VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Iran’s turn to the east? The role of ideology in the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy in Central Asia (1990-2001)

This thesis investigates the ways in which Iran’s post-revolutionary ideology has contributed to shaping the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic towards Central Asia after the fall of the USSR (1990-2001). It asks to what extent ideology played a prominent role in shaping Iran’s initial foreign policy strategy towards the newly independent Central Asian republics, and to what extent it remained a relevant factor in Tehran’s policy shifts through the 1990s. This topic has been chosen with the aim of synthesising two unconnected schools of thought in the literature on Iranian foreign policy, where there has been a tendency to centre the study of Iran-Western relationship around ideology, while Iran-East relations are often seen through a political economy lens. This thesis advances a new theoretical model to study the interaction between Iran’s post-revolutionary ideology and its foreign policy, the Four Pillar Model. This is a morphological model inspired by Gidden’s structuration theory, which proposes Pan-Islamism, Pan-Iranism, Anti-Imperialism, and National Sovereignty as the four core elements of Iran’s ideology. The model is tested against three case studies: the dissolution of the USSR (1990-1992), the Tajik Civil War (1992-1997), and the insurgency of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (1999-2001). This thesis claims that the internal contradictions in Iran’s ideology determined the emergence of a ‘dual-track policy’ in Central Asia in the 1990s. Though Iran’s foreign policy oscillated from Pan-Islamism to Pan-Iranism and back, both foreign policy approaches continued to co-exist, striving for primacy. This strife reflected the struggle between different interpretations of the identity of the Iranian regime, but it was also strongly influenced by geopolitical changes in the region. The increase in American involvement in Central Asia after 1995 and its effect on regional power alignments and energy markets were paramount in tilting the scales back in favour of Pan-Islamism.

Keywords: Four Pillar model of ideology
Foreign Policy
Structuration theory
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Post-soviet politcs
Central Asia regional politics
Transnational terrorism
Ideology in foreign policy
Tajik Civil War
Islamic Republic of Iran
Advisor: Fawcett, L
MacFarlane, N
Fragments of mind: a thesis on the subject of experience, the structure of consciousness, and split-brain patients

Neuropsychological research on so-called split-brain patients—individuals whose corpus callosum has been severed as a treatment for severe epilepsy—has revealed the possibility of startling breakdowns in the transmission of sensory information between the cerebral hemispheres. These experimental results have often been interpreted as demonstrating that split-brain patients have two streams of consciousness. In opposition to such views, this thesis argues for a conception of split-brain patients as having a single stream of consciousness that’s disunified in highly specific experimental settings but unified outside of those settings. It is also argued that conceptions of split-brain patients as having two unified streams of consciousness and conceptions according to which they have one consistently unified stream of consciousness rely on a mistaken assumption: That a set of experiences belong to a stream of consciousness if and only if all the contemporaneous experiences in the stream are unified with each other.

Keywords: split-brain experiments
phenomenal consciousness
access consciousness
the unity of consciousness
split-brain patients
spatiotemporal experience
transitivity of co-consciousness
streams of consciousness
The early cellular events that control mechano-inflammatory signalling after cartilage injury

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease that has no disease- modifying drug licenced for its treatment. Mechanical injury of cartilage is a principal risk factor in osteoarthritis (OA). Recent insights arising from our group demonstrate that mechano-sensitive intracellular signalling drives disease pathways. Cartilage injury is known to activate inflammatory signalling that leads to production of matrix-degrading proteases and consequent cartilage breakdown – a process our group has called mechanoflammation. Cartilage injury induces activation of transforming growth factor-β activated kinase 1 (TAK1), that further activates downstream extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK), p38 and Jun N terminal kinase (JNK) mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). Our group has previously identified the role of apoptosis signal regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) and reactive oxygen species as key drivers of MAPKs on cartilage injury and downstream inflammatory gene regulation. My project sought to identify the role of ASK1 in the cartilage injury response. ASK1 was phosphorylated rapidly after cartilage injury, leading to the accumulation of ASK1 protein in the cell. Inhibition of ASK1 phosphorylation suppressed ASK1 accumulation, suggesting that phosphorylation was responsible for stabilising ASK1, most likely, by preventing its degradation. Degradation was through a proteosome- dependent mechanism as stabilisation of non-phosphorylated protein could be induced by pre-incubation with a proteosome inhibitor. IL1 and H2O2 stimulation of isolated primary chondrocytes activated MAPKs and NF-κB but did not appear to involve ASK1, although this needs repeating. Attempting to inhibit ASK1 in murine OA did not suppress cartilage degradation nor osteophyte formation. Giving mice a modified diet of oxidation-resistant compounds appeared to reduce injury-induced inflammatory gene regulation in vitro but increased cartilage damage in murine OA. My findings provide further insight into the role of ASK1 and other mechano-inflammatory pathways in articular cartilage and highlight the challenges of inhibiting them in vivo.

Keywords: cartilage
mechanical injury
ASK1
chondrocytes
mechanoflammation
IL1
osteoarthritis
reactive oxygen species
Invisible barriers for the Gulf market integration in light of the political economy of the region

This dissertation presents an economic history of Gulf regionalism, drawing on qualitative written materials from Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and London to illuminate historical patterns of market integration in the region and shed light on the historical transformations of the Gulf’s regionalism process. It also explores how Gulf regionalism was shaped during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as the underlying events and circumstances and the nature of Gulf regionalism.
Here, the Gulf’s regional history is approached through the concept of regional space, which emphasises human dimensions and mechanisms in the analysis of regional connectivity, in addition to geographical dimensions. Using the concept of regional space, this dissertation deeply examines how members of the Gulf mercantile community actively shaped the contours of the commercial space that they occupied.
The findings of this study suggest a strong link between the tendencies to regional integration in the Gulf and the nature of the dominant mercantile activities in the region and the attendant means of wealth accumulation. These findings suggest that the emergence of a more centrist concept of economic activity during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries influenced integration tendencies in the region promoting a weak regional order. In this transformation, Gulf regionalism process moved from being a window for local markets to Indian Ocean networks, to being an inter-governmental institution promoting visions of economic development in regimes.
In tracing the transformation of Gulf regionalism, four turning points have been identified that largely define the Gulf’s regionalism process: 1) World War I and the subsequent creation of borders in the interwar years; 2) the decline of the pearl economy during World War II and the divergence of Gulf port towns; 3) the first oil boom in the 1950s and the change in patterns wealth accumulation; and 4) the British withdrawal from the region in the 1970s and the formation of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
At the same time, this study also considers the global dimensions of the four turning points as manifested in the historical shifts in the British presence in the region. From the early protectorate agreements to the establishment of the first desert post and the birth of the nation-states, British officials also played a significant role in shaping the contours of the Gulf’s regional space. This study finds that British officials significantly reorganised economic life in the region as they sought to serve Britain’s prestige and commercial interests.

Keywords: Indian Ocean
Regional Integration
Gulf Cooperation Council
Advisor: Rogan, E
Communities of practice theory in Egyptian archaeology: a case study for its application with Old Kingdom sealings and seal impressions from Giza

Theoretical approaches for reconstructing social dynamics in ancient Egypt are increasingly being employed by Egyptologists. The motives behind this development are the enlightenment of certain issues that traditional archaeological methods and methodologies cannot provide. One such theory that has not been tested in this context, but has great potential, is communities of practice. The communities of practice methodology includes concepts that can examine how individuals interact with other people, their objects and their environment to learn and produce a practice (as understood by Bourdieu and Giddens). It has considerable potential for illuminating the world of ancient Egypt (as well as other ancient civilizations).
Drawing on two case studies from the Old Kingdom (ca. 2613-2181 bce), this thesis tests a hypothesis that communities of practice theory can be effectively used to illuminate processes of learning, practice, relationship-building and continuity as they relate to administrative sealing. The data for my first case study derives from seal impressions and sealings excavated at Pottery Mound in Heit el-Ghurob, Giza as a means to question whether communities of practice offers ways for understanding small scale sealing practice and daily interactions. The data for my second case study originates from seal impressions and sealings excavated at other sites in Heit el-Ghurob, Gebel el-Quibli, Khentkawes Town and Silo Building Complex on the Giza Plateau. This case study explores how knowledge networks and shared sealing practice work at larger scales. These datasets are analyzed with the communities of practice methodology, as a means to gain new insights into ancient sealing practice and administration.

Keywords: archaeology
administration
archaeological theory
communities of practice
ancient Egypt
seal impressions
sealings
Old Kingdom
Advisor: Malafouris, L
Collins, P
‘In-person and online’: Experiences of in-person instruction for UK secondary students during the 2020 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK was one of the many countries around the world who kept schools open to provide in-person instruction for vulnerable pupils and the children of essential workers. Attendance of in-person instruction in the UK peaked at 17.5% in July of 2020 and most school leaders indicated that there were between 10 and 29 pupils attending in-person instruction. Yet, the experiences of students who attended school in-person have had comparatively little study and it has been assumed that their experiences were approximately similar to students attending online instruction from home. The aim of this research is to investigate the unique experiences of UK secondary students who attended school in-person during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, this study evaluates how the complex relationship between digital technology and the socio-spatial context of schools mediated students’ experiences of in-person instruction. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve students in UK secondary schools. These interviews were then transcribed and coded for key themes. Overall, the students felt that being in-person provided them with more opportunities to socialize, form close relationships with friends and teachers, and access academic and socio-emotional support. However, some also struggled to gain a sense of normality at school due to the heightened regulatory environment, anxiety about coronavirus, and greater loss of autonomy over their own lives. In contrast to narratives of the ‘disruptive’ effect of education technology, students demonstrated a high level of agency over their use of digital technology and felt that they were able to quickly adapt to online remote instruction.

Keywords: education
EdTech
qualitative interviewing
inequality
lockdown
UK
online learning
Non-contact monitoring of skin perfusion as a proxy for haemodynamic status

The examination of skin perfusion is a key component of haemodynamic assessment. The body is quick to redirect blood flow away from the skin during periods of haemodynamic instability, making it a sensitive site for an early detection of cardiovascular compromise. The clinical assessment of skin perfusion is mostly subjective. As an external organ, however, it is possible to objectively assess skin perfusion using video cameras operating both within and outside the visible light spectrum.

The use of video cameras in clinical monitoring has been explored in vital-sign estimation, and may offer both objectivity and higher sensitivity compared to the current subjective assessment of skin perfusion. However, its evolution as a monitor has been held back by practical challenges such as vulnerability to signal noise from movement and lighting changes. This thesis describes the Mapping Of Lower Limb skIn pErfusion (MOLLIE) study, in which phenylephrine and glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) were used to pharmacologically induce skin perfusion changes in healthy volunteers under controlled environmental conditions. The participants were monitored using a variety of video cameras.

Using this dataset, several streams of analyses are presented. First, image processing techniques are used to quantify clinically visible skin mottling. Following the measurement of these direct correlates of visually detected clinical findings, the remainder of the thesis demonstrates the detection of induced skin vasoconstriction and vasodilation which is not readily visible to the naked eye. A differential response to perfusion changes in different regions of skin is described, related to the underlying vascular anatomy of the skin.

This thesis argues that video cameras can provide additional insight into the haemodynamic status. It is only by combining the knowledge of skin as an organ and its blood supply with the available image processing techniques that we can fully understand the information present in the measured parameters at the skin surface and improvements can be made in skin perfusion monitoring.

Keywords: haemodynamic
skin perfusion
camera
Advisor: Watkinson, P
Tarassenko, L
Spatiotemporal brain dynamics induced by propofol and ketamine in humans

Human brain dynamics are radically altered under the influence of anaesthetics. However, despite their widespread clinical use, the whole-brain mechanisms by which anaesthetics alter consciousness are still not fully understood and clinical translation of existing insights is limited. This thesis presents several lines of investigation aimed to improve our understanding of spatiotemporal brain states under the anaesthetics propofol and ketamine.
First, slow-wave activity saturation (SWAS) was studied across the brain and in relation to existing depth of anaesthesia markers. Local propofol concentration needed to achieve SWAS in healthy volunteers correlated with GABA-A receptor density (Spearman ρ=-0.69, P=0.0018), providing more evidence for the importance of the neurophysiological state of SWAS. The average Bispectral Index at SWAS across volunteers was 49±4, but its value varied significantly over time.
Second, relevant cortico-cardiac interactions were studied. A slow propofol infusion increased heart rate in a dose-dependent manner (increase of +4.2±1.5 bpm / (μg ml-1), P<0.001). Individual cortical slow waves were coupled to the heartbeat (P<0.001), with heartbeat incidence peaking about 450ms before slow-wave onset. A ketamine case study showed decreased amplitude of heartbeat-evoked potentials, suggesting impaired interoceptive signalling may have a part in dissociative phenomenology.
Third, novel methodology was developed, validated, and applied throughout the thesis. Iterated Masking Empirical Mode Decomposition was used to identify three types of low-frequency propofol waves with different spatiotemporal maps and dose-responses. Hidden Markov Modelling of propofol showed a shift to anterior alpha states and a reduced switching rate (P<0.01); with ketamine states exhibiting low alpha power and decreased connectivity became more prominent (P<0.001).
Fourth, the potential of translating electroencephalographic markers from high- to low- density montages was studied. Posterior montages were best at capturing the reduced state switching under propofol. A patient study of antidepressant ketamine treatment demonstrated reduced temporal lobe alpha and theta power were associated with dissociation (P=0.0109).

Keywords: propofol
EEG
ketamine
anaesthesia
Advisor: Warnaby, C
Woolrich, M
McShane, R
Generating evidence to improve childhood cancer health outcomes and resource use in Egypt

The aim of this thesis was to generate evidence to improve childhood cancer health outcomes and resource use in Egypt. Childhood cancer is an urgent priority in Egypt, owing to the large numbers of children with cancer, limited resources, and inferior survival. Therefore, there is a need to improve childhood cancer health outcomes (survival) with optimal resource use. The thesis generates three types of evidence using hybrid research methods: (1) Real-world evidence through conducting observational cohort studies in a local setting in Egypt (Chapters 3–5); (2) systematic evidence from the literature through conducting a systematic review study (Chapter 6); and (3) qualitative evidence from experts’ opinions in the local context through conducting a qualitative interview study (Chapter 7). In Chapter 3, I determined the survival rates and temporal trends in survival for 14,808 children with cancer treated at Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt (CCHE) between 2007 and 2017, and identified cancers with inferior survival compared to international benchmarks. In Chapter 4, I determined childhood cancer hospital resource use and associated costs for 8,886 children with cancer treated between 2013 and 2017, and identified cancers with the highest resource use/costs. In Chapter 5, I estimated treatment cost-effectiveness at CCHE and found that it was not cost-effective for children with relapsed/refractory acute leukaemia. Accordingly, In Chapter 6, I conducted a systematic review on costs/cost-effectiveness of treatment for relapsed/refractory paediatric acute leukaemia. In Chapter 7, I conducted interviews to determine the clinicians’ perceptions of barriers and facilitators to implementing cost-effective evidence-based treatment at CCHE. Overall, I have reported that the 5-year overall survival rate for children with cancer at CCHE was 72.1%, where 12 (out of 18) cancer types had inferior survival compared to international benchmarks, and that children with acute myeloid leukaemia had the highest costs/resource use. Also, I found that treatment of relapsed/refractory acute leukemia was not cost-effective at CCHE, and the systematic review findings have shown that CAR–T cell therapy was a cost-effective treatment option, besides other novel therapies. I have identified four themes of barriers and facilitators to implementing cost-effective evidence-based treatment at CCHE. In conclusion, the thesis provides evidence-based recommendations for improving childhood cancer survival, resource use/costs, and treatment cost-effectiveness, addressing the implementation gaps at CCHE/Egypt. In Chapter 8, I discuss the implications of my thesis, and I propose a context-specific conceptual framework of evidence synthesis to improve childhood cancer health outcomes and resource use in Egypt.

Keywords: resource use
global health
childhood cancer
health outcomes
evidence synthesis
Advisor: Heneghan, C
Oke, J
Boylan, A
English literature in Latin translation, 1580-1750

In early modernity, as classical literature was rapidly translated and absorbed into English, the opposite phenomenon also took place: English literary texts were translated into Latin. This thesis is the first study of the ‘Latinization’ of English literature during a crucial period of development for the English language and literary tradition. It discusses Latin translations of Chaucer, Spenser, May, Marvell, Fletcher, Milton, Dryden, and Pope, by translators including Richard Fanshawe, Christopher Smart and Samuel Johnson.
In this period, Latin was not only a language of the past composed of fragments of ancient texts and history; it was also a living lingua franca, imagined by these translators to be the language of futurity. English poetry was Latinized for both posterity and international readers. Latin acted as the medium for English literary texts to move from Portugal to Poland and across the Atlantic. This literary history of ‘Latinization’ reveals the real and imagined place of English poetry in the world and the relationship between two competing literary languages as the vernacular rose, showing how contingent that ‘rise’ appeared to be as it happened. The translations also disrupt existing models of translation, Latinity, bilingualism, allusion, and reception.
Latin translation goes through three broad phases in this period. In the first phase, c.1580-1635, it is primarily a response to changes in the English language that may soon render Chaucerian and Spenserian language unintelligible; it is also a European, ‘transmarine’ project to put English literature and politics on the map. The second phase, c.1635-1681, sees English texts Latinized, often self-translated, to explore political and diplomatic identities during the Civil Wars and Restoration. In the third phase, c.1681-1750, Latinization adapts Milton (alongside Dryden and Pope) to new Augustan contexts, and fraudulency and failure become increasingly characteristic of Latin translation in this changed literary environment.

Keywords: Chaucer
Pope
translation
Dryden
Milton
Early modern
Latin
English literature
eighteenth century
seventeenth century
Spenser
Latinization
Advisor: Burrow, C
Harrison, S
Structural techniques in descriptive complexity

In 2017, Abramsky, Dawar, and Wang published a paper which gave a comonadic characterisation of pebble games, tree-width, and k-variable logic, a key trio of related concepts in Finite Model Theory. In 2018, Abramsky and Shah expanded upon this to give an analogous comonadic characterisation of Ehrenfeucht Fraisse games, tree-depth, and bounded quantifier rank logic. A key feature of these papers is the connection between two previously distinct subfields of logic in computer science; Categorical Semantics, and Finite Model Theory. This thesis applies the ideas and techniques in these papers to give a categorical account of some cornerstone results of Finite Model Theory, including Rossman’s Equirank Homomorphism Preservation Theorem, Courcelle’s Theorem (on the model-checking properties of structures of bounded tree-width), and Gaifman’s Locality Theorem.

Keywords: finite Model theory
Courcelle's Theorem
Ehrenfeucht Fraisse games
bounded tree-depth
finite quantifier rank
bounded tree-width
categorical semantics
descriptive complexity
locality
homomorphism preservation Theorems
finite variable logic
Advisor: Abramsky, S