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Boundaries between air masses, called frontal zones, have been associated with vegetation boundaries (Bryson, 1966; Hare and Ritchie, 1972). Using gridded climate reanalysis data, we analyze the air masses and frontal zones of North America. The position of the July Arctic front varies significantly through the period 1948-2007, with a mean position similar to that found by Bryson (1966). The variability of the front position can be associated with changes in the general circulation; when the AO and SOI are positive (negative), the position of the July Arctic front is further north (south). There is also more variability in the July Arctic front position in Eastern versus Western Canada. When the July Arctic front is north (south) of the mean position, the boreal forest and tundra vegetation is more (less) productive. There is some evidence that climate warming is only starting to shift the July Arctic front to the north. / This study was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Polar Climate Stability Network (PCSN) project funded by the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (CFCAS).

Sending a man in space is extremely dangerous. In order to continue the space exploration, robots have to be used. Designed properly, robots can handle any kind of operations in deep space. But in space there is no support such as an after-sale service. That is why their conception must be as perfect as possible to satisfy many tests. This is also the case of the ERA (European Robotic Arm). Its operations must be tested on the ground. But since forces acting at ground level are different than in space (e.g. gravity), the ERA must be in such position (the Iron Bird project) so that the target that it wants to reach must be brought by another robot. This other robot is called ERICA (Era Iron-bird CLU hArdware simulation). The goal of this project is to make the mechanical conception of the ERICA. The project was carried out in four parts. The first consisted in gathering information about the ERA in order to establish the requirements. The second was a pre-conception part. The third consists in explaining the research that had been made to choose the proper design of the ERICA. In the fourth part, the mechanical and electrical conception is presented. The ERICA is a gantry system where the payload is a gimbal holding a target. That way, the 6 degrees of freedoms of the ERA are achieved. The gantry system is provided by LinMotion and the motors by Maxon. The electronic parts are attached to the gantry at different places. A frame surrounds the working envelope so that the CLU (Camera and Lightning Units) can be fixed on it as well as protective plates against the CLU’s laser.

Our landfills are growing and constantly expanding with post-consumer waste in the form of cheap fast fashion garments. One way to deal with this problem is to upcycle the discarded material into new things with a higher value. There is one type of material though, that has a tendency to be forgotten about. This material is baby garments. Mother Elizabeth investigates how these discarded garments can be upcycled into womenswear fashion. The title of this work reflects the two areas investigated, baby garments and the Elizabethan era. With an aim of broadening the perspective of what type of discarded material can be upcycled into womenswear fashion, the areas of investigation are combined. Throughout the study, methods for exploring garments from the Elizabethan era were applied in order to create a reference library used as a base when making design decisions. The outcomes presented in this work aim to inspire other designers to broaden their perspective on what type of material can be used when working with upcycling. In addition to stressing the importance of using discarded textiles, this project also showcases how history can be used as a tool to make sure there is a future.

Conflict among members of the United States Congress has been a regular occurrence throughout our nation's history. Existing literature suggests that some amount of conflict is essential to healthy deliberation, but that too much discord can be harmful and unproductive. The Progressive Era is unique in that legislative productivity increased to unprecedented heights. The theory driving this research is that the type, quality, and absolute level of legislative conflict in the Progressive Era can help explain this productivity. Specifically, the research holds that legislative conflict is multidimensional and that partisan difference, representing one form of legislative conflict, can aid productivity while personal incivilities, a second form of conflict, detract from productivity. After controlling for such variables as the budget situation, the competence of the sitting president, divided government and majority party cohesiveness, this thesis finds that, indeed, the Progressive Era does witness higher levels of partisan conflict and less personal incivility than either the period immediately preceding or subsequent to the Era.

Educational reform in the New South took many forms. After the ravages of the Civil War, education in the South was chaotic and sporadic. Diverse external groups sought to improve the situation of the southern poor. They ranged from successful businessmen who organized philanthropic ventures such as the Southern Education Board to mission associations established by church denominations to minister to the disadvantaged rural population—both black and white. Within the South, various individuals and groups played critical roles in improving southern rural education. This study focuses on the creation of Tallulah Falls School in the north Georgia mountains by the Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs. Tallulah Falls School’s founding in its cultural and social context reflects upon a number of issues that characterized the decades surrounding the turn of the twentieth century. Of significance were the vision of a New South as articulated by Henry Grady and others, and the ‘discovery’ of Appalachia in the 1890s, followed by the perceived need to ‘repair’ it. Also influential was a different vision of a New South that drew upon the Lost Cause philosophy as articulated by the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy. Industrial education was seen as a means not only to educate but also to alleviate concerns about the potential loss of rural America and the legendary yeoman farmers that had been the foundation of the nation from its earliest days. The rise of great fortunes and the emergence of a middle class led those who had the resources to uplift and ‘repair’ through philanthropic means that which seemed to threaten the virtues and vitality of America. Although their motives were not purely altruistic, clubwomen exerted great effort to bring educational opportunities to the rural people of Georgia. Through personal involvement and by means of political and social reform, these clubwomen were prepared to their position and influence to ‘heal’ the children. Their endeavor at Tallulah Falls stands as an example of their determination to uplift poor, disadvantaged mountain children and their families and bring to them an awareness of an efficient, modern world.

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This thesis examines the ways in which definitions and perceptions of refugees in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia evolved over the course of the American Civil War. It investigates perspectives from individuals in both the United States and Confederate States to illustrate how misconceptions about refugees—who they were, what they wanted, and how they could benefit each side—dominated how displaced people were discussed. I argue that despite significant attention to refugees in newspapers, military reports, and among the public, both sides failed to adequately assist refugees who were displaced as a result of the war. Utilizing a broadly chronological approach allows greater insight into how the situation in the Shenandoah Valley escalated over time with the addition of various refugee demographic groups, including white Unionists, Black self-emancipated people, deserters, and pro-Confederate civilians. This thesis discusses how each of these groups challenged Americans' culturally-constructed definition of the word "refugee." It also demonstrates how military commanders made use of refugees as sources of military intelligence who directly influenced the events of several military campaigns. This thesis argues that misconceptions about refugees hindered an effective and meaningful response to the Valley's refugee crisis among government officials, military officers, and the general populaces of the North and the South. / Master of Arts / The devastation wrought by the American Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley of western Virginia sparked a refugee crisis that grew in size over the course of the war. From the earliest days of the conflict in 1861, Americans correctly predicted that the war would displace many people. However, mistaken ideas about who qualified as a refugee and what to do with or for refugees prevented an effective response that could have alleviated the suffering of many of these people. This thesis examines how Americans struggled to understand refugees as matters of gender, race, and loyalty appeared to complicate the subject. It offers insight into not only how Americans perceived refugees, but also explores refugee experiences in order to illuminate voices that were overlooked both in the 1860s and in the decades since the war.

"Unforgetting the Dakota 38" projects a nuanced light onto the history and memory of the mass hanging of thirty-eight Dakota men on December 26, 1862 following the U.S.-Dakota War in Southcentral Minnesota. This thesis investigates the competing narratives between Santee Dakota peoples (a mixture of Wahpeton and Mdewakanton Dakota) and white Minnesotan citizens in Mankato, Minnesota—the town of the hanging—between 1862 and 2012. By using settler colonialism as an analytical framework, I argue that the erasing of Dakotas by white historical memory has actively and routinely removed Dakotas from the mainstream historical narrative following the U.S.-Dakota War through today. This episodic history examines three phases of remembrance in which the rival interpretations of 1862 took different forms, and although the Dakota-centered interpretations were always present in some way, they became more visible to the non-Dakota society over time. Adopting a thematic approach, this thesis covers events that overlap in time, yet provide useful insights into the shaping and reshaping of memory that surrounds the mass hanging. White Minnesotans routinely wrote Dakota peoples out of their own history, a key element of settler colonial policies that set out to eradicate Indigenous peoples from the Minnesota landscape and replace them with white settlers. While this thesis demonstrates how white memories form, it also focuses on Dakota responses to the structures associated with settler colonialism. In so doing, this thesis argues that Dakota peoples actively participated in the memory-making process in Mankato between 1862 and 2012, even though most historical scholarship considered Mankato devoid of Dakota peoples and an Indigenous history. / Master of Arts / The U.S.-Dakota War wracked the Minnesota River Valley region of Southcentral Minnesota. Following a bloody and destructive six weeks in late-Summer 1862, President Abraham Lincoln ordered the mass execution of thirty-eight Mdewakanton Dakota men as punishment for their participation. This controversial moment in American history produced unique and divergent memories of the Dakota War, the hanging, and the Mdewakanton Dakota place in white American society. This thesis examines the memories that formed between 1862 and 2012, highlighting Dakota perspective and memories to shed new light on the history of this deeply contested event. By doing so, we gain new understandings of Mankato, the U.S.-Dakota War, and the mass hanging, but also a realization that Dakota peoples were always active in the memory-making process even though many have considered their participation nonexistent.

La thèse relative au thème ‘‘finances publiques et richesses privées en Grèce aux époques classique et hellénistique’’ pose la problématique des relations et des corrélations entre les richesses privées et les finances publiques dans les cités et les royaumes du monde grec. Durant cette longue période, d’une part les richesses privées se constituèrent indépendamment des finances publiques par les rentes tirées de la location de certains biens, de l’exploitation minière, du commerce et des activités bancaires. En outre, par le travail intellectuel, la divination et le sport. D’autre part, les richesses privées se seraient formées aux dépens des finances publiques par la corruption et la malversation auxquelles les magistrats grecs se seraient adonnés lors de l’exercice de leurs charges. Les richesses qui furent ainsi constituées d’une manière ou d’une autre ne servirent pas seulement à l’usage privé. Elles servirent également aux finances publiques pour palier des pénuries financières, approvisionner en grain, financer des guerres, construire ou reconstruire des édifices, payer des tributs ou des rançons, faire des sacrifices, accomplir des ambassades et fournir de l’huile aux gymnases. Dès lors, les Etats grecs eurent recours à la contrainte par l’imposition du tribut, la pratique des confiscations et des prêts contraignants ainsi que la levée des taxes, des amendes et des impôts. Par ailleurs, les Etats grecs firent aussi appel à l’évergétisme des plus riches de leurs populations qui manifestèrent leur générosité lors des épidoseis, des prêts à souscription publique et des évergésies individuels. / Thesis on the theme '' public finances and private wealth in Greece in Classical and Hellenistic periods '' raises the issue of the relationships and correlations between private wealth and public finances in the cities and kingdoms of the Greek world. During this long period, on the one hand the private wealth were formed independently of public finances by rents from the leasing of certain assets, by mining, trade and banking. In addition, by the intellectual work divination and sport. On the other hand, private wealth would have formed at the expense of public finances by corruption and embezzlement that Greek judges would have indulged in the exercise of their charges. The wealth that were thus formed in one way or another did not serve only for private use. They also served the public finances to overcome financial shortages , grain supply , finance wars , build or rebuild buildings, pay tribute or ransom , make sacrifices , perform embassies and supplying oil to gyms . Therefore, the Greek states had recourse to coercive imposition of tribute, the practice of confiscation and binding and the removal of taxes loans, fines and taxes. Moreover, the Greek states also appealed to the evergetism of the richest people who demonstrated their generosity during épidoseis, public subscriptions’ loans and individual evergetisms.