This thesis focuses on the Celestine monks of France, a largely neglected and distinctive reformed Benedictine congregation, at their apex of growth (c.1350-1450). Based largely within the kingdom of France, but also including key houses in the contiguous territories of Lorraine and the Comtat, they expanded significantly in this period, from four monasteries to seventeen within a hundred years. They also gained independence from the mother congregation in Italy with the coming of the Great Western Schism (1376-1418). The study aims view the French Celestines against the backdrop of a vibrant culture of 'reform' within both the monastic estate (the Observants) and the Church as a whole, as well as the political instability and war in France. It will reveal a congregation alive with the passions of their times and relevant within them. Following an introductory section, chapter 1 will discuss the previously unstudied Vita of the leading French Celestine Jean Bassand (d.1445) in depth and introduce the key themes of the subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 will examine their Constitutions, in the process providing perspective on their hyper-scrupulous understanding of sin and the relation of their statutes to the Christian idea of 'reform'. Chapter 3 will look to anecdotal evidence concerning the quality of their observance in practice, as well the spiritual and moral writings of Pierre Pocquet (d.1408), another important Celestine leader. Chapter 4 will begin to establish how and why the order grew, examining records of benefaction (contemporary martyrologies and charters) as well as taking view of the financial (and in the end, moral) difficulties brought by war through the documents concerning the reductions of founded masses at the Paris and Sens houses. Chapter 5 will look at monumental and anecdotal/literary evidence, as well as the works of Jean Gerson, a friend of the order, to further define the cultural impact of the monks.

L'attention est une fonction au cœur de la cognition qui, à tout moment, nous permet de sélectionner les informations pertinentes à traiter, tout en ignorant les autres. Cette sélection de l’information qui s’opère à la fois dans l'espace et dans le temps résulte de l’intégration des informations sensorielles et d’un contrôle de "haut niveau" en fonction de nos buts. Cette fonction dépend d’un réseau cérébral incluant le système fronto-pariétal et est sous l’influence de différents neuromodulateurs, en particulier la noradrénaline, dont l’action reste encore mal connue. Mon travail de thèse consistait à comprendre le rôle de la noradrénaline sur les processus attentionnels. Mes objectifs étaient d’une part de vérifier notre hypothèse selon laquelle la noradrénaline modulerait les différentes facettes de l’attention (attention spatiale et attention soutenue) et d’autre part d’élucider les mécanismes d’action par lesquelles la noradrénaline exercerait ces effets. Pour répondre à ces questions, nous avons testé l’impact d’une augmentation de la transmission noradrénergique (administration intramusculaire d'atomoxétine) chez le singe, dans des tâches comportementales nécessitant une sélection de l’information visuelle soit dans l’espace (tâche d'attention avec indice et exploration spontanée d'images) soit au cours du temps (tâche de discrimination go/nogo). Nos résultats démontrent que l’atomoxétine facilite les processus attentionnels à la fois dans l’espace et au cours du temps. Dans l’espace, l’atomoxétine module l’orientation de l’attention visuo-spatiale en fonction du contexte, en ajustant le taux d’accumulation sensorielle ou l’impact de la saillance des images sur l’orientation de l’attention. Au cours du temps, l’atomoxétine ajuste la relation entre la sensibilité à discriminer la cible parmi des distracteurs et le biais de réponse des animaux. En résumé, mes résultats démontrent que la noradrénaline influence les deux facettes, spatiale et temporelle de l’attention et suggèrent une action via un ajustement des processus de traitement de l’information sensorielle et un ajustement du contrôle de l’attention au contexte / Attention is a function at the heart of cognition that, at any given moment, enables us to select some information for further processing, while setting aside others. This selection of information that operates both in space and time, results from the integration of sensory information and higher-level control according to our goals. This function depends on a cerebral network including the fronto-parietal system. It is also under the influence of different neuromodulators, in particular norepinephrine, the action of which is still poorly understood.The aim of my PhD work was to understand the role of norepinephrine on attentional processes. My objectives were, on the one hand, to test our hypothesis that norepinephrine is capable of acting on the different facets of attention (spatial attention and sustained attention) and, on the other hand, to elucidate the mechanisms of action by which noradrenaline exerts its action. To answer these questions, we tested the impact of an increase in noradrenergic transmission (intramuscular administration of atomoxetine) in monkeys, using behavioral tasks requiring a selection of visual information in space (cued attentional task and spontaneous image exploration) or over time (go/nogo discrimination task). Our results demonstrate that atomoxetine facilitates attentional processes both in space and over time. In space, atomoxetine modulates the orientation of visuospatial attention according to the context, adjusting the rate of sensory accumulation or the impact of image saliency on attention orientation. Over time, atomoxetine adjusts the relationship between the sensitivity to discriminate a target among distractors and the animal’s response bias.In summary, my results demonstrate that norepinephrine influences both the spatial and temporal facets of attention and suggests an action through an adjustment of sensory information processing and an adjustment of attention control to the context

In the early days of e-commerce, countries took to the phenomenon at very different speeds. Researchers proved the most important factors for this to be propensity for trust and the perceived risk of online purchases. Today, the use of short-term, interest-free consumer credit, also known as ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL), is becoming increasingly popular. This concept, too, has gained very different footing between countries. There is a gap in the research on why, but use of short-term consumer credit offline has been proved to be related to people’s trust and attitude to risk. This study reviews several macro-environmental factors previously proven to be related to technology diffusion, risk and trust, and attempts to prove their respective impact on online shopping and the use of BNPL. Data on online shopping is collected from the Global Findex Database and includes 52 countries, while data on BNPL is collected from Swedish FinTech company Klarna and includes six countries. Out of ten macro-environmental factors examined, five showed a significant positive correlation to online shopping: individualism, long-term orientation, competitiveness, ease of doing business and political stability. Two cultural factors, individualism and uncertainty avoidance, showed a promising linear relationship with BNPL use, in the opposite sign of their respective hypothesis, although only significantly for individualism. Both these cultural dimensions are documented to affect risk behaviour. These results indicate that whatever perceived risk counteracts the diffusion of online shopping, drives the use of BNPL products. We reason that BNPL cancels some of the aspects of an online purchase proven to be perceived as risky, such as card information theft. Thus, high individualism and low uncertainty avoidance means people are less bothered by the risk of online shopping, and therefore less incentivised to mitigate them using BNPL. The main limitation of this study is the sample size of the market data on the use of BNPL, as well as the included countries being too similar in many aspects. The findings are useful for FinTech’s and e-commerce companies exploring new markets for expansion, and for policymakers attempting to regulate this emerging financial industry. / När e-handeln etablerade sig tog länder till sig detta teknikfenomen i olika takt. Forskare har visat att de mest betydande faktorerna som påverkar detta är ett lands inställning till tillit samt hur riskfyllt onlinehandel anses vara. Idag blir kortsiktig, räntefri konsumentkredit, även känt som ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL), alltmer populärt. Även detta koncept har fått olika fäste i olika länder. Det saknas forskning på varför, men offline har användningen av kortsiktig konsumentkredit visats vara relaterad till människors tillit och attityd gentemot risk. Denna studie granskar ett antal makrofaktorer som tidigare påvisats vara relaterade till spridningen av teknik, samt risk och tillit, och försöker bevisa deras respektive påverkan på e-handel och användningen av BNPL. Data på e-handel hämtas från Global Findex Database och inkluderar 52 länder, medan data på användningen av BNPL hämtas från det svenska FinTech-bolaget Klarna, och inkluderar sex länder. Utav de tio makrofaktorer som undersöktes visade fem en signifikant positiv korrelation till e-handel: individualism, långsiktighet, konkurrenskraft, affärsreglering och politisk stabilitet. Två kulturella faktorer, individualism och osäkerhetsundvikande, visade lovande linjära förhållanden med användning av BNPL, i motsatt riktning jämfört med deras respektive hypoteser, dock enbart signifikant för individualism. Båda dessa kulturella dimensioner har tidigare visats påverkarisk beteende. Dessa resultat indikerar att den uppfattade risk som motverkar spridningen av e-hande ldriver användningen av BNPL. Vi resonerar att BNPL motverkar vissa av de aspekter hos e-handel som visat sig uppfattas som riskabla, som kortbedrägeri. Alltså innebär hög individualism och lågt osäkerhetsundvikande att konsumenter är mindre besvärade av riskerna med e-handel, och därför mindre motiverade att mildra dessa risker genom att använda BNPL. Studiens huvudsakliga begränsningar är antalet marknader i data på användning av BNPL, samt att de inkluderade länderna är för lika i många aspekter. Studiens resultat är användbara för FinTechs och e-handelsbolag som letar efter nya marknader att expandera till, och för beslutsfattare som vill reglera denna växande finansiella bransch.

L'apparente pérennité de la figure du zombie, sa résurrection périodique à des moments charnières de l'histoire et son évolution suggère qu'elle pourrait jouer un rôle symbolique au sein de la société où elle prend forme. Le mandat de cette étude consiste donc d'abord à dresser un portrait du zombie contemporain en clarifiant la provenance ainsi que les origines du mythe et en prenant bien soin de définir les caractéristiques récurrentes du monstre à travers les époques et nations. Ensuite, il tient à étudier trois différents films provenant de trois différentes époques soient : White Zombie (1932) de Victor Halperin, Dawn of the Dead (1978) de George A. Romero et 28 Days Later (2002) de Danny Boyle et Alex Garland. Ces films sont analysés en fonction de l'attitude du zombie, de ses caractéristiques, des motivations apparentes, de son pouvoir et impact sur la population. En somme, l'objectif vise ici à établir un portrait de la figure du zombie au cinéma, à donner un aperçu de son évolution, et à déterminer la nature du rôle, qu'il semble exercer sur la société représentée où il sévit.

This dissertation consists of two chapters. The first chapter establishes an algorithm for calculating capital requirements. The calculation of capital requirements for financial institutions usually entails a reevaluation of the company's assets and liabilities at some future point in time for a (large) number of stochastic forecasts of economic and firm-specific variables. The complexity of this nested valuation problem leads many companies to struggle with the implementation. The current chapter proposes and analyzes a novel approach to this computational problem based on least-squares regression and Monte Carlo simulations. Our approach is motivated by a well-known method for pricing non-European derivatives. We study convergence of the algorithm and analyze the resulting estimate for practically important risk measures. Moreover, we address the problem of how to choose the regressors, and show that an optimal choice is given by the left singular functions of the corresponding valuation operator. Our numerical examples demonstrate that the algorithm can produce accurate results at relatively low computational costs, particularly when relying on the optimal basis functions. The second chapter discusses another application of regression-based methods, in the context of pricing variable annuities. Advanced life insurance products with exercise-dependent financial guarantees present challenging problems in view of pricing and risk management. In particular, due to the complexity of the guarantees and since practical valuation frameworks include a variety of stochastic risk factors, conventional methods that are based on the discretization of the underlying (Markov) state space may not be feasible. As a practical alternative, this chapter explores the applicability of Least-Squares Monte Carlo (LSM) methods familiar from American option pricing in this context. Unlike previous literature we consider optionality beyond surrendering the contract, where we focus on popular withdrawal benefits - so-called GMWBs - within Variable Annuities. We introduce different LSM variants, particularly the regression-now and regression-later approaches, and explore their viability and potential pitfalls. We commence our numerical analysis in a basic Black-Scholes framework, where we compare the LSM results to those from a discretization approach. We then extend the model to include various relevant risk factors and compare the results to those from the basic framework.

This thesis is an attempt to address the surprising lack of study into the question of usurpation in late antiquity. During a period defined by a textual corpus (289-389), the thesis looks at how usurpers and usurpation were presented in the panegyrics delivered to emperors and their courts. That usurpation features very heavily in this corpus should tell us something in itself, but it is a feature of these texts which has hardly been observed. The thesis shows how the panegyrics employed aggressive rhetorical tactics that sought not to bury usurpers in silence but rather to glory in their destruction and to create characters for the usurpers and their regimes that were designed to reinforce the legitimacy claims of the victorious emperor. The language of the panegyrics concerning usurpers and usurpation is thus virtually worthless as a tool to reconstruct the historical actualities of the people and times that they discuss. It cannot be used, as some scholars have done, to give insight into the working of particular usurpations. But the study also demonstrates that the panegyrics are far too valuable a body of sources to simply ignore, as many more scholars have tended to do. The panegyrics demonstrate the beginnings of the processes of memory sanction, or damnatio memoriae, that were imposed upon defeated usurpers and, as such, give us a valuable insight into how imperial Romans recorded their history and conceived of the power structures through which they were governed. Panegyrics are vital to our understanding of usurpers and usurpation because they are the first step in the process of understanding why our narrative sources are so unreliable concerning such men.

Our understanding of the Later Stone Age (LSA) on the Greater Mapungubwe Landscape has until now been fairly limited. However, it is a landscape upon which foragers witnessed and partook in agriculturalist state formation between AD 900 and 1300, altering their cultural behaviour to suit their changing social and political topography. Nowhere else in southern Africa were foragers part of such developments. For this project a landscape approach was used to study the various changes in the regional LSA record as well as the way in which foragers interacted with farmers. In order to address these issues, data were obtained from an archaeological survey followed by an excavation of seven sites in north-eastern Botswana, part of the Greater Mapungubwe Landscape. These finds indicate that the local forager record varies chronologically and spatially, which had not previously been recorded. Foragers also used a variety of site types and in each a different forager expression was deposited, providing indications of their changing settlement pattern. Notably, this included a gradual movement into agriculturalist homesteads beginning by at least AD 1000 and concluding by AD 1300, when the Mapungubwe capital was abandoned. Thus, interactions, at least in some cases, led to assimilation. There is also clear evidence of exchange with agriculturalists at many of the excavated sites, but this does not always seem to be related to their proximity with one another. Performing a landscape study has also made it possible to make two general conclusions with regard to LSA research. First, these data challenge ethnography, displaying its limitations particularly with linking modern Bushman practices, such as aggregation and dispersal patterns or hxaro gift exchange, to LSA foragers. Second, a full landscape understanding combines the archaeology of multiple cultural landscapes and in this case also crosses national borders, two themes often neglected in southern African archaeological studies.

Pottery and livestock reached lithic using people in southern Africa some 2000 years ago. It has been suggested that early ceramics were introduced from further north then spread to the southernmost tip of Africa by an immigrant Khoekhoe herder population. How pottery and small livestock spread in southern Africa is debated. Some scholars believe that migrating Khoekhoe herders were responsible while others state that networks of local hunter-gatherer groups gained livestock and pottery by exchange and diffusion. Some think that both migration and diffusion played a part. The aim of this study is to contribute to this debate by comparing lithic technology in pre-pottery and pottery assemblages in the Central Limpopo Basin and northern Botswana. An abrupt change in lithic technology across the 2000 BP boundary would favour the migration model while gradual or no change would favour the diffusion model. This study focuses on two contemporary sites with Bambata pottery. Assemblages from Toteng 1 and Mphekwane Rock shelter in northern Botswana and the Central Limpopo Basin are analysed. For lithic analysis at both sites, the chaînes opératoires approach is employed. Although the method is not commonly applied to southern African Later Stone Age assemblages, it has broad appeal and potential in other parts of the world. The essential difference between this approach and the commonly applied typological approach in southern Africa is that it encompasses the whole life history of lithic material, from the basic nodule to finished tools. The study focuses much on the technological analysis and this dominates the analytical part. However, typological analysis was also performed in the study in classifying different categories of formal tools.

Cerebrovascular disease (CVD) can result in cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) and structural brain changes such as decreased cortical volume, brain atrophy and cerebral infarcts which are major causes of stroke and dementia. CVD is also associated with increased depression and depressive symptoms in later life. Midlife vascular disease and adult socioeconomic status (SES) are well established risk factors but less is known about the effect of factors from earlier in life on CVD and depressive symptoms in later life. A series of systematic reviews of current literature examining early life factors and stroke, cSVD and depression following stroke are presented at the beginning of this thesis. These reviews found that childhood IQ, education and childhood SES were associated with stroke and cSVD in later life. The reviews also found that education level was associated with depression following stroke. However few of the studies adjusted for vascular risk factors and adult SES. Therefore this thesis aimed to investigate associations between birth and childhood factors and cerebrovascular disease and depressive symptoms, after adjustment for vascular risk factors and adult SES, in four community dwelling cohorts: the Stratifying Resilience & Depression Longitudinally (STRADL) cohort (n=280, 45% male, mean age= 62.1 (SD=4.1) years), the Dutch Famine Birth cohort (n= 151, 44% male, mean age 67.6 (SD=0.9) years), the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC 1936, n= 865, 50% male, mean age 72.7 (SD=0.7) years), and the Simpson cohort (n=130, 31% male, mean age 78.5, (SD=1.5) years). This Thesis first examined associations between (i) cSVD burden (ii) total and regional brain volumes and (iii) self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, hypertension, smoking behaviour, adult SES and cognition. Neither cSVD nor brain volumes were associated with symptoms of anxiety. Higher white matter hyperintensity volumes, having one or more cerebral infarct and increased cerebral atrophy were associated with increased depressive symptoms independent of vascular risk factors and adult SES. Secondly, this thesis examined associations between birth and childhood factors and cSVD burden and total and regional brain volumes. Each cohort was analysed individually and then all available data meta-analysed. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, hypertension, smoking behaviour, adult SES and other early life factors. Meta-analysis found that increasing birth weight was associated with decreased risk of lacunes across all cohorts. Placental weight, which was only available for the Simpson cohort, was associated with decreased risk total cSVD, WMH severity and volume and cerebral infarcts. In the LBC 1936 and Simpson cohort increasing childhood and premorbid IQ and more years of education were associated with fewer cortical infarcts. The association between premorbid and childhood IQ and infarcts was independent of education level. Across three cohorts low education level was associated with more microbleeds. These findings suggest that factors other than traditional vascular risk factors may contribute to cSVD and structural brain changes in later life. Thirdly, this thesis examined associations between birth and childhood factors and self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms (QIDS-16). All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, hypertension, smoking behaviour, adult SES and cognition In the Dutch Famine Birth Cohort people born before the famine had lower scores of depression and anxiety on the HADS compared to those exposed to famine in early gestation and those conceived after the famine. In the LBC 1936 increasing ponderal index was associated with lower depressive symptoms, increasing childhood and premorbid IQ were associated with lower symptoms of anxiety and depression. Lower educational attainment and some indicators of childhood SES were associated with higher symptoms of depression and anxiety. Overall results suggest that early life factors, particularly childhood IQ, may contribute to structural brain changes and symptoms of depression and anxiety in later life, independent of vascular risk factors and other early life factors. Efforts to understand factors which may contribute to late life health, from the earliest stages of life, are important and may be used to inform changes in social policy. The effect sizes and potential impact of these findings suggest that larger sample sizes with more vascular disease and more depression are needed to robustly test these associations.

Personality researchers have described dispositional traits to typically show stability over the life course and yet one such trait, shyness, has rarely been examined in later life. Shyness as a global trait has been linked negatively to multiple psychological indices of childhood well-being, including loneliness. Despite the fact that older adults may be already at risk for experiencing heightened loneliness, regret, or decreased fulfillment, research has not assessed these experiences in relation to personality in later life. In recent years, withdrawal research has begun to move past shyness as a global trait to examine the motivations behind socially withdrawn behavior. The current study used regression analyses to examine ways that three facets of withdrawal (shyness, avoidance, and unsociability) may relate to loneliness, regret, and fulfillment in later life. Data from 309 older participants of the Huntsman Senior Games were used to explore associations. Results indicated that shyness, avoidance, and unsociability significantly predicted increased loneliness and regret, and decreased fulfillment to some extent. Further, marital status (married, divorced, widowed) moderated links between withdrawal and psychological indices of later life well-being.