147 GeV/c.
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Deformation of body-centred-cubic metals

This thesis describes work on niobium single crystals purified by annealing near to the melting point under a vacuum of ~ 10⁻⁸ torr. The pure crystals were deformed at temperatures in the range 4.2°k to 300°k at strain rates of ~ 10⁻⁴ sec⁻¹
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Laser ablation with copper vapour lasers

The use of copper vapour lasers for laser ablation in laser materials processing applications is studied. To this purpose, the generation of near diffraction-limited beam quality output from a single medium-scale oscillator is demonstrated via matching the total buffer gas pressure to the specific electrical input power loading and the degree of insulation of the plasma tube. The design and characterisation of a Master-Oscillator Power-Amplifier system based on a smallbore oscillator is also described, focusing on pulse stretching techniques to provide efficient seeding required for producing 20-50 W high beam-quality output for laser materials processing purposes. Various experimental studies on the fundamental processes of laser ablation of metals are presented.
The effect of the background gas properties on shock-wave formation in laser generated plasmas is studied using a ballistic pendulum. The experimental findings are found to be accurately described by a modified Sedov-Taylor-Von Neumann theory which accounts for the effect of the piston-mass. The theory is applied to characterise the fluorination process in the shock-wave, in view of oxygen isotope analysis in geochemistry. Atomic emission spectroscopy is shown to provide some measure of the electron temperature and electron density at the plasma core. The experimental results are discussed in view of existing models to describe the extreme Stark-broadening and self-absorption in dense, cool plasmas.
A comparative study of the use of femtosecond and nanosecond pulsed lasers for laser ablation of metals is presented to assess the relative importance of thermal diffusion. Measurement of the recoil momentum due to ejection of molten particulates during ablation in vacuum provides insight into the effect of material properties. Diffusion-limited surface texturing of metals via direct transfer of an optical interference patterns is demonstrated.