VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Elucidating the function of the suppressor of ppi1 locus 2

Plastids are a hub of biosynthetic activity, and in different tissues they take on specialised functions and develop into complex structures (e.g., chloroplasts in leaves). The structural and metabolic diversity and dynamism of plastids is dependent upon proteins imported from the cytosol. At the outer-envelope membrane of plastids, such proteins are transported by the translocon at the outer-envelope membrane of chloroplasts (TOC), comprising a protein-conducting channel and receptor proteins. Mutations affecting these TOC proteins cause profound effects to plastid development. To understand more about plastid development and the regulation of the TOC machinery, a screen for second-site suppressors of a mutant lacking the Toc33 receptor, called plastid protein import 1 (ppi1), was previously conducted. In this thesis, the resulting suppressor of ppi1 locus 2 (sp2) mutants were characterised. The SP2 genetic locus was identified, and it was found to affect the development of chloroplasts in a mechanism related to protein import. This was determined to involve a strong negative regulatory effect on the abundance of the TOC proteins, which was reminiscent of the effect of the SP1 locus. SP1 is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that triggers proteasomal degradation of TOC proteins. For this to occur, it is thought that TOC proteins require a mechanism of extraction from the chloroplast membrane, in a pathway that would require a retrotranslocon, as is the case for the degradation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) proteins by the ER-associated degradation (ERAD) system. As a relative of the Omp85 superfamily of protein transporters, SP2 is here proposed to fulfil the role of retrotranslocon in a hypothesised chloroplast-associated degradation system (ChlorAD). Genetic interaction data suggest that SP1 and SP2 act in a common pathway, while co-immunoprecipitation and in vitro pulldown results reveal a strong physical interaction between SP1 and SP2, as well as an interaction between SP2 and the ERAD-associated ATPase, CDC48. Overall, evidence presented here strongly supports the proposed ChlorAD mechanism.

Keywords: chloroplast
sp2
sp1
plastid
toc
erad
arabidopsis
Advisor: Jarvis, P
Asset pricing in dynamic macroeconomics

How does monetary policy affect financial markets? Coming out of the financial crisis much ink, both academic and non-academic, has been spilled trying to under- stand how policy makers should react to mitigate such a financial crisis. While there has been significant focus, justifiably, on crises, policy design and financial market transmission, there is very little theoretical work on how the effects of central bank policy transmits to asset prices. This thesis contends that the reasons for this dearth of theoretical research are two-fold - the dominance of log-linearisation in the New Keynesian tradition and a move to marginalise labour market channels in the asset pricing literature. The first means that these models fail to satisfactorily explain asset prices, while the second is a response to the perverse movements of employment in these models. Furthermore, attempts to fix the second problem make the first prob- lem even worse. I begin this thesis by addressing these two concerns. I show that by addressing them one can better explain reality both in terms of the business cycle and asset prices within this models. I proceed to develop a non-linear New Keynesian model and use it to construct a non-linear asset pricing relationship. Finally, I use this non-linear model, as a laboratory to analyse the transmission to financial markets of central banking policy following various simple Taylor rules. This work allows one to move from a situation where the impact of policy is well understood to one where the understanding is as yet incomplete. The insights gleaned from this research can be used to inform policy design with some understanding of the expected impact on asset markets.

Keywords: asset pricing
new Keynesian
monetary policy
macroeconomics
Advisor: Vines, D
Measuring social impact – the conceptual and empirical advancement of an emergent concept

This thesis develops a theoretical foundation for measuring social impact. It focuses on 'social purpose organisations', for example non-profit organisations. Its original contribution lies in the conceptual proposition of measuring social impact through assessing how an organisation enhances social productivity by creating capitals, for instance social, cultural or political capital. It proposes measuring capitals as an alternative to currently prevalent metrics surrounding: (1) costs and benefits; (2) life-satisfaction; (3) capabilities.
The research tests the 'capital based approach' in three empirical cases located in Germany. The studies consider multiple capitals, but focus on the main one for each intervention: (1) social capital in community oriented housing for elderly people; (2) cultural capital in a school-based intervention on pro-sociality; (3) political capital related to an online platform for citizens and politicians. The conceptual proposition combined with this 'multi-site multi capitals' setup generates knowledge on social impact in four different ways.
First, by tapping into established capitals measures across the social sciences the research mitigates the measurement problem—the challenge of translating social impact into measurable components. Second, by using capitals as a set of interconnected measures, which are furthermore at close proximity to organisational activities, it helps address the attribution problem—the difficulty of establishing causal links between an intervention and its effects. Third, by turning to capitals it highlights intermediate outcomes and processes in the creation of social impact and thereby deals with the aggregation problem—a loss of information when focussing only on final social outcomes. Fourth, by seizing on the position of capitals which are located in between individuals and the community, it responds to the foundation problem—the potential discrepancy between group level welfare and individual utilities or capacities.
The research tackles the most pressing challenges in social impact measurement and thus significantly advances its theory and practice.

Keywords: social impact
measurement
capitals
Advisor: Nicholls, A
Michie, J
Enemy punishment and the creation of the Assyrian world: Ashurbanipal’s Teumman-Dunanu narratives in reliefs, epigraphs, and prisms

This dissertation examines the representation of enemy punishment in prisms, reliefs, epigraphs, and epigraph tablets of the Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (c. 668-627 BCE). The ‘Teumman-Dunanu’ narratives which form the basis of this study use the events of military campaigns waged against Elamite king Teumman in 653 BCE, and subsequently against a number of Teumman’s allies in southern Babylonia, as a basis to construct narratives about enemy punishment and its role in an ordered Assyrian world. I deal with a small group of sources from the Assyrian city of Nineveh: the reliefs of Room XXXIII of the Southwest Palace, and Rooms I and (to a lesser extent) S1 of the North Palace, Epigraph Text A and fragmentary parallel epigraph texts, and Prism Editions B and A. These sources have received varying degrees of attention, with the Southwest Palace reliefs of Teumman’s beheading a particularly well-explored topic. However, I demonstrate that even this well-studied depiction can be understood with greater complexity when read with the other narratives examined here and in the wider context of the theme of ‘enemy punishment’. The aim of this study is twofold: 1) to investigate how we should understand the intellectual world in which these sources were created, and 2) to carry out ‘close-readings’ of these sources in order to understand how enemy punishment functioned to construct and maintain that Assyrian world. To this end, the first part of this dissertation examines the knowledge, function, and worldview of Ashurbanipal’s court. The second part examines the Teumman-Dunanu narratives in detail, first presenting an overview of their context and narrative content, and then carrying out close-readings in various, interrelated areas. The study demonstrates that it is correct to consider such sources as both expressive and generative of Assyrian elite realities—about themselves, the gods with whom they were in communication, and the enemy other. The study further demonstrates that close-reading of related narrative sequences is a fruitful means of detecting new meanings in the narratives themselves, and of understanding the wider Assyrian world.

Keywords: Ancient Warfare
Kingship
Violence
Elam
Punishment
Ashurbanipal
Teumman
Advisor: Collins, P
Dahl, J
A comparative study of religious education policy in Turkey and England

It has long been recognised that education policy has been questioned, critiqued and reformed in response to a variety of supranational and national factors. In the field of religious education, there has been a growing argument for comparative works to study this relationship between wider factors and religious education policy. This thesis seeks to present a comparison of religious education policy in state schools in two strikingly different countries, Turkey and England, by interviewing various policy actors, to unravel some of the complexities and contestations around supranational and national factors and their influence on religious education policy.
The thesis reveals that wider factors have explicitly and implicitly shaped religious education policy by constituting a significant milieu that has constrained and enabled policy actors. Yet, the thesis also suggests that religious education policy can be better understood through a conflict theory lens, because policy actors have responded to and interpreted wider factors and their influence on religious education policy widely and contradictorily, reflecting their deeply held worldviews and values. Furthermore, in the context of the collision of wider factors and rival policy actors, religious education has tended to converge on common problems such as confusion, marginalisation, accusations and on endless reform actions and discussion. The thesis suggests that there is a need for sensitising for plurality across and within societies and a need for more open and plural religious education policies.
The findings of this thesis give insights into how different policy actors view and interpret supranational and national factors and their influence on religious education policy. The findings have relevance for debates about the role of religion in education within plural societies.

Keywords: religious education policy
Islam
policy actors
Supranational factors
conflict
Christianity
pluralisation
secularisation
plural religious education policy
England
Turkey
compulsory consensus
Advisor: Gearon, L
Fancourt, N
The structure of the Tamil verb

The study of the verbal forms occurring in the Cankam texts (date about 50 B.C. - 250 A.D.) reveals that at least two of them namely kalittokai and paripātal possess forms of later origin. In the language of the other sixteen texts, many distinct features of the Old Tamil have been observed. The development of the Tamil language began to take a new turn from the period of kalittokai. Therefore the Old Tamil features as seen in the verbal forms of the earlier texts are of much importance especially to understand the true nature of the Dravidian verb.
Continued in thesis ...

Keywords: tamil
verb
Ultra-sensitive molecular detection of explosives

Explosives detection plays an important role in both military and civilian applications. However, the detection of explosive vapours remains challenging because of the low vapour pressures of explosive materials. The aim of this project is to develop a system for the ultra-sensitive molecular detection of explosives. The sensor is based on a percolation network of conductive polymers, supported on a scaffold of gold nanoparticles. By operating the sensor at the percolation threshold a higher sensitivity can be achieved compared to more traditional polymer thin film based sensors.
The first component of the sensor, the gold nanoparticle scaffold, was created by dewetting a gold thin film. The nanoparticle size and separation were controlled by controlling the initial gold thin film thickness and the annealing time and temperature. Furthermore, stepwise resistance changes were observed during gold deposition and annealing. Next, conductive polymers were deposited on the gold nanoparticle scaffolds, creating polymer networks ranging from thin films to networks close to the percolation threshold. Additionally, simulations were used to confirm that a sensor based on a percolation network has a higher sensitivity than a thin film based sensor. Finally, initial testing of sensors with various polymer coverages in the presence of ammonia has provided a proof of concept of a sensor based on a percolation network of conductive polymers.

Keywords: Conductive polymer
Vapour sensing
Nanoparticles
Explosives
Percolation
Advisor: Castell, M
Novel self-expanding stent retractors for neuroendoscopy

This thesis reports on the development of a novel self-expanding stent retractor (SESR), one that could replace the rigid tubular retractors in common use for minimally invasive neuroendoscopy. The thesis begins with a comprehensive literature review, focusing on existing neuroendoscopy techniques and devices that treat deep brain lesions. The motivation behind this project, including its potential scientific and practical value, is set out clearly. The main body of the thesis describes three different activities.
The first part presents preliminary studies on brain tissue that have been conducted to set up an appropriate medium for SESR deployment. A finite element model of brain tissue phantom was built in Abaqus/Explicit and several surgical scenarios were simulated. The finite element model was validated through comparisons with existing simulation results, data from the literature review and experimental measurements. It is found that the pressure required to create a 16mm diameter corridor in the brain tissue phantom through radial expansion is 2.089 kPa.
The second part of the thesis explains the process of designing and analysing the SESR. Conceptual designs identify the dimensions, materials, and functions of SESR, along with its accessory components. Theoretical analysis found a range for geometric design based on z shape stent radial pressure. Finite element analysis was applied to thoroughly study single z shape stents and SESRs, identifying 5-crown stent SESR (wire diameter 0.31mm to 0.33mm) and 10-crown stent SESR (wire diameter 0.34mm to 0.36mm) to be suitable designs for neuroendoscopy deployment. Finally, prototypes were manufactured and experiments conducted to validate these results of finite element analysis.
The third part of the thesis explores the SESRs' deployment in brain tissue. In both finite element analysis and in vitro experiments, SESRs created access corridors in the brain tissue phantom similar in efficacy to those by rigid tubular retractors, while reducing the pressure on surrounding tissue. By changing SESR’s radial pressure along its longitudinal direction, alternative deployment shapes were also attainable, which suggested suitability for varying surgical needs.
In summary this thesis demonstrates that the proposed novel self-expanding stent retractor is a viable design with potential to reduce tissue damage during surgical use.

Keywords: nitinol
tubular retractor
finite element analysis
neuroendoscopy
self-expanding stent
minimally invasive
Advisor: You, Z
Plaha, P
The fall of the house of Constantine (c. 330-363 A.D.)

This thesis is a revisionist account of the political history of the Roman Empire, from the later years of Constantine to the eve of Rome's disastrous invasion of Persia. It is a study of the reigns and governments of Constantius II, Constans, and Julian: of what they hoped to do and what they actually succeeded in doing. Necessarily, it is also the story of the men who staffed their administrations and led their armies, and of how emperors interacted with their servants. It is an attempt to probe the limits of what Roman rulers might achieve and understand the nature of the constraints under which they laboured: a study of political action and the context of political action. It is based on a comprehensive re-examination of the source material for the period: on the detailed work of re-dating, of re-categorising, and of critical analysis. At its simplest, its argument is very simple indeed: these three decades and their political history have been misunderstood. Constantius II and Constans were much more capable, much more interesting rulers than their caricatures in the sources, and cooperated successfully for their decade of diarchy. The terrible crisis which engulfed the Roman world after 350, reveals (paradoxically) not the instability and unpopularity of Flavian rule, but its success, the degree to which it had become the framework of empire. Julian was not merely a rather less starry figure than he would have us believe: he was an indifferent general and incompetent administrator. When, at last, supreme power was dropped into his lap, his reign saw the empire slide into chaos. This is the story of the fall of the House of Constantine, as it has not quite been told before.

Advisor: Ward-Perkins, B
The British sociological tradition in the interwar years (1920-1940)

This thesis argues that there was a strong tradition of British sociological thought that developed in the interwar years (1920-1940) at the LSE but also outside universities under the guise of 'public sociology', 'social surveys' and 'the sociological imagination'. Sociology was seen here specifically as a democratic, reflexive discipline supposed to entail change by individuals and fostered by philanthropy as opposed to the French, academic and ex cathedra approach of collective institutions fostered by the State. It was especially under the heading of 'new anthropology' that Radcliffe-Brown and Malinowski developed their own version of it, and social anthropology is still remembered today as the 'real', most successful school of British sociology, paradoxically.
Both strands represent the British sociological tradition at its best and the thesis concludes that despite two different names (Durkheim's sociologie and Malinowski's 'modern anthropology') and contexts (that of a Republic versus that of an Empire), both sciences shared a similar humanistic concern for European modernity and for the preservation of societies. This uncovers the world-enriching specificities of Britain to world sociology (the birth of a public sociology, the tradition of the social survey and the development of the sociological imagination) that only became apparent after WWII.
This thesis is thus an original contribution to the field which sheds a brand new light on an old problem thanks to 1) a comparative approach between Britain and France which has never been attempted before 2) taking into account not only the institutional history but also the intellectual history and sociological ideas 3) drawing on previously unused material such as book reviews from the journal l'Année sociologique and interwar textbooks to study the reception of British sociology in France 4) finding the contours of its specific national tradition 5) extending our knowledge of the discipline in the interwar years.

Advisor: Gildea, R
Cavitation in lubricating films

Wear and friction are signicant problems in machinery. A particularly harsh environment is the space between the piston ring and cylinder wall of a combustion engine. Lubricant lms are commonly used to mitigate these eects, separating metal to metal contact.
The experiments of Zhu and Granick (Langmuir, 18, 2002) attempt to understand how surfactants change the behaviour of lubricating lms. They claim surfactants that have adsorbed onto a solid surface cause the uid to slip past the surface. We hypothesize that their observations could instead be caused by the liquid cavitating. We develop a mushy region model, based on the work of Ockendon, Howison, and Lacey (Q J Mech Appl Math, 56, 2003), to represent the cavitated region which we assume is composed of liquid, vapour, and gas. We show that the normal force predicted by the model gives a good t to experimental observations.
We also model experiments of Professor J. Nouri, who investigated the formation of gaseous cavities in a slider bearing, again using a mushy region model. We present a detailed asymptotic analysis of the model and show how the solution changes from being quasi-steady to dynamic as the velocity of the bottom surface changes sign. We show that numerical solutions of the model are in good qualitative agreement with experimental measurements, yet several persistent discrepancies remain. We suggest possible causes of these discrepancies, and estimate the eects that various physical phenomena might have on the experiments. By modifying the mushy region model to study the impact of various additional processes on the lm, we attempt to explain specic dierences between the model and the experimental results. We also extend the model to include other eects so it is more representative of the operating conditions experienced by lubricants in engines.

Advisor: Breward, C
Vella, D
Howell, P
The germinal centre reaction and follicular T cells in alloantibody formation

Kidney transplantation is the optimal treatment for end-stage renal failure, however graft lifespan remains limited, and a major cause of graft loss is chronic, low-grade antibody-mediated damage. Understanding more about how these antibodies are produced, and how immunosuppression affects cells producing them, may allow both prediction of those at risk, and a mechanism for preventing or minimising antibody production, therefore improving graft lifespan. In particular, interest has grown in CD4 T cells known as circulating T follicular helper (cTfh) and T follicular regulatory (cTfr) cells, which appear to correlate with antibody production in vaccination, autoimmunity and potentially transplantation, however little is known about how immunosuppression alters these cells and their function.
This study aimed to establish whether cTfh and cTfr cells could be used to predict the risk of de novo donor-specific antibody (DSA) formation in 61 kidney and simultaneous pancreas kidney (SPK) transplant recipients.
Results suggested that high cTfh cells and low cTfr associated with de novo DSA formation, and the ratio of the two cells may be useful for identifying at-risk patients. Different immunosuppression regimens were associated with different levels of risk for de novo DSA formation, with basiliximab induction combined with azathioprine maintenance therapy having the lowest risk, despite being considered a less intensive regimen. In vitro experiments suggest this may be due to a differential effect of azathioprine on cTfh and B cells compared to mycophenolate mofetil, an alternative maintenance agent.
Combining the in vitro and clinical data suggests that azathioprine may reduce the risk of de novo DSA formation after transplantation compared to other agents because of its effects on B cells, cTfh and cTfr. This is an exciting development that warrants further investigation.

Advisor: Wood, K
Linterman, M