VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Party status to armed conflict in international law

International lawyers have spent much time thinking about what constitutes an armed conflict. Yet, wrapped up in the question of whether there is an armed conflict is often a question of who is engaged in that conflict, particularly since States and armed groups tend not to go to war alone. Although ever-present in historical and recent conflicts, that question has received little attention. Against this background, this thesis analyses why it matters and how it is established that an entity is a party to an armed conflict under international law. The first part of the thesis shows that party status is central to all levels of the international legal regulation of armed conflicts. Parties to armed conflicts are not only key addressees of the jus in bello in their own right but also central reference points for the regulation of individuals and third parties in armed conflicts. In response to increasingly widespread cooperation practices in armed conflict, the second part of the thesis develops a common analytical framework for identifying parties to conflicts with multiple parties on the same side; the thesis labels these parties as ‘co-parties’. On this account of the legal criteria for identifying co-parties, a co-party must knowingly make an operational contribution, which is directly connected to harm to the adversary. The contribution must be co-ordinated with fellow co-parties such that each co-party is involved in the decision-making processes on the co-ordinated military operations. The thesis then demonstrates that the proposed framework for identifying co-parties also allows for a refined account of the allocation of obligations in armed conflict. This account may contribute to mitigating the risk of diffused responsibilities in cooperative settings and harnessing the potential of cooperation for enhanced protection capacity. Overall, the analysis of party status aims to enhance our understanding of the architecture of the international legal regulation of armed conflict and how it can respond to the complex realities of contemporary armed conflicts.

Keywords: co-party status
hostilities
associated forces
United Nations Security Council
military operations
due diligence
direct participation in hostilities
scope of application of international humanitarian law
human rights law
respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law
precautions
prohibition of aggression
support-based approach
public international law
non-international armed conflicts
war on terror
recognition of belligerency
non-State armed groups
international humanitarian law
co-belligerency
collective security
parties to the conflict
international criminal law
prohibition of the use of force
jus ad bellum
state of war
attribution
international armed conflicts
international organisations
neutrality law
third parties
complicity
declarations of war
Advisor: Akande, D
Jackson, M
Development of a clean and simple biocatalysed flavin regeneration system to aid sustainable chemical synthesis

Over the years, biocatalysis has evolved as an extremely useful tool for synthetic applications due to the incredible selectivity it offers under relatively mild reaction conditions. With the advent of directed evolution and enzyme engineering, new reactivities previously unknown in nature are also being discovered by scientists. One of the main factors that determines the cost and efficiency of many biocatalytic reactions is their cofactor regeneration system. Cofactors are helper molecules that aid an enzyme to sustain catalysis. Their complex structure makes them prohibitively expensive such that their stoichiometric addition for a biocatalytic reaction is not viable. Cofactor regeneration involves the recycling of a catalytic quantity of the cofactor over and over again using a catalyst. Cofactor regeneration techniques for the nicotinamide cofactors have been widely resolved in the past to an extent that some enzymes dependent on these cofactors have found application in industry. This thesis looks at ways to recycle another useful class of cofactors – the flavins. Preliminary efforts to regenerate the deazaflavin cofactors are also presented. Enzymes that rely on flavin cofactors have valuable synthetic utility, however, their application in industry is not well established perhaps due to the lack of efficient recycling methods. This project resulted in an exciting discovery that hydrogenases can reduce flavins under H2, an atom economical reductant. The robust nature and exceptional stability of the hydrogenase, Hyd1 was exploited to supply reduced flavins for ene-reductases and nitroreductases to accomplish H2-driven C=C double bond reductions and nitro reductions respectively with high selectivity.
Thus a new application for the hydrogenase enzyme has been uncovered. Demonstration of this novel, single-enzyme flavin regeneration system for application with several useful enzymes, with benefits over current flavin recycling methods, could make this Hyd1/ flavin system a promising choice for use in industry.

Keywords: flavin regeneration
hydrogenase
nitro reduction
hydrogenation
asymmetric catalysis
ene-reductase
cofactor recycling/ regeneration,
nitro reductase
enzymes
alkene reduction
biocatalysis
F420
Advisor: Vincent, K
Emma Tuckfield - A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsych)

Relationships between nursing staff and patients are central to mental health recovery, with good relationships linked to better therapeutic outcomes. Understanding the nurse-patient relationship in different contexts has implications for both care and safety.
The first paper is a systematic review of twenty-nine qualitative studies exploring nurses’ and patients’ experiences of the nurse-patient relationship in the context of restrictive interventions. This is a novel review question. A thematic synthesis found that patients and nurses experienced disempowerment, ambivalence, and disengagement in the relationship, though these experiences held different meanings for both groups. Studies were of mixed methodological quality, with rigour, ethical reporting, and researcher reflexivity lacking. The review indicates a need for interventions to ameliorate potential damage to the nurse-patient relationship following the use of restrictive interventions.
The second paper explored the role of relational factors in perceived safety within secure forensic mental health settings. Ten members of forensic mental health nursing staff were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, and their transcripts analysed using a constructivist Grounded Theory approach. A tentative model emerged from the data, suggesting that staff continually move away from and towards perceived safety, with relational factors mediating this ongoing process. Challenges arose which helped or hindered these processes. The model highlighted an important role for the staff team in perceived safety, suggesting greater attention should be placed on improving team cohesion and familiarity. A role for emotion regulation in perceived safety also emerged, which would benefit from greater exploration. There are clear implications for the need to attract and retain staff in forensic mental health settings.

Keywords: relational factors
forensic mental health
relationships
grounded theory
restraint
psychiatric nurses
seclusion
nurse-patient relationship
relational security
experiences
safety
restrictive intervention
therapeutic relationship
Advisor: Lane, N
Winder, R
Harrison, S
Jenkins, H
Miriam Kirkham - A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsych)

Title: Advancing the clinical understanding and measurement of negative self-beliefs in young people with paranoia
Background: Negative self-beliefs are implicated in the causation of paranoia. When we perceive ourselves as inferior, outcast, and hence vulnerable, paranoid ideas flourish. This relationship is pertinent in adolescence, a developmental period of identity formation and expanding social connections. However, little is known about the types of self-cognitions that drive adolescent paranoia.
Aims: We sought to investigate themes of self-beliefs relevant to the experience of paranoia in youth, and develop a precise measurement tool.
Method: This was a mixed methods study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 young people experiencing paranoia (age range=14-23, M=19, SD=3.22). Data was analysed using thematic analysis to generate two item pools (self-beliefs, evidence for beliefs). The item pools and measures of self-esteem, paranoia, depression, hallucinations, and grandiosity were completed online by 937 young people (age range=14-25, M=17.87, SD=2.75) from the general population. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to derive the Sense of Self – Youth Scale (SoS) (n=1200) and a complementary scale on evidence underlying beliefs (SoS-E) (n=1104). Psychometric properties were tested.
Results: The 20-item SoS includes four subscales: not good enough, bad, broken, and an outcast. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated excellent model fit. The SoS demonstrated high internal consistency (=.941), test-re-test reliability (ICC=.959), convergent and divergent validity. The SoS was significantly associated with paranoia (r=.634, p<.001), depression (r=.699, p<.001), and hallucinations (r=.418, p<.001). The complementary measure, SoS-E, had 18-items with seven subscales, and had a strong correlation with the SoS (r=.817, p<.001).
Conclusions: The SoS and SoS-E are brief, psychometrically robust, self-report measures which may prove helpful for understanding and treating negative self-beliefs relevant to the experience of paranoia in youth.

Keywords: adolescent sleep
social comparison
negative self-beliefs
Paranoia
Advisor: Waite, F
Anderson, C
Sheaves, B
Salkovskis, P
Collett, N
Muqatil ibn Sulayman, an early Zaidi theologian, with special reference to his Tafsir al-Khamsmiʼat Aya

The thesis consists of two parts:
Part One.
Introduction: Tafsīr up to 150/767, an historical study of tafsīr until thedeath of Muqātil b. Sulaymān.
Chapter One is of six sections: i. Muqātil's name and life, which presents the available biographical data. ii. His sect: Muqātil and Sufism; the murji'a; the anthropomorphists; Muqātil and Jahm b. Ṣafwān; al-Muqātīliya; the Zaidis and one of their branches, al-Butriya. iii, The quṣṣāṣ and the relation between the quṣṣāṣ and tafsīr. iv. The isrāʼīliȳāt, including a comparison between the quotations of Muqātil from the Jewish sources and the Jewish sources themselves. v. Muqātil’s place in tradition, in which the views of various authorities about Muqātil are examined. vi. Muqātil’s works, a description of all those extant, viz. al-Kabīr, Mutashābih al-Qur'ān, Tafsîr al-Khamsmi'a, and al-Wujūh wal-Naẓã'ir
Continued in thesis ...

Keywords: theologian
Muqātil ibn Sulaymān al-Balkhī
Zaidi
Tafsir al-Khamsmiʼat Aya
Muqatil ibn Sulayman
Advisor: Lewis, GL
Information structure in Georgian

In this thesis I investigate the realisation of information-structural categories in Georgian and propose novel accounts of how they are expressed syntactically and prosodically. On the basis of my findings I present a first detailed model of the relationships between syntax, prosody and information structure in Georgian in the Optimality-Theoretic and Lexical-Functional Grammar frameworks. The proposed accounts are situated within an original approach to the relationship between information structure and sentence form, according to which information-structural features cross-linguistically are reflected most closely in the association of individual words with the heads of prosodic phrases, permissible configurations of which are in addition articulated in terms of novel prominence-structural constraints. In addition to Georgian, I show that this approach is compatible with data, both from other ‘stress’ languages like English, and from ‘alignment’ languages such as French.
The accounts presented engage with a number of studies, and varying analyses, of the syntactic and prosodic reflexes of information structure in Georgian presented in recent years. Whilst the new syntactic account presented captures a range of available evidence not fully reflected in previous models, the prosodic account is based on new data from a production experiment which employs an alternative methodology to those of previous studies. In addition to supporting the compatibility of Georgian with the prominence-based approach, these indicate that ip phrase heads in Georgian associated with discourse-prominence are aligned with their right boundary, rather than with the left, as recently proposed by Féry (2013).
The proposed prominence-based account is reflected in the formal models presented, within which I accommodate both the Georgian and data from other languages. In the case of the LFG model, modifications are proposed to the architecture, including to p(rosodic)-structure to permit the representation of and reference to the heads of prosodic phrases.

Keywords: Lexical-Functional Grammar
Optimality Theory
Prominence structure
Georgian
Intonational phonology
Information structure
LFG
Advisor: Fellerer, J
The Spanish ambassadors in the Elizabethan court: collaboration, conflict, and contempt before the Anglo-Spanish War

This thesis examines the Spanish embassies sent to Elizabethan England by Philip II and Anglo- Spanish diplomacy between 1558-1584. It employs an actor-centred approach to study the lived experiences of the Spanish ambassadors in England before the Anglo-Spanish war, and utilises methodologies proposed by the New Diplomatic History. The thesis relies on the diplomatic correspondence between the ambassadors, Philip II, and other key Spanish political figures in the sixteenth century to reconstruct the intelligence gathering strategies employed by the ambassadors, and determine how they conducted their diplomatic duties.
Organised into two parts, this thesis first considers the foundations of early modern diplomacy. Part I establishes the epistolary practices found in these diplomatic dispatches to highlight the source base for this thesis. It will then locate diplomatic dispatches within the circulation of news in early modern Europe. The representative character of ambassadors and sociability of ambassadors will also be discussed before Part I concludes with an examination of sub-ambassadorial figures in court and how these figures engaged in diplomacy.
Part II reflects on the ambassadors’ diplomatic activities in practice through a series of case studies that consider their relationships in court, and the relevance of the English embassy to early modern Spanish diplomacy. The ambassadors’ interactions with Protestants and other Catholic ambassadors in the English court are examined in-depth and their diplomatic and social activities are considered in the context of confessional and cross-confessional diplomacy. Their support of English Catholics and Mary, Queen of Scots, and their reactions to the Dutch Revolt and the Portuguese Succession Crisis are then each studied to reveal the ambassadors’ understandings of the ethos of Spanish diplomacy and their own diplomatic conduct. The thesis concludes with a study of the limitations of ambassadorship and evaluates how Spanish diplomatic presence in Elizabethan England impacted political thought after 1584.

Keywords: new diplomatic history
Elizabethan court
Spanish ambassadors
Anglo-Spanish relations
Spanish diplomacy
early modern diplomacy
Advisor: Sowerby, T
Marcocci, G
Investigating the role of inhibition in human motor learning

Motor learning is extremely important in everyday life: from learning how to reach and grab objects to learning complex movements, like driving a car or playing the piano, most daily activities and hobbies rely on previously acquired motor skills. Increasing evidence indicates that inhibition mediated by GABA, the most common inhibitory neurotransmitter, plays a key role in learning new motor skills. Modulating GABAergic inhibition may therefore influence motor learning.
In this thesis, I investigated the role of inhibition in human motor learning by conducting two within-subject, randomised, placebo-controlled pharmacological studies, targeting distinct GABA-receptors, in young, healthy volunteers. In each study, I used a GABA receptor agonist, hypothesising that increasing GABAergic inhibition would lead to impairments in motor learning.
Firstly, I used baclofen, a GABAB-receptor agonist, in a pharmaco-neuroimaging study. I evaluated the participants’ motor learning behaviour and their patterns of brain activity during task performance and at rest. Using a novel technique, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI), I measured [GABA] in motor areas before and after task performance. I found that baclofen significantly impaired motor sequence learning and changed the pattern of learning-related [GABA] dynamics during learning. Baclofen was associated with the recruitment of additional brain areas during task performance, likely as a compensatory mechanism, and with decreased functional connectivity in resting-state networks.
In the second study, I used zolpidem, a GABAA-receptor agonist. I measured participants’ motor learning behaviour and their cortical excitability using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Zolpidem significantly slowed down response times and impaired the retention of visuomotor adaptation skills. I found no significant effects of zolpidem on TMS metrics.
Taken together, these results enhance our understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying human motor learning. They are also clinically relevant: both baclofen and zolpidem are commonly administered medications and they might be detrimental to the motor rehabilitation of clinical populations.

Keywords: motor learning
MRSI
fMRI
zolpidem
TMS
baclofen
GABA
pharmacological intervention
Advisor: Harmer, C
Stagg, C
Issues in accuracy epistemology

This thesis looks at various questions in the accuracy epistemology research programme. These include: what kind of accuracy coherence (if any) grounds epistemic requirements on outright belief, and what do the resulting requirements (if any) look like; how does this kind of accuracy coherence constrain or otherwise bear on higher order beliefs; how should we reason when we are uncertain what the correct theory of accuracy (understood as the epistemic good) is; can accounts of expectedly accurate updates make sense of the idea that it is epistemically valuable to gather new evidence; can accounts of expectedly accurate updates make proper sense of how we should respond to new evidence.

Keywords: Evidence
Credence
Rationality
Decision theory
Epistemology
Belief
Accuracy epistemology
Epistemic utility
Formal epistemology
Advisor: Williamson, T
Salow, B
Electrochemical studies

This thesis focuses on the electrochemical studies for two distinct purposes: one is to invent and validate an electrochemical sensor for detecting phosphate in natural aqueous solutions. The other is to develop a more comprehensive understanding of electrocatalysis at ensemble and single entity multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Chapter 1 introduces essential background knowledge about fundamental electrochemistry and the generic electrochemical techniques used in this thesis and Chapter 2 gives a detailed description about experimental methods and materials characterization.
Chapter 3 and 4 reports a novel amperometric sensor for aqueous phosphate ions in freshwater systems: Chapter 3 reviews previous work related to amperometric methods for phosphate analysis and uses commercial software to predict the speciation of molybdate, phosphate and their complex species both separately and in mixtures in aqueous solution as a function of concentration and pH. Chapter 4 builds on the work in Chapter 3 to realize the electrochemical detection of phosphate at an ammonium molybdate tetrahydrate-chitosan modified glassy carbon macro electrode in aqueous solutions. By employing cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV), the electrocatalytic mechanism for quantitative detection of trace phosphate was inferred and this method was optimized and successfully applied for environmental use.
Chapter 5, 6 and 7 focus on the electrocatalytic nano-impacts of single carbon nanotubes. Chapter 5 reports the electro-oxidation of amino-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-NH2) under acidic and neutral conditions, making comparison with pure multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) at ensemble and single entity level. By measuring the extent of protonation of amino groups as a function of pH reflected by the oxidative signals in CV and nano-impacts, the pKa of the amino functionality in the MWCNTs was determined. Chapter 6 studies the mechanism of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysed by MWCNTs at single entity level. It reveals that the surface oxygen functionality on carbon nanotubes facilitated the reduction from oxygen to peroxide in alkaline media. Then based on this inference, we further compared the electrocatalytic performance of ORR at single MWCNT or MWCNTs-NH2 particles in Chapter 7. By comparing the voltammetric behaviour on glassy carbon macro electrode modified with layers of MWCNTs or MWCNTs-NH2 ensemble and impact signal from the collision of a single MWCNTs or MWCNTs-NH2 particle, it was inferred that the promotion of the electrocatalytic reaction of the oxygen reduction is primarily due to the amount of surface oxygen functionality not the nitrogen content. The generic approach discussed in these three chapters gives proof of concept to the use of joint single entity and ensemble measurements for exploring electrocatalysis with scope for application to a wide range of nano-entities.

Advisor: Compton, R