VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Corvus: an automatic Raven's-like test generator

The primary focus of this thesis is the development of an automatic Raven’s-like test generator, called Corvus. Corvus was designed to be capable of investigating the relative validity of repeat testing for Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM). Raven’s SPM is often considered a ‘Gold Standard’ for general intelligence testing. However, following studies conducted using Corvus, this thesis found evidence that Raven’s SPM lacks validity as a measure of intelligence on repeat testing. Specifically that retesting with Raven’s SPM resulted in the tests losing correlation between item difficulty and time taken per item, while maintaining participant rank order (Spearman’s ρ, n = 53).
An additional study using Corvus showed that mouse tracking can enhance information gain in online cognitive testing without significant impact to test score or time. An alternative way of scoring digit span tests was also investigated, and found to address common criticisms of traditional scoring methods.
This DPhil was written in an epidemiological context where studies routinely conduct repeat cognitive testing over sustained periods of time to assess cognitive trajectory. However, despite this, there is little research into the validity of repeated cognitive tests.
Corvus was designed through an ongoing iterative process together with a detailed quantitative analysis of established Raven’s-like tests. Corvus is made available under an open source licence, for other researchers to use or develop, as are other pieces of code developed as part of this thesis.

Keywords: Test Generation
Digit Span
Fluid Intelligence
Ravens Standard Progressive Matrices
Repeat Testing
Advisor: Gallacher, J
The marble kyklos: social cognition, social complexity and material engagement in the Aegean Bronze Age

This thesis applies the principles of Material Engagement Theory (MET), which examines material culture as a dynamic and integral component of human cognitive systems, to study the relationships between Cycladic marble sculpting, social cognition and social complexity. The work investigates how material culture shapes the development of intersubjectivity and generates social interactions at emergent scales. As a case study in emergent social complexity this thesis examines the development of Cycladic marble sculpting and the Early Bronze Age ritual centre of Keros. In this light, Cycladic sculpting traditions can be interpreted to have mediated the shifting burdens of social cognition during the Early Bronze Age, facilitating the emergence of novel social organisation as a response to the changing dynamics of the Aegean world. In attempting a cognitive archaeology of Keros and Cycladic sculpting, this thesis examines a broad array of scientific data as well as underutilised archaeological evidence within the framework of MET to generate a coherent approach to social cognition in recent pre-history. If material culture is understood to be an intrinsic feature of human cognitive processes, it is possible to examine the archaeological record as a form of niche construction that has reshaped the evolution and development of the mind. Specifically, evidence from the cognitive sciences suggests an evolutionary feedback loop generated between hands, eyes and the bodies of others. Social cognition can thus be understood to develop from perception-action systems that evolved through pragmatic and cooperative social interactions mediated by material culture. Cycladic figurines, as this thesis argues, present as attention-capturing technologies which shaped identity formation and coordinated social interactions at emergent scales. The relationship between marble, social interaction and longboat voyaging provides a robust explanation for the development and transformation of Keros as well as the broader chronology of the region. Thus, it is argued that the attention-capturing properties of Cycladic figurines generated a semiotics of value through which kinship dynamics were conceptualised and manipulated, enabling the regional organisation of long-range voyaging regimes on Keros.

Keywords: Intersubjectivity
Cognitive Archaeology
Aegean Archaeology
Social Complexity
Enactivism
Bronze Age
Social Cognition
Material Engagement Theory
Cycladic Archaeology
Advisor: Malafouris, L
Quantum causal structure

Quantum theory challenges our intuitions of causality, as manifest in the existence of Bell non-local correlations. The latter seem to falsify Reichenbach’s common cause principle and evade causal explanations within the classical causal model framework developed in recent decades. But could quantum correlations be explained in causal, albeit quantum causal terms? Even if one embraces a revised causal relation, challenges of our intuitions seem to persist — for instance, ‘quantum indefinite causal order’ of events being conceivable and intensely studied.
This thesis hopes to contribute to our understanding of how causal reasoning can be maintained, in a rigorous manner, in light of quantum theory. Inspired by the work of Allen et al. [Phys. Rev. X 7, 031021 (2017)], a definition of quantum causal relations is given in terms of influence in underlying unitary transformations. The notion of quantum causal structure that ensues is then explored in three, closely related directions.
First, a quantum causal model framework is presented that generalises classical causal models and allows causal explanations of quantum processes, assuming that a definite causal order does exist. Amongst other things, notions of ‘quantum conditional independence’ are presented and generalisations of core classical theorems, such as the d-separation theorem, are derived.
Second, the thesis studies how causal structure of unitary transformations can be understood in terms of their compositional structure. The results here reveal how causal structure is closely associated with the interplay between direct sums and direct products of Hilbert spaces. An extension of quantum circuit diagrams is introduced to visualise the found ‘causal decompositions’ of unitaries.
Third, a generalisation of quantum causal models to cyclic causal structure is proposed, to analyse processes that feature indefinite causal order. The idea is illustrated through analysing well-known examples of such processes and some first results are presented.

Keywords: causal model frameworks
quantum causal relations
causality
Advisor: Barrett, J
Court orders against express trustees

This thesis concerns five court orders: the Surcharging Order, Subject-Matter Distribution Order, Lesser Receipt Order, Falsification Order, and Personal Loss Order. This thesis considers two questions, one descriptive and one normative. The descriptive question asks whether these five orders are available as a matter of law in England and Wales. The normative questions asks whether there are normative reasons for or against the making of such orders. These questions are considered in respect of express trustees of trusts for persons following breach of the duty to follow the settlor’s communicated intentions, and breach of the duty of care.
Notwithstanding the fact that the five court orders can be found in the reasoning of the courts of England and Wales, the literature in this area often fails to clearly discriminate between these five orders. This may be one reason why the two questions identified in this thesis have received insufficient attention.
In response to the descriptive question, this thesis argues that Surcharging Orders, Subject-Matter Distribution Orders, Lesser Receipt Orders and Personal Loss Orders are all sometimes available as a matter of law in England and Wales, but that Falsification Orders are not available.
In response to the normative question, this thesis outlines a number of normative reasons for and against the making of the five orders under discussion. The thesis canvasses possible ways for making such orders so as to further the values underpinning the reasons for making such orders, whilst avoiding harm to the values underpinning the reasons against.

Keywords: Private Law
Remedies
Trusts
Equitable Compensation
Trustees
Advisor: Swadling, W
Investigation into techniques to isolate and develop human germ cells in vitro

Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) occurs in 1% of women younger than 40 years of age. The manifestation of this condition varies considerably ranging from ovaries devoid of follicles (afollicular POI) to ovaries containing follicles at various stages of development (follicular POI). No methods exist in mainstream healthcare to restore ovarian function for POI patients and ≥70% of POI cases are idiopathic. The Reaggregated Ovary (RO) method, as established for mice, enables investigation into the developmental potential of oocytes by replacing dysfunctional ovarian cells. This approach could enable us to develop a potential treatment for patients with follicular POI. Investigations carried out in this thesis led to the establishment of key processes required to adapt the RO method for human tissue. A method was developed to dissociate human ovarian tissue remnants (surplus after tissue cryopreservation) and frozen/thawed ovarian cortex obtained from pre-pubertal and post-pubertal patients. Analyses revealed that age affected the efficacy of dissociation of frozen/thawed ovarian cortical tissue. To detect germ cells in a single cell suspension of ovarian cells, a method was developed for flow cytometry using a monoclonal antibody that recognises the (cytoplasmic) N-terminus region of DDX4. To assess the use of an alternative somatic cell source to support oocyte development, human dermal fibroblasts were aggregated with mouse oocytes and follicle-like structures were formed after 7-day in culture. These findings will contribute to developing the use of the RO using human oocytes and a human somatic cell alternative. The RO method once adapted for human tissue could be used to replace the dysfunctional ovarian somatic cells in POI patients and potentially restore follicle development for pre-pubertal and post-pubertal POI patients.

Keywords: Reaggregated Ovaries (RO)
Fertility Preservation
DEAD-box helicase 4 (DDX4)
Follicle development in vitro
Follicle depletion
Human ovarian tissue dissection
Effect of age on human ovarian tissue dissection
Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI)
Remnants
Follicle dysfunction
Flow Cytometry
Afollicular
Cortex
Human ovarian tissue enzymatic digestion
Follicular
Human dermal fibroblasts
Advisor: Williams, S
Dragovic, R
Studies on integrated optics design for diffraction limited light sources

After more than a decade of operation, the Diamond Light Source (DLS) is planning an upgrade to the next generation of diffraction limited synchrotron light sources based on an ultra-low emittance accelerator lattice design. The optimisation of the photon beam properties like flux, brilliance and coherence of the light generated in the storage ring (SR), is a key driver for the storage ring design. The key performance parameters (KPP) characterizing the photon beamlines (BL) define the requirements on the electron beam and on the storage ring design. The storage ring design is supported by the development of optimisation tools that allow the simultaneous modelling of the photon and the electrons beams.
A strategy has been developed to bridge the gap between storage ring lattice and beamline needs, based on an integrated approach of accelerator physics tracking codes (ELEGANT) and of radiation codes (SRW, SHADOW). Python is the interface for these codes. This thesis presents the integrated approach used to track electron beams and propagate the synchrotron radiation wavefronts through the beamline. The optimisation of the performance of the beamline is achieved by using multi-objective genetic algorithms. Such an integrated approach is new and promises to achieve the best exploitation of the beamlines, by tailoring the photon beams to the need of the applications.

Advisor: Bartolini, R
Burrows, P
Coherent control for quantum information processing

An exquisite control over the dynamics of a quantum system is essential for realizing any quantum technology. This thesis presents some practical and efficient strategies for coherent quantum control: a paradigm for controlling quantum dynamics using electromagnetic fields. Coherent control is a common framework for describing the physical implementation of quantum logic gates in several quantum information processing platforms including superconducting qubits and trapped ions. For the purpose of demonstration, however, liquid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is used in this thesis as it is an ideal test-bed for developing, testing and benchmarking coherent control tools and techniques.
Coherent control was revitalised in 2005 by the development of Gradient Ascent Pulse Engineering (GRAPE), a powerful optimal control technique that is widely used for designing shaped pulses for a variety of tasks. GRAPE, like any other closed-loop optimal control algorithm, requires multiple evaluations of the computationally expensive matrix exponential and the full time-evolution propagator. To this end, I present strategies to sidestep the explicit evaluation of matrix exponentials, thereby offering substantial speed-ups over conventional implementations of the GRAPE algorithm. The results are demonstrated experimentally in NMR, but also in simulations of ultracold molecules and superconducting qubits.
Beyond GRAPE, this thesis also considers methods for designing spin-echo sequences for implementing any arbitrary network of controlled-Z gates in a system of qubits with zz-couplings. First, a method based on linear-programming provides near time-optimal sequences in fully-coupled systems having up to a few hundred qubits. Further, an analytic method based on graph colouring finds near time-optimal spin echo sequences in engineered systems with any number of qubits having only nearest and next-nearest neighbour-couplings.

Keywords: quantum control
quantum computing
nuclear magnetic resonance
Hamiltonian engineering
Advisor: Jones, JA
Rats, cats and hares: exploring natural and humanly-mediated dispersal through a genetic approach

The natural world has been largely shaped by climate fluctuations throughout time. However, more recently in the earth’s history this has changed. Humans have been manipulating the world around them for millennia, including moving a variety of species within and outside of their natural ranges. This can be deliberate: such as the raising of animals for subsistence, or accidental: such as stowaway animals on ships. In order to further our understanding of where and when people have moved animals in the past this thesis explores the movements of three understudied species. It begins with the study of a species whose range has been largely shaped by natural causes, the mountain hare. It’s distribution across Europe and Russia has been shaped by the changing climate, however even with these changes, it maintained its population structure throughout its vast range through time. This thesis focuses on the western edge of the mountain hare range where it was cut off from the rest of the continuum on the edge of the ice sheet with the last advance of ice, surviving in refugia and recolonising when conditions became favourable similarly to other possible Celtic fringe species in Britain and Ireland. This demonstrates the resilience of this cold adapted species over millennia of climate fluctuation. The other two species studied were translocated by people, one intentionally and one accidently. The domestic cat was at least initially intentionally moved for pest control. The domestic cat arrived in Britain in the Iron Age and became widespread in the Roman period. It was also an early arrival in the Orkneys of Scotland in the Scottish Late Iron Age, contemporary with Roman Britain. Domestic cats then became widespread in the Viking and Norse periods of Orkney. In Ireland only two of the three domestic cat lineages were found which may demonstrate that they missed the first wave of introduction of domestic cats. The black rat was the final species investigated; they were unintentionally transferred as stowaways on boats. This research explores their initial movements into Europe in the Roman period followed by their decline, re-emergence and later decline. Studying all three species together gives us a greater breadth of understanding of the movements of animals in the past, both naturally and anthropogenically. In addition, the results of this thesis will provide information that will be useful in the conservation management of each of these species in the future.

Keywords: natural history
domestic cat
ancient DNA
European wildcat
archaeology
mountain hare
black rat
conservation
Advisor: Larson, GJ
Authorship in Mozambique: the case of António Quadros 

In this thesis, I examine the question of authorship in late-colonial and post-independence Mozambique through the case of the eccentric figure of Portuguese artist and writer António Quadros (1933-1984), who wrote and published most of his works in Mozambique. The study draws on archival research, interviews with associates and colleagues of Quadros, close textual analysis and postcolonial and critical theory. It is the first substantial study on the problematic of authorship in Mozambique and on the understudied writer António Quadros.
In the thesis, I consider how Quadros’s work can nuance discussions of authorship in Mozambique and more generally. I explore the question of authorship through the themes of identity, canonicity, representation and readership. I consider the relationship between politics and literature in the contexts of colonial and post-independence Mozambique, with attention paid to the continuities and disjunctions between the role of the author in these distinct historical moments. I focus on the political function of authors in such politicized contexts and I frame the author as a paradoxical figure who is inherently political — given the absence of a free press and, in the colonial period, the context of censorship — but whose works can have only a limited political impact in a context of high illiteracy and a lack of publishing infrastructure. The works of Quadros stands as a counterpoint and complement to the works of his contemporaries.

Keywords: Mozambican poetry
Portuguese poetry
Literature and Politics
Readership
Canonicity
African Studies
Postcolonial Studies
Authorship
Advisor: Rothwell, P
Power, fragility and corporate social responsibility: An ethnography of a mining corporation in Colombia

This thesis is an ethnography of multinational gold mining corporation AngloGold Ashanti in Colombia (AGAC). It examines how a corporation engages with the norms and ideas of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the role these play in the company’s response to mining resistance. A multi-sited ethnography, it follows the company’s CSR practices from its headquarters in Bogotá to its project sites in the departments of Tolima and Antioquia. Based on fieldwork with AGAC as well as anti-mining activists, it provides a unique account of the polarised dynamics surrounding AGAC’s activities in Colombia. The first part of the thesis describes AGAC’s arrival in Colombia and the establishment and evolution of its CSR programmes, against the background of an emerging anti-mining movement which targeted its principal project, ‘La Colosa’. The second part focuses on the anti-mining movement’s mobilisation of the legal mechanism of consulta popular as a means to ban mining, which contributed to the indefinite suspension of La Colosa.
This thesis challenges the monolithic image of corporate omnipotence and impenetrability by uncovering frictions and contradictions characteristic of the inner workings of a corporation. Examining the dynamics between AGAC and its opponents, it highlights the anti-mining movement’s capacity to control the terms of the public debate on mining, thereby revealing the vulnerability of the corporation in the discursive domain. It argues a need to nuance common critiques of CSR which suggest that corporations are simply able to appropriate the discursive power of their opponents to their own ends. Adopting CSR narratives, the thesis shows, did not appear to strengthen the company’s position in the Colombian mining debate. Nevertheless, CSR’s discursive power was visible inside the company, where it helped shape the beliefs and convictions of employees, who zealously defended the corporation in the face of resistance.

Keywords: Mining
Anthropology of corporations
Resistance
Ethnography
Colombia
Corporate Social Responsibility
Advisor: Pirie, F
Novel transformations on azetidines

This thesis describes transformations on azetidines, with focus on functionalisation α- to N. Direct asymmetric azetidine functionalisation has been a long-standing challenge, with limited examples in the literature. Recent work within the Hodgson group developed the N-tert-butoxythiocarbonyl (Botc) directing/activating group as an effective and practical means to effect asymmetric α-lithiation—electrophile trapping on azetidines. This thesis describes significant expansion and mechanistic understanding of this methodology.
The feasibility of accessing enantioenriched 2,4-disubstituted azetidines by α’- lithiation—electrophile trapping is explored, with modifications of the N-directing group detailed.
Additionally, examination of an α-boronic ester ‘synthetic handle’ as a means to functionalise azetidines is detailed. This includes developing a means to synthesise an enantioenriched α-boronic ester azetidine via asymmetric α-lithiation—borylation, with subsequent development of an asymmetric 1,2-metallate rearrangement homologation reaction, to give highly enantioenriched azetidines with control of the two contiguous stereocentres. Derivatisation of the homologated azetidines is described, allowing for access to a range of 2-substituted azetidines previously inaccessible via direct α-lithiation—electrophile trapping.
Finally, studies in the origins of the enantiodetermining mechanisms for the asymmetric α-lithiation—electrophile trapping of N-Botc azetidine show an intriguing electrophile dependent mechanism, which can rationalise the origins of the differing sense of asymmetric induction for particular electrophiles

Keywords: asymmetric
organic chemistry
lithiation
boronic ester
mechanism
azetidine
Advisor: Hodgson, D