VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Models for dynamic networks with metadata

There is increasing understanding that many complex systems of interest – everything from the global economy, to social group dynamics, to biochemical processes in the brain – require holistic modelling, rather than the consideration of units of the population in isolation. Network science techniques, which commence by viewing the system as a set of vertices or nodes (the units of the population, e.g. individual people) and edges (the relationships between them, e.g. friendship), are one popular approach to do so.
Naturally, such complex systems express a wide array of important properties that we ought to account for when modelling them, beyond simply the presence or absence of a particular relationship. Most pertinently for this work, they evolve over time – i.e. they are dynamic – and the units of the population may have distinct properties, or attributes, which further differentiate them from each other. We define any such extra information we might possess outside of the simple node/edge paradigm to be metadata.
Despite the potential utility of such metadata, it is only quite recently that methods have begun to jointly model both network and metadata together. In this thesis, we provide a new class of models that do so — specifically, with the purpose of finding groups in networks that change over time. We describe distinct versions of this class of models that allow the networks to be weighted and directed, as well as avoid the potential issue of placing nodes with similar degrees in the same group.
In addition to elaborating such models, we derive novel requirements for the efficient detectability of groups given the presence of metadata — and in the process explain why a recent paper which claims to do the same for a similar static model is flawed. The inference method we leverage to investigate detectability is also highly scalable, and we further accelerate the process by proposing both a ‘greedy’ scheme, and a recursive procedure that effectively provides a top-down hierarchy of the network groups.
We conclude by using our models as one component of a larger method, that provides an entirely novel means of estimating the influence of an author. We use a causal framing of the problem that to our knowledge has not previously been explored in this context, and depends upon recent ideas from the causal inference literature.

Keywords: science of science
open source
belief propagation
simulation
network metadata
bayesian inference
temporal networks
causal inference
graphical models
academic networks
stochastic block model
group detectability
statistical inference
variational inference
Advisor: O'Clery, N
Grindrod, P
Topics in sieve theory

This thesis is concerned with applications of sieve methods to two Diophantine problems.
The first problem requires us to prove the existence of a certain infinite configuration of sums of two squares. Namely, the aim is to exhibit two increasing sequences of integers ai and mj such that mj − ai = □ + □ for every 1 ≤ i ≤ j. This set-up has a geometric interpretation which arises naturally in the field of quantum chaos. We tackle this problem using a modified half-dimensional Maynard-Tao sieve, and present details of the argument in Chapter 2.
The second problem asks us to show that a certain Diophantine equation has few integer solutions. We approach this problem by adapting the polynomial sieve developed by Browning and using the work of Weil and Deligne to obtain appropriate estimates for various exponential sums which naturally arise. As a corollary to the main result, we will deduce that polynomials with integer coefficients have “small asymmetric additive energy,” a result which has various applications in the literature. We give the details of this argument in Chapter 3.

Keywords: analytic number theory
sieve methods
Advisor: Maynard, J
'Not infected with the Venime of the Times': the Rump Parliament and places of learning, 1649-53

This thesis explores the role of the parliamentary state in places of education during the period of the Rump Parliament (1649-53) by focusing on the committee for regulating the universities (CRU). Although there are many studies devoted to education and its reform during this period, the role of the state in this sphere is largely overlooked. This thesis addresses this oversight, demonstrating that the Commonwealth government and the regimes of the 1640s and 1650s more widely were important agents in educational matters and were deeply involved in places of learning. The Rump’s priorities for schools and universities are analysed and it is shown that the government wished to work inside the traditional structure of educational institutions rather than to overhaul them.
This thesis also offers a fresh approach to the Commonwealth government and period. Historians often examine the Rump through its legislation and events at Westminster which results in a depiction of the government’s life as characterised by infrequent spasms of activity. The study below challenges this interpretation and argues that the regime ought to be analysed through the workings of its committees, like the CRU, and the implementation of its rule in institutional or local contexts. As is demonstrated, it is necessary to look at both the centre and the localities when discussing the Rump. This thesis thus focuses on both the members of government and those of educational establishments, examining the agency of the latter group and illustrating the widespread existence of cooperation and consensus in the period. To achieve its aims, this thesis adopts an archive-based approach and uses the records of numerous places of learning, including many not often included in histories of the period or education. New perspectives on both the Rump and key Commonwealth issues, including the ministry and propagation, emerge as a result.

Keywords: Hartlib Circle
Parliament
the Nominated Assembly
the Rump Parliament
the Long Parliament
history of education
British Civil Wars
ordination
republicanism
the Ministry
early modern
Committee for Regulating the Universities
the English Revolution
Advisor: Mortimer, S
Changing perceptions of Film Studies: How to increase uptake of A Level Film Studies in an inner London Academy

Working as head of Film and Media in a school with a traditionally low uptake of creative and arts-based subjects, I have been faced with the challenge of attempting to increase the uptake of Film Studies amongst the current year 11 cohort. Whilst the balance between creative art subjects and STEM being taught in schools is something that has been part of the national discussion about education in England for the last two decades, most of this focus has been on the drive to increase numbers and gender equality amongst the students opting to study STEM subjects. Despite the long-standing evidence that creative thinking is essential to student progress and learning in the classroom, not just to the creative subjects, but to their holistic learning, little has been written in terms of how we can best tackle negative views of arts subjects amongst disinterested groups. Having surveyed the year group as a whole at the beginning of the year, I created a sample group that reflected the year group in terms of gender and levels of interest in choosing Film Studies as one of their A level options, and across the year provided three interventions for this group, each aiming to tackle a misconception or driver of negative perceptions that emerged from focus groups and student surveys. This group, in comparison to the rest of the year who acted as a control group, showed sizable shifts in attitudes towards Film Studies, and whilst the true impact won't be known until options are finalised, the proportion of students intending or considering to study Film have increased significantly.
The lack of a breadth of Film Studies specific research, and the inability to definitively know if the interventions themselves, rather than just increased exposure to Film Studies as a prospect, were the true force for these changes limited the research. However, the findings did lead to potential solutions and actions for my department moving forwards.
The research pointed towards issues around motivation, parental and family attitudes towards the subject, as well as uncertainty of what the subject was and where it could lead students beyond their time in education. Whilst each of these elements are explored in more detail within the research, there are some overall solutions that seem to present themselves, particularly around exposure to the subject

Keywords: MLT 2019
MLT
Can goal-free problems be used to support students in solving goal-specific problems in the secondary mathematics classroom?

This research project explores the extent to which goal-free problems can be used to support Year 10 students in solving goal-specific problems in the domain of circle theorems. The study compares the performance of an intervention group working on goal-free problems (n = 51) with a control group (n = 46) on a variety of goal-specific problems at the end of a sequence of ten lessons. Issues within the affective domain, such as student confidence and enjoyment of lessons, are also compared through the use of questionnaires.
Findings from the assessment demonstrate that the intervention had a positive impact on students’ performance on multi-application circle theorem problems. However, no statistically significant difference was found between the control group and the intervention group on non-routine, multi-domain goal-specific problems. Analysis of questionnaire responses found that the intervention group found the sequence of lessons to be less challenging than the control group. However, analysis also highlighted several negative perceptions held by students towards goal-free problems which educators should be aware of if they intend to use goal-free problems in the classroom.

Keywords: MLT 2019
MLT
Developing effective English intervention strategies: To what extent does developing metacognitive awareness in lower attaining boys improve their self-regulation and self-efficacy?

Theory on gender and education is multifaceted and convoluted. Undeniably, boys continue to outperform girls in STEM subjects and comparatively underperform in English Language and Literature. Free School Meal (FSM) eligible White British, working-class boys have significantly lower levels of attainment than their peers. Saints College*, a mixed secondary school in London, does not buck this trend. This research explores the reasons for this discrepancy and attempts to address it by implementing an intervention strategy focused on metacognition during reading.
The rationale for focusing on metacognition was grounded in theory. Metacognition, or ‘thinking about thinking’, is essential for self-regulation. Evidence suggests a link between self-regulatory behaviours, self-efficacy and academic attainment. Interventions focused on improving metacognition - and thus self-regulatory behaviours - during reading are proven to have a high effect size. Improved literacy has the potential to bolster academic attainment across the board and improve longer term outcomes for pupils.
There were three components to this research. Firstly, a questionnaire was shared with a focus group of nine FSM eligible, low attaining boys to explore their perception of their self-efficacy. Then, informed by research, a six-week intervention focused on developing metacognition during reading was delivered and evaluated. To enable for comparison, the same intervention was delivered to eight girls of a similar demographic.
Findings from this research suggest that the boys have a negative opinion of their self-efficacy concerning self-regulatory behaviours. The intervention developed metacognitive awareness but did not secure transferability of these skills cross curricular. Whilst they did outperform the boys’ group, the girls were less receptive to the intervention. Consequently, further questions arise concerning the impact of social conditioning and the role of teachers’ perceptions in perpetuating the gender attainment gap.
*pseudonym

Keywords: MLT 2019
MLT
Second language creative writing strategies: in what ways do they foster writing improvement in a Year 9 class?

The following paper is a contribution to the existing small body of research on the theory and practice of creative writing (CW) in the English as second language (ESL) secondary school classroom. The research aimed at improving the writing skills of Year 9 students through the use of CW in a large, private Waldorf comprehensive school in the Eastern part of Germany. It was carried out under the theoretical underpinning of practitioner research. The study included 31 students from the chosen grade. Prior to the intervention, student writing samples on file were analysed according to word length and use of language. A pre-intervention writing assessment was used as a quantitative measure to monitor change in student writing. During the intervention, students were observed and interviewed to find out if and how student writing changed on the participant’s individual level. A post-intervention writing assessment was then used to measure change in student writing. A post-intervention group interview as well as post-intervention survey were also conducted.
The study found that improvement took place with word length, but not on the level of spelling or syntax-related issues. The percent improvement between girls and boys showed a significant difference in text length. The findings from the student interviews obtained showed that students’ self-perception changed towards their writing. Students felt reassured and more positive towards writing than before the intervention. It was further observed that CW tasks served students’ writing motivation, helped bring out self-expression skills and reduce language anxiety. Students with learning disabilities profited from CW as much as high ability students, which demonstrates that the use of the method is particularly fit for inclusive ESL settings.
It was also found that task design as well as first language (L1) use play a major role in the ESL CW process.

Keywords: MLT 2019
MLT
Negotiating the Principia: the failure of Newton's arguments to persuade his readers, 1684-94

When Isaac Newton’s 'Principia Mathematica' was published in the summer of 1687, it met with immediate acclaim. Through a close examination of contemporary reading notes, this thesis aims to establish the extent to which that acclaim was the result of his peers’ assent to the arguments contained in the book.
It will demonstrate that, so far as can be reliably inferred from the extant documentary evidence, early readers were generally not persuaded by the demonstrations in the 'Principia'. Newton’s peers commonly didn’t scrutinise the arguments in his book; when they did scrutinise them, they commonly didn’t understand them; and when they did understand them, they commonly didn’t agree with them. They frequently disputed the composition of his proofs, the validity of his methodology, and the articulation of his foundational concepts. When circumstances allowed, they communicated these misgivings back to Newton, who often altered his text in response, re-working, re-phrasing and re-structuring his demonstrations. They questioned both the formulation of his method of first and last ratios and his mathematisation of force, and none of the readers for whom there is reliable evidence assented to the entirety of Newton’s proof of the inverse-square law. To the extent that they were persuaded by the correctness of Newton’s conclusions, it was either because they were successfully able to reconstruct his arguments within their pre-existing conceptual frameworks; or because they held face-to-face conversations with the author in which they were able to query, contest and negotiate the composition of his text.
In other words, the book was very ineffective at persuading readers of the validity of the arguments it contained. This means that the acclaim 'Principia' received at the moment of publication was unwarranted: it must have had some cause other than readers’ assent to its demonstrations.

Advisor: Wardhaugh, B
Mathematical modelling of autoimmune myocarditis and the effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors

Autoimmune myocarditis is a rare, but frequently fatal, side effect of immune check- point inhibitors (ICIs), a class of cancer therapies. Despite extensive experimental work on the causes, development, and progression of this disease, much still remains unknown about the importance of the different immunological pathways involved. To further our understanding of the immunological mechanisms underlying autoimmune myocarditis and the cardiotoxicity associated with ICIs, we build the first math- ematical model of this disease. This model is based on the immune cell types and interactions that have been identified by previous experimental research as playing an important role in disease development. We show that this model, when parameterized based on literature insights, can reproduce the qualitative behaviour we expect based on disease characteristics observed in patients. Using bifurcation analysis, we show that the presence of ICIs increases the risk of autoimmune myocarditis developing.
Balancing the positive effects of ICIs in treating the tumour with the detrimental effects of increasing the risk of autoimmune myocarditis, lends itself well to the use of optimal control theory. We show that, in a scenario where the standard–of–care treatment schedule used for ICIs causes the development of autoimmune myocarditis, optimal control theory can be used to establish a wide range of schedules with which the same number of doses of ICIs can be applied while autoimmune myocarditis is prevented. This allows for treatment regimen selection from a set of schedules with a minimized risk of autoimmune myocarditis, so other factors such as effect on the tumour and other possible side–effects can be considered.
Lastly, we show that our model of autoimmune myocarditis can be used as part of a larger modelling framework which explicitly considers the effects of ICIs on the tumour. We use optimal control theory on this extended model to show how this framework could be a first step towards using modelling in optimizing personalized treatment scheduling by considering the risk of autoimmune myocarditis in combination with other factors such as effect on the tumour and other possible side effects. Further extension of this framework can consider more complex tumour models as well as models of other side–effects of concern when ICIs are administered.

Keywords: mathematical modelling
myocarditis
optimal control
autoimmunity
immune checkpoint inhibitors
Advisor: Baker, R
Waters, S
Polonchuk, L
Wang, K
The emergence of an economic technocracy in Colombia, 1948-1974

This dissertation studies the emergence of an economic technocracy in Colombia between 1948 and 1974. It accounts for the advent of professional economists as experts and shows how they succeeded at carving their way into the state to intervene in economic decision-making. Before the mid-twentieth century, men with practical knowledge about public and private finances had generally overseen the administration of economic affairs. In the period under consideration in this dissertation, economics departments and research centres were established in universities, allowing state institutions to incorporate a new type of specialist with a more technically and scientifically grounded expertise about the economy. Based on research in Colombian and US archives as well as interviews, this dissertation explores the resulting professionalisation of economics and institutionalisation of economic expertise in the state. It shows that these processes were embedded in the redemocratisation project of the National Front (1958-1974), following a decade of political turmoil during La Violencia (1948-1957). They were also shaped by the transnational exchanges with foreign actors and institutions that the post-WWII international order made possible for governments in developing countries. Colombia became a favorite client of multilateral institutions and philanthropic foundations, which sponsored several development and technical assistance missions to this country from the late-1940s to the mid-1970s. Hence, the Colombian case provided a privileged lens to analyse more broadly how the transnational circulation of expertise about economic development in the post-WWII period triggered the educational and institutional reforms that entrenched the position of economists in government.

Keywords: economic planning
development
economists
technocracy
Colombia
professionalization
foreign aid
economic expertise
World Bank
Advisor: Posada-Carbo, E
Liminal lives: trans feminine histories from Weimar and Nazi Germany

This thesis explores ruptures and continuities in Germanophone trans lives before and after the Nazi rise to power. Recovering detailed accounts of individuals’ life stories based largely on medical, police and legal records, my research investigates how trans people navigated institutional frameworks across juxtaposed regimes. By focusing on subjectivities, I overturn long held assumptions in histories of gender & sexuality and modern Europe: specifically, the idealization of Weimar as a trans utopia followed by uniform Nazi persecution.
The introduction sets up the current vision we have of trans experiences of Weimar and Nazi Germany by analyzing two enduring photographs. Critiquing tendencies within gender and sexuality studies, I explicate new methodologies that move beyond binary romantic/tragic narratives in the trans past.
Chapters one and two seek to de-idealise Weimar. Everyday micro-histories show that unemployment, homelessness, and reliance on exclusionary and obstructive medico-legal processes characterized this pivotal moment in trans history. Tracing regimes of knowledge and practice related to legal and medical transition also demonstrates their enduring effect in the present.
Chapter three and four analyse how trans women weathered the Nazi watershed by looking at kinship ties and Nazi state responses to trans femininity. Blurring sharp demarcations between exclusion/inclusion, life/death, and good/bad victimhood under Nazism, I use ‘liminality’ to explain how transness manifested between categories and therefore received heterogeneous treatment under Nazism. Focusing on intersubjective relations and social tempers therefore tell us more about the people and societies who fell under Nazi rule than qualitative or discursive analyses.
The final chapter analyses how some trans lives were cut short under the Third Reich, whilst others outlived the sharp political punctuation of 1945. I conclude with a commentary on how ‘everyday’ theory is not simply a form of history from below, but how the everyday affects how we (might) ‘do’ history, full-stop.

Keywords: Weimar Republic
trans history
gender
Third Reich
trans studies
German history
sexuality
Advisor: Healey, D
Stargardt, N