Nous avons étudié l’application de plusieurs mesures d’isotopes stables afin de caractériser les processus du cycle de l’azote et les sources d’azote dans les lacs tempérés à diverses échelles spatiales et temporelles. Les résultats d’une étude à travers 65 lacs sur un gradient trophique ont démontré que le ratio d’isotopes stables d’azote (δ15N) des sédiments de surface est un indicateur de l’importance relative des sources d’azote anthropique, mais que ce ratio peut être altéré par la diagenèse. La mesure du δ15N des sédiments demeure néanmoins un outil permettant de déterminer à long terme le changement des charges en azote anthropique aux écosystèmes lacustres et les causes de l’eutrophisation de ces systèmes. Nos résultats d’une étude sur la variation saisonnière de plusieurs isotopes stables dans trois lacs peu profonds situés sur un gradient trophique et ayant différents régimes de stratification ont démontré que cette approche est prometteuse dans les lacs mésotrophes et stratifiés. Dans ces systèmes, le δ15N de la matière organique particulaire (MOP) aurait le potentiel de déterminer les sources d’azote assimilées par le phytoplancton. Cependant les mesures d’isotopes stables du carbone (δ13C) et du ratio C:N indiquent que les apports de matières organiques du bassin versant peuvent altérer les relations observées. Nous avons également constaté une déviation de la relation 1:1 entre les isotopes stables d’azote et d’oxygène (δ18O) du nitrate (NO3-) indiquant son assimilation et sa nitrification simultanée. Cette application est particulièrement prometteuse puisque la nitrification est méconnue dans les lacs et peut exacerber les effets de l’eutrophisation. / We studied the application of multiple stable isotopes measures with the overall objective of improving our understanding of nitrogen cycling and sources in temperate lakes over different spatial and temporal scales. Results from our study across 65 lakes on a trophic gradient demonstrated that surface sediment nitrogen stable isotope ratio (δ15N) is an indicator of the relative importance of anthropogenic N loads, but that diagenesis can alter this ratio. Nevertheless, sediment core δ15N is a powerful proxy for the determination of longterm changing anthropogenic N loads to lake ecosystems and the causes of lake eutrophication. Results from our second study on multiple stable isotopes seasonal variation in three shallow lakes along a trophic gradient and with different stratification regimes have demonstrated that such an approach is particularly promising in mesotrophic and stratified lakes. In these systems, our results showed that the suspended particulate organic matter (SPOM) δ15N could be used to assess the nitrogen sources assimilated by phytoplankton. However, measurement of carbon stable isotopes (δ13C) and C:N ratios from the SPOM showed that the observed relationships can be altered by watershed derived organic matter. We have also found a deviation from the 1:1 relationship between nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopes (δ18O) of nitrate (NO3-) indicating a simultaneous NO3- assimilation and nitrification in our stratified system. The application of dual nitrate isotopes is promising in the study of nitrification since this process is not well understood in lakes and can increase the severity of eutrophication symptoms.

This work operates at the intersection of academics, art, and activism. Within queer studies there is a tension between assimilation and liberation, sometimes situated as between pragmatism and utopia. This work re-examines Frankfurt school Marxist views of utopia through a queer theoretical lens in order to employ the radical imagination and queer futurity to examine new ways of practicing liberation. Drawing from theorists like Judith Butler, Jose Esteban Munoz, and Gloria Anzaldua, this work uses art (film, writing, zine-making, and sound) as a way to envision and enact a better world situated in the present.

This study tests a theoretical model developed to investigate the impact of assimilation of commercial open source enterprise resource planning software (COSES) in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Specifically, the model explains how the top management team’s (TMT’s) information technology (IT) knowledge and experience impact both assimilation and firm performance. The hypotheses were tested using survey data from SMEs that have implemented COSES. Results from structural equation modeling suggest that SMEs benefit, through higher levels of assimilation and performance, from adopting innovative enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems such as COSES when they have a TMT that has experience with and is knowledgeable about technology. The study also highlights the importance of the TMT in facilitating IT assimilation.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

L’immersion au sein des organisations ouvre à l’étude et à l’analyse de l’action collective. La thèse que nous défendons s’inscrit dans cet axe de recherche et tente de proposer une lecture processuelle de l’assimilation de dispositifs de gestion innovants.Un dispositif de gestion est par définition à large spectre : concrétisant l’action organisée en règles, objets et outils ; tout en en retenant les dimensions abstraites et non formalisées.L’analyse proposée est le fruit d’itérations entre concepts et repères théoriques retenus et observation empirique du contrôle de gestion appliqué aux banques au Maroc. Nous explorons en premier lieu les mutations profondes qui refaçonnent les systèmes bancaires et ouvrent à l’exploration des déterminants de la mise en place du contrôle de gestion au sein des banques. Le recours aux théories institutionnelles dans leurs développements nouveaux ancrent la recherche dans une analyse multi-niveau et non dissociée du phénomène. A la lumière de ces repères théoriques et conceptuels, s’entame une phase d’étude empirique approfondie dans une démarche qualitative d’étude de cas multiple (trois banques sont observées). La discussion des résultats aboutit à la proposition d’une grille de lecture décrivant le processus par lequel l’intégration progressive d’instruments de gestion – innovation managériale par les organisations du champ conduit à l’institutionnalisation de scripts se concrétisant, au sein de ces mêmes organisations, en l’ancrage de dispositifs différenciés. / Direct involvement in organizations allow for the study and the analysis of collectiveaction. Our thesis work follows this research process and attempts to propose aprocedural lecture of the implementation and integration of innovative managementdevices. Evidently, a management device has a broad spectrum: concretizing organizedaction rules, objects and tools, while retaining an abstract not formalized dimensions.The proposed analysis is the result of iterations between theoretical concepts andempirical observations of management control applied to banks in Morocco. We explorefirst the profound changes that are reshaping the banking systems that allow exploringthe determinants of the implementation of management control within banks. The use ofnew developments in institutional theories orients our analysis into a multi-level andnon-dissociated phenomenon. In light of these theoretical and conceptual references, thein-depth empirical study of a qualitative multiple case study (three banks are observed).The discussion of the results led to the proposal of a framework describing the processby which the gradual integration of management tools by the field’s organizations led tothe institutionalization of scripts embodying, within these same organizations, widerangingmanagement devices.

The metabolism of plants grown in the cultivation medium is influenced by its composition and availability of CO2. In this project the effect of cultivation medium on the activity phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC, EC 4.1.1.31), NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME, EC 1.1.1.40), pyruvate, phosphate dikinase (PPDK, EC 2.7.9.1) and enzymes of nitrogen metabolism: nitrate reductase (NR, EC 1.7.1.1), glutamine synthetase (GS, EC 6.3.1.2), glutamate synthase (GOGAT, EC 1.4.1.13) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH, EC 1.4.1.2) was studied. The tobacco plant Nicotiana tabacum L., cv. Petit Havana SR1 were grown in vitro in containers fitted with a filter, which caused limited access of CO2. The cultivation medium was modified Murashige-Skoog agar with decreased amounts of phosphate, nitrate, ammonium, or with casein as source of nitrogen and with or without of 1.5% sucrose as additional carbon source Activity of PEPC was higher in plants grown in medium in the presence of sucrose. Reduced concentrations of phosphates, nitrates or NH4 + ions or when casein was the only source of N in medium caused decreased activity of PEPC. Under these conditions, also activity of NADP-ME and of enzymes of nitrogen metabolism: NR, GS decreased. Activity of all enzymes was also negatively affected by limited CO2. On the other...

In this work we apply data assimilation onto meteorological model WRF for local domain. We use bayesian statistics, namely Sequential Monte Carlo method combined with particle filtering. Only surface wind data are considered. An application written in Python programming language is also part of this work. This application forms interface with WRF, performs data assimilation and provides set of charts as output of data assimilation. In case of stable wind conditions, wind predictions of assimilated WRF are significantly closer to measured data than predictions of non-assimilated WRF. In this kind of conditions, this assimilated model can be used for more accurate short-term local weather predictions. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / W. R. Goe / This qualitative research explores the relationship between urban amenities and the employment of creative Indian workers using personal interviews conducted with Indian professional workers and their families working and residing in the Kansas City (KC) Metropolitan Area. In addressing the debate of whether creative workers follow jobs or jobs follow creative workers, the findings indicate that the decision of Indian creative workers to locate in the Kansas City metropolitan area was primarily influenced by the availability of job opportunities and had little to do with available amenities. A key finding from this study is that the presence of local amenities central to the lifestyles of American professional workers was more important to Indian professional workers than the availability of ethnic Indian amenities such as Indian grocery stores, restaurants, temples, and the screening of Bollywood movies in local theaters. It was also found that “social” amenities (e.g. participation in ethnic Indian associations and formation of networks with other Indian workers residing in the city) are crucial to the retention of Indian professional workers rather than amenities offered through the market. Further, Indian workers preferred residing in suburbs over inner city neighborhoods because of their strong emphasis on the educational achievement of their children and the presence of better schooling opportunities in the suburbs. While ‘distance from work’ and ‘safety of the neighborhood’ were other amenity considerations shaping the settlement decisions of Indian professionals, the presence of co-ethnics in the neighborhood was not an influential factor. The study revealed that most Bengali professionals considered themselves to be assimilated in United States and they appreciated the fact that they are not forced to forsake any aspects of their ethnic culture in the United States. However, some considered that their hectic work schedule, family responsibilities, and involvement with ethnic Indian associations often inhibit adequate assimilation with Americans outside of work. Furthermore, the research found that most Bengali professionals preferred not to impose career or marital choices on their children. However, most second-generation Bengalis were skeptical of their parents’ overemphasis on academic achievement and interference in their personal lives.

The Germans of Geilenkirchen-Hengesburg region of Germany were convinced by relative and friend, Father Peter Leonard Thevis, of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, to emigrate to the United States for a number of reasons: political, religious, and economic. After establishing themselves on land previously used for grazing cattle, the Germans soon discovered rice could easily be cultivated in large amounts. Along with their success as rice farmers in Roberts Cove, Louisiana, these Germans soon involved themselves in politics and engaged one another and the surrounding community in numerous court cases. These court cases, overlooked by previous historians, demonstrate that the Germans of Roberts Cove had begun to assimilate, prior to World War I and the passage of anti-German legislation.

The purpose of this paper is to uncover the history of New Orleans’s Irish Channel and, through the use of archaeological evidence from two household privies, to trace the social processes involved in the formation of ethnicity and social identity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Despite its name and the annual St. Patrick's Day celebrations that take place in its streets, the Irish Channel was never an ethnic enclave of Irish identity. With an equal number of Germans, along with some English and French immigrants, and certain streets comprised fully of African-Americans, the Irish Channel was home to a diverse assortment of people all with unique and fluid conceptions of "identity." This paper attempts to flesh out the changing social, cultural, and institutional boundaries surrounding the formation of ethnic and cultural identities in the Irish Channel at the turn of twentieth century. By combining contemporary anthropological theory on ethnicity and cultural change with an analysis of the archaeological data and the historical and social contexts in which material culture was used, I challenge the usefulness of assimilationist approaches to understanding culture and the archaeological record. Using the archaeology of two Irish Channel families, I demonstrate the need for studying the complex, multidimensional relationship between material culture and identity in order to gain a deeper understanding of the past.