<p>Rich fens are an important, but threatened, habitat type in the boreal landscape. In this thesis I have examined responses of rich fen vascular plants and bryophytes after drainage and restoration. </p><p>The effects of drainage on the rich fen flora were observed in a long time study and the responses were rapid and drastic. During an initial stage a rapid loss of brown mosses was observed, followed by increases of sedges and early successional bryophytes, and later by an expansion of dominants. Initial effects of hydrological restoration showed that rewetting can promote re-establishment of an ecologically functional rich fen flora, but has to be combined with other treatments, such as mowing or surface disturbance. </p><p>After restoration, re-establishment of locally extinct species may be hampered by dispersal limitations. To test if reintroductions could help to overcome dispersal limitations I performed transplantation studies with four common rich fens bryophytes to a rewetted site. The results showed that the species were able to establish, and that survival and growth were promoted by desiccation protection and liming. </p><p>I further examined competition among three of the most common bryophytes in natural boreal rich fens that usually occur mixed in a mosaic pattern but show small but important microtopographical niche separation. The results indicate similar competitive abilities among the species, and no case of competitative exclusion occurred. The results help to explain the coexistence of these species under natural conditions with microtopographic variation and repeated small scale natural disturbances. </p><p>Restoring a functional flora in drained rich fens is a complex task, which requires understanding of underlying causes of substrate degradation in combination with suitable restoration measures. The thesis suggests how the results can be used in practical restoration work, and also stresses the need for monitoring of restoration experiments over longer time. </p>

In one of his publications, the politician and merchant Anthony Bacon asked if ‘some honest Persons, of plain Understanding, and of tolerable Judgement and Experience, could be engaged, at the Government’s Expence, to make the general Tour of North America’. This person, he thought, would be able to forge a connexion between the metropolitan centre and the far-flung reaches of America and improve the relationship between mother country and colony by increasing the level of understanding of the other on both sides of the Atlantic. Bacon appreciated that this lack of knowledge of their American brethren meant that British politics and politicians were often working with limited, or biased, information when formulating imperial policy. This thesis analyses the ways six MPs with significant American connexions operated throughout the imperial crises of the 1760s and 1770s. It establishes that these men operated at the highest levels of British politics at this time and sought to create themselves as the predominant experts on the American colonies. In the debates on the nature of the British Empire throughout the 1760s and 1770s, these men were at the forefront of the political mind and, at least until the hardening of opinions in the 1770s, had an impact on the way in which the colonies were governed. More than that, however, this work has shown that – contrary to much earlier belief – the House of Commons in the later eighteenth century was not working in ignorance of the situation in the Americas: rather, there were a small but significant number of men with real and personal connexions to, and knowledge about, the colonies. As the imperial grounds shifted through the 1770s, however, even the most well-versed of these ‘American MPs’ began to appear to have suffered some disconnection from the colonial viewpoint. This thesis takes into account the Atlantic and imperial networks under which these MPs worked and formed their political theories and opinions. In addition, it seeks in some way to bring the politics of the American Revolution into the fold of Atlantic History and to assess the ways in which those with the greatest experience of working in the peripheries of empire sought to reshape and reorganise its structure from the metropole after the close of the Seven Years War.

La loi mémorielle du 23 février 2005 a créé une grande controverse en France. Les historiens furent le fer de lance de cette opposition, tant cette loi heurtait les fondements même de leur profession. En effet, la loi de 2005 préconisait l’obligation pour ceux-ci d’enseigner le rôle positif de la colonisation française, ce qui contrevient à la liberté de pensée indispensable à la fonction de l’historien. Le présent mémoire analyse la réaction des historiens afin de cerner leurs positions et leur compréhension de la crise. Il porte un nouveau regard sur la crise mémorielle de 2005 et évalue les écrits et actions des historiens. Il s’avère que la crise fut plus complexe que l’interprétation que lui ont donnée les historiens. À cet égard, l’étude souligne l’importance de l’espace public dans la relation entre les communautés mémorielles et les historiens. A ce titre, l’école symbolise ce lieu de rencontre entre histoire et mémoire. Le mémoire examine aussi l’enseignement de l’histoire dans un milieu scolaire affecté par les tensions mémorielles. En réponse à ces débordements de mémoire, l’historien a un devoir de rigueur intellectuelle autant à l’école que dans l’espace public en général. / The memorial law of February 23, 2005 created quite an uproar in France. Historians spearheaded the opposition, as the act collided head on with the very basis of their profession. Actually, the law of 2005 advocated the obligation for them to teach the positive values of French colonization, a recommendation that contradicted the freedom of thought essential to their role as historians. This dissertation analyzes how historians reacted in order to work out their positions and their understanding of the crisis. It sheds new light on the memorial crisis of 2005 and assesses what historians wrote and acted upon in the wake of the law. It turns out that the crisis was more complex than the interpretation given by historians. In this respect, the study underlines the importance of the public arena in the relationship between memorial communities and historians. To that effect, schools symbolize the meeting ground of memory and history. The dissertation also examines the teaching of history in a school environment affected by memorial tensions. In response to these memorial excesses, historians have a duty to uphold intellectual rigor in school as well as in public space in general.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa is known for its high marine invertebrate diversity but the evolutionary histories of these species are largely unknown. The present study contributes to the growing body of phylogeographic studies of southern African coastal species. The main aim is to better understand the colonization and diversification of South African barnacles. To investigate the phylogeographic pattern in the southern African volcano barnacle, Tetraclita serrata, 410 individuals from 20 sampling localities were analyzed. In addition, to understand the colonization and diversification patterns of South African barnacle species, nine taxa were included in a molecular phylogeny derived from the nuclear gene, 18S rRNA. With only a limited number of 18S sequences available on GenBank, a separate phylogenetic tree, for the mitochondrial gene, was constructed to determine whether the genus Tetraclita is monophyletic. Restricted gene flow in some geographical areas was hypothesized for T. serrata based on oceanic circulation patterns; known biogeographic regions; and features such as the Agulhas Bank, which has shaped the population genetic structure of several other South African marine organisms. The population genetic structure was investigated using the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) and nuclear internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) genes. Phylogenetic and population genetic analyses of the CO1 gene revealed two distinct genetic clades with overlapping distributions. The nuclear ITS1 data performed on a subset of individuals drawn from both mtDNA clades revealed a single lineage. The pattern observed can be ascribed to a historical event that may have been responsible for the formation of allopatric lineages that have since come into secondary contact. On the other hand, the pattern observed may be as result of incomplete sorting of nDNA alleles, in which case, given that the two mtDNA clades are not geographically isolated, could be explained by selective pressures acting on the species due to ecological constraints. No clear phylogeographic structure was found within each of these clades and the direction of gene flow of T. serrata individuals can be linked to the oceanographic features found along the South African coast. In contrast to most other South African marine species studied to date, the haplotype network, mismatch distributions and time since expansion suggest that the effective population size of T. serrata was not severely affected by the Last Glacial Maximum. It is proposed that further investigations into the phylogeography of coastal marine species, particularly obligatory sessile species such as barnacles, are required to determine whether the patterns observed in T. serrata is a rare history, or not. Neighbour-joining, maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses on the CO1 gene provide evidence for the monophyly of the genus Tetraclita; however, Tetraclita species found in South Africa do not share a common ancestry suggesting multiple colonization events. This study has also accidently led to the discovery of an introduced species, Balanus perforatus, native to Europe, and I discuss the potential of the alien becoming invasive on the east coast of South Africa where it was found. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid-Afrika is bekend vir sy hoë mariene ongewerwelde diversiteit, maar die evolusionêre geskiedenis van hierdie spesies is grootliks onbekend. Hierdie studie is gedoen om by te dra tot die filografiese studies van suider Afrikaanse kus spesies en om die kolonisasie en diversifikasie van die Suid-Afrikaanse eendmossels beter te verstaan. Om die genetiese struktuur van die bevolkings van die vulkaan eendmossel, Tetraclita serrata, wat langs die Suid-Afrikaanse kuslyn voorkom, te bestudeer, was 410 individue van 20 lokaliteite ontleed. Daarbenewens, om die kolonisasie en diversifikasie van Suid-Afrikaanse eendmossels te verstaan, was nege spesies ingesluit in 'n molekulêre filogenie wat gebaseer is op die kern geen, 18s rRNA. Met slegs 'n beperkte aantal 18s DNS volgordes beskikbaar op GenBank,is 'n aparte filogenetiese boom, vir die mitochondriale geen COI, gekonstrueer om te bepaal of die genus Tetraclita monofileties is. Beperkte geen-vloei in sommige geografiese gebiede was verwag vir T. serrrata gebaseer op oseaniese sirkulasiepatrone; bekende biogeografiese streke, en kenmerke soos die Agulhas Bank, wat die filogeografiese struktuur van verskeie ander Suid- Afrikaanse mariene organismes beïnvloed het. Die genetiese struktuurvan die bevolkings is geondersoek met behulp van die mitochondriale sitochroom oksidase subeenheid 1 (COI) en kern interne getranskripeerde spasieërder 1 (ITS1) gene. Geen duidelike bevolkings genetiese struktuur is gevind nie en die rigting van geenvloei van T. serrata individue kan gekoppel word aan die oseanografiese kenmerke wat langs die Suid-Afrikaanse kus voorkom. Filogenetiese en bevolking genetiese ontleding van die COI geen openbaar twee afsonderlike klades maar met oorvleuelende geografiese verspruidings. Die ITS1 data-analise wat uitgevoer was op 'n subset van individue wys op 'n enkele spesie. Die waargenome patroon dui op 'n belangrike historiese verskil tussen die twee klades. 'n Geskiedkundige gebeurtenis was dalk verantwoordelik vir die vorming van twee evolusionêre lyne wat sederdien sekondêre kontak het. Aan die ander kant, kan die patroon waargeneem word as gevolg van die onvolledige sortering van nDNA allele, in welke geval, gegee dat die twee mtDNA clades nie geografies geïsoleer is nie, dit verduidelik kan word deur selektiewe druk wat op die spesie was as gevolg van fisiologiese of ekologiese beperkings. Die statistiese parsimonie netwerk, ongelyksoortige verspreidings en tyd sedert die bevolkingsuitbreiding dui daarop dat T. serrata die laaste ysagtige maksimum tydperk oortleef het. Tot op hede het geen Suid- Afrikaanse mariene spesies so 'n patroon gewys nie. So, verdere ondersoeke in die filogeografie van die kus mariene spesies, veral verpligte sittende spesies soos eendmossels, word vereis om te bepaal of die patroon waargeneem in T. serrata 'n seldsame geskiedenis het, of nie. Buur-aansluiting, maksimum parsimonie en Bayesian afleiding op die CO1 geen het bewyse verskaf vir die monofiletiese afkoms van die genus Tetraclita, maar Tetraclita spesies wat in Suid Afrika gevind is, deel nie ‘n gemeenskaplike afkoms nie, wat weer bewyse verskaf vir verskeie kolonisasie gebeure. Hierdie studie het gelei tot die ontdekking van 'n eksotiese spesie, Balanus perforatus, inheems aan Europa, en die potensiaal van die indringer om ontwykend te raak aan die ooskus van Suid-Afrika waar dit gevind is word bespreek. / The South African National Research Foundation (NRF) and Stellenbosch University

No description available.

In a context characterised by the shift from fordism to post-fordism in the Iberian peninsula, this thesis addresses the following question how are capital, governments and social movements organised in the processes of integration and resistance that affect foreign immigration' in Barcelona and Lisbon? Thus, in the first chapter, an analysis of the concept of "integration" is undertaken in order to understand the complexities and elusiveness that hide behind it, giving special attention to immigrants' integration literature. A distinction between systemic integration and social integration is adopted, and thus in the second chapter recent theorisation on capital and the state (i. e. systemic institutions) is approached, while in the third chapter social movements and organisations are taken into account. In chapter four epistemological and methodological elements are noted. The last three chapters are devoted to analyse original fieldwork data (mainly qualitative interviews): chapter 6 analyses immigration governmental policies at European, 'national-state', 'national-regional', and local levels; chapter 7 studies social and capital organisations in Barcelona in relation to 'foreign immigration'; and in chapter 8 social and capital organisations are studied in relation to 'foreign immigration' in Lisbon. Finally, some conclusions are revealed whilst other questions are posed.

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by persistent sinonasal inflammation and sinus microbiome dysbiosis. The basis of this heterogeneity is poorly understood. We sought to address the hypothesis that a limited number of compositionally distinct pathogenic bacterial microbiota exist in CRS patients and invoke discrete immune responses and clinical phenotypes in CRS patients. Results: Sinus brushings from patients with CRS (n = 59) and healthy individuals (n = 10) collected during endoscopic sinus surgery were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, predicted metagenomics, and RNA profiling of the mucosal immune response. We show that CRS patients cluster into distinct sub-groups (DSI-III), each defined by specific pattern of bacterial co-colonization (permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA); p = 0.001, r(2) = 0.318). Each sub-group was typically dominated by a pathogenic family: Streptococcaceae (DSI), Pseudomonadaceae (DSII), Corynebacteriaceae [DSIII(a)], or Staphylococcaceae [DSIII(b)]. Each pathogenic microbiota was predicted to be functionally distinct (PERMANOVA; p = 0.005, r(2) = 0.217) and encode uniquely enriched gene pathways including ansamycin biosynthesis (DSI), tryptophan metabolism (DSII), two-component response [DSIII(b)], and the PPAR-gamma signaling pathway [DSIII(a)]. Each is also associated with significantly distinct host immune responses; DSI, II, and III(b) invoked a variety of pro-inflammatory, T(H)1 responses, while DSIII(a), which exhibited significantly increased incidence of nasal polyps (Fisher's exact; p = 0.034, relative risk = 2.16), primarily induced IL-5 expression (Kruskal Wallis; q = 0.045). Conclusions: A large proportion of CRS patient heterogeneity may be explained by the composition of their sinus bacterial microbiota and related host immune response-features which may inform strategies for tailored therapy in this patient population.

The present work examines writings by authors of Somali origin in the Italian language. The analysis draws on and critically evaluates Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s concept of minor literature. Firstly, it investigates the different strategies through which these texts insert Somali words within the Italian text. Secondly, it scrutinizes the political engagement of Somali-Italian writings with the issue of racism, and their attempt to show the legacy of colonialism in contemporary Italy. Thirdly, it considers the ways in which these partly autobiographical texts envision a relational, plural and dialogical identity for Somali-Italian characters. In particular, the construction of alternative communities and multiple belongings beyond the dichotomy between Italians and Somalis through means of exclusion and inclusion of other minoritarian groups is analyzed. In conclusion, this work suggests rethinking the ways in which Italian literature is conceived, in order to include “minor” transnational narratives that exceed national paradigms.

This research examines the proliferation of discourses associated with the development of Postcolonial Studies in the field of historical and philological sciences. The principal objective of the thesis is to describe this cultural phenomenon as a discursive event in the history of critical practices. Analyses developing Michel Foucault's work on regulations of discursive practices and Michel de Certeau's work on the historiographical operation are organised around three sites. The first site features Jean de Léry's Histoire d‟un voyage fait en la terre du Brésil (1575). The purpose of the work on this ethnographic document is not to reconstitute its early modern context, but first to interrogate this documentary relation when Claude Lévi-Strauss and Michel de Certeau rediscover the text. In this perspective, the text functions as the archive of an inaugural moment referring to the exclusion of the 'Savage' from the making of history. To that extent, the first part of the thesis focuses on the illegible/inaudible part of Jean de Léry's text, in order to question what postcolonial readings try to circumscribe in the colonial corpus, and which historiographical rituals make this reading possible in the case of Histoire d'un voyage. The second site is constituted by the formulation of Gayatri C. Spivak's famous question: 'Can the Subaltern Speak?' and her archival work endeavoured to attempt to answer the question. This foundational intervention in the field of Postcolonial study pertains at the inclusion/exclusion of the historical positivity of the discourse of the Other. Building on this proposition, this second part of the thesis reinscribes the historicity of postcolonial criticism in the project of a cultural history of the hermeneutic listening. The third site addresses the historicity of haunting in a series of Patrick Chamoiseau narratives dealing with ghosts of the Caribbean past: Lettres créoles (1991), Ecrire en pays dominé (1997), L'Esclave vieil homme et le molosse (1997), and Biblique des derniers gestes (2001). This part of the thesis examines rituals that enable Chamoiseau to convert the return of the repressed into a historiographical operation. Following this, it appears that the development and proliferation of postcolonial scholarships cannot be properly explained by the crisis of a historiographical paradigm, but has to be referred in the first instance to a ritual dimension of the making of history in the Western modernity.

This is a study of the pursuit of African American colonization as a state and latterly a federal policy during the period c. 1850-65. Historians generally come to the topic via an interest in the Civil War and especially in Lincoln, but in so doing, they saddle it with moral judgment and the burden of rather self-referential debates. The thesis argues that, whilst the era’s most noteworthy ventures into African American colonization did indeed emerge from the circumstances of the Civil War, and from the personal efforts of the president, one can actually offer the freshest insights on Lincoln by bearing in mind that colonization was, above all, a real policy. It enjoyed the support of other adherents too, and could be pursued by various means, which themselves might have undergone adjustment over time and by trial and error. Using an array of unpublished primary sources, the study finds that Lincoln and his allies actively pursued colonization for a longer time, and with more persistence in the face of setbacks, than scholars normally assume. The policy became entangled in considerations of whether it was primarily a domestic or an international matter, whilst other overlapping briefs also sabotaged its execution, even as the administration slowly learned various lessons about how not to go about its implementation.By early 1864, the resulting confusion, as well as the political fallout from the fiasco of the one expedition to go ahead, curtailed the president’s ability to continue with the policy. There are strong suggestions, however, that he had not repudiated colonization, and possibly looked to revive it, even as he showed a tentative interest in alternative futures for African Americans. This thesis makes a case against unrealistically binary thinking, anachronistic assumptions, abused hindsight, sweeping interpretive frameworks, and double standards of evidentiary assessment respecting a technically imperfect and ethically awkward policy.