VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Corporate water risk - and return

Corporate water risk is a function of resource dependence, which exposes firms to uncertainty. Firms rationally seek to reduce this risk, and this shapes their disclosure strategies. However, the consequence is that corporate water risk disclosure is becoming increasingly unfit for purpose. As current approaches begin to acquire institutional legitimacy and the path-dependent label of best practice, a status quo is becoming embedded, reinforced through mimetic behaviour. The agency problem that this creates is unchecked; in part because of the legitimacy acquired by the disclosure strategies, but also because of temporal myopia exhibited by investors, which contributes to unpredictable decision-making. The status quo also results in sub-optimal resource allocation, a problem that is compounded by the large and growing global infrastructure deficit for water supply and services.
This thesis sets out a framework by which the disclosure of corporate water risk can be meaningfully evaluated by investors and other stakeholders; and proposes how the water infrastructure investment gap could be narrowed by the development and application of the corporate water return concept. The research builds on empirical foundations to offer new approaches that address the problems of the status quo. First, it empirically explores perceptions of best practice in terms of water risk disclosure, from the perspective of both listed firms and leading institutional investors (Chapters 3 and 4). Second, it proposes a methodology through which firms can disclose water risks in a systematic format; and advances corporate water return as a complementary concept to water risk, in order to catalyse corporate investment in water infrastructure (Chapters 5 and 6). Resource dependence theory, institutional theory, and stakeholder theory are combined to create a trio of integrative, explicative conceptual narratives that form the overarching thesis structure. The research also draws on other themes from economic geography, including proximity; strategic cognition; transaction costs; and real options theory.

Keywords: water return
corporate sustainability
water risk
Advisor: Gordon, C
Robert, H
Studies of transient free radicals in solution by flash photolysis E.S.R

An introduction is presented to the nature of polarized and non-polarized transient spin resonance signals, produced by flash-photolysis e.s.r., followed by a description of the equipment used for experimental work. Theories of Chemically Induced Dynamic Electron Spin Polarization are reviewed and various models introduced to illustrate these concepts.
A description is given of the first thorough investigation into the effect of CIDEP polarization transfer down a free radical chain and expands upon the consequences of hyperfine-dependent relaxation and the relative signs of coupling constants in various radical species. It concludes with an account of two methods of kinetic analysis which are the first practical demonstrations of their kind, and employ extension of expressions developed in earlier chapters.
Studies are made of the CIDEP behaviour of radicals in high viscosity paraffins. A reassessment of previous published work is made: anomalous polarization behaviour was found to have been over-compensated for. A new method of extracting values for T1 and T2,/sub> is demonstrated for strong transient e.s.r. signals.
A collection of experimental data relating to the previously unexplained absorptive polarization observed in the spectrum of ketyl radicals and the longer-time phase inversion of hyperfine-dependent CIDEP is given. The operation of Triplet Mechanism CIDEP in the ketyl radical systems is ruled out and a division of radicals into geminately formed and free-encounter pairs is shown to be incapable of explaining the observed phase changes. In its place a cross-relaxational mechanism, drawing upon simultaneously generated nuclear spin polarization is advanced. Conclusions are drawn that this may account for both anomalies.
Lastly a photochemical application of CIDEP is demonstrated; two different reaction intermediates are identified upon photolysis of ortho phthalaldehyde, depending upon the quenching conditions. A reaction scheme consistent with all experimental data is proposed. A brief comment upon the photo-chemistry of indan 2-one concludes this work.

Advisor: McLaughlan, K
Role of the haematopoietic transcription factor SCL in mesoderm development

During embryonic development, precursor cells commit to specific cell fates in response to environmental cues through the establishment of lineage-specific gene expression programmes. Transcription factors are important downstream effectors of signalling pathways that initiate and maintain cell fate decisions. The haematopoietic transcription factor SCL (TAL-1) is an essential regulator of embryonic blood development. However, the exact stage at which SCL is required, its mechanisms of action, and its genomic targets are poorly understood. Characterising how SCL functions during haematopoietic development will provide insights into how stem cells are specified.
Using the embryonic stem cell/embryoid body (ES/EB) system to model early mouse development, we describe a critical role for SCL in mesoderm patterning. SCL is first expressed in PDGFRα+ FLK1+ mesoderm populations which contain lateral, paraxial and cardiac precursors. Through loss- and gain-of-function studies, we show that SCL drives lateral mesoderm specification and activates the haematopoietic programme in a direct DNA-binding independent manner, while actively repressing alternative mesodermal fates, specifically cardiac development, in a DNA-binding dependent manner. At a molecular level, we have identified direct genomic targets of SCL in Flk-1+ mesoderm populations. These include haematopoietic and cardiac transcription factors, cardiac-specific structural proteins, signalling proteins and general transcriptional repressors; thereby strengthening the dual function of SCL in mesoderm patterning. Finally, we have shown that the cardiac transcription factor GATA4 acts in a reciprocal manner, specifying cardiac precursors while repressing a lateral mesoderm fate.
Collectively, this implicates SCL as a critical transcriptional regulator of cell fate decisions in early mesodermal precursors, employing distinct molecular mechanisms to impose a blood programme. Moreover, and extending earlier reports, we document the existence of an antagonistic cross-talk between haematopoietic and cardiac lineages during mesoderm patterning. In conclusion, this work offers a cellular and molecular platform to begin to dissect the network of genetic interactions involved in these developmental processes.

Keywords: Cardic Development
SCL
Transcription Factors
Stem Cells
Haematopoesis
Mesoderm Development
Advisor: Porcher, C
Modelling price dynamics through fundamental relationships in electricity and other energy markets

Energy markets feature a wide range of unusual price behaviour along with a complicated dependence structure between electricity, natural gas, coal and carbon, as well as other variables. We approach this broad modelling challenge by firstly developing a structural framework to modelling spot electricity prices, through an analysis of the underlying supply and demand factors which drive power prices, and the relationship between them. We propose a stochastic model for fuel prices, power demand and generation capacity availability, as well as a parametric form for the bid stack function which maps these price drivers to the spot electricity price. Based on the intuition of cost-related bids from generators, the model describes mathematically how different fuel prices drive different portions of the bid stack (i.e., the merit order) and hence influence power prices at varying levels of demand. Using actual bid data, we find high correlations between the movements of bids and the corresponding fuel prices (coal and gas). We fit the model to the PJM and New England markets in the US, and assess the performance of the model, in terms of capturing key properties of simulated price trajectories, as well as comparing the model’s forward prices with observed data. We then discuss various mathematical techniques (explicit solutions, approximations, simulations and other numerical techniques) for calibrating to observed fuel and electricity forward curves, as well as for pricing of various single and multi-commodity options. The model reveals that natural gas prices are historically the primary driver of power prices over long horizons in both markets, with shorter term dynamics driven also by fluctuations in demand and reserve margin. However, the framework developed in this thesis is very flexible and able to adapt to different markets or changing conditions, as well as capturing automatically the possibility of changes in the merit order of fuels. In particular, it allows us to begin to understand price movements in the recently-formed carbon emissions markets, which add a new level of complexity to energy price modelling. Thus, the bid stack model can be viewed as more than just an original and elegant new approach to spot electricity prices, but also a convenient and intuitive tool for understanding risks and pricing contracts in the global energy markets, an important, rapidly-growing and fascinating area of research.

Keywords: stochastic
fundamental
multi-commodity
bid stack
electricity prices
PJM
carbon market
natural gas
structural
option pricing
Advisor: Howison, S
Catalytic transformations via metallocarbenes

This thesis describes a new catalytic activity of a commonly used metathesis catalyst and demonstrates the viability of directly coupling two powerful C-C bond forming strategies: cross-metathesis and ylide transformations, both proceeding via metal-catalysed carbene transfer. Catalytic C-C bond formation reactions are highly significant; my studies focus on such transformations involving metallocarbenes. Grubbs' 2nd generation Ru catalyst is the most commonly used catalyst in olefin metathesis to generate thermodynamically preferred trans-olefms. During the course of my studies, I established that Grubbs 2nd generation catalyst (0.5 mol%) can also dimerise diazoacetates to give cis-enediesters (maleates) in good to excellent yields (74-99%) with high stereoselectivity (Z:E>95:5). The reaction between two different diazoacetates, catalysed by Grubbs catalyst gave access to unsymmetrical cis-enediesters with high stereoselectivity (Z:E>95:5, generally 99:1).
The catalyst was found to retain its alkene metathetical activity during diazo coupling; building on this latter observation a novel route to access dienyl dilactones by head-to-head dimerisation of unsaturated diazoacetates was developed.
Cross-metathesis was found to be chemoselective in the presence of diazo functionality (when flanked by two carbonyl groups), allowing the functionalisation of tethered olefin. The elaborated diazocarbonyl olefms were subjected to Rh2(OAc)4 catalysed ylide formation and subsequent transformations. Significantly, one-pot cross-metathesis/ylide transformations (1,3-dipolar cycloaddition and [2,3]-simgatropic rearrangement) also proved to be viable, establishing that the spent Ru catalyst following metathesis does not affect the subsequent Rh(II)-catalysed transformation.

Advisor: Hodgson, D
Enforcing corruption laws: the political economy of subnational prosecutions in Indonesia

This thesis focuses on subnational corruption law enforcement in a new democracy: Indonesia. It seeks to understand temporal and spatial variation in corruption prosecutions in the post-Suharto era, and answer three core research questions: Why has the number of corruption cases steadily increased over the past twenty years? Why is there significant subnational variation in the investigation and prosecution of corruption? And why are some cases of local corruption investigated and prosecuted while others are ignored? The argument developed in the thesis consists of three inter-linked components: that corruption generates complex collective action problems for law enforcement; that ostensibly public law enforcement regimes in Indonesia are informally privatised public law enforcement regimes; and that, in the context of these hybrid regimes, the availability of resources and the formation of coalitions is critical to understanding when individuals and groups mobilise corruption laws at the subnational level.
The project uses a mixed methods research strategy—combining qualitative case studies, formal game theoretic modelling, and quantitative regression analysis—to develop and provide evidence for the argument. The research strategy required twelve months of fieldwork in Indonesia. In total over one hundred interviews in Jakarta and Central Java were conducted, and a unique dataset of local corruption cases was coded for two additional provinces. The thesis's argument and methodological approach has implications for literature that spans the field of law and politics: the political economy of prosecution, theories of legal mobilisation, socio-legal studies, and studies of politics and power in contemporary Indonesia.

Keywords: Indonesia
Corruption
Political Economy of Law Enforcement
Advisor: Galligan, D
Vanhala, L
Instability of stratified two-fluid flow in a Venturi flow meter

In this dissertation the subject of stability of stratified two-fluid flows in an inclined channel is examined and modelled using classical fluid dynamics. The problem is motivated by the consideration of oil-water flows through a Venturi flow meter in the oil industry. A background to both inviscid and viscous instability theories are given. An inviscid approach to the problem is undertaken and conditions for the onset of instability in the flow are derived. These conditions involve density contrast, Richardson number and critical slip velocity. Furthermore it is shown that a stable flow in an inclined channel may be made unstable by a small enough constriction.
A bottom-up model of electricity reform for developing countries: a case study of Gujarat, India

In many developing countries, the electricity system is too weak to meet growing demand and the availability and reliability of generating capacity is inadequate. Protracted mismanagement, political interference, subsidised pricing, and corruption all undermine the ability of developing electricity supply industries to finance and deliver service or attract new private investment. Power sector reform is an acute need in developing countries where implementation of a top-down liberalisation approach has been pursued without adequately considering the social, political and economic conditions. The conventional response to low levels of electricity sector investment has been from the top-down: aim to create competitive electricity markets by encouraging new entry into the generation sector and by breaking up vertically integrated power companies. Using a case study from Gujarat, India, this thesis argues for an alternative approach—utilise distributed generation (DG) and captive power capacity (self-generation) of industry to reshape the generation and distribution sectors from the bottom-up. The thesis examines the economic viability of distributed generation in a rural setting and captive power for industrial use in Gujarat, India, taking into account the economic, technical and political factors that shape investment decisions. In India, 40 percent of the population still does not have an electricity connection, but an array of new energy technologies for small-scale electricity generation near the site of use may provide a new development path. The bottom-up model enables rapid addition of generation capacity to a system struggling to meet demand while increasing competition in the power market. The thesis concludes that more power from independent and industrial sources will best harness the financial and engineer resources of the Indian electricity supply industry (ESI) and ultimately benefit the economy. The solution proposed is not suggested as an optimal policy programme, but instead is advanced as the best of the feasible options available within current political and economic constraints.

Keywords: India
Gujarat
Electricity reform
distributed generation
Advisor: Bower, J
Clark, G
The relationship between structure and seismogenic behaviour in subduction zones

The largest earthquakes on Earth take place on the megathrusts of subduction zones, but the slip behavior of megathrusts is variable. This thesis considers why by conducting local, regional and global studies of the interrelationships between the structure and seismogenic behavior of subduction zones.
New marine geophysical data collected from the collision zone between the Louisville Ridge seamount chain with the Tonga-Kermadec trench constrain overthrusting and subducting plate structure. Mo'unga seamount is identified beneath the outer-forearc, which calibrates the association of residual bathymetric anomalies and subducting relief, implies an E-W geometry for the subducted ridge and suggests the 200 km wide Louisville seismic gap is modulated by the sediment filled flexural moat.
Spectral averaging is then applied along the Tonga-Kermadec margin and along strike variations in overthrusting plate structure are verified by wide-angle seismic transects. The remnant Tonga-Ridge occupies the inner fore-arc and residual free-air gravity anomalies constrain its latitudinal extent (north of 30.5°S), width (110&pm;20 km) and strike (~005° south of 25°S). Plate tectonic reconstructions suggest the Lau Ridge is unmodified by subduction related erosion, <200 km of the Tonga Ridge has been eroded, and neither ridge ever occupied the southern Kermadec arc. Crustal thickness variations are thus inherited, reflecting the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Tonga-Kermadec-Hikurangi margin.
Spectral averaging is finally applied to all subduction zones on Earth. Part one develops a global catalogue of subducting relief, which is compared with seismological and geodetic inferences of fault-slip behavior. Most seamounts are aseismic, relatively undeformed and observations are not consistent with mechanical models proposing full-decapitation. Aseismic ridges are also associated with megathrust complexity, but are of a larger wavelength and contrasting mode of isostatic compensation.
Part two shows almost all intra-margin along-strike transitions in seismogenic behavior are related to pre-existing crustal structure. A paired forearc anomaly is interpreted consisting of a trench-parallel ridge landward of the deep-sea-terrace basin. The ridge crest correlates with the down-dip limit of coseismic slip and strong interplate coupling, the up- dip limit of tremor epicentres, and is interpreted as defining the boundary between the velocity-weakening and seismogenic portion of the subduction interface and the down-dip frictional transition zone. Paired anomalies may be attributed to unrecovered interseismic elastic strain, the preferential subduction erosion of the outer-forearc and/or underplating beneath the inner forearc.

Keywords: Earthquakes
Subduction zones
Crustal structure
Gravity
Seismic reflection/refraction
Advisor: Watts, A
Modern Tibetan literature and the inescapable nation

Existing scholarship on modern Tibetan writing takes the 1980s as its point of “birth” and presents this period as marking a “rupture” with traditional forms of literature. This study seeks to go beyond such an interpretation by foregrounding the persistence of Tibet’s artistic past and oral traditions in the literary creativity of the present. An appreciation of genres, styles, concepts and techniques derived from Tibet’s rich and diverse oral art forms and textual traditions exposes the inadequacy of a simple “rupture” perspective. Whilst acknowledging the novel features of modern Tibetan literary creations this work draws attention to hitherto neglected aspects of continuities within the new. It reveals the innovative presence of Tibetan kāvya poetics, the mgur genre, biography, the Gesar epic and other types of oral compositions within modern Tibetan poetry and fiction. It also brings to prominence the complex and fertile interplay between orality and the Tibetan literary text. All these aspects are demonstrated by bringing the reader closer to Tibetan literature through the provision of original English translations of various textual and oral sources.
Like any other national literature modern Tibetan literary production is also informed by socio-political and historical forces. An examination of unexplored topics ranging from popular music, Tibet’s critical tradition and cultural trauma to radical and erotic poetries shows a variety of issues that fire the imagination of the modern Tibetan writer. Of all these concerns the most overriding is the Tibetan nation, which pervades both fictional and poetic writing. In its investigation into modern Tibetan literature this thesis finds that Tibet as a nation - constituted of history, culture, language, religion, territory, shared myths and rituals, collective memories and a common sense of belonging to an occupied land - is inescapable. Embracing a multidisciplinary approach drawing on theoretical insights in literary theory and criticism, political studies, sociology and anthropology, this research demonstrates that, alongside past literary and oral traditions, the Tibetan nation proves to be an inevitable attribute of modern Tibetan literature.

Keywords: modern Tibetan literature
continuity and creativity
cultural trauma
national identity
the literary and the oral
Advisor: Ramble, C