No description available.

Grounded in the methodologies of New Historicism, New Criticism, Subaltern Studies, and Colonial Discourse Analysis, this dissertation explores Englishwomen’s fictions of the nautch girl (or Indian dancing girl) at the turn of the century. Writing between 1880 to 1920, and within the context of the women’s movement, a cluster of British female writers—such as Flora Annie Steel, Bithia Mary Croker, Alice Perrin, Fanny Emily Penny and Ida Alexa Ross Wylie—communicate both a fear of and an attraction towards two interconnected, long-enduring communities of Indian female performers: the tawaifs (Muslim courtesans of Northern India) and the devadasis (Hindu temple dancers of Southern India). More specifically, the authors grapple with the recognition that these anomalous Indian women have liberties (political, financial, social, and sexual) that British women do not. This recognition significantly undermines the imperial feminist rhetoric circulating at the time that positioned British women as the most emancipated females in the world and as the natural leaders of the international women’s movement. The body chapters explore the various ways in which these fictional devadasis or tawaifs test imperial feminism, starting with their threat to the Memsahib’s imperial role in the Anglo-Indian home in the first chapter, their seduction of burdened Anglo-Indian domestic women in the second chapter, their terrorization of the British female adventuress in the third chapter, and ending with their appeal to fin-de-siècle dancers searching for a modern femininity in the final chapter. My project is urgent at a time when imperial feminism is becoming the dominant narrative by which we are being trained to read encounters between British and Indian women, at the expense of uncovering alternative readings. I conclude the dissertation by suggesting that the recovery of these alternative readings can be the starting point for rethinking the hierarchies and the boundaries separating First World from Third World feminisms today. / English

Zugl.: Kassel, Univ., Diss., 2003

Diss.--Osnabrück--Universität Osnabrück, 1989.

The exoskeleton of the fins comprises fin rays and actinotrichia; the latter are small unmineralized fibrils found at the distal margin of fin rays. Actinotrichia play a role in the growth and structure of the fins during fin development and regeneration. Our lab has previously identified the actinodin (and) gene family, which codes for structural proteins in actinotrichia. Interestingly, the loss of this gene family has been proposed to be involved in the loss of fin rays, an important step in the fin-to-limb transition during evolution. Furthermore, the and genes are expressed in the epithelial cells and in the migrating mesenchymal cells of the zebrafish embryonic pectoral and median fin fold. The presence of tissue-specific cis-acting regulatory elements were found within the 2 kilobase pair genomic region (2P) located upstream of and1’s first untranslated exon by performing analyses of the expression of a fluorescent reporter (EGFP) placed under the control of fragments of various lengths originating from the 2P genomic fragment in zebrafish transgenic lines. Using these various and1 reporter lines, tissue-specific and1 expression was previously characterized during the embryonic stage of zebrafish development. However, these transgenic reporter lines were not analyzed throughout important fin morphogenesis events occurring during fin development, such as the initial formation of lepidotrichia and the resorption of the median fin fold, and throughout fin regeneration as well. This study mainly enabled us to characterize in great details and1 expression throughout fin development and regeneration using the various tissue-specific and1 reporter lines by performing time course analyses. In doing so, we were able to demonstrate that these reporter lines recapitulate endogenous and1 expression through in iii situ hybridization and RT-PCR experiments. Furthermore, the distinct transgene expression patterns observed during lepidotrichia formation/regeneration in the various and1 reporter lines supports previous research that proposes and1-expressing cells may indirectly contribute to lepidotrichia formation not only during fin regeneration but during fin development as well. Furthermore, the characterization of the tissue-specific and1 reporter lines throughout development allowed us to characterize specific changes in the cis-acting regulation of and1 in the fins of adult fish when compared with the tissue-specific and1 reporter expression patterns characterized during the embryonic stage. All in all, this study provides further clues on the contribution of and1-expressing cells throughout fin development and regeneration.

This dissertation is about manipulating equipments using Fin Ray Effect ®. The model of manipulator, using this principle, was created for description of the manipulator movement. The measurement was done with this model. After result evaluation the improvement of model was proposed. There were also proposed technical applications where this type of manipulation could be used.

Zebrafish are part of the teleost infraclass (bony fish) of the ray-finned fish. Like other teleosts, zebrafish possess the ability to regenerate most tissues, including their fins. Zebrafish fins contain segmented bony fin rays that longitudinally span the fin. The segments of fin ray are separated by fibrous joints at regularly spaced intervals providing segmentation and flexibility for the fin. Based on gene expression and changes in cell morphology, joint cell differentiation during development and regeneration proceeds through three stages: presumptive joint, joint-forming, and mature joint cells. Our lab has shown that new joint formation correlates with the upregulation of 5’ hoxa gene, hoxa13a. The hox genes encode transcription factors important for patterning in development. In mice, phenotypes resulting from loss- and gain-of-function mutations in Hox genes have revealed that the spatiotemporal expression of these genes is critical for the correct morphogenesis of the limb, a homologous structure to the fin. The first experiments in this thesis use the NTR/MTZ mechanism to partially ablate hoxa13a-expressing cells in the joints and blastema of the regenerating caudal fin. Partial ablation of the hoxa13a-expressing cells results in shorter bone segments following regeneration of the fin. This experiment draws the conclusion that hoxa13a-expressing cells are involved in the regulation of segment length. To examine the function of the 5’ hoxa/d genes in zebrafish, our lab created CRISPR/Cas9 mutations that inactivate hoxa13a, hoxa13b, and hoxd13a. The triple mutants created through serial breeding, show fin-specific defects in the formation and patterning of joints, as well as general defects in the morphology of the ray and in the actinotrichia, collagenous fibres found at the distal edge of the fin. Overall, our data suggest that hox13 genes are necessary for joint formation and proper fin ray growth. With further phenotypic and genotypic analyses our lab proposes that the dosage of hox13 alleles is responsible for anomalies in fin ray formation found in hox13 mutants.

No description available.

Traditionally, underwater vehicles have been using propellers for locomotion but they are not only inefficient but generate large acoustic signature. Researchers have taken inspiration from efficient swimmers like fish to address the issue with alternate propulsion mechanism. Mostly, research on fish locomotion involved studying a foil tethered to a fixed point inside uniform flow. A major drawback of such study is that neither it resembles a freely swimming fish nor it takes into consideration the dynamics of moving fish on propulsive forces. Hence, in our current study, we focus on comparing the performance of a free swimming fin over tethered fin both experimentally and numerically. Experimentally, we focus on the oscillatory form of locomotion where the caudal fin pitches to generate necessary thrust as seen in boxfish. We intend to investigate the Caudal fin kinematics and its physical properties on locomotion performance. To better understand, we build an automated robo-physical model that swims in a circular path so as to carry extensive experiments. We focus on understanding the effect of flexibility, shape and thickness of caudal fin on performance. Currently, we have studied three different flexibility and for each flexibility, we studied three different shape. We found there must be an optimal flexibility for minimising the Cost of Transport (COT). We also propose that the steady forward speed linearly varies with tail tip velocity. Furthermore, we investigated the effect of thickness of fin and considered uniform and tapered fin with equal area moment of inertia. Numerically, we investigated the effect of phase offset between heave and pitch motion on the performance of a freely swimming fin and compared that to a tethered fin. A freely-swimming fin self propels and moves with steady speed while a tethered fin remains stationary and actuates under uniform flow. We model the fin as a rigid body undergoing prescribed motion in an inviscid fluid and solved for coupled interaction using panel method. We show the effect of phase offset for optimum performance and found a significant difference between tethered and freely swimming fin. / M.S. / Underwater vehicles use propeller based mechanism but they are inefficient and generate noise. Researchers have taken inspiration from nature to replace propellers with efficient propulsion mechanism. In the current study, we design a robotic model to understand the effect of various kinematic and physical properties of tail fin on performance. Our research is unique from past study in the aspect that most research involved studying performance using a robotic model fixed at its position which does not resemble a freely-swimming fish. Hence, in our current study, we focus on comparing the performance of our freely swimming model with tethered fin. The robot has one degree of freedom and can pitch its tail to generate thrust. We intend to investigate the tail fin kinematics and its physical properties on locomotion performance. We focus on understanding the effect of flexibility, shape and thickness of fin on performance. Currently, we have studied three different flexibility and for each flexibility, we studied three different shape. We showed there exists an optimal flexibility for maximising efficiency. For any fin undergoing combined pitch and heave motion, there exists a phase offset between them which will maximise the performance. Researchers have tried to understand its impact using both experiment and numerical simulation. In the current study, we study the impact of phase offset between pitch and heave for a freely-swimming fin and compare that to a fixed fin. A freely-swimming fin self propels and moves with steady speed while a tethered fin remains stationary and actuates under uniform flow. We show the effect of phase offset for optimum performance and found a significant difference between tethered and freely swimming fin.

Este trabalho propõe uma leitura do discurso divulgado pela imprensa para representar a cidade, em Diamantina e Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, no período de 1884 a 1914. Tal discurso foi produzido pelos homens de imprensa, grupo caracterizado por ter nos jornais sua tribuna para propagar um conceito de \"progresso urbano\". Tendo como referencial os parâmetros urbanísticos burgueses dos países capitalistas centrais, as elites letradas brasileiras elegeram alguns elementos como \"sinais visíveis de civilização\", cuja implementação deveria alterar e normatizar o espaço urbano. Nos textos analisados, podemos perceber quais foram alguns desses aspectos, quanto ao espaço físico urbano (edifícios públicos, água e esgotos, saúde pública, moradias, animais, aparelhamento tecnológico etc.) e aos habitantes citadinos (educação, trabalho, comportamento, valores, consumo etc.). A escolha das cidades privilegiou seu caráter de \"capitais regionais\" dentro de Minas Gerais, num período marcado por grandes transformações na vivência urbana brasileira. As diferenças econômicas e sócio-culturais entre elas permitem comparar e avaliar o impacto das transformações urbanas como representadas pela imprensa local, tanto no que possuía de comum, como os parâmetros do discurso \"civilizatório\", quanto pelas especificidades e os limites da vivência desse discurso em cada realidade urbana concreta. / This work is an attempt to read the speech produced by the press to represent the city, in Diamantina and Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, between the years 1884-1914. This speech was produced by the men in the press, characterized by the use of newspaper as a means to propagate a certain concept of \"urban progress\". Based on the central capitalist countries\' bourgeois urban parameters, Brazilian cultural elites elected a few elements as \"visible signs of civilization\", whose implementation should alter and regulate urban space. In the analyzed texts, we can see some of these aspects, related to urban physical space (public buildings, water and sewage, public health, housing, animals, technological equipments etc.) and to city inhabitants (education, labor, behavior, values, consumption etc.). The cities were chosen because of their \"regional capitals\" status inside of Minas Gerais, in a period marked by great transformations in Brazilian urban experience. The economic and socialcultural differences between them allowed comparison and evaluation of the impact of urban transformations as represented by local press, both in what they had in common - like the parameters for the civilizer speech - as in their specificities and the limits for actually living this speech in each concrete urban reality.