VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Studies on neural regulation of blood pressure in hypertension

Resetting of baroreceptor afferent firing in hypertensive animals, and the reduction in baroreflex regulation of the heart rate seen in man, are thought to be secondary to changes in vascular distensibility in hypertension.
Diminished baroreflex sensitivity should be reflected in a withdrawal of inhibition of sympathetic nervous function. This hypothesis was investigated in 62 hypertensive subjects using three indirect indices of sympathetic nervous activity: (1) the haemodynamic responses to mental and physical exercise, (2) plasma noradrenaline concentrations at rest, and on exercise, and (3) the beat-to-beat variability of waking ambulatory blood pressure.
Subjects with diminished baroreflex sensitivity (1) achieved higher maximum mean arterial blood pressures during four different exercises, and greater absolute increases in blood pressure when bicycling, (2) tended (P
The time course and extent of changes in baroreflex sensitivity, in relation to changes in the heart and (by inference from previous work) the peripheral vasculature, during the development and reversal of 2-kidney 1-clip Goldblatt hypertension was investigated in rats. A reduction in baroreflex sensitivity occurred within three days of renovascular hypertension, before the occurrence of cardiovascular changes and resetting of the threshold for carotid sinus activation. Baroreflex sensitivity returned to normal one day after the reversal of renovascular hypertension, at a time when these structural changes were still present. It was concluded that 'non-structural', rather than 'structural' factors were responsible for the reduction in baroreflex sensitivity during the initial stages of renovascular hypertension.

Advisor: Jones, J
Neutrino oscillation parameters from [nu]e appearance in the T2K experiment

The T2K Experiment is a long-baseline accelerator neutrino oscillation experiment, whose primary aim is to look for νe appearance in a νμ beam. A predominantly νμ beam is produced at J-PARC in Tokai on the east coast of Japan, and neutrino interactions are measured both by a near detector complex, 280 m from the neutrino production target,and by a large water Cerenkov detector, Super-Kamiokande, 295 km away. This thesis is concerned with oscillations νμ → νe, within both a standard three neutrino model and a model in which there is one additional sterile neutrino.
By looking at νe appearance over the T2K baseline, this thesis looks for oscil- lations involving one additional sterile neutrino. A region of the short baseline neutrino oscillation parameter space favoured by other experiments is excluded at 3σ.
The ND280 is also used to search for νe appearance over a short baseline. A νe selection is developed, and limits on the short baseline oscillation parameter space are set. Sensitivity predictions are also made for future T2K running. The T2K ND280 is interesting for this work since the detector technology is different to that of other experiments that have seen indications of short baseline electron-neutrino appearance.
In the standard three-flavour neutrino oscillation picture, a combined analy- sis of the electron-neutrino appearance results of T2K and another long-baseline accelerator neutrino experiment, MINOS, is presented. Combining the two re- sults with the Feldman-Cousins method results in sin2 2θ13 = 0 being excluded at 2.7σ, assuming the normal neutrino mass hierarchy.

Keywords: T2K
neutrino
sterile neutrino
Advisor: Weber, A
An inquiry into the philosophical foundations of the defendant's duty of restitution in unjust enrichment

The aim of this thesis is to uncover the philosophical foundations of the defendant's duty of restitution in the law of unjust enrichment. I argue that the current dominant account for the duty of restitution – that it is best explained by the model of corrective justice – is inadequate as it fails to accommodate two key features of an action in unjust enrichment, namely, the irrelevance of fault and the absence of causation. In place of corrective justice, I suggest three alternative models: distributive justice, equity, and commutative justice. The first two candidates ultimately prove unsatisfactory, but in their respective failures help identify certain fundamental elements of unjust enrichment. The third is the most promising, but care must be taken not to conflate it with corrective justice. I argue that corrective and commutative justice are not synonymous since, while corrective justice exemplifies an intrapersonal equality, the relevant form of equality for commutative justice is interpersonal. I define commutative justice as exemplifying the principle of equality in exchange, specifically, equality of the things exchanged. Unjust enrichment, I conclude, is a manifestation of inequality of exchange, of commutative injustice. Although commutative justice accurately describes situations of unjust enrichment, I admit that it cannot alone justify the existence or imposition of the duty of restitution on the defendant. Something more is required: a normative theory for preserving the status quo of initial entitlement distribution. As such, I canvas two alternative theories as exemplified by Hegelian and Aristotelian conceptions of property, respectively. These two theories map onto a corresponding distinction between private (pre-institutional) rights and public (post-institutional) values. I conclude that given the legal duty of restitution and the fact that it is difficult to conceptualize a private right that could justify this type of duty on the defendant, the Aristotelian understanding is preferable.

Keywords: private law
legal theory
restitution
unjust enrichment
Advisor: Kimel, D
Essays in corporate finance

Prior research on corporations finds that there exists a large unexplained firm-specific heterogeneity in corporate behaviors stemming from the effects of managers. This research identifies managerial personalities and tests their effects on corporate behaviors both experimentally and empirically. First, the effects of managerial personalities on corporate financing decisions are tested using a laboratory experiment with managers in South Korea. The laboratory experimental market is à la Modigliani and Miller but with two frictions, bankruptcy costs and corporate taxation. Leverage choices of managers with particular personality traits are compared against the optimal capital structure computed from the static trade-off theory. The results show that extravert managers choose higher leverage ratios, with the effect being financially meaningful although not statistically significant. Secondly, I identify extravert CEOs and empirically measure its effects on corporate financing choices using Chief Executive Officers’ avocation data and corporate financial data of public, nonfinancial US companies between 1992 and 2011. The results of mean comparisons by group, fixed effects regressions, difference-in-difference regressions, and changes of leverages around CEO turnovers show that extravert CEOs tend to issue risky debt more when accessing external finance and maintain higher leverage ratios than their peers. Thirdly, I test the effects of managerial extraversion on executive compensation. I first offer an empirical compensation model of managerial bargaining power, and then empirically tests the prediction by identifying a personality trait relevant to bargaining power using a novel set of managerial hobbies data. The results provide an evidence that CEO bargaining power has an increasing effect on CEO compensation.

Keywords: behavioral economics
corporate finance
behavioral finance
Advisor: Noe, T
Developing novel blood-stage malaria vaccines

Natural exposure to Plasmodium falciparum’s asexual blood-stage results in protection against severe disease, but no vaccine using the widely-studied blood-stage antigens apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1) or merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1) has proven convincingly protective in clinical trials. Challenges include antigenic polymorphism, the apparent requirement for exceptionally high antibody concentrations for protection, and clinical-grade production of conformationally-accurate recombinant protein antigens followed by formulation with a human-compatible adjuvant. This thesis describes the generation of viral-vectored vaccines targeting ten less-studied blood-stage antigens, focusing upon antigens implicated in erythrocyte invasion. These vaccines were immunogenic in mice and rabbits. The rabbit antibodies raised were functionally active in the in vitro assay of parasite growth inhibitory activity (GIA). GIA with antibodies against one antigen, RH5, exceeded that achieved with antibodies against the ‘gold standard’ AMA1 or MSP1 antigens. This antigen’s amino acid sequence is relatively conserved between parasite strains. Importantly, and unlike anti-AMA1 and MSP1 antibodies, the GIA effects transcend genetically diverse strains.
It was hypothesised that blockade of the interaction of RH5 with its receptor basigin was likely to be a mechanism of action of anti-RH5 antibodies. Vaccine-induced polyclonal anti-RH5 serum was found to be capable of blocking this interaction, as well as merozoite attachment to erythrocytes. A panel of RH5-specific monoclonal antibodies were raised: those which block the RH5-receptor interaction were capable of neutralising parasites. Minimal linear epitopes recognised by these antibodies were mapped, and are likely to be within or close to RH5’s receptor binding site.
These data support prompt clinical testing of RH5-based vaccines, and shed light upon the mechanism of action of anti-RH5 antibodies. However substantial challenges remain in establishing whether this antigen, selected on the basis of the in vitro assay of GIA, will be capable of achieving in vivo protection against P. falciparum. Further work presented in this thesis addresses the use of quantitative PCR data to assess blood-stage vaccine efficacy in experimental human challenge with P. falciparum, and the use of surface plasmon resonance to establish more detailed characterisation of vaccine-induced antibody responses. Finally, the results of P. falciparum challenge of RH5-vaccinated Aotus nancymaae non-human primates are presented.

Keywords: Viral vector
PfRH5
Blood-Stage
Vaccine
Malaria
Antibody
Advisor: Draper, S
Hill, A
Sattentau, Q
Studies towards the stereoselective synthesis of alkenes

The work presented in this thesis mainly describes the development of new reactions of β-lithiooxyphosphonium ylides to access stereodefined substituted alkenes in a highly convergent fashion.
Firstly, β-lithiooxy ylides prepared from aldehydes and phosphonium ylides were shown to react with halogen electrophiles to provide a highly stereoselective route to E-alkenyl bromides and iodides. This methodology was successfully applied to the first total synthesis of naturally occurring (5E,9Z)-6-bromohexadeca-5,9-dienoic acid.
Secondly, an experimentally straightforward method was developed for the stereocontrolled formation of trisubstituted Z-allylic esters by in situ trapping of β-lithiooxyphosphonium ylides with readily available halomethyl esters. The synthetic utility of this methodology was demonstrated with the synthesis of plaunotol [(2Z,6E)-2-((E)-4,8-dimethylnona-3,7-dien-1-yl)-6-methylocta-2,6-diene-1,8-diol] and the first asymmetric synthesis of the naturally occurring geranylgeraniol-derived diterpene (6S,7R,Z)-7-hydroxy-2-((E)-6-hydroxy-4-methylhex-4-enylidene)-6,10-dimethylundec-9-enyl acetate. Furthermore, the chemistry of β-lithiooxyphosphonium ylides was expanded to access synthetically useful disubstituted Z-allylic esters. The synthetic utility of Z-allylic esters was also demonstrated in a versatile and diastereoselective Ireland-Claisen rearrangement to access γ,δ-unsaturated acids.
Finally, the synthesis of the side-chain of the 6,7-dideoxysqualestatin H5 was also investigated. It was demonstrated that the side-chain of 6,7-dideoxysqualestatin H5 could be accessed by a convergent and stereoselective organozinc-based strategy

Keywords: Synthetic organic chemistry
Advisor: Hodgson, DM
Entangling nuclear spins using photoexcited triplet states

Entanglement is one of the most technologically important quantum phenomena and its con-trolled creation brings us a step closer to the realisation of a quantum computer. Hybrid electron and nuclear spin systems which combine long nuclear decoherence times with the high polarisation and rapid processing times of electron spins are considered reliable candidates for the representation of the fundamental building block of a quantum computer, the qubit. In the literature electron spins quite often play the role of a mediator which can access, manipulate and couple states with long coherence times, beneficial for storing quantum information.
Despite the fact that an electron spin can be a useful resource for nuclear spin systems, its permanent presence can be a source of decoherence. The use of transient photoexcited electron spins provide an additional advantage and once the operations which involve the electron spin are completed, the electron spin can decay and not interfere further with the evolution of the system.
In this thesis we report magnetic resonance experiments and density functional theory calculations for the demonstration of nuclear - nuclear entanglement using photoexcited triplet states. We study homonuclear and heteronuclear fullerene derivatives and we identify in each case the relevant parameters that can lead to high fidelity entangling operations. The hyperfine interaction in a homonuclear system is the key parameter which determines the degree of entanglement between the nucelar spins according to a recent theoretical proposal. We measure and calculate the hyperfine interaction in homonuclear systems with 13C nuclear spins in order to prove the feasibility of this scheme. Further experiments on a fullerene system with two nuclear spins a 31P and a 1H show that entangling operations of high fidelity which involve the demonstration of CNOT gates, are possible within the lifetime of the triplet state.

Keywords: photoexcitation
fullerene
qubit
triplet
nuclear spins
Advisor: Briggs, G
Morton, J
Ardavan, A
Magnetic and structural studies of some mixed metal oxides

Powder neutron diffraction and magnetic susceptibility measurements of the antiferromagnetic phases of MnxNi1-xO,MnxCo1-xO, (MnxFe1-x)zO and (CoxFe1-x)zO reveal that the magnetic moments of unlike ions are always effectively collinear, despite the presence of competing anisotropies.
The magnetic moments of MnxNi1-xO (x = 0.24,0.48 and 0.77) at 5K are confined to (111) planes by dipole-dipole forces, and the small trigonal exchangestrictions are the products of opposed antiferromagnetic Mn2+-Mn2+ and ferromagnetic Ni2+-Mn2+ nearest neighbour interactions.
In MnxCo1-xO (x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.25,0.36) at 5K, the orbital degener- acy of Co2+ is removed by both Jahn-Teller (J.T) and spin-orbit coupling (S.O) mechanisms, leading to orthorhombic or triclinic symmetries and partially quenched Co2+ moments. Monoclinic symmetry is observed for 0.512+
moments are evident. The cobalt concentration is too small to support a cooperative J.T stabilisation in Mn0.83Co0.17O, where a magnetostriction (c/a < 1) is observed (in agreement with previous AFMR results).
Previous results for CoxNi1-xO, and those for MnxCo1-xO, (MnxFe1-x)zO (x = 0.05, 0.1, 0.12, 0.23, 0.36,0.56,0.66,0.89) and (CoxFe1-x)zO (x = 0.04,0.12,0.50,0.63,0.81) at 5K indicate that the anisotropy order for the iron group monoxides is CoO>MnO»FezO≈NiO. The weak trigonal anisotropy of Fe2+ correlates with the near-cubic symmetries of (CoxFe1-x)z( (x = 0.04,0.12) and (MnxFe1-x)zO (0.11) magnetostriction of Fe2+ is observed in (CoxFe1-x)zO with x > 0.5.
Measurements of vacancy-ferric interstitial ratios for (MnxFe1-x)zO and (CoxFe1-x)zO suggest that non-stoichiometry is accommodated by 6:2 or 8:3 defect clusters in the former, and by larger units in the latter. The observed magnetic moments of defective samples are normally larger than those calculated according to a previous model for FezO, and require the postulation of partial antiferromagnetic order around the clusters.
The room temperature Mossbauer effect parameters of (MnxFe1-x)zO (02+
and Mn2+ ions are randomly distributed over octahedral sites, ferric ions are localised around defect clusters.

Advisor: Cheetham, A
Gehring, G
Dr. A. K. Cheetham, G
Selective targeting of homologous recombination deficiency

Homologous recombination (HR) is a key DNA repair pathway essential for cell viability. Counter-intuitively, HR deficiency can trigger carcinogenesis. Understanding the mechanisms that allow the rampant proliferation of HR-deficient tumour cells is crucial for the development of improved therapeutic modalities to selectively inhibit the outgrowth of these cells.
Recently, we identified extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 (ERK1) as a factor required for the proliferation of BRCA2-deficient cells regardless of their p53 status (Carlos et al., 2013). Here, we report the therapeutic potential of two chemical ERK1/2 inhibitors, SCH772984 and VTX-11e, for selective targeting of HR-deficient tumours due to their ability to specifically obstruct proliferation of HR-deficient cells.
G-quadruplexes (G4s), secondary DNA structures formed by guanine-rich (G-rich) single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), represent natural barriers to replication fork progression. In this study, we demonstrate that treatment with G4 stabilisers selectively decreases viability of BRCA2- and RAD51-deficient cells. We identify DNA damage response activation and acute replication stress as main sources for the cellular toxicity of G4 stabilisers specifically in the context of HR deficiency.
Taken together, the results presented here indicate that HR is required for replication of genomic regions with G4-forming potential to prevent genomic instability stemming from inefficient replication of these sites. Persistent G4 structures lead to DNA damage accumulation, which enables selective killing of cells whose HR-mediated repair has been compromised. This is an important finding with profound implications for the therapeutic exploitation of HR deficiency in the clinic.

Keywords: radiobiology
DNA damage repair
homologous recombination
oncology
G-quadruplex
BRCA2
Advisor: Tarsounas, M
Le théâtre d'Aimé Césaire et de Derek Walcott et le « problème de la Relation »

This thesis considers crucial questions relating to the theatrical works of Aimé Césaire and Derek Walcott and argues that the authors' quest for identity is framed by a dialectic which Édouard Glissant has termed "philosophy of Relation". I show that it is this "philosophy of Relation" which helps the authors formulate a theatrical vision that transcends the chaotic aspects of Antillean history. By examining the dialectical thrust of Walcott's and Césaire's theatre, the study seeks to develop an overarching theory of modern West Indian drama that accounts for its specific Antillean nature

Advisor: Viala, A
Consumer involvement in private EU competition law enforcement: evaluating and Reshaping the enforcement toolbox - towards acceptable mechanisms

EU competition law rhetoric attributes particular importance to ‘consumer interest’. However, despite these often repeated pronouncements, final consumers and their respective interests play only an ancillary role in EU competition law enforcement. This thesis embarks from this observation with the aim of strengthening the importance attributed to ‘consumer interest’ in the application and enforcement of EU competition law. Taking into account the difficulty in adopting a ‘final consumer welfare standard’ as the substantive enforcement standard in EU competition law, the thesis shall explore an alternative route and focus predominantly on consumer participation in private competition law enforcement.
The analysis is conducted at three levels. First normative justifications for the advocated consumer involvement are provided (‘added value spectrum’ of consumer participation); these include deterrence of competition law violations and compensation to affected consumers (principal aims), as well as aligning the substantive enforcement standard with policy pronouncements, legitimise EU competition policy and contribute to empowering and informing EU consumers (derivative aims). Second, practical proposals in relation to remedial and procedural measures enabling consumer involvement are formulated. Third, in so far as institutional and political limitations impede the adoption of effective measures in the field of private enforcement, alternative routes of consumer participation in public competition law enforcement (that possess the potential to promote the ‘added value spectrum’) are also examined. In light of the above, practical proposals will also be formulated.

Keywords: Private Competition Law  Enforcement
Consumer Interest in EU Competition Law
EU Competition Law Enforcement
EU Competition Law
Advisor: Ezrachi, A
The model theory of certain infinite soluble groups

This thesis is concerned with aspects of the model theory of infinite soluble groups. The results proved lie on the border between group theory and model theory: the questions asked are of a model-theoretic nature but the techniques used are mainly group-theoretic in character.
We present a characterization of those groups contained in the universal closure of a restricted wreath product U wr G, where U is an abelian group of zero or finite square-free exponent and G is a torsion-free soluble group with a bound on the class of its nilpotent subgroups. For certain choices of G we are able to use this characterization to prove further results about these groups; in particular, results related to the decidability of their universal theories.
The latter part of this work consists of a number of independent but related topics.
We show that if G is a finitely generated abelian-by-metanilpotent group and H is elementarily equivalent to G then the subgroups gamma_n(G) and gamma_n(H) are elementarily equivalent, as are the quotient groups G/gamma_n(G) and G/gamma_n(H).
We go on to consider those groups universally equivalent to F_2(VN_c), where the free groups of the variety V are residually finite p-groups for infinitely many primes p, distinguishing between the cases when c = 1 and when c > 2.
Finally, we address some important questions concerning the theories of free groups in product varieties V_k · · ·V_1, where V_i is a nilpotent variety whose free groups are torsion-free; in particular we address questions about the decidability of the elementary and universal theories of such groups. Results mentioned in both of the previous two paragraphs have applications here.

Keywords: elementary theory
wreath products
decidability
universal theory
group theory
infinite groups
soluble groups
model theory
nilpotent groups
polynilpotent groups
Advisor: Wilson, J
Multilevel Monte Carlo for jump processes

This thesis consists of two parts. The first part (Chapters 2-4) considers multilevel Monte Carlo for option pricing in finite activity jump-diffusion models. We use a jump-adapted Milstein discretisation for constant rate cases and with the thinning method for bounded state-dependent rate cases. Multilevel Monte Carlo estimators are constructed for Asian, lookback, barrier and digital options. The computational efficiency is numerically demonstrated and analytically justified.
The second part (Chapter 5) deals with option pricing problems in exponential Lévy models where the increments of the underlying process can be directly simulated. We discuss several examples: Variance Gamma, Normal Inverse Gaussian and alpha-stable processes and present numerical experiments of multilevel Monte Carlo for Asian, lookback, barrier options, where the running maximum of the Lévy process involved in lookback and barrier payoffs is approximated using discretely monitored maximum. To analytically verify the computational complexity of multilevel method, we also prove some upper bounds on Lp convergence rate of discretely monitored error for a broad class of Lévy processes.

Advisor: Giles, M