VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Lived experiences of arsenic-related psychosocial distress in rural Bangladesh

Arsenic occurs naturally in the groundwater across much of Bangladesh, with millions exposed through drinking water. It has wide-ranging health effects, including skin lesions, cancers, heart disease, and cognitive impairment. There is also emergent but limited literature on its effects on psychosocial well-being. This paper advances the understanding of the relationship between arsenic exposure and psychosocial distress. An exploratory qualitative study was undertaken, where interviews were conducted with 23 members of an affected community in a village in southwestern Bangladesh. Results show that arsenic exposure is linked both directly and through mediated pathways to psychosocial distress. There are significant impacts on the participants’ lives, including inability to access safe water, lack of agency, chronic pain and discomfort, difficulty performing everyday tasks, lost productive time, issues of marriageability, among others – all of which contributed to psychosocial distress, both individually and compounded together. The findings indicate a need for more comprehensive understanding of arsenicosis when designing safe water interventions.

Keywords: psychosocial distress
health
water quality
arsenic
Ancestral halls and ‘modern temples’: museums in postcolonial Hong Kong

In this thesis, I examine how the meanings and roles of museums, as a worldwide cultural phenomenon that has been initiated in Europe, are adapted and transformed according to local contexts beyond Europe. My ethnographic research explores the specific context of post-colonial Hong Kong and examines the rise of non-government museums. I argue that this phenomenon is the result of nostalgia, rising historical and cultural consciousness, increasing ‘museum-mindedness’ and the continuing identity dilemma experienced by residents, both young and old, of postcolonial Hong Kong. I have critically analysed five types of museum-like institutions in Hong Kong, namely: ancestral halls, governmental, independent, amateur, and school history museums. Investigating recent developments of museums in Hong Kong through the lens of Chinese ancestral halls, I argue that ancestral halls are, in effect, ‘precursory museums’ for those that have been created more recently. Enabled by objects, spatial experience and social interactions, Chinese ancestral halls and contemporary Hong Kong museums both aim to preserve and transmit cultural knowledge and, in the process, facilitate identity construction. Set up by all kinds of actors, ranging from independent trusts to individual amateurs, non-government museums in Hong Kong are diverse in their forms but united by the same aim and function: to preserve and interpret local heritage in their own ways and according to indigenous criteria.
In a broader sense, I suggest that the non-government museums represent different points in a continuous spectrum which at one end is influenced by an indigenous museological model associated with Chinese ancestral halls, and, at the other end, by government museums, which still uphold the values of ‘western’ museum professionalism. I argue that the values and principles upheld by those who have created and curated ancestral halls are still influencing current museums in the postcolonial era, because the museums have inherited the traditional, social and historical functions of ancestral halls in Hong Kong as a channel for the Hong Kong public to ‘retrace their roots’. Non-governmental museums in Hong Kong can also be potential sites of rejection of the official histories and representations constructed by the Beijing-influenced postcolonial Hong Kong government. They are therefore a manifestation of the postcolonial condition and a cultural arena in which Hong Kong residents could construct history, interpret culture, and shape identity.

Keywords: museum-mindedness
ancestral hall
Hong Kong
museum anthropology
history museum
school museum
identity
amateur museum
museum studies
museology
heritage
independent museum
post-colonialism
Advisor: Harris, C
Immigration and discrimination

This thesis examines discrimination in immigration policy. It consists of two parts. The first part examines the normative significance of discrimination in the history of immigration policy. I argue that descendants of those who have been excluded by race or ethnicity have a right to immigrate to the state in question as reparation. This argument is based on one popular approach to justifying reparations for historical injustice: the counterfactual approach.
For much of the thesis, however, I examine discrimination in present-day immigration policy. This is the second part of the thesis. I put forward a pluralist account of discrimination in immigration policy. This, I argue, allows us to more fully capture discrimination in immigration policy than the monist account of discrimination that is implicitly adopted in the philosophical literature on migration. I develop this pluralist account of discrimination by examining three significant immigrant selection policies of countries in the Global North: selection by skill, selection by age, and selection by nationality.
I show that discrimination in immigration policy can be wrong for three reasons: if it fails to select by merit, if it demeans would-be immigrants, and if the selection unfairly disadvantages certain groups of people. I consider one possible solution to this discrimination in immigration policy: a lottery that selects immigrants. I argue that while lotteries are non-discriminatory, they are nevertheless unappealing for reasons that do not have to do with discrimination. Thus, non-discrimination cannot be the only standard by which we judge immigration policy. I end by considering what this entrenched discrimination means for immigration policy at large.

Keywords: discrimination
migration
Advisor: Miller, D
Stemplowska, Z
The totality of the thinkable

This thesis presents four chapters that address the theological and epistemological views of Immanuel Kant. Although each of the four chapters addresses a discrete problem, the chapters are united in their focus on the idea of the ‘totality of the thinkable’ and the related idea of a totality of possible concepts. In particular, this thesis explores the ways in which the totality of the thinkable is implicated in Kant’s criticisms of his German rationalist predecessors.
Chapter One explores Kant’s claim that the representation of God within transcendental theology has its origin in reason’s tendency to generate an idea of the totality of the thinkable (the omnitudo realitatis, in Kant’s terminology). It argues that existing interpretations of Kant’s claim cannot explain why reason generates the omnitudo realitatis. Chapter Two offers a novel account of the origin of the omnitudo realitatis in reason’s faulty effort to supply itself with a prototypical version of transcendental philosophy. Chapter Three explains how the omnitudo realitatis subsequently becomes the representation of God within transcendental theology, in the process addressing whether or not Kant endorsed a ‘Spinozistic’ conception of God. Chapter Four addresses the idea of God within Kant’s moral philosophy. It explains why Kant continually insists, in the Critical period, that his moral arguments are capable of justifying belief in a being with infinitely great properties.

Keywords: epistemology
ens realissimum
theology
Kant
Advisor: Moore, A
Gomes, A
ATRX: a new player in DNA damage repair

A key requisite for indefinite growth of cancer cells is the ability to continuously elongate telomeres to circumvent the onset of senescence or apoptosis, this is known as a telomere maintenance mechanism. Most cancers use an enzyme called telomerase, however, in approximately 10 – 15% of cancers this is achieved through the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) mechanism, a Break Induced Replication (BIR) mediated mechanism of telomere copying. ATRX has emerged as the key tumour suppressor in ALT cancers but its loss is insufficient to drive induction of the pathway. Here, we report that depletion of ATRX and/or DAXX in the presence of various genotoxic agents is sufficient to induce ALT. We have additionally showed that these effects occur most strongly when telomere clustering is both exaggerated and prevalent. Moreover, co-deletion of ATRX and SETD2, commonly mutated in high grade gliomas (HGGs), elicits induction of ALT. Mechanistically, SETD2 restricts the accumulation of telomeric R-loops, which, in the absence of ATRX, leads to fork collapse and the loss of telomere sister chromatid cohesion. Cumulatively this provides a substrate for out of register BIR and telomere lengthening.

Advisor: Clynes, D
The wrongness of image-based sexual abuse

What is the nature of the wrongfulness of image-based sexual abuse (‘ibsa’)? That is the main question addressed in this thesis. The answer is found to depend on the understanding of personhood underpinning the interpretation of wrongs. It can be summarised as follows: on atomistic personhood, ibsa is a moderate infringement of autonomy, sexual integrity, privacy, and positive freedom of expression. There is limited theoretical scope for finding the absolute wrong of failing to minimally respect personhood. On relational personhood, ibsa is found to be much more seriously wrongful: it is a severe infringement of autonomy, sexual integrity, privacy, positive and negative freedom of expression, and can constitute a breach of trust. The absolute wrong of failing to minimally respect personhood can readily be found. On both approaches to personhood, ibsa is understood as part of the continuum of violence against women and, as such, as reinforcing and being reinforced by inequality.
A central claim of this thesis is that personhood is a fundamental element of interpreting wrongs against persons. Personhood is not typically appreciated as such, nor is wrongfulness usually at the focus of discussion when considering justified criminalisation. This thesis first sets out the justified scope of the criminal law in liberal democracies as demarcated by harmful, public wrongs. Wrongfulness is considered as an underexplored, core part of criminalisation theory. The thesis presents an original analysis of the significance of personhood in the context of interpreting wrongfulness and justifying criminalisation. That is followed by a discussion of atomistic and relational consent, and the role of (lack of) consent in finding wrongfulness. This thesis then uses the preceding analysis to interpret the wrongs of ibsa both on an atomistic and on a relational understanding of personhood, thus offering a two-part answer to the main question of this thesis. Finally, the thesis explores the implications of its findings on criminalisation theory and the criminalisation of ibsa. It defends the view that the law should take a relational understanding of personhood and that ibsa should be criminalised as a sexual offence.

Keywords: harmfulness
image-based sexual abuse
fair labelling
revenge pornography
personhood theory
non-concsensual intimate images
criminal law theory
criminalisation theory
intimate image abuse
relational personhood
wrongs
non-consensual pornography
wrongfulness
Advisor: Herring, J
Incapable of change? State capacity as a moderating variable in the study of human rights, terrorism and COVID-19

It goes without saying that a well-functioning state is crucial for a government to successfully implement its political will. Indeed, more capable states can discourage rogue agents from committing unauthorised violations of human rights by providing them with greater incentives to abide by the central government’s orders. For democracies, this leads to more human rights protection; in autocracies, more capacity presents the dictator with the tools to efficiently implement intentional rights abuses. Importantly, however, the state’s ability to deliver the government’s intended policy outcomes can also affect the strategic behaviours of political agents. A domestic terrorist organisation, for instance, could accomplish more with its attacks when the state capacity of an intermediate regime is low: because the regime cannot effectively curtail the democratic freedom of its citizens, it suffers from higher audience costs, incentivising the terrorists. In the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, higher capacity means that governments could target health restrictions upon small sections of society – as opposed to imposing population-wide measures. The state, then, can be much more than a mere executor of the executive’s will. Instead, state capacity may be a key strategic consideration in many contexts. Therefore, while the dissertation only presents state capacity’s moderating effects for studies of human rights, terrorism, and COVID-19, state capacity is full of explanatory potential. And even though there are notable issues with conceptualising and measuring state capacity in a theoretically relevant manner, the dissertation hopes to encourage more researchers to explore the moderating effects of state capacity.

Advisor: Bermeo, N
Ansell, B
Culture and capability: essays in behavioural economics

How do mental models guide behaviour? Although a great deal of attention has been paid to mental models in psychology, relatively little is understood about how they inﬂuence incentivised decision-making or their relevance for policy. In this dissertation, I explore this question over the course of four papers. In the ﬁrst paper, I synthesize the literature on mental models and aim to situate it in standard decision theory. In paper two, I look at how people use mental models of social groups to determine strategies of action under incentivized conditions. In paper three, I look at how unemployed young people’s mental model of their agency within the world inﬂuences their decisions to search for work. In paper four, I look at how mental models of technology inﬂuence vaccine hesitancy.

Keywords: agency
mental models
behavioural economics
development economics
narratives
stereotypes
Advisor: Collier, P
Dercon, S
The common language of 'competence': or how rediscovering the often-overlooked distinction between competence and power leads to better legal reasoning on whether the European Union may act

Ever since the European Coal and Steel Community, the principle of conferral has governed Community and Union action. The European Union may only act if, and insofar as, the Member States have authorised it to do so in the Treaties. To act, the Union needs ‘competence’. What that concept means, however, is not always sufficiently clear. And that is a problem. ‘Competence’ is crucial. But it does not yet convey the same ideas in all actors. Through a thorough analysis of primary and secondary Union and Community law, their preparatory documents, and case law of the Court, this DPhil aims to change that. It argues that ‘competence’ is about more than competence alone. There is also power. Competence is the field in which the Union may act. Power is the EU’s institutions’ actual authorisation to act. To fall within a certain field of competence, a measure must pursue the objectives of that competence and relate to its subject matter. Those are the two dimensions of competence. Power, too, has two dimensions. It determines which legal instrument may be adopted through which type of legal act. There are also power modalities. They relate to the procedural side of the exercise of power: which EU institution(s) may act and through which voting majority. Together, these concepts form the common language of ‘competence’. This conceptual nuance always existed in Community and Union law. Bringing it forward is desirable. Questions of ‘competence’ arise whenever the EU prepares to act. It is important that they can be answered with nuance and precision, and in a legal language which is understood by all participants in the debate. That is what this DPhil is about.

Keywords: principle of conferral
competence
power
European Union
law
Advisor: Fisher, E
Cardiovascular remodelling after hypertensive pregnancy: the impact of postpartum blood pressure control

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are associated with an increased risk of later cardiovascular disease. Whether this relates to how HDP are managed or because HDP merely identify women predisposed to disease is debated. HDP induce significant cardiac remodelling and, several years ago, the researchers I work with proposed a novel hypothesis: that failure of cardiovascular recovery postpartum permanently alters blood pressure (BP) trajectory. In support of this, persistent BP elevation six weeks postpartum, and/or adverse cardiac remodelling predict future hypertensive risk. Furthermore, in a randomised trial [SNAP-HT] investigating feasibility of BP self-management postpartum, diastolic BP was lower 6 months postpartum in the intervention group. I have now tested this hypothesis further using two clinical trials. Firstly, by performing long-term follow up of the SNAP-HT cohort I found that BP differences were sustained for up to four years postpartum, consistent with a permanent alteration in blood pressure trajectory. I then undertook the Physician Optimised Post-partum Hypertension Treatment trial (POP-HT), a prospectively randomised open blinded endpoint study of >200 women, with pre-eclampsia or gestational hypertension, who required anti-hypertensive medication on discharge. The trial was appropriately powered for blood pressure differences with randomisation 1:1 to either physician-optimised postpartum BP self-management or usual care. The trial demonstrated the intervention significantly reduced systolic and diastolic BP 6-9 months postpartum, measured by both clinic and 24hr ambulatory BP. Differences were evident by one week postpartum and the intervention was associated with reduced postnatal readmissions. Echocardiography and cardiovascular magnetic resonance demonstrated BP reductions associated with improved left ventricular systolic and diastolic function, beneficial atrial and ventricular remodelling, and increased aortic compliance. These findings provide significant evidence supporting the hypothesis that effective puerperal BP control has long-term benefits for the mother, including reduced readmission rates, improved BP for up to 4 years after, and beneficial cardiovascular remodelling.

Keywords: postpartum
cardiovascular remodelling
pre-eclampsia
blood pressure
pregnancy
hypertensive
Advisor: Leeson, C
McManus, R
Lewandowski, A
Symbiotic modernity: the emergence of the Ōsui school of thought in modern Japan

This thesis examines the development of a hitherto overlooked yet thriving current of thought and culture in modern Japan between the 1860s and the 1920s, which manifested in such diverse realms as religion, gender, race, war, agriculture, and education. An important aspect of this intellectual trend was the rejection of the male God. Instead, God was reconceptualised as multi-gender, challenging the hierarchical ideologies of gender, race, class, and disability that underpinned Western modern civilisational discourse. This project links previously unconnected people, including farmers, thinkers, and educators, for the first time as part of significant cultural-intellectual phenomena in early twentieth-century Japan.
A key figure of the phenomena was Arai Ōsui (1846–1922), a samurai-intellectual from Japan’s civil-war-defeated North. People of different professions and social strata flocked to study Ōsui’s anti-imperial teachings in the very apotheosis of state imperialism. Nevertheless, Ōsui has been forgotten in the historiography, predominantly narrated through the lens of the nation-state led by civil war victors and their views on civilisation and progress. Through the perspectives of Ōsui and his comrades, this thesis offers an alternative view of modern Japanese history outside of the state-centred ideological paradigm of Western modernity.
I argue that the cooperative work of Ōsui and his Japanese comrades, along with their Russian, American, British, and Korean allies, led to the emergence of a competing conception of universal human progress. The concept that I term ‘symbiotic modernity’ encapsulates their efforts to realise a non-hierarchical and inclusive world by replacing the inequality of Western modernity with equality, nationality with transnationality, and the state-centric with people-centric. While the dominant narrative of modern Japanese history, centred on the victorious state side, began with Japan’s Opening (Kaikoku) to the West and Western modernity, this thesis presents a different beginning and outcome of the opening, through Ōsui’s quest for symbiotic modernity.

Keywords: religious history
intellectual history
the United States
Japan
transnational history
Advisor: Konishi, S
Class and the picturesque: the 'cottage' in interwar England

This thesis seeks a new understanding of the forces that shaped the external appearance of the small house between the wars. Most architectural history approaches the question via ‘style’: the Arts & Crafts or neo-Georgian in early council houses; ‘mock’ Tudor in suburban semis; interwar experiments in the Modern. Instead, I argue that the key to small house external aesthetics after 1919 is to be found in the concept of the Cottage Picturesque – a problematic continuity, with class and cultural dimensions, that inflected English domestic architecture long after the codification of the Picturesque in the 1790s.
The Picturesque is posited here as an academically neglected but significant factor in pre- and interwar professional architectural discourse – influential in determining the external appearance of state-funded council houses; in shaping the visuality of spec-built estates; and in embodying the ‘other’ that many professional architects rejected in favour of both neo-Georgian and Modern variants of Formal architecture. Methodologically, the German historical tradition Begriffsgeschichte – the history of concepts – is used to show how the idea of the cottage, and the class and cultural meanings sublimated in it, affected the politics and aesthetics of interwar homebuilding.
The thesis examines the relationships between working-class council houses specifically discouraged from looking like the Cottage Picturesque; traditional picturesque cottages appropriated by politicians, conservationists, and middle-class weekenders in the 1920s; new-build speculative housing that the public bought and architects deprecated because it was designed to evoke the cottage; and early modernist houses, celebrated by architects but treated with suspicion by the public because their aesthetics were at odds with the Picturesque tradition. A key conclusion is that the state’s repudiation of picturesque cottage architecture for new social housing between 1918 and 1922 – and the spec-builder’s enduring interest in it – were crucial to architecturalising England’s class distinctions before World War Two.

Keywords: cottage class picturesque architecture style interwar housing council conservation preservation weekend
Advisor: Whyte, W