VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Bismuth oxybromide-based photocatalysts for solar energy utilisation and environmental remediation

This thesis reports the investigation of Bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr) semiconductor material as an efficient photocatalyst for the sunlight harvesting as well as environmental cleanup. I have utilised different synthetic methodologies to obtain BiOBr and its derivatives, such as co-precipitation, ultrasonification, and photo-deposition; and have studied their structural and optical properties by X-ray diffraction and surface analysis techniques. I report the synthesis and characterisation of two new p-n heterojunction systems, AgBr-BiOBr and BiOBr-ZnFe2O4, and have performed initial studies on photocatalytic reaction and their catalytic decomposition mechanisms. I have also reported the surface modification method including the deposition of noble metal on BiOBr to investigate the role played by the noble metal and the interactions between semiconductor and metal using various characterisation measurements. Furthermore, a continuous series of BiOBr-BiOI solid solutions were synthesised, characterised and the photocatalytic degradation was performed on the as-obtained semiconductors, to study the band structure properties of the solid solutions.

Keywords: environmental remediation
surface engineering
photocatalysis
semiconductor
Advisor: Edwards, P
The construction of nationalist politics : the MHP, 1965-1980.

This thesis presents an analysis of the political discourse and strategies of the MHP (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi-Nationalist Movement Party) between 1965 and 1980. It particularly focuses on the role of young militants in the development of the nationalist movement in Turkey during this period. The 1960s and 1970s in Turkey saw military coups, street clashes, violence perpetrated by university students, and the rapid proliferation of civil organizations. Yet this turbulent period in modern Turkish history has received no systematic historical investigation. The MHP was one of the principal actors of this period. The study argues that the change in the profile of the CKMP-MHP leadership and the recruitment of young nationalist students, who became increasingly involved in physical confrontations with the socialists, had multiple effects on nationalist discourse and strategies. Retired soldiers involved in the 27 May 1960 military coup sought to develop a nationalist party based on secular-Kemalist principles, but those people who held conservative views of nationalism started to join the CKMP-MHP. The anti-Republican discourse of this current of thought involved the re-appropriation of Ottoman history and culture and certain religious themes into nationalist discourse. This ideological orientation appealed to most of young nationalists organized around the ülkü ocakları. However, the thesis demonstrates that there were various channels of ideological indoctrination in the nationalist movement, a diversity of positions that sometimes stirred conflicts among the nationalists themselves. The question of political strategy involved paradoxical aspects as well. Young nationalists were willing to take on the mission of becoming the future elites of the country yet were simultaneously involved in violent confrontations with socialists. Most of the party leadership, on the other hand, was preoccupied with parliamentarian goals and the long-term administrative success of nationalist activists in the state apparatus. The thesis shows that viewing the party activities and paramilitary operations in the same framework gave rise to serious tensions within the nationalist movement. The findings of this study also shed light on the institutional and ideological evolution of the nationalist movement after 1980.

Keywords: Student Activism
Middle East
Religion
Nationalism
Turkey
Advisor: McDougall, J
Kerslake, C
Palladium-catalysed heterocycle synthesis 

Chapter 1 is a literature review of selected palladium-catalysed aryl C-N and C-S bond forming reactions. The application of these reactions to the synthesis of heterocycles is also discussed.
Chapter 2 highlights the importance of the benzimidazole motif and gives a brief discussion of the existing routes to this scaffold. The utility of N-(o-halophenyl)imidoyl chlorides and imidates as precursors to heterocycles is demonstrated in a palladium-catalysed reaction with N-nucleophiles to afford benzimidazole products.
Chapter 3 provides a brief introduction to the synthesis of benzothiazoles and describes efforts towards the use of our established substrates for the preparation of these heterocycles. This is achieved via reaction of N-(o-chlorophenyl)imidoyl chlorides with a sulfur nucleophile in a metal-free process.
Chapter 4 is a literature review of palladium-catalysed carbonylation chemistry with specific focus on aminocarbonylation and thiocarbonylation reactions of aryl halides. Heterocycle syntheses which employ such carbonylative methods are also discussed.
Chapter 5 describes existing protocols for the synthesis of quinazolinones. A novel palladium-catalysed synthesis of these heterocycles from the reaction of our imidate substrates with an amine and carbon monoxide is described. This further demonstrates their utility as general heterocycle precursors

Keywords: catalysis
heterocycles
palladium
Advisor: Willis, MC
Manipulation of the immune response to malaria antigens using bacterial-derived lipoproteins

Malaria is a major cause of illness and death in the world. Much progress has been made in the development of a vaccine against malaria, but there is still no formulation that can induce effective and long-lasting immunity in diverse populations at an affordable cost. Bacterial lipoproteins are potent stimulators of the innate and acquired arms of the immune system. They have been used as vaccines against bacterial diseases, and short lipopeptides have been shown to be potent adjuvants to a diverse range of vaccines against bacterial and viral diseases, and may also be useful in the development of anti-tumour vaccines. Here, the artificial lipidation of selected malaria antigens, MSP119 of Plasmodium chabaudi chabaudi AS and a multi-epitope string comprising mainly P.falciparum epitopes (SGC), is investigated. Direct lipid modification of the antigens was achieved by fusion of the protein coding sequence to a bacterial lipidation signal sequence that directs the post-translational addition of fatty acids to the protein. Antigens were also expressed as fusion proteins to a naturally occurring lipoprotein of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, L-OprI. The inclusion of L-OprI as an admixed adjuvant boosted the antibody response to MSP119, and although this response was not protective against a live blood-stage challenge, neither did it lead to increased parasitaemia and mortality. Immunisation of mice with the multi-epitope string SGC as a fusion to the L-OprI lipoprotein induced an antibody response against the SGC component of the molecule while immunisation with protein alone did not. This antibody response was absolutely dependent on covalent linkage of the L-OprI lipoprotein to SGC; the addition of LOprI as an admixed adjuvant did not induce an antibody response to SGC. SGC-specific IFNγ-secretion by whole spleen cells was induced by immunisation with protein, fusion protein or fusion lipoprotein forms of SGC, but there were no significant differences in the numbers of IFNγ-secreting cells between preparations. There are several technical obstacles that must be overcome before artificial lipoproteins can be produced on a large-scale, but efforts to overcome these obstacles would be worthwhile since lipoproteins appear to represent suitable candidates for further investigation as adjuvants to malaria vaccines.

Advisor: Kwiatkowski, D
Brain plasticity and aerobic fitness

Regular aerobic exercise has a wide range of positive effects on health and cognition. Exercise has been demonstrated to provide a particularly powerful and replicable method of triggering a wide range of structural changes within both human and animal brains. However, the details and mechanisms of these changes remain poorly understood. This thesis undertakes a comprehensive examination of the relationship between brain plasticity and aerobic exercise.
A large, longitudinal experiment was conducted in which healthy but sedentary participants were scanned before and after six-weeks of monitored aerobic exercise. Increases in the volume of the anterior hippocampus were observed, as previously reported in an older cohort after a longer exercise intervention. Multimodal imaging methods allowed an in-depth exploration of the mechanisms underlying this volume change, which proved to be dominated by white matter changes rather than the vascular changes that have been previously reported. A surprising global change in the balance of CSF, blood, and brain tissue within the cranial cavity was also observed.
Cross-sectional differences in memory and brain structure associated with fitness were also observed. The volume of the anterior hippocampus was shown to correlate with a measure of working memory. Higher cerebral blood volume throughout the brain was found to correlate with greater fitness and better working memory. Focal associations between fitness and magnetic susceptibility, a measure of iron content, were also observed in the basal ganglia. These findings demonstrate that aerobic fitness is associated with improved cognition and brain structure throughout the lifespan rather than simply acting to mitigate age related brain atrophy or accelerate brain development.
Finally, a new pipeline was developed for analysing hippocampal morphometry using high-resolution, 7 Tesla scans. Striking variability in the convolution of the hippocampal surface is reported. This technique shows promise for imaging the precise nature of the change in hippocampal volume associated with aerobic exercise.
This thesis adds to the evidence that aerobic exercise is a potent catalyst for behavioural and brain plasticity while also demonstrating that the mechanisms for those plastic changes are likely different than previously supposed. Future work will refine these measurement techniques, perhaps to a point where brain changes can be monitored on a single subject level. This work will provide an important tool to understand how best to utilize aerobic exercise to facilitate adaptive behavioural changes, mitigate the negative effects of ageing and disease on the brain, and maximize the benefits of active lifestyles.

Keywords: Neurogenesis
Plasticity
MRI
Brain
Neuroimaging
Learning
Exercise
Fitness
Neuroscience
Hippocampus
Advisor: Johansen-Berg, H
Bandettini, P
Essays in panel data and financial econometrics

This thesis is concerned with volatility estimation using financial panels and bias-reduction in non-linear dynamic panels in the presence of dependence.
Traditional GARCH-type volatility models require large time-series for accurate estimation. This makes it impossible to analyse some interesting datasets which do not have a large enough history of observations. This study contributes to the literature by introducing the GARCH Panel model, which exploits both time-series and cross-section information, in order to make up for this lack of time-series variation. It is shown that this approach leads to gains both in- and out-of-sample, but suffers from the well-known incidental parameter issue and therefore, cannot deal with short data either. As a response, a bias-correction approach valid for a general variety of models beyond GARCH is proposed. This extends the analytical bias-reduction literature to cross-section dependence and is a theoretical contribution to the panel data literature. In the final chapter, these two contributions are combined in order to develop a new approach to volatility estimation in short panels. Simulation analysis reveals that this approach is capable of removing a substantial portion of the bias even when only 150-200 observations are available. This is in stark contrast with the standard methods which require 1,000-1,500 observations for accurate estimation. This approach is used to model monthly hedge fund volatility, which is another novel contribution, as it has hitherto been impossible to analyse hedge fund volatility, due to their typically short histories. The analysis reveals that hedge funds exhibit variation in their volatility characteristics both across and within investment strategies. Moreover, the sample distributions of fund volatilities are asymmetric, have large right tails and react to major economic events such as the recent credit crunch episode.

Keywords: nonlinear dynamic panel data
composite likelihood
hedge funds
GARCH
bias reduction
Advisor: Shephard, N
Chiral counter-ion controlled asymmetric electrocyclic reactions

The aim of this project was to develop new catalytic methods to control asymmetry in electrocyclic reactions, and to apply these methods to generate complex molecules. Initial efforts were directed towards the catalysis of anionic 8π electrocyclizations (Chapter 2 and Figure i).
8π electrocyclization was not achieved due to issues with alkene geometry and anion stability. Our efforts were then directed towards using phase-transfer catalysis to generate complex polycyclic compounds via a cascade electrocyclization-1,4-addition (Chapter 3 and Figure ii).
Pyrrolidines and indolizidines were generated in excellent yield from simple starting-materials with high levels of stereocontrol. Finally, we investigated the catalysis of a 6π [1,6] electrocyclization to generate dihydroquinolones (Chapter 4 and Figure iii).
A novel BINOL-derived copper(II) catalyst was developed, and afforded dihydroquinolones directly from their amine and aldehyde precursors with good yields and enantioselectivities.

Keywords: catalysis
asymmetric
electrocyclization
organic
Advisor: Smith, M
Vaugelas and the development of the French language

My thesis attempts to provide an overall view of Vaugelas's work, to indicate the development of his ideas during his lifetime, to place the Remarques sur la langue françoise (1647) in a historical and sociological context, and to evaluate the importance of his ideas both for the writing of works on language and for the evolution of the French language itself.
Three principal lines of enquiry have been adopted - the historical, the linguistic, and the sociolinguistic. I have been concerned with three historical questions. Firstly, how did Vaugelas's ideas develop during his lifetime? This involved analysis of the usage of the early translation of Fonseca's Lenten sermons (1615), the Arsenal manuscript of the Remarques, which differs in several crucial ways from the published version, the Remarques themselves, and finally the two posthumous versions of Vaugelas's translation of Quinte-Curce's De la vie et des actions d'Alexandre le grand (1653, 1659). Secondly, I have examined the place of the Remarques in the history of grammatical writing by considering Vaugelas's intellectual predecessors and thereby evaluating his originality. Thirdly, I have traced the influence of Vaugelas's ideas on subsequent writings on linguistic matters and his impact on the evolution of French.
The second concern - the linguistic - has involved detailed analysis of Vaugelas's work, focusing on the tension between theory and practice in the Remarques and the discrepancies between the theoretical pronouncements of the observations and Vaugelas's actual usage in the translations. Enquiry has been pursued at both the general theoretical level and through analysis of the details of Vaugelas's linguistic doctrine.
Thirdly, I have added a sociolinguistic dimension to my study in order to explain not only the popularity and success of the Remarques, but also the reason for many of the linguistic pronouncements. I show how in a sense the linguistic is subsumed by the sociological, the goal and intended audience of the work determining in no small way the theory of language expressed in the Remarques.
Economic thought and policy in the Liberal Party, c. 1929-1964

This thesis examines the reception, generation, and use of economic ideas in the British Liberal Party during the period between its decline in the inter-war years and its revival under Jo Grimond. It uses archival sources, party publications, and the political press to reconstruct the Liberal Party’s internal discourse about economic policy from the 1920s to the 1960s, and sets this discourse in the context of wider economic and political developments: the ‘Keynesian revolution’ in economic theory and British public policy, recurrent political interest in economic planning, and growing concern about relative economic decline.
The strength of the two-party system which developed after the First World War meant that the Liberal Party spent most of this period in opposition, and even in the coalition governments of 1931-2 and 1940-5 Liberals had limited input into economic policy-making. As historians have frequently noted, however, the party played an important role in introducing Keynesian ideas to British politics through Lloyd George’s 1929 pledge to ‘conquer unemployment’, and seemed to anticipate the post-war managed economy in important respects. At the same time, the party maintained a close relationship with the economics profession, and vocally championed free trade and competitive markets.
This thesis highlights the eclecticism of the Liberal Party’s economic heritage, and its continuing ambivalence towards state intervention. Although Liberals were early and sincere supporters of Keynesian demand-management policies, and took a close interest in economic planning proposals in the 1920s, 1940s and 1960s, their interventionism was frequently constrained by their internationalism and their support for free markets. Most Liberals, then, were neither unreconstructed Gladstonians nor unequivocal supporters of Britain’s post-war settlement. Rather, successive party leaders sought to integrate new economic knowledge with traditional Liberal commitments, in order to make both a credible contribution to policy debates and a distinctive appeal to the electorate.

Keywords: economic policy
Liberalism
Liberal Party
economic thought
Advisor: Jackson, B
The role of charge and orbital ordering in quadruple perovskite materials with multiferroic potential

With the overriding goal of developing functional multiferroic systems with technological potential, this thesis focuses on the role of orbital and charge ordering in coupling magnetism and ferroelectricity in synthetic quadruple perovskites. Using x-ray diffraction as the primary characterisation tool, modulations to crystal ordering have been interpreted in terms of orbital occupation and charge variation.
Expanding on previous magnetic structure studies and polarisation measurements, structural analysis of CaMn7O12 has led to the experimental realisation of a new mechanism for multiferroicity, resulting from a "magneto-orbital helix". Motivated by the idea of tuning multiferroic properties through varying manganese valence, the doped system CaCuxMn7-xO12 has been studied. Structural models considering the possibility of domain formation and multiple coexisting modulations have been tested against x-ray diffraction data. Finally, motivated by theoretical predictions of ferroelectric phases and multiferroicity in doped, simple, manganite perovskites, a structural model for the low temperature phase of NaMn7O12 has been developed, based upon theoretical predictions for orbital ordering and the experimentally determined magnetic structure. This model has been tested against previously measured neutron diffraction data. The importance of understanding crystal formation and domain structures when applying theoretical models has been highlighted, and has prompted the consideration of future work involving viewing and manipulating twin formation.

Keywords: Neutron
Ferroelectrics
Multiferroics
Microscopy
Ferromagnetics
X-ray
Crystallography
Perovskite
Diffraction
Advisor: Radaelli, P
New evidence on the development of Australian refugee policy, 1976 to 1983

This thesis aims to improve historical knowledge of Australian refugee policy between 1976 and 1983, a unique and transitional moment in the nation’s history and in international refugee movements. The discussion will be based on original evidence drawn from archival records and oral history interviews, and informed by a broad literature which recognises that refugee policy is a product of varied political imperatives and historical context.
First, Chapter Three reveals that because the Fraser government could not deport the Indochinese boatpeople who sailed to Australia, it sought to approve their refugee status in order to legitimate its announcements that only ‘genuine’ refugees were being admitted. In doing so, the Fraser government was required to defend the processing of boat arrivals to the public and within the bureaucracy.
Chapter Four finds that historical and political considerations informed the Fraser government’s choice not to reject or detain boat arrivals but to instead introduce legislation against people smuggling. The chapter presents new evidence to disprove claims expressed in recent academic and media commentary that the government’s Immigration (Unauthorised Arrivals) Act 1980 (Cth) marked a particularly harsh stance and that passengers on the VT838 were deported without due process, and draws from ideas within the literature concerning the need for states to promote the integrity of the refugee concept.
Chapter Five contributes to international literature on refugee status determination procedure by studying the Australian government’s assessment of non-Indochinese. Through a dataset created from UNHCR archives it is found that the quality of briefing material and political considerations could influence deliberations on individual cases. Chapter Six contributes to literature on in-country processing, revealing how Australia’s programme in Chile and El Salvador was a means of diversifying the refugee intake but caused tensions between the Department of Immigration and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Keywords: refugee studies
Australian history
asylum seekers
refugee policy
immigration policy
Advisor: Oxley, D
High inclination X-ray and cataclysmic binaries

An introduction is given to the fields of X-ray and cataclysmic binaries, low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) and globular clusters. New observations of the W Vir star AC5 (=V86) are used show that it is probably the source of Hα emission previous authors have found in core of the globular cluster M15.
The first phase resolved optical spectroscopy of AC211, the optical counterpart of the X-ray source in M15, are presented, and its binary period discovered to be 9.l±0.5 hours. A re-analysis of archive ultraviolet (UV) spectra of M15, shows spectral features which are attributed to AC211. These observations are combined with those of other authors, to prove AC211 is probably an "accretion disc corona" (ADC) source.
After reviewing the superoutbursts of the SU UMa class of dwarf novae, X-ray, UV, optical and infrared observations of the SU UMa star OY Car are used to show that during superoutburst there is extensive vertical structure in its accretion disc, similar to that in the ADC and "dipping" LMXBs. Archive UV data from the 1978 outburst of WZ Sge shows that it had similar vertical structure. UV observations presented of EX Hya during a bright outburst may have the same explanation. From the OY Car data, a temperature and area for the region which produces the "superhump" light are derived, of 8 OOOK and -1020cm2, respectively. It is found that during OY Car's superoutburst, the size of the 0-C variations of the eclipse timings are significantly smaller than was previously thought, and that it has an extended X-ray source whose size is comparable to the binary separation.
The results are discussed with respect to models of the superhump phenomena in SU UMa stars, and possible causes of vertical disc structure in X-ray and cataclysmic binaries.

Advisor: Charles, P