VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Administration and law in the Tibetan Empire

The present study consists of a full translation and analysis of the three main versions of the Section on Law and State, a chapter on Tibetan imperial law and administration found in the mid-16th century Mkhas pa'i dga' ston by Dpa'-bo Gtsuglag Phreng-ba, and in the Rgya bod kyi chos 'byung rgyas pa of Mkhas-pa Lde'u and the Chos 'byung chen po bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan of Lde'u Jo-sras, which both date to the mid to late-13th century.
While the post-dynastic Tibetan historical tradition attributes this entire body of legal and administrative reforms to Emperor Srong-btsan Sgam-po (c.605-649), the individual legal and administrative catalogues contained in the Section on Law and State, when subjected to close analysis, can be dated to several different periods. The principal aim of this analysis is to underline the early Tibetan antecedents for the catalogues contained in the Section on Law and State. By relating the catalogues of the Section on Law and State to Old Tibetan sources, this analysis describes in detail the legal and administrative practices of the Tibetan Empire (c.600-c.850). Among the topics covered by this analysis are historical geography and the 'nationalisation' of clan territory, social stratification, technological innovation and legal culture. The Section on Law and State is not limited solely to law and administration, however, and also offers insights regarding cultural institutions such as religious practices and Tibetan funerary culture.
Taken together, the scattered and fragmentary catalogues that make up the Section on Law and State, many of which ultimately derive from manuals and official records from the imperial period, constitute a rare juridical corpus of the Tibetan Empire. As such, it furnishes important and detailed information about the legal and administrative culture of the Tibetan Empire, and constitutes a fundamental source for Tibetan social history. The preservation of such documents within Tibet's postdynastic religious histories underlines the persistence of Tibetan political theory, according to which divine rulers, Buddhist or otherwise, must govern according to the just traditions of their forebears.

Advisor: Ramble, C
Vital sign monitoring and analysis in acute coronary syndrome patients

Distinguishing patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) within the very large proportion with suspected cardiac pain is a diagnostic challenge, especially in individuals without clear symptoms or electrocardiographic features. This thesis presents the development of a patient data fusion system that would ultimately be able to assist with early identification of patients with non-ST-elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome (NSTEACS) in the pre-hospital setting.
In order to identify high-risk ACS patients, patients with ST changes need to be identified. A rule-based ST segment analysis technique was developed and validated on two publicly available databases. Even in subjects who are known to have myocardial ischaemia (MI), ST changes are not considered as a basis for a definitive diagnosis of individual episodes of ischaemia. A technique to differentiate between ST changes caused by MI and those caused by non-ischaemic ST changes such as body position changes or conduction changes was also developed.
At the outset of this research there was no available database with continuous vital-sign data for recorded during the ambulance transport. A clinical study was set up to collect vitalsign data and ECG during ambulance transport. Additional parameters from the ECG such as heart rate variability that can be used for detecting ACS, particularly NSTEACS, were investigated. High-risk patients may be identified early by appropriate combination of vital-sign data, demographic information and ECG analysis.
This thesis contributes to the literature on early identification of NSTEACS patient during the ambulance transportation. Firstly, it differentiate between ischaemic and non-ischaemic ST episodes using non-linear classifiers. pre-hospital data to ensure . Secondly, it investigates the diagnostic and prognostic value of heart rate variability in identifying high-risk NSTEACS patients in a pre-hospital setting. Thirdly, the thesis attempts to show how data fusion of vitalsign data and additional parameters from the ECG can be used to differentiate between noncardiac and NSTEACS patients in a pre-hospital setting. Lastly, the thesis also provides some insight into the data collection process in a pre-hospital setting.

Keywords: Vital Sign Monitoring
Advisor: Tarassenko, L
Clifford, G
Clinical studies on enteric fever

I performed two randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to determine the best treatments for enteric fever in Kathmandu, Nepal, an area with a high proportion of nalidixic acid resistant S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A isolates.
I recruited 844 patients with suspected enteric fever to compare chloramphenicol versus gatifloxacin. 352 patients were culture confirmed. 14/175 patients treated with chloramphenicol and 12/177 patients treated with gatifloxacin experienced treatment failure (HR=0.86 (95% CI 0.40 to 1.86), p=0.70). The median times to fever clearance were 3.95 and 3.90 days, respectively (HR=1.06 [CI 0.86 to 1.32], p=0.59).
The second RCT compared ofloxacin versus gatifloxacin and recruited 627 patients. Of the 170 patients infected with nalidixic acid resistant strains, the number of patients with treatment failure was 6/83 in the ofloxacin group and 5/87 in the gatifloxacin group (Hazard Ratio, HR=0.81, 95% CI 0.25 to 2.65; p=0.73); the median times to fever clearance were 4.7 and 3.3 days respectively (HR=1.59 [CI 1.16 to 2.18], p=0.004).
I compared conventional blood culture against an electricity free culture approach. 66 of 304 patients with suspected enteric fever were positive for S. Typhi or S. Paratyphi A, 55 (85%) isolates were identified by the conventional blood culture and 60 (92%) isolates were identified by the experimental method. The percentages of positive and negative agreement for diagnosis of enteric fever were 90.9% and 96.0%, respectively. This electricity free blood culture system may have utility in resource-limited settings or potentially in disaster relief and refugee camps.
I performed a literature review of RCTs of enteric fever which showed that trial design varied greatly. I was interested in the perspective of patients and what they regarded as cure. 1,481 patients were interviewed at the start of treatment, 860 (58%) reported that the resolution of fever would mean cure to them. At the completion of treatment, 877/1,448 (60.6%) reported that they felt cured when fever was completely gone. We suggest that fever clearance time is the best surrogate for clinical cure in patients with enteric fever and should be used as the primary outcome in future RCTs for the treatment of enteric fever.

Keywords: Trial Design
Fluoroquinolones
Enteric fever
Paratyphoid
Patient Reported Outcome
Randomised Controlled Trials
Blood Culture
Salmonella Typhi
Patient Perception
Salmonella Paratyphi A
Sample Size
Typhoid
Randomisation
Ofloxacin
Chloramphenicol
Gatifloxacin
Advisor: Dolecek, C
Tests of community assembly across spatial scales in Neotropical birds

Species diversity varies dramatically across the surface of the Earth. A key step in the accumulation of species diversity is the ability of species to coexist in biological communities. Thus, identifying the mechanisms underlying community assembly is a major challenge for ecologists seeking to explain patterns in species diversity and composition. Recently some consensus has been reached on the set of processes that influence community assembly: speciation, demographic stochasticity, niche-based fitness trade-offs among species and dispersal. However, it is unclear how the importance of a particular process changes with spatial scale, which interactions exist among processes at large spatial scales and the extent to which niche-based resource partitioning among species explains differences in diversity among communities. Neotropical birds offer an ideal opportunity to address these uncertainties because of their high diversity and the existence of detailed information on their evolutionary history and ecology. In this thesis, I first use trait and phylogenetic metrics of community structure to show that both habitat filtering and interspecific competition shape community composition at the scale of individual bird territories (~1-2 ha). Second, I use simulations of community assembly to show that trait-based metrics of community structure outperform phylogenetic metrics for detecting niche-based community assembly, and that both sets of metrics often have low power when multiple processes influence community composition. Third, taking a trait-based, species-level approach, I show that both habitat filtering and interspecific competition influence species occurrence at regional scales (~75000 km2), and interact with dispersal ability so that their effect on species occurrence is increased for species with greater dispersal ability. Finally, using a combination of trait- and isotope-based methods to quantify resource partitioning, I show that species' niche widths do not change and niche overlap is reduced at high compared to low species richness. Taken together, these results suggest that both habitat filtering and interspecific competition (i.e. niche-based processes) influence community assembly from local to regional scales. However, at least at regional scales, the degree to which these processes are important for determining the occurrence of any given species depends on that species's dispersal ability. They also suggest, based on niche-based interspecific competition influencing community composition, that differences in species richness among communities are in part explained by differences among sites in the breadth of available niche space, not by increased ecological specialisation or niche overlap.

Keywords: phylogeny
Amazon
Andes
biogeography
South America
community ecology
birds
Advisor: Seddon, N
Tobias, J
Searches for supersymmetric partners of the bottom and top quarks with the ATLAS detector

Supersymmetry is a promising candidate theory that could solve the hierarchy problem and explain the dark matter density in the Universe. The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider is sensitive to a variety of such supersymmetric models. This thesis reports on a search for pair production of the supersymmetric scalar partners of bottom and top quarks in 20.1 fb−1 of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV using the ATLAS experiment. The study focuses on final states with large missing transverse momentum, no electrons or muons and two jets identified as originating from a b-quark. This final state can be produced in a R-parity conserving minimal supersymmetric scenario, assuming that the scalar bottom decays exclusively to a bottom quark and a neutralino and the scalar top decays to a bottom quark and a chargino, with a small mass difference with the neutralino. As no signal is observed above the Standard Model expectation, competitive exclusion limits are set on scalar bottom and top production, surpassing previously existing limits. Sbottom masses up to 640 GeV are excluded at 95% CLs for neutralino masses of up to 150 GeV. Differences in mass between ~b1 and ~X01 larger than 50 GeV are excluded up to sbottom masses of 300 GeV. In the case of stop pair production and decay ~t1 → b + ~X±1 and ~X±1 → ~X01 + W* with mass differences &triangle;m = m~X±1 − m~X01 = 5 GeV (20 GeV), stop masses up to 580 GeV (440 GeV) are excluded for m~X01 = 100 GeV. Neutralino masses up to 280 GeV (230 GeV) are excluded for m~t1 = 420 GeV for &triangle;m = 5 GeV (20 GeV). In an extension of this analysis, sbottom quarks cascade-decaying to at least a Higgs boson are searched for in final states with large missing transverse momentum, at least 3 b-tagged jets and no electrons or muons, using neural network discriminants.

Keywords: ATLAS
Sbottom
Stop
Supersymmetry
Large Hadron Collider
Advisor: Barr, A
Regulation of TGFbeta-activated-kinase 1 (TAK1) in nuclear factor-kB and tumour necrosis factor/Eiger signalling in Drosophila melanogaster.

Drosophila TGFbeta-Activating-Kinase 1 (dTAK1) is an essential component of both the Immune Deficiency (IMD) innate immune and TNF/Eiger apoptotic cascades. The IMD and JNK pathways bifurcate at the level of dTAK1. Hence, elucidating the regulatory mechanism of dTAK1 is pertinent to understanding the regulation of both innate immunity and apoptosis.
In this study, Trabid was identified as a novel negative regulator of the Drosophila IMD pathway. Trabid interacted with dTAK1 and decreased K63-linked ubiquitination, thereby reducing immune signalling. Three tandem Npl4 Zinc Fingers (NZF) and C518 were required for Trabid activity. Lysines 142 & 156 were identified as the K63 Ub acceptor sites of dTAK1, required for K63-linked ubiquitination and signalling. Also, results show Lys 156 functioned as the K48 Ub acceptor site. Further, the ZF domain of TAK1-associated Binding Protein 2 (dTAB2) was important in modulating dTAK1 K63-linked ubiquitination and thereby the immune signal. These results indicate an elaborate and multi-tiered mechanism for regulating dTAK1 activity and modulating the immune signal.
Further, Ariadne-2 (Ari-2) was identified as a novel component of the Drosophila TNF/Eiger pathway which functioned at the level of dTAK1. Results indicate that Ari-2 is essential for normal development and longevity. It enhances the apoptotic signal when concomitantly over-expressed with Eiger. Further, Ari-2 interacts with dTAK1, dTAB2 and dTRAF2 which are all implicated in TNF/Eiger signalling. Thus, evidence supports the hypothesis that Ari-2 functions as an adaptor, involved in assembling a distinct signalling complex which transduces the apoptotic signal without activating immunity.

Keywords: apoptosis
A20
TNF
innate immunity
Advisor: Ligoxygakis, P
The role of congruence in policy priorities between citizens and elites in citizens' political attitudes and behaviour

This thesis shows that citizens whose policy concerns are higher on political elites' agendas are more likely to be satisfied with democracy and to vote in elections. It develops a theoretical framework to explain the influence of the previously neglected variable priority congruence on democratic satisfaction and turnout and provides empirical evidence for it. The thesis thereby makes significant contributions to our knowledge about the ingredients of democratic legitimacy.
Previous research shows that political representation, as measured by proximity between citizens' and elites' policy positions, is linked to democratic satisfaction. In this thesis, it is argued that congruence in priorities has a similar effect because citizens are likely to perceive elites who emphasise their concerns as responsive to societal needs and public opinion. The empirical analyses suggest that democratic satisfaction is indeed influenced by priority congruence, yet less so amongst more politically sophisticated individuals as well as in younger democracies and countries with lower levels of democracy and governance. These differences are probably due to variation in citizens' expectations towards elite behaviour and the democratic system.
Elite attention to citizens' concerns moreover influences their decision to turn out in elections. If voters' issue priorities are salient in the campaign, they are likely to perceive the election to be more important. Moreover, they will find it easier to evaluate parties and make their vote choice. These mechanisms are shown to be less relevant amongst partisans, since party attachment mobilises voters and facilitates their vote choice. Again, previous policy-based explanations of turnout focus on positions, largely ignoring priorities.
The hypotheses are tested through statistical analysis of data from voter and candidate surveys as well as media content analyses. The data come from all 27 European Union countries in 2009, whereby several hypotheses are only tested in Germany due to data availability.

Keywords: Satisfaction with democracy
Political Representation
Voter Turnout
Policy priorities
Advisor: Fisher, S
Essays on unconventional monetary policy and long-term government debt

This thesis studies the optimal conduct of unconventional monetary policy in the form of purchases of long-term government debt by the central bank and, motivated by this policy tool, the evolution of long-term government debt holdings in household portfolios over the course of the life cycle. It is comprised of three self-contained chapters.
The first chapter investigates whether it can be beneficial for central banks to use the unconventional tool even when the main policy rate is not constrained by the zero lower bound. A friction in the interaction between households and banks allows central bank purchases of long-term government debt to reduce long-term interest rates and thus to stimulate economic activity. If debt purchases and conventional short-term interest rate policy are coordinated in an appropriate way, the central bank is able to reduce the volatility of output and inflation.
In the second chapter, the role that unconventional monetary policy can play in a currency union is analysed. A model is laid out, in which two countries form a currency union with a common central bank but separate and uncoordinated fiscal policy institutions. When monetary policy is implemented only through the common short-term interest rate, the central bank is unable to respond effectively to country-specific shocks. Due to segmentation in the market for long-term government debt, the yield on long-term debt can differ across countries. As a result, a monetary policy authority that can rely on bond purchases is able to address idiosyncratic shocks reflected in volatility of the natural terms of trade more effectively and to achieve higher welfare than one that cannot make use of this instrument.
The final chapter studies the long-term government bond share in household portfolios over the course of the life cycle. US data from the Survey of Consumer Finances suggests that participation in the market for long-term government debt first increases and later decreases as agents approach the retirement age. The portfolio share conditional on participation is non-decreasing over the working life. These stylised facts can be explained by means of a portfolio choice model in which agents are subject to aggregate risk through asset returns as well as idiosyncratic risk through labour income and the stochastic events of retirement and death.

Keywords: Monetary Union
Monetary Policy
Quantitative Easing
Portfolio Choice
Advisor: Ellison, M
Storytelling in late antique epic: a study of the narrator in Nonnus of Panopolis' Dionysiaca

This thesis is a narratological study of Nonnus of Panopolis' Dionysiaca, focussing on the figure of the narrator whose interventions reveal much about his relationship to his predecessors and his own conception of story-telling. Although he presents himself as a follower of Homer, whom he mentions by name in his poem, the Dionysiaca are clearly influenced by a much wider range of sources of inspiration. The study of narratological interventions brings to light the narrator's relationship with Homer, between imitation and innovation. The way he renews and transforms epic narratorial devices attests to his literary skills as he strives for ποικιλία in his poem. His interventions hint at sources of inspiration other than Homer, such as lyric poetry, historiography, and didactic epic. Another innovation is the way the narrator intervenes not to draw the narratee's attention to the contents of his text, but to underline his own role as story-teller. Some interventions signal a change in tone or the integration of another genre; the expected proems and invocations to the Muse become spaces for a display of ingeniousness, a discussion of the sources and a reflection on the role of the poet.
The efforts made by the Nonnian narrator to renew well known devices also denotes his mindfulness of his narratee, whom he involves in the story through metaleptic devices, or by drawing on a shared cultural background to enhance the narrative with allusions to extradiegetic references.
The study of narratorial interventions proves that the Dionysiaca were not written only in an attempt to recreate a Homeric epic, but are a compendium of influences, genres, and myths, encompassing the influence of a thousand years of Greek literature.

Keywords: epic poetry
Nonnus
Nonnus of Panopolis
Dionysiaca
reception of Homeric literature
ancient greek literature
storytelling
literary devices
narratology
Advisor: Lightfoot, J
Visualising antigen-specific T-cells during primary and persistent infection with Epstein-Barr virus

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes play an important role in mediating host immune reactions to viruses and other pathogens. Selective mechanisms operate during V(D)J recombination to enhance the diversity of the T cell repertoire that is generated, particularly in the CDR3 regions of the TCR, which mediate peptide recognition. The influence of V gene 3' sequences on the composition of the CDR3 loop in TCR β chains is analysed; in particular, A/T-rich coding termini are shown to be more susceptible to exonuclease "nibbling" during recombination.
The recent development of peptide-MHC tetrameric complexes has enabled us to detect T lymphocytes according to their antigen specificity. Their use in detection and characterisation of EBV-specific CD8+ T cells during the primary acute phase of infection is described here. In particular, CTL responses to EBV lytic cycle antigens have only recently been reported and this study reveals unexpectedly high frequencies of activated, circulating CD8+ T lymphocytes which are directed towards lytic cycle epitopes, compared to well-characterised latent cycle antigens.
In a second cohort of healthy long term asymptomatic donors, the frequency of CD8+ T cells recognising EBV lytic and latent cycle antigens was analysed by tetramer staining, ELISpot assays and limiting dilution assays; the tetramers detected antigen-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes with greater efficiency than other methods. Lytic cycle antigen-specific T lymphocytes were clearly detectable in all the asymptomatic donors, at higher frequencies than those specific for latent antigens.
The final section of this thesis investigates the existence of enriched populations of EBV-specific T lymphocytes found within synovial joint fluid of rheumatoid arthritis patients. Although these cells do not appear to be directly involved in the initiation of disease, their ability to secrete proinflammatory cytokines within joints probably contributes to the maintenance of chronic inflammation in these patients.