VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
'Il fior de Pagania'. Saracens and their world in Boiardo and Ariosto

This study investigates the representation of Saracens in Boiardo's Inamoramento de Orlando and Ariosto's Orlando furioso, a subject that has attracted growing scholarly interest in recent years. Chapter I assesses the degree of realism in Boiardo's and Ariosto's portrayal of Islam and Islamic culture and locates the two poems in their historical context. Bringing to light unpublished archival material and other little-known historical sources, I argue that Boiardo and Ariosto drew inspiration from contemporary courtly culture which was characterised by openness towards the figure of the foreign prince. Chapter II explores Boiardo's engagement with earlier chivalric literature. It examines Boiardo's use of names and characters from earlier texts and evaluates the Saracens' contribution to the ideology that underpins the poem. It is shown that Saracens play an important role in promoting the ‘Arthurian’ chivalric ideals. Chapters III and IV analyse Ariosto's indebtedness to and departures from his predecessor, suggesting that there is a much greater continuity between the two Orlandos than is allowed by Cavallo and other scholars who are anxious to stress Ariosto's 'conservatism'. While chapter III is devoted to a wide-ranging analysis of the Saracen world in Ariosto, chapter IV deals with a topic that has recently generated much heated debate, namely the climactic confrontation between Rodomonte and Ruggiero and the ending of the Orlando furioso and how it should be understood, and I propose a new interpretation of the final canto by highlighting the concept of honour, a fundamental value for both Boiardo and Ariosto as well as for their early readers and for many chivalric authors alike. In my view, Rodomonte is the true winner of the duel. The significance of his 'moral' victory is examined in the study's final conclusion, where it is argued that it undermines Ariosto’s encomiastic project.

Keywords: Saracens
Inamoramento de Orlando
Boiardo
Italian Renaissance
Ariosto
Orlando furioso
chivalric romances
Muslims
Advisor: Gardini, N
The emergence and early fate decisions of stem and progenitor cells in the haematopoietic system

The alternative road map describes the separation of lympho-myeloid and myeloid-megakaryocyte-erythroid (myeloid-Mk-E) lineages as the earliest haematopoietic commitment event. However, a number of aspects of this lineage restriction process remain poorly understood. Herein this work identified a lympho-myeloid restricted progenitor in the embryo, which resembles the adult LMPP, and demonstrated that lymphoid lineage restriction is initiated prior to definitive haematopoiesis, much earlier than previously appreciated. In vivo fate mapping showed that lympho-myeloid progenitors significantly contribute to steady state myelopoiesis in the embryo. The early thymic progenitor (ETP) as most primitive cell in the thymus was characterised and demonstrated to sustain B, T and myeloid but not Mk potentials at the single cell level. The ETP therefore largely resembles the cellular properties of lympho-myeloid progenitors in bone marrow and foetal liver, which points to these cells as candidate thymus seeding progenitors (TSP). Furthermore the existence of a putative Mk progenitor was explored within the LSKCD150+CD48+Gata1pos compartment of a Gata1 reporter mouse providing the basis for a future prospective characterisation. Finally, this work evaluated the earliest lineage restriction of von Willebrand factor (Vwf)-EGFP+ and EGFP- haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) through in vitro paired daughter fate mapping. Single Vwf+ HSCs showed heterogeneous Mk priming and more frequently sustained Mk potential after cell division. Moreover, analysis of lineage priming between daughter cells revealed the asymmetric expression of key lineage determinants and stem cell regulators, which might be employed as reporters for future fate mapping studies.

Keywords: haematopoiesis
stem cells
lineage commitment
Advisor: Jacobsen, S
Past and future adaptations of phytoplankton to carbon dioxide

Photosynthesis is responsible for fixing approximately 111 – 117 Pg of CO₂ into organic carbon each year, of which about half is performed by algae in the oceans. Over geological timescales, photosynthesis by algae was instrumental in transforming Earth’s atmosphere. Despite the integral role algae play in the carbon cycle, the interaction and feedbacks between CO₂ fixation by algae and atmospheric CO₂ is poorly understood. This thesis expands upon our current knowledge by tracing the evolution of the key enzyme of photosynthesis, Rubisco, in algae through geological history. It was found that Rubisco underwent adaptation during distinct periods corresponding with falling atmospheric CO₂. The pattern of adaptation hints at physiological adaptation to varying concentrations of atmospheric CO2 and possibly indicates the emergence of carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCMs). This adaptation was probed further within the red and chromist algae, identifying key residues within the Rubisco protein sequence that may influence its kinetic properties. This research also provided new measurements of Rubisco CO2 affinity within the haptophyte algae. Finally, the importance of HCO₃- use by phytoplankton in the modern ocean was explored. HCO₃- utilisation was modelled through signals retained within stable carbon isotopes of organic matter estimate the response to anthropogenic increases of CO₂. The results indicate that phytoplankton utilise a large proportion HCO₃- which shows little sensitivity to anthropogenic increases of CO₂, even when model predictions are extended to 2100. This thesis demonstrates how algae can respond to CO₂ levels over geological and anthropogenic time scales.

Keywords: climate change
adaptation
photosynthesis
phytoplankton
Rubisco
Advisor: Rickaby, R
Topological reconstruction and compactification theory

This thesis investigates the topological reconstruction problem, which is inspired by the reconstruction conjecture in graph theory. We ask how much information about a topological space can be recovered from the homeomorphism types of its point-complement subspaces. If the whole space can be recovered up to homeomorphism, it is called reconstructible.
In the first part of this thesis, we investigate under which conditions compact spaces are reconstructible. It is shown that a non-reconstructible compact metrizable space must contain a dense collection of 1-point components. In particular, all metrizable continua are reconstructible. On the other hand, any first-countable compactification of countably many copies of the Cantor set is non-reconstructible, and so are all compact metrizable h-homogeneous spaces with a dense collection of 1-point components.
We then investigate which non-compact locally compact spaces are reconstructible. Our main technical result is a framework for the reconstruction of spaces with a maximal finite compactification. We show that Euclidean spaces &reals;n and all ordinals are reconstructible.
In the second part, we show that it is independent of ZFC whether the Stone-&Ccaron;ech remainder of the integers, ω&ast;, is reconstructible. Further, the property of being a normal space is consistently non-reconstructible. Under the Continuum Hypothesis, the compact Hausdorff space ω&ast; has a non-normal reconstruction, namely the space ω&ast;&bsol;&lcub;p&rcub; for a P-point p of ω&ast;. More generally, the existence of an uncountable cardinal κ satisfying κ = κ<κ implies that there is a normal space with a non-normal reconstruction.
The final chapter discusses the Stone-&Ccaron;ech compactification and the Stone-&Ccaron;ech remainder of spaces ω&ast;&bsol;&lcub;x&rcub;. Assuming the Continuum Hypothesis, we show that for every point x of ω&ast;, the Stone-&Ccaron;ech remainder of ω&ast;&lcub;x&rcub; is an ω2-Parovi&ccaron;enko space of cardinality 22c which admits a family of 2c disjoint open sets. This implies that under 2c = ω2, the Stone-&Ccaron;ech remainders of ω&ast;&bsol;&lcub;x&rcub; are all homeomorphic, regardless of which point x gets removed.

Keywords: Topological Reconstruction
Reconstruction Conjecture
Advisor: Suabedissen, R
Riordan, O
Imaging structural and functional brain changes associated with long-term learning

Learning induces functional and structural plasticity. This thesis used a range of neuroimaging approaches in both humans and rodents to address three main questions: (1) Can we predict learning performance using baseline imaging measures? (2) To what extent do performance outcomes or training amount determine experience-dependent plastic changes? (3) What biological mechanisms underlie white matter plasticity detected using MRI?
Effects of performance and amount of practice on brain structure were studied by varying the amount of juggling practice. Brain structure was found to predict performance on a complex juggling task before learning acquisition.
Both performance and practice were found to affect brain structure after learning. Overall, participants that achieved higher performances had higher grey matter (GM) and WM matter change. Also, participants that trained juggling for longer had higher positive brain changes than participants that practiced less.
The effects of juggling performance and practice in functional connectivity and GABA levels as measured by MR spectroscopy (MRS) were also investigated. High intensity training was found to decrease the motor resting-state network strength while lower intensity increased the network strength. The increase in strength was associated with a decrease in GABA concentration. A correlation was also found between motor resting-state strength change and GABA concentration change after learning.
Finally, since WM plasticity has not been thoroughly investigated and to understand which cellular events underlie WM change, an animal model of motor learning was combined with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and immunohistochemistry. Learning a novel motor task increased WM fractional anisotropy, an indirect measure of WM microstructure, in the contralateral hemisphere to the used paw. Immunohistochemistry staining with myelin basic protein (MBP) antibody of this region revealed higher myelin stain intensity for the learning group that correlated with performance in the task.

Keywords: plasticity
learning
MRI
Advisor: Johansen-Berg, H
Bannerman, D
A refinement calculus for Z

The lack of a method for developing programs from Z specifications is a difficulty that is now widely recognised. As a contribution to solving this problem, we present ZRC, a refinement calculus based on Morgan's work that incorporates the Z notation and follows its style and conventions. Other refinement techniques have been proposed for Z; ZRC builds upon some of them, but distinguishes itself in that it is completely formalised.
As several other refinement techniques, ZRC is formalised in terms of weakest preconditions. In order to define the semantics of its language, ZRC-L, we construct a weakest precondition semantics for Z based on a relational semantics proposed by the Z standards panel. The resulting definition is not unexpected, but its construction provides evidence for its suitability and, additionally, establishes connections between predicate transformers and two different relational models. The weakest precondition semantics of the remaining constructs of ZRC-L justify several assumptions that permeate the formalisation of Morgan's refinement calculus. Based on the semantics of ZRC-L, we derive all laws of ZRC.
Typically the refinement of a schema in ZRC begins with the application of a conversion law that translates it to a notation convenient for refinement, and proceeds with the application of refinement laws. The conversion laws of ZRC formalise the main strategies and rules of translation available in the literature; its set of refinement laws is extensive and includes support for procedures, parameters, recursion, and data refinement.
Morgan and Back have proposed different formalisations of procedures and parameters in the context of refinement techniques. We investigate a surprising and intricate relationship between these works and the substitution operator that renames the free variables of a program, and reveal an inconsistency in Morgan's calculus, Back's approach does not suffer from this inconsistency, but he does not present refinement laws. We benefit from both works and use a model based on Back's formalism to derive refinement laws similar to those in Morgan's calculus. Furthermore, we derive additional laws that formalise Morgan's approach to recursion.
Three case studies illustrate the application of ZRC. They show that ZRC can be useful as a technique of formal program development, but are by no means enough to ascertain the general adequacy of its conversion and refinement laws. Actually, since Z does not enforce a specific style of structuring specifications, it is likely that new laws will be proved useful for particular system specifications: two of our case studies exemplify this situation. Our hope is that ZRC and its formalisation will encourage further investigation into the refinement of Z specifications and the proper justification of any emerging strategies or techniques.

Keywords: semantics
weakest preconditions
Advisor: Jim, W
Development and assessment of particular transmission-blocking malaria vaccines

Transmission-blocking vaccines (TBVs) target Plasmodium parasite sexual stages, aiming to block further development of the parasite within the mosquito host. Plasmodium falciparum zygote/ookinete surface protein Pfs25 is one of the leading TBV candidate antigens and antibodies against Pfs25 have been shown to exhibit complete transmission-blocking activity in pre-clinical studies. Phase 1 human clinical trials have revealed that Pfs25 was a poor immunogen in humans in the formulations tested and high titers of anti-Pfs25 antibodies are required to achieve good transmission-blocking activity in the ex vivo standard membrane feeding assay which measures the functional activity of the antibodies induced. Work in this thesis describes the production of recombinant monomeric Pfs25 protein, Pfs25 based particulate vaccines (Pfs25-IMX313 nanoparticle, Pfs25-HBsAg VLP and Pfs25-Qβ VLP) and a Pfs25-Pfs28 multivalent protein vaccine in the Pichia pastoris protein expression system. These proteins were tested in mice using protein-in-adjuvant formulations and their immunogenicity was assessed. Pfs25-IMX313 nanoparticle induced significantly higher anti-Pfs25 antibodies than monomeric Pfs25 and the antibodies had higher avidity and transmission-blocking activity. All of the candidate vaccines generated, except for Pfs25-HBsAg VLP, were immunogenic. The Pfs25-IMX313 nanoparticle induced the highest antibody response in mice followed by the Pfs25-Pfs28 multivalent protein and Pfs25-Qβ VLP.

Keywords: Malaria Vaccine
Advisor: Hill, A
Biswas, S
Gymnasia and Greek identity in Ptolemaic and early Roman Egypt

My work is a socio-historical study of the institution of the gymnasium in Egypt, of its evolution and role in the assertion of certain aspects of ‘Greek identity’ in Ptolemaic and early Roman times.
It is divided into four sections. (1) Attention is devoted to the study of the gymnasium itself, as institution, analysing its diffusion, foundation, internal organisation and the role played by associations which were hosted therein. The constitution and the characteristics of the governing body (with special attention to the role of the gymnasiarchs) and the financial matters relevant to the gymnasium allow one to draw conclusions on its legal status and social role: it is shown how the gymnasium of Egypt operated in a completely different way from the traditional one which is normally assumed for the Greek poleis, especially of mainland Greece and above all Athens. A possible model of influence is suggested. (2) Starting from the rules of admission into the gymnasium and from the treatment of the outsiders, the social status and social composition of the members of the gymnasium are object of enquiry, focusing on the links with the army and the public administration. It is argued that the gymnasial community should be considered as a complex reality, formed by different components belonging to various levels of the social strata. (3) Educational, religious and recreational activities carried out in the premises of the gymnasium or strictly connected to it are taken into account to give an idea of the ‘daily life’ of the institution and of the ‘behaviour’ of its people, which was likely to be the result of a feeling of ‘shared identity’. (4) The concluding section draws the attention to the issue of identity of the people of the gymnasium more clearly: relation with the ‘others’ and idea of Greekness the people of the gymnasium had about themselves (influenced by the rulers’ policies), access to gymnasia, onomastics, elite classes, mixed marriages, reception of Egyptian burial methods and cults, advantage of ‘going Greek’. It is argued that, although having in the gymnasium the key-element for the assertion of their identity and status of Hellenes, the ‘Greeks’ of Egypt displayed complex patterns of mixed identities and were thoroughly embedded in the social, cultural, religious, and administrative environment of Egypt.

Keywords: Greeks
ancient society
status
gymnasium
Egypt
education
identity
Advisor: Bowman, AK
Enforcing respect

Can contemporary liberalism justify antidiscrimination law? The question seems impertinent until we consider contemporary liberalism’s commitment to limited government. Once we do, we realize that contemporary liberals may not complacently assume that their theories justify antidiscrimination law simply because discrimination based on race or sex is so obviously wrongful. Rather, they must scrutinize antidiscrimination law just as they do other regulation of individual conduct. Providing such scrutiny, this thesis argues that three of the most prominent contemporary liberal doctrines of political legitimacy—John Rawls’s “political liberalism,” an antiperfectionist version of the “harm principle,” and Joseph Raz’s “liberal perfectionism”—all fail to justify core applications of antidiscrimination law, applications that we intuitively consider perfectly legitimate. In light of this failure, contemporary liberalism faces a dilemma: it must jettison either its commitment to comprehensive, uniform antidiscrimination regimes or its antiperfectionism and overriding commitment to personal autonomy. This thesis argues for the latter course by providing an account of the wrongfulness of discrimination based on race or sex that condemns all instances of the conduct. According to this account, discrimination is wrong because acting on discriminatory intentions is wrong. More specifically, by taking another person’s race or sex as a reason to treat her less favorably than one would treat people of other races or the other sex, one fails to respect her as a person, to regard her as a being of ultimate value. Unlike contemporary liberal accounts, this account is fully perfectionist, since it defines discrimination in terms of the intentions of discriminators, and the intentions of discriminators in terms of their attitudes, which partly constitute their moral characters. So long as we remain committed to antidiscrimination law in its current form, we must attend to discriminators’ characters. And to attend to discriminators’ characters, we must be willing to espouse perfectionism.

Keywords: antidiscrimination law
liberalism
perfectionism
Advisor: Gardner, J
Butt, D
Israel's beneficent dead

This investigation aims to ascertain whether or not the Israelites believed in the supernatural beneficent power of the dead. First, a lexicon of selected mortuary practices and beliefs is outlined. In the Israelite context, those rites most likely to reflect this belief are necromancy and those which fall within the purview of the ancestor cult intended to express veneration or worship of the ancestors (ch. 1).
Secondly, an evaluation of the relevant texts from Syria-Palestine of the third to first millennia B.C.E. demonstrates that a longstanding West Semitic or Canaanite origin for Israel's belief in the supernatural beneficent power of the dead cannot be established on the basis of these data (chs. 2 and 3). Thirdly, an examination of the Hebrew Bible demonstrates that while a concern to care for or commemorate the dead might be inferred, neither an ancestor cult nor ancestor veneration or worship in particular can be established on the basis of the available literary (or material) evidence.
Moreover, while necromancy is occasionally attested, the relevant passages which polemicize against Israel's embrace of this practice originate either in the last days of the Judahite monarchy or, more likely, during the exile itself. The historical reality which gave rise to this polemical tradition was the threat which Mesopotamian religion and magic beginning with the Neo-Assyrian period posed to later (dtr?) Yahwism (ch. 4).
Comparative ethnographic data suggests that the longstanding absence of the belief in the beneficent dead in Israel and Syria-Palestine might be partially explained as a reaction to the pervasive fear of the dead. Nevertheless, once this belief was embraced by late Israelite society, owing to contemporary developments in politics (Mesopotamian hegemony), economics (depletion of resources), and religion (popularity of divination), necromancy, not ancestor veneration or worship, presented itself as the preferred ritual expression of this belief (conclusion).
Beyond sorrow and swords: gender in the Old Norse Volsung legend and its British rewritings

This thesis explores male and female identity in Old Norse and British iterations of the Völsung legend, focusing on the Poetic Edda and Völsunga saga, William Morris's The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs, J. R. R. Tolkien's The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, and Melvin Burgess’s Bloodtide and Bloodsong. Using poststructuralist theories of gender and posthumanism to analyse representations of gender in these texts, it argues that, in the Old Norse versions of this legend, female identity is closely connected to the control of representations of narrative events, whereas male identity is subject to this control but becomes more overtly fluid in the depiction of shape-shifting. The thesis goes beyond previous critical analyses of gender in these texts which observe an active/ passive binary, or focus on female monstrosity and lament, and male heroism. Unlike most examinations of adaptations of this legend which focus on the medieval or Victorian material, this thesis provides a detailed exploration of The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs in conjunction with its Old Norse sources.
In doing so, it establishes the silencing of female characters by Morris's rewriting, and the foregrounding of male identity through a focus on the body, performance and the built environment. This thesis also considers both the Old Norse texts and Morris's poem alongside later, critically neglected, British versions of the legend to explore the ways in which narrative form influences the representation of the multiplicity of gender in The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, and the importance of a posthuman conception of identity in Bloodtide and Bloodsong. The thesis argues that the Old Norse sources do not stand aside from their later interpretations as something complete and originary, but are themselves supplemented by the rewritings of Morris, Tolkien and Burgess; it is, therefore, necessary to foreground our knowledge of all these iterations of the narrative to offer a fuller understanding of gender in the Old Norse Völsung legend and its British rewritings.

Advisor: O'Donoghue, H