VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The law and policy of regulating the European Internal Market: the harmonisation of national laws governing the supply of defective services to consumers

This thesis looks into the law and policy implications of law-making within the EU in pursuit of the internal market, while protecting other interests such as those of consumers. The discussion concentrates in the field of services addressed to consumers and more specifically in harmonising at EU level the national liability rules governing their defective supply. This case study is developed on the following strands. Firstly, the withdrawal of the European Commission’s ‘Proposal for a Council Directive on the liability of suppliers of services’ [COM (90) 482 final] is examined from the following aspects: a) the political reactions which have preceded its withdrawal, b) its compliance with the constitutional principles governing the legislative process at EU level and c) the assessment of the substantive regime which it purported to establish. Secondly, having regard to a) the aftermath of the Proposal’s failure, b) the evolution of the constitutional debate concerning the existence, the nature and the exercise of EU competence to set harmonised rules and c) the law-making standards which the Union’s Institutions have set to self-restrict their regulatory power, the perspective of harmonising the liability of suppliers of services to consumers is further explored. Drawing on this case-study, this thesis examines the limits to EU law- making activity which are imposed by primary European law and also considers the policy standards which the EU has set for itself in engaging in its law-making commitments. This examination allows in turn the pursuit of broader reflections I about the law and policy factors which become crucial and deserve particular attention by the EU lawmaker when harmonising national rules governing market transactions – such as the liability for the supply of defective services – with a view to attaining and managing the internal market along with protecting other interests recognised at EU level, such as those of consumers.

Keywords: internal market
harmonisation
soft law
defective services
European market regulation
liability
Advisor: Weatherill, S
Adaptive changes of influenza virus A/H5N1 neuraminidase in vitro and in vivo

H5N1 adaptation process is thought to primarily involve in changes of the 2 main glycoproteins of influenza virus: hemagglutinin HA, responsible for viral entry via binding with host cell receptors, and neuraminidase NA, a receptor destroying enzyme, promoting release of newly formed virions and preventing their self-aggregation. With their opposing roles in viral replication cycle, one rational assumption is that influenza virus needs to maintain a balance between these 2 proteins activities to ensure productive infection. Because of their impacts on both viral evolution and drug susceptibility, it is necessary to gain insight into the interplay between HA and NA proteins as this will further our understanding of the cross-species A/H5N1 adaptation process, with or without selective pressure.
One of the most suitable systems to study influenza adaptation is cultures of differentiated human epithelial cells; which have been used for more than 30 years in various types of research. This project aimed to set-up that system in our laboratory in Vietnam to passage H5N1 viruses in order to use in later studies monitoring the adaptive changes of those viruses, especially in the two major glycoproteins HA and NA. In parallel, H5N1 isolates with different oseltamivir susceptibility profile were investigated to gain clear insight on NA enzymatic properties as well as the underlying mechanism of resistance. Those H5N1 isolates were human clade 1 viruses from the period of 2004 - 2005 in south of Vietnam with different oseltamivir sensitivity. Recombinant variants, with NA derived from H5N1 viruses and other segments from laboratory adapted human seasonal strain WSN33, were generated by reverse genetic techniques and then characterized on NA enzymatic properties. We identified 2 NA mutations which were suspected to affect NA activity and/or expression. Further investigations are required to conclude whether these 2 substitutions might support or allow the virus(es) to overcome the deficiency caused by oseltamivir resistance mutation, resulting in adaptive evolution of influenza viruses.

Keywords: Vietnam
H5N1
influenza
Advisor: van Doorn, R
Bryant, J
de Jong, M
Creative translation and creativity via translation:

This thesis makes an inquiry into the literary translation and creation in the early twentieth-century China, particularly between the years 1900 and 1925. I combine the theoretical approaches of both translation studies and intertextuality studies to form the overall methodological framework that informs the discussions in the thesis. Although the modern transformation of Chinese literature has long been discussed and debated in various scholarly works, which often attribute the transformation to foreign influences and reconstruction of indigenous literary tradition, a theoretical language is urgently required to articulate the exact process of literary adaptation and appropriation. Rather than taking the concept of “influence” at face value, I probe the intricate process of influence by examining the way Chinese writers and translators creatively translated and intertextualized foreign literary works to construct new literary texts. The two modalities of literary production – translation and intertextuality – call for the approaches of translation studies and intertextuality studies, and only when both approaches are taken into account can a fuller understanding of the literary scene in the early years of twentieth-century China be obtained.
I apply my methodology to the study of the transformation of emotional expressions which are most frequently found in love fiction. By combining translation and intertextuality, some Chinese writer-translators such as Bao Tianxiao and Zhou Shoujuan creatively translated foreign fiction, conveying emotions different from those intended by the original texts while at the same time introducing new modes of emotional expression to Chinese literature. Others, such as Su Manshu and Yu Dafu, borrowed foreign literary texts to construct their own literary creations, appropriating the emotions conveyed by the foreign texts. As a result of the vigorous adaptation and appropriation of Chinese writer-translators, new modes of emotional expression emerged in modern Chinese literature.

Keywords: emotional expression
modern Chinese literature
translation
intertextuality
Advisor: Hillenbrand, M
The ambivalent ally

My research examines the degree to which France was able to define an autonomous policy towards Nato in the period 1981-1992. In so doing, it addresses three central questions. What was the nature of French Alliance policy? To what extent did it prove capable of achieving the goals set for it by French policy makers? What constraints, if any, acted upon Alliance policy? My research, therefore, is intended to not only provide a detailed account of French Alliance policies, but also to offer a critical assessment of those policies, and explanation as to why they took the form they did.
The thesis argues that French Alliance policy under Mitterrand displayed a marked continuity with the policies of his predecessors. However, whilst de Gaulle in particular had managed to reap substantial benefits from a policy involving non-integration into Nato military commands, a policy of 'independence' proved increasingly inappropriate as a means of achieving the goals set by French officials. A rapidly shifting international situation, along with a deteriorating domestic economic capacity to maintain an autonomous defence posture, rendered the traditional options of French Alliance policy increasingly dysfunctional.
Based on this, the thesis goes on to illustrate the fact that the failure of policy to adapt to profoundly altered circumstances can be attributed to factors within France. Both the prevalent belief system in France - the so-called consensus on defence and foreign policy - and the nature of the policy-making process acted in such a way as to restrict the possibility of policy adaptation. Based on these findings, the thesis concludes by making some observations as to the limitations of many of the theories which deal with foreign policy.
Knowing and owning a body

For each of us there is one body which is special, different from all other bodies: the body one conceives of and experiences as one's own. The principal aim of this thesis is to understand what this conception and experience amounts to, and why it matters.
I address three main topics: (1) body awareness, body ownership, and the immunity to errors of misidentification of judgements which refer to a body as 'my body' or 'mine'; (2) spatial perception and the knowledge of location we take it to afford; (3) the conceptual problem of other minds and the nature of the basic emotions. Through consideration of these topics, I propose that the conception and experience one has of a body as one's own is as of a recognisably human body. This is so in two ways.
I argue that what makes a body one's own is that one is aware of it 'from the inside'. Given this, one can also experience a body as one's own through the outer senses. So the first way that the conception and experience one has of a body as one's own is as of a recognisably human body is that it is human in physical appearance, like the bodies of others.
I also argue that the basic emotions are bodily states that one can be aware of from the inside, and in this sense feel or experience. This solves the conceptual problem of other minds. For it makes it possible to understand how the very same type of psychological state one can feel or experience oneself, one can also observe in others. It also provides the second way that the conception and experience one has of a body as one's own is as of a recognisably human body: one experiences one's own body, as much as the bodies of others, as subject to the basic emotions, and so as human in psychology.
I conclude by suggesting that this account of one's conception and experience of a body as one's own and as recognisably human points to a perceptual-demonstrative model of self-consciousness and self-reference: in basic cases, T means 'this human'.

Advisor: Campbell, J
Studies in applied bioelectrochemistry

This thesis descibes the development of bioelectrochemical systems for application as biomedical analytical devices and fuel cells based on biological catalysts.
A range of ferrocene derivatives in the oxidised, ferricinium ion, form act as electron acceptors for the enzyme glucose oxidase. Kinetic information for these reactions was obtained by using the electrochemical technique of D. C. cyclic voltammetry. An amperometric enzyme electrode for the detection of glucose was devised based upon 1,1'-dimethylferrocene. The enzyme electrode was constructed using graphite foil as the base sensor on to which the ferrocene was doped and glucose oxidase covalently immobilised. In gravimetrically prepared buffered solutions of glucose the electrode gave a current proportional to the bulk glucose concentration in the range l-30mM, which encompasses the range over which a diabetic's body glucose may vary. The electrode response is independent of pH, has a temperature coefficient of ca. 4%/°C and is insensitive to many potentially interfering substances found in biological samples. The electrode was used to assay both plasma and whole-blood samples from diabetics.
The enzyme electrode was also used to monitor changes in glucose concentration. An electrochemical assay was devised involving a coupled sequence of enzymes which consume glucose at a rate determined by the activity of the enzyme creatine kinase. This assay for creatine kinase may be useful in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction.
The ferricinium ion was studied as a general electron acceptor for oxido-reductases and a range of electrochemically coupled enzymatic oxidation reaction devised. These systems form the basis for the development of amperometric enzyme electrodes for detecting pyruvate, lactate, alcohols, sarcosine, xanthine, aldehydes, isocitrate, NADH, NADPH and carbon monoxide.
An alternative use for an amperometric enzyme electrode is as an anodic half-cell of a fuel cell. A biofuel cell based upon the oxidation of methanol by the quinoprotein alcohol dehydrogenase was developed.

Advisor: Hill, H
Hill, A
Parallel numerical algorithms for the solution of diffusion problems

The purpose of this thesis is to determine the most effective parallel algorithm for the solution of the parabolic differential equations characteristic of diffusion problems. The primary aim is to apply the chosen algorithm to obtain solutions to the equations governing the operation of membrane-covered oxygen sensors, known as Clark electrodes, which are used for monitoring the oxygen concentration of blood. The boundary conditions of this problem require the development of a singularity correction technique.
A brief history of electrochemical sensors leading to the development of the Clark electrode is given, together with the two-dimensional equations and boundary conditions governing its operation. A locally valid series expansion is derived to take care of the boundary singularity, together with a robust method of matching this to the finite difference approximation. Parallel implementations of three representative numerical algorithms applied to a simple model problem are compared by extending Leland's parallel effectiveness model. The chosen parallel algorithm is combined with the singularity correction to obtain a solution to the Clark electrode problem. Numerical experiments show this solution to achieve the required accuracy. Previous one-dimensional models of the Clark electrode are shown to be inadequate before the two-dimensional model is used to examine the variation of operation with design. The understanding gained allows us to demonstrate the advantages of pulse amperometry over steady-state techniques, and to suggest the most appropriate method and design for use in in vivo clinical monitoring.

Advisor: Rollett, J
Rollet, J
Alkaloids from transannular iodoaminations

This thesis is concerned with the development of transannular iodoamination methodology for the synthesis of pyrrolizidine, indolizidine and tropane alkaloids.
Chapter 1 introduces the concept of a ‘transannular cyclisation’ and outlines the utility of such cyclisations in the synthesis of a range of [x.y.z]-azabicyclic alkaloids.
Chapter 2 describes the development of a three step lithium amide conjugate addition, ring-closing metathesis and transannular iodoamination protocol for the preparation of the pyrrolizidine scaffold ([3.3.0]-azabicycle). Cyclisation of a hexahydroazocine occurs with concomitant N-debenzylation to give a single diastereoisomer of the corresponding C(7)-iodopyrrolizidine product, which is then elaborated to the known pyrrolizidine, (−)-7a-epi-hyacinthacine A1.
Chapter 3 delineates an extension of the methodology described in Chapter 2, and an investigation into accessing alternate diastereoisomeric pyrrolizidine scaffolds via the transannular iodoamination process. These studies culminate in the synthesis of two pyrrolizidine alkaloids, (−)-hyacinthacine A1 and (−)-hyacinthacine A2.
Chapter 4 details investigations into the further elaboration of the C(7)-iodopyrrolizidine scaffold synthesised in Chapter 2. A nucleophilic displacement reaction with azide leads to the synthesis of novel 7-deoxy-7-aminoalexine analogues, whilst radical-mediated substitution of the iodide by oxygen allows the synthesis and isolation of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid (−)-1-epi-alexine.
Chapter 5 outlines the development of the transannular iodoamination reaction to facilitate the synthesis of the tropane architecture ([3.2.1]-azabicycle). A tandem lithium amide conjugate addition and aldol reaction sequence is followed by ring-closing metathesis to give the required aminocycloheptene. Subsequent treatment with iodine results in transannular cyclisation to give a single iodotropane product which, following elaboration culminates in the synthesis of (+)-pseudococaine.
Chapter 6 contains full experimental procedures and characterisation data for all compounds synthesised in Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Keywords: iodocyclisation
cocaine
transannular
iodoamination
pyrrolizidine
tropane
asymmetric synthesis
alkaloids
Advisor: Davies, S
Science in propaganda and popular culture in the USSR under Khruschëv (1953-1964)

This thesis is the first detailed study of the way in which science and technology were portrayed in propaganda and popular culture during the Khrushchëv period, a time when the Soviet leadership invested significant resources, both at home and abroad, in order to capitalise on its scientific achievements. It draws upon a wide range of previously unseen materials from the archives of the RSFSR Ministry of Education, the Soviet Academy of Sciences, the State Committee on Radio and Television and the Central Committee of the CPSU. It provides the first archive-based analysis of the lecturing organisation 'Znanie', which was crucial to the dissemination of Soviet propaganda in the post-war period. The thesis also makes use of a variety of published sources, such as popular science publications and journals, as well as a number of Soviet films from the Khrushchëv period.
The thesis examines the manner in which scientific information was disseminated to the Soviet public and the ways in which public scientific opinion was able to participate in, and influence, this process. It is shown that a general lack of institutionalised control enabled members of the scientific intelligentsia to exercise a degree of control over the content of scientific propaganda, often in a very idiosyncratic fashion. The way in which the rhetorical and ideological presentation of science changed during the Khrushchëv period (often identified as 'the Thaw') is analysed, and it is shown that while Soviet popular science did become increasingly open to foreign influence it became preoccupied with new threats, such as generational and personal conflict. The thesis also uses the available sources to consider popular responses to scientific propaganda and, in particular, whether attempts to use scientific-atheistic propaganda to create a 'materialist' worldview amongst Soviet citizens met with any success.
The thesis provides detailed case studies of the use of science in Khrushchëv's atheistic campaigns, of propaganda surrounding early Soviet achievements in the space race and of the portrayal of the Lysenko controversy in the popular media.

Advisor: Priestland, D
The cult of St Thomas Cantilupe and the politics of remembrance

The thesis aims to answer the following question: how did the relationships people had with Thomas Cantilupe, Bishop of Hereford between 1275 and 1282, shape the nature of his posthumous cult? The thesis rejects the idea that the veneration of saints in medieval England was politically neutral, or that their cults represented a stable, uncontentious means of resolving social discord. Instead, it posits that the invocation and memorialisation of Cantilupe was an intrinsically political act, and one that was available to ordinary people; these memories were formulated through their personal experiences of life in thirteenth century Hereford, and the people and institutions that populated it. These arguments are primarily based on evidence drawn from Cantilupe’s canonisation proceedings, particularly records and testimonies of his purported miracles.
The first chapter discusses the historiography of saints’ cults in medieval Europe, and how their social function has typically been characterised, and outlines the principal sources for the thesis and how they will be used. The second chapter of this thesis takes the form of a brief biography of Cantilupe’s life and career, with a particular focus on how his actions might have affected the ways different people perceived him after his death. The third chapter enumerates the principal institutions and individuals that exercised power alongside Cantilupe in the diocese, and situates miracle recipients for whom we otherwise have little evidence within these contexts. Chapter four deals with the perspectives generated by Cantilupe’s interactions with the other lay and ecclesiastical authorities that constituted the structures of power in the diocese. Chapter five concerns the attitudes generated through direct experience of Cantilupe himself, or the way in which these attitudes were mediated by someone who did know him personally. Evidence that helps us to establish how ideas about Cantilupe were memorialised is discussed in chapter six.

Keywords: Miracles
Sainthood
St Thomas Cantilupe
Hereford
Medieval History
Advisor: Forrest, I
Structure and energetics of trivalent metal halides

Metal trihalide (MX3) systems represent a stern challenge in terms of constructing transferable potential models. Starting from a previously published set of potentials, 'extended' ionic models are developed which, at the outset, include only anion polarization. Deficiencies in these models, particularly for smaller (highly polarizing) cations, are shown to be significant. For example, crystal structures different to those observed experimentally are adopted. The potentials are improved upon by reference to ab initio information available for alkali halides with the 'constraint' that the parameters transfer systematically in a physically transparent manner, for example, in terms of ion radii. The possible influence of anion compression ('breathing') and the relative abundance of anion-anion interactions are considered. Simulation techniques are developed to allow for the effective simulation of any system symmetry and for the study of transitions between different crystals (constant stress). The developed models are fully tested for a large range of metal trichloride (MCl3) systems. Particular attention is paid to the comparison with recent neutron and X-ray diffraction data on the liquid state. Polarization effects are shown to be vital in reproducing strong experimental features. The excellent agreement between simulation and experiment allows for differences in experimental procedures to be highlighted.
The transferability is further tested by modelling mixtures of the lanthanides with alkali halides with potentials unchanged from the pure systems. The complex evolution of the melt structure is highlighted as the concentration of MCl3 increases. The effectiveness of the models is tested by reference to dynamical properties. Particular attention is paid to the comparison with Raman scattering data available for a wide range of systems and mixture concentrations. The simulated spectra are generated both by a simple molecular picture of the underlying vibrations and by a more complex (fluctuating polarizability) model in which the spectra are broken down into contributions from different mechanisms. This comparison allows for the validity of treating network-like systems as a series of 'isolated' molecules to be assessed. The transferability of the potentials is pushed to the limits by modelling metal tribromides, in which the parameters are obtained from the trichlorides by the same simple scaling arguments.