VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Reassessing civil conflicts in Genoa, 1160-1220

This thesis examines the phenomenon of civil violence in Genoa (1160-1220). Genoese civil conflicts in the period are victim to a historiographical paradox. While their importance for the survival of communal institutions has been frequently underlined, they have often been misrepresented in the historiography. Our current understanding of civil conflicts in Genoa is in need of a reassessment if we want to deepen our comprehension of the history of a city that is considered a key centre and fundamental building bloc in the rise of the European continent to economic prominence.
This thesis studies civil violence from a perspective that takes into account the shifting form of Genoese conflicts and their protagonists. The civil conflicts in Genoa saw constant development in their intricacy, nature and participants (Chapter one). I distance myself from the issue of motives and causation, a pursuit which has misled scholars. Instead I focus my attention on the underlying patterns that made conflicts in Genoa possible -- the web of relationships among the families of the Genoese elite – in order to study how the individuals and families that were involved in civil violence made their decisions (Chapter two). The understanding of these links and of the development of conflict in Genoa is an important thread to follow in order to reassess several aspects of the political history of the city between the twelfth and the thirteenth century (Chapter three). In light of my findings, the institutional transition of the city from a commune led by consuls to one led by a foreign podestà (Chapter four) and the Genoese involvement in the Mediterranean scenario (Conclusion), appear shaped by the maturing phenomenon of civil violence. This thesis aims to fill the current gap in academic studies on civil conflict in Genoa and to turn the phenomenon from a footnote to the current historiography into a rich vein of historical understanding of the fundamental dynamics of the city and its development.

Keywords: Genoa
political violence
economic development
Advisor: Wickham, C
Characterization of mouse two-pore channels (TPCs) in NAADP-mediated Ca(2+)  signalling

Recent studies have identified Two-Pore Channels (TPCs) as the channels activated by NAADP. To date, most studies that characterized these channels have employed heterologous expression or overexpression systems. The research reported here has focused principally on endogenous TPC activity by using single and dual gene knockout (KO) in a mouse system and has yielded insights into TPC expression levels, subcellular localisation, NAADP binding, and channel function.
Mouse models that had been generated by both the “gene-trapping” and the “genetargeting” techniques were obtained and validated. These included a knock-down strain (“hypomorph”). Surprisingly, all TPC mutant mice showed no gross phenotypes. In addition to the two known isoforms in mouse, TPC1 and TPC2, the expression of a shorter variant of TPC1 was discovered; this has an alternative (truncated) N-terminus, and has been termed (DELTA)N-TPC1. All TPC variants/isoforms were widely expressed in all mouse tissue types tested. Overexpression of mouse TPCs in mouse embryonic fibroblasts showed that (DELTA)N-TPC1 and TPC2 were expressed primarily in late endosomes/lysosomes while TPC1 was expressed in both endosomes and lysosomes. Dileucine sorting motifs target TPCs to late endosomes/lysosomes; it was shown that truncation or mutation of dileucine motifs significantly reduced localization in late endosomes/lysosomes. Furthermore, TPCs were shown not to be the direct binding target of NAADP, as the high affinity NAADP binding was retained in hepatic membranes from TPC double KO (DKO) mice. It is concluded that NAADP binds to an (as yet, unidentified) accessory protein.
The functional role of TPCs was studied in depth using mouse pancreatic acinar cells. NAADP is known to release Ca2+ from the acidic stores in response to the stimulation by the hormone cholecystokinin (CCK). In all TPC mutant mice, CCK was still able to evoke Ca2+ oscillations, but with slower and attenuated oscillations in the TPC1 hypomorph, and with slower oscillations in TPC DKO. In all TPC KOs, oscillations were disrupted by known inhibitors of the NAADP-signalling pathway (Ned-19, GPN and bafilomycin A1), indistinguishable from the responses with wild-type cells. This suggests that TPCs are not involved in CCK signalling, although it is possible that functional compensation masked the phenotype arising from the impaired signalling.

Keywords: Ca(2+)
NAADP
Two-Pore Channels
calcium signalling
TPC
Advisor: Galione, A
Enrichment at the claimant's expense: attribution rules in unjust enrichment

This thesis presents an account of attribution in unjust enrichment. Attribution refers to how and when two parties – a claimant and a defendant – are relevantly connected to each other for unjust enrichment purposes. It is reflected in the familiar expression that a defendant be 'enriched at the claimant's expense'. This thesis presents a structured account of attribution, consisting of two requirements: first, the identification of an enrichment to the defendant and a loss to the claimant; and, secondly, the identification of a connection between that enrichment and that loss. These two requirements must be kept separate from other considerations often subsumed within the expression 'enrichment at the claimant's expense' which in truth have nothing to do with attribution, and which instead qualify unjust enrichment liability for reasons that should be analysed in their own terms. The structure of attribution so presented fits a normative account of unjust enrichment based upon each party's exchange capacities. A defendant is enriched when he receives something that he has not paid for under prevailing market conditions, while a claimant suffers a loss when he loses the opportunity to charge for something under the same conditions. A counterfactual test – asking whether enrichment and loss arise 'but for' each other – provides the best generalisation for testing whether enrichment and loss are connected, thereby satisfying the requirements of attribution in unjust enrichment.
The law is stated as at 15 March 2014.

Keywords: corrective justice
attribution
causation
remoteness
at the expense of
law
enrichment
tracing
unjust enrichment
valuation
restitution
Advisor: Mitchell, C
Developing P(MMA-co-NVP) hydrogels for use in self-inflating, anisotropic tissue expanders

Artificial tissue expansion is required to generate new skin prior to reconstructive surgery, in order to compensate for a deficit of healthy tissue. Hydrogel tissue expanders, which expand anisotropically, show great promise in overcoming clinical limitations in the field, thus allowing the technique to be used in a wider range of surgeries. These devices consist of pellets of dry poly(methyl methacrylate-co-vinylpyrrolidone), compressed into discs through a hot compression moulding process. However, a number of significant problems still exist in these devices, and this thesis aims to address these issues.
To date, there has been a lack of investigation of the factors governing the behaviour of anisotropic swelling. For this reason, a range of different compression ratios have been investigated, with particular focus on the relationship between the material flow during compression and the swelling behaviour of the resulting device. It was found that samples of the same initial size expand to the same reference swelling dimensions, regardless of compression ratio. During hot pressing, the material flow was found to be governed by slip stick behaviour at the interface between the hot press and the device, affecting the properties and swelling behaviour of the devices.
Based on these findings, devices were developed which could expand from a disc into a non prismatic shape (dome or wedge). Such devices could reduce complication rates and allow the growth of new tissue with anisotropic resting tension. The devices were tested in a small in vivo trial, where it was shown that there were no adverse effects on the tissue produced, and that the shape of the expander (dome) was retained.
As devices are being produced for medical use, understanding the effect of sterilization by γ irradiation is essential, but to date this has been overlooked in the literature. It was found that γ-irradiation caused an increase in cross-linking in the P(MMA-co-NVP). Whilst this produced little change in swelling behaviour for isotropic devices, in the case of anisotropic devices it caused a change in the shape of expansion, reducing the area of new skin which could be generated by the device. It was found that by reducing the concentration of impurities (residual molecules from the polymer synthesis) the impact of γ-irradiation could be greatly reduced.
Finally, controlling the rate of expansion is essential in order to avoid clinical complications. In order to control the rate of expansion, particularly during the initial period of swelling, semi permeable PDMS coatings were applied to the compressed devices. Coatings of thickness greater than 0.375mm were found to effectively control the rate of swelling, for both cylindrical and non-prismatic shapes. As the coating thickness increased, the maximum swelling size decreased. However, it has been shown that change in height (the parameter which governs the area of skin produced) is affected less than the change in mass or diameter.

Keywords: Hydrogels
Tissue Expansion
Advisor: Czernuszka, JT
Lens aldehyde reductase and cataract

Polyol dehydrogenase and aldehyde reductase B have been assayed in normal clear lenses of rat, rabbit, bovine, mouse and human. With DL-glyceraldehyde as substrate the percentage specific activitiesof aldehyde reductase are 60%, 16%, 6% and 1.6% in rabbit, human, bovine and mouse lenses respectively, taking the activity in rat lens as 100%. With D-glucose as substrate the specific activities followed a similar pattern. The specific activities of polyol dehydrogenase were 100%, 2.8% and 0, 0, 0 in human, bovine and rat, rabbit and mouse lens respectively. The properties of crude and of pure bovine lens aldehyde reductase B have been studied. Some properties of bovine polyol dehydrogenase have also been studied and compared to those of aldehyde reductase B.
Aldehyde reductase B activity was located in the β-crystalline fraction of bovine lens. The enzyme was purified to apparent homogeneity (on SDS gel) by use of a combination of gelfiltration and ion-exchange chromatography . The purification showed that glyceraldehyde and glucose reducing activities purified to different extent.
Chemical modification of bovine lens aldehyde reductase B showed that arginine and histidine are involved in catalytic function of the enzyme and are present at or near the NADPH binding site. A thiol group on the enzyme is necessary for acting with glucose. Studies with sulindac and FPL 58665, the inhibitors of aldehyde reductase B, showed that the enzyme has a different site for its inhibitors.
Steady-state kinetic analysis showed that this enzyme obeys an ordered-Bi-Bi mechanism and NADPH is the first substrate to bind to the enzyme. Kinetic analysis showed that the binding of NADPH and glucose to the enzyme is 1:1 whereas with DL-glyceraldehyde the minimum degree of rate equation is 2:2.
NADPH-oxidizing activity was measured with DL-glyceraldehyde in human blood and this activity was found to be elevated in diabetic patients suffering from retinopathy with or without cataract. This activity was also found elevated in patients with senile cataract. A scheme has been proposed relating aldehyde reductase B to cataract and diabetic retinopathy.

Advisor: Grabbe, J
Linguistic studies in Euripides' Electra

Euripides’ Electra has long been one of the playwright’s most controversial works. This book offers a reading of the play concentrating on its language, which is analysed by applying a variety of modern linguistic approaches: conversation analysis, pragmatic theories of speech acts and inference, politeness theory, the study of the interplay of gender and language, paroemiology, and the study of discourse cohesion.
The first three chapters argue for the Peasant, Electra and Orestes, respectively, that their linguistic behaviour constitutes a vital part of their characterisation. The Peasant’s (ch. 1) sturdy morality is established by the way his language becomes more forceful when he touches on ethical questions; it is then tested in his conversations with Electra, where his language is suggestive of a conflict between his morals and his desire to please his royal wife.
Electra herself (ch. 2) is characterised initially by the inability to communicate successfully with those around her — a disconnect which is suggestive of the fundamental incongruity of her circumstances. This adds a dimension to her motivations, which, as a force driving Electra’s linguistic behaviour, remain highly stable throughout the play up until the matricide. Another consistent feature of Electra’s language is the way it is patterned by her gender.
Orestes’ characterisation in the early part of the play is ingeniously kept to a minimum through his sustained disguise. Various aspects of his language, but particularly his use of gnomai, contribute to that disguise, which involves a suppression of emotion, an avoidance of self-reference, and the exertion of control over the flow and topic of his conversation with Electra.
We can only interpret a dramatic text if we know what it says, and if we know who says what. In chapter 4, I argue that the linguistic approaches I adopt can also help us in making a determination about textual-critical problems, particularly concerning the issue of speaker-line attribution (two notorious cases are discussed: 671-84 and 959-87).
The final two chapters deal with longer speeches. In the messenger scene (ch. 5), Euripides uses linguistic devices to create an ebb and flow of suspense, and to manipulate audience expectation. In the agon (ch. 6), differences in the way Clytemnestra and Electra structure their speeches, particularly their narrationes, reveal much about their different (and fundamentally irreconcilable) viewpoints and approaches.

Keywords: Euripides
textual criticism
Greek linguistics
Greek Tragedy
Electra
Advisor: Allan, W
Rijksbaron, A
Hypoxia-induced chromatin  changes and ATM signalling 

The DNA damage response (DDR) is a complex signalling cascade triggered in response to stress, in an attempt to maintain genomic integrity. Components of this pathway, such as ATM-mediated signalling, have been proposed to act as a barrier in the early stages of tumourigenesis. Regions of low oxygen concentrations (hypoxia) occur in most solid tumours and are associated with a poor prognostic outcome. Here, we investigated the DDR induced following hypoxia-induced replication stress in an attempt to decipher the mechanism of ATM activation in response to physiological stresses that do not induce DNA damage. We hypothesized that hypoxia-mediated chromatin changes could impact on ATM signalling. We have characterised H3 methylation in response to hypoxia and found oxygen dependent changes in H3K9me3, including both global and replication fork associated increases in this histone modification. Importantly, we have found that decreases in H3K9me3 result in loss or attenuation of ATM activation. Notably, in a background of replication stress and increased H3K9me3, ATM inhibition or loss leads to accumulation of DNA damage and a significant decrease in replication rates in hypoxia. We propose that when replication stress occurs in the presence of hypoxia-induced chromatin changes, ATM activation is facilitated by the induction of H3K9me3. In this context, we propose a novel and stress specific role for ATM-mediated signalling in maintaining replication and preventing the generation of DNA breaks that may compromise genomic integrity. Moreover, the biological consequences of the hypoxia-induced chromatin context and in particular hypoxia-induced H3K9me3 include the repression of APAK, a negative regulator of p53. Activation of p53 is a key consequence of the hypoxia-induced DDR. Here we found that SETDB1, one of the H3 methyltransferases induced by hypoxia, mediates APAK repression. We propose that H3K9me3 plays a role in regulating APAK expression to allow optimal induction of p53 dependent apoptosis in hypoxic conditions suggesting a further role for H3K9me3 in facilitating DDR signalling in hypoxia. Together, these data suggest that the hypoxic chromatin context is critical for the role of the DDR as a barrier to tumourigenesis and predict that altering the chromatin landscape in combination with DNA damaging therapies would be efficacious in the treatment of hypoxic tumours.

Keywords: hypoxia
DNA replication
chromatin
ATM
DNA damage response
Advisor: Hammond, E
Aspects of exchangeable coalescent processes

In mathematical population genetics a multiple merger n-coalescent process, or Λ n-coalescent process, {Πn(t) t ≥ 0} models the genealogical tree of a sample of size n (e.g. of DNA sequences) drawn from a large population of haploid individuals. We study various properties of Λ coalescents. Novel in our approach is that we introduce the partition lattice as well as cumulants into the study of functionals of coalescent processes. We illustrate the success of this approach on several examples.
Cumulants allow us to reveal the relation between the tree height, Tn, respectively the total branch length, Ln, of the genealogical tree of Kingman’s n-coalescent, arguably the most celebrated coalescent process, and the Riemann zeta function. Drawing on results from lattice theory, we give a spectral decomposition for the generator of both the Kingman and the Bolthausen-Sznitman n-coalescent, the latter of which emerges as a genealogy in models of populations undergoing selection.
Taking mutations into account, let Mj count the number of mutations that are shared by j individuals in the sample. The random vector (M1,...,Mn-1), known as the site frequency spectrum, can be measured from genetical data and is therefore an important statistic from the point of view of applications. Fu worked out the expected value, the variance and the covariance of the marginals of the site frequency spectrum. Using the partition lattice we derive a formula for the cumulants of arbitrary order of the marginals of the site frequency spectrum.
Following another line of research, we provide a law of large numbers for a family of Λ coalescents. To be more specific, we show that the process {#Πn(t), t ≥ 0} recording the number #Πn(t) of individuals in the coalescent at time t, coverges, after a suitable rescaling, towards a deterministic limit as the sample size n grows without bound. In the statistical physics literature this limit is known as a hydrodynamic limit. Up to date the hydrodynamic limit was known for Kingman’s coalescent, but not for other Λ coalescents. We work out the hydrodynamic limit for beta coalescents that come down from infinity, which is an important subclass of the Λ coalescents.

Keywords: site frequency spectrum
cumulants
exchangeable coalescents
hydrodynamic limit
Advisor: Etheridge, A
Sub-imperialism in crisis? South Africa's government-business-media complex and the geographies of resistance

This study develops a geographic theory relating to sub-imperial states and resistance to them. The theory is centred on what can be called the government-business-media (GBM) complex, whilst resistance to such states is characterised as counter-imperialist discourses. The theory is applied primarily to South Africa’s (SA’s) interactions with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The aim is to assess the state of SA’s sub-imperialism and evaluate the claim that this sub-imperialism is in crisis. The research findings are based on media material drawn from, and interviews conducted in, Botswana, Zambia and SA.
The thesis outlines how sub-imperialism should be regarded as a distinct analytical and theoretical phenomenon. It explores the theoretical context in which the GBM complex and counter-imperialist discourses may be viewed. Using this theoretical framework, the study then traces the historical geographical development of SA’s GBM complex. Building on this, the thesis identifies and examines regional responses and attitudes to SA’s post-apartheid political, business and cultural-media engagement with the region, by analysing counter-imperialist discourses to SA during this period. In order to assess the current state of SA’s sub-imperialism, case studies were taken from the following four areas which cover crucial aspects of SA’s post-apartheid engagement with the region: SA’s parastatal expansion (Eskom); SA’s peacemaking role (Zimbabwe); SA’s state-driven rhetoric of multiculturalism and tolerance (xenophobia); and SA’s hosting of mega-events (2010 Football World Cup). In each of these areas the intended geopolitical and geoeconomic discourses of the GBM complex, and the corresponding responses in the region, are investigated. It is concluded that there is a discrepancy between the intended discourses of the GBM complex and the responses from the region, giving rise to counter-imperialist discourses. These discourses support the claim that SA’s sub-imperialism is in crisis.

Keywords: Geopolitics
South African Politics
Political Geography
Human Geography
Regional Studies
Southern Africa
Imperial Geopolitics
Global South
Advisor: Lemon, A
Optical spectroscopy of a single GaAs quantum ring

Given their unique structural properties, quantum rings (QRs) structures have recently been of particular interest for investigating quantum interference which is called the neutral charged exciton optical Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect. A delocalized wavefunction around the rim is a prerequisite for the AB effect, but asymmetry and anisotropy seem to have been overlooked in the spectroscopy of QRs. In this thesis, the presence of a localized state in a single GaAs QR is presented.

Keywords: Optical spectroscopy
Localization
Advisor: Taylor, R
Pricing swing options and other electricity derivatives

The deregulation of regional electricity markets has led to more competitive prices but also higher uncertainty in the future electricity price development. Most markets exhibit high volatilities and occasional distinctive price spikes, which results in demand for derivative products which protect the holder against high prices. A good understanding of the stochastic price dynamics is required for the purposes of risk management and pricing derivatives. In this thesis we examine a simple spot price model which is the exponential of the sum of an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck and an independent pure jump process. We derive the moment generating function as well as various approximations to the probability density function of the logarithm of this spot price process at maturity T. With some restrictions on the set of possible martingale measures we show that the risk neutral dynamics remains within the class of considered models and hence we are able to calibrate the model to the observed forward curve and present semi-analytic formulas for premia of path-independent options as well as approximations to call and put options on forward contracts with and without a delivery period. In order to price path-dependent options with multiple exercise rights like swing contracts a grid method is utilised which in turn uses approximations to the conditional density of the spot process. Further contributions of this thesis include a short discussion of interpolation methods to generate a continuous forward curve based on the forward contracts with delivery periods observed in the market, and an investigation into optimal martingale measures in incomplete markets. In particular we present known results of q-optimal martingale measures in the setting of a stochastic volatility model and give a first indication of how to determine the q-optimal measure for q=0 in an exponential Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model consistent with a given forward curve.