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This thesis presents the design and development of a novel biomimetic jellyfish robot that features ionic polymer metal composite actuators. The shape and swimming style of this underwater vehicle are based on oblate jellyfish species, which are known for their high locomotive efficiency. Ionic polymer metal composites (IPMC) are used as actuators in order to contract the bell and thus propel the jellyfish robot. This research focuses on translating the evolutionary successes of the natural species into a jellyfish robot that mimics the geometry, the swimming style, and the bell deformation cycle of the natural species. Key advantages of using IPMC actuators over other forms of smart material include their ability to exhibit high strain response due to a low voltage input and their ability to act as artificial muscles in water environment. This research specifically seeks to implement IPMC actuators in a biomimetic design and overcome two main limitations of these actuators: slow response rate and the material low blocking force. The approach presented in this document is based on a combination of two main methods, first by optimizing the performance of the IPMC actuators and second by optimizing the design to fit the properties of the actuators by studying various oblate species. Ionic polymer metal composites consist of a semi-permeable membrane bounded by two conductive, high surface area electrode. The IPMCs are manufactured is several variations using the Direct Assembly Process (DAP), where the electrode architecture is controlled to optimize the strain and stiffness of the actuators. The resulting optimized actuators demonstrate peak to peak strains of 0.8 % in air and 0.7 % in water across a frequency range of 0.1-1.0 Hz and voltage amplitude of 2 V. A study of different oblate species is conducted in order to attain a model system that best fits the properties of the IPMC actuators. The Aequorea victoria is chosen based on its bell morphology and kinematic properties that match the mechanical properties of the IPMC actuators. This medusa is characterized by it low swimming frequency, small bell deformation during the contraction phase, and high Froude efficiency. The bell morphology and kinematics of the Aequorea victoria are studied through the computation of the radius of curvature and thus the strain energy stored in the during the contraction phase. The results demonstrate that the Aequorea victoria stores lower strain energy compared to the other candidate species during the contraction phase. Three consecutive jellyfish robots have been built for this research project. The first generation served as a proof of concept and swam vertically at a speed of 2.2 mm/s and consumed 3.2 W of power. The second generation mimicked the geometry and swimming style of the Aurelia aurita. By tailoring the applied voltage waveform and the flexibility of the bell, the robot swam at an average speed of 1.5 mm/s and consumed 3.5 W of power. The third and final generation mimicked the morphology, swimming behavior, and bell kinematics of the Aequorea victoria. The resulting robot, swam at an average speed of 0.77 mm/s and consumed 0.7 W of power when four actuators are used while it achieved 1.5 mm/s and 1.1 W of power consumption when eight actuators are used. Key parameter including the type of the waveform, the geometry of the bell, and position and size of the IPMC actuators are identified. These parameters can be hit later in order to further optimize the design of an IPMC based jellyfish robot. / Master of Science

Yes / Bell Beaker pottery spread across western and central Europe beginning around 2750 BCE before disappearing between 2200-1800 BCE. The mechanism of its expansion is a topic of long-standing debate, with support for both cultural diffusion and human migration. We present new genome-wide ancient DNA data from 170 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans, including 100 Beaker-associated individuals. In contrast to the Corded Ware Complex, which has previously been identified as arriving in central Europe following migration from the east, we observe limited genetic affinity between Iberian and central European Beaker Complex-associated individuals, and thus exclude migration as a significant mechanism of spread between these two regions. However, human migration did have an important role in the further dissemination of the Beaker Complex, which we document most clearly in Britain using data from 80 newly reported individuals dating to 3900-1200 BCE. British Neolithic farmers were genetically similar to contemporary populations in continental Europe and in particular to Neolithic Iberians, suggesting that a portion of the farmer ancestry in Britain came from the Mediterranean rather than the Danubian route of farming expansion. Beginning with the Beaker period, and continuing through the Bronze Age, all British individuals harboured high proportions of Steppe ancestry and were genetically closely related to Beaker-associated individuals from the Lower Rhine area. We use these observations to show that the spread of the Beaker Complex to Britain was mediated by migration from the continent that replaced >90% of Britain's Neolithic gene pool within a few hundred years, continuing the process that brought Steppe ancestry into central and northern Europe 400 years earlier.

Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar portrays the complexities of female identity and the pernicious outcomes of societal pressure on mental health. At its core, the novel presents an exploration of female anxiety and the ways in which societal expectations and gender norms contribute to the erosion of one's mental well-being. Through the lens of feminist psychoanalysis, this thesis will claim that the novel's recurring motifs of confinement and anxiety – including its central image of the bell jar – function not only as an expression of Esther's mental illness, but also as a social commentary. More specifically, it will argue that these motifs make visible how Esther's anxiety and depression are the result of the interplay between external pressure and internal struggles. Since the novel is often regarded as a roman à clef, this essay will furthermore argue that these motifs are the result of Sylvia Plath's unconscious.

Ces recherches doctorales démontrent comment l’aporie et ses voix/voies plurielles minent l’œuvre Lawrencienne: romans, essais, poèmes ou encore tableaux. Malgré le désir du lecteur de donner une voix/voie singulière – ou interprétation – à l’œuvre de D. H. Lawrence, seule une herméneutique et une vérité plurielle viennent à notre rencontre, nous laissant ainsi soumis à une impasse insurmontable. Tout au long de ce chemin doctoral, nul n’est à l’abri des culs de sacs et des trébuchements. Ainsi, une aporie génétique tisse le tissu textuel des premières ébauches de D. H. Lawrence, et la souveraineté logocentrique et herméneutique de l’homme est renversée. La rature s’impose et l’œuvre de D. H. Lawrence nous rappelle que le logos, et l’Être, résistent, pour mieux inscrire l’aporie dans son corpus. Les limites du langage, de la religion, du savoir, et de la représentation artistique de la réalité résonne désormais avec une question qui demeure sans réponse et en suspens. / This work of research aims at showing how aporia and its plural voices pervade D.H Lawrence’s work, be it through his novels, his essays, his poetry, or his paintings. Despite the reader’s desire to give one singular voice and meaning to D.H Lawrence’s work, plural meanings and multiples truths come our way, leaving us facing an uncrossable impasse. The road is paved with deadlocks and places to stumble upon. Indeed, genetic aporia weaves the very fabric of D.H. Lawrence’s first drafts and sketches, and the logocentric and hermeneutic sovereignty of man is put into question. In fact, we have to cross it out as Lawrence’s work reminds us that the logos, and Being, show some resistance, the result of which is to better inscribe aporia into his corpus. The limits of language, of religion, of knowledge, and of the artistic representation of reality resonate now with an everlasting and unanswered question.

This essay concerns Purple Hibiscus and Kambili's emotional development, and explores how violence, submission and emotional dependence along with a traditional feminine gender role can hinder acknowledgement of trauma. I propose that Kambili is encouraged to take on a culturally expected feminine gender role, and her submissive disposition is discussed and connected to her constant search for a father figure. The notion of personal and collective postcolonial trauma is explained and applied to contextualise her inability to question either her father or the political situation in Nigeria. I read Kambili's change as negative and aim to show that she has internalised patriarchal structures. Her change is contrasted to the change in her brother Jaja, to show how and why they develop in different directions. Traditional gender roles are discussed from a rather general perspective, but also in a context that concern masculinity, violence and power relations.

M. Tech. Agriculture / Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) and sweet or bell peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) belong to the Solanaceae family. They constitute an excellent source of phenolic (flavonoids), vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and carotenoids (especially lycopene, b- carotene, a precursor of vitamin A), known as antioxidants. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of photo-selective nets (ChromatiNet™) (red, pearl and yellow) with 40% shading on postharvest fruit quality parameters (Soluble solids content, Titratable acidity, fruit mass and firmness), bioactive compounds (ascorbic acid, total phenols, flavonoid, lycopene, b-carotene contents), antioxidant scavenging activity, odour active aroma compounds and the sensory quality of three indeterminate sweet pepper cultivars HTSP-5 (green), HTSP-3 (red) and Celaya (yellow) and three tomato cultivars (AlfaV, Irit, and SCX 248). A commercial black net (control) with 25% shading was included for comparison.

本論文旨在引介並評析當代後工業社會思想的代表人物，現任哈佛大學教授貝爾（Da noei Bell）的後工業社會理論。 全文共分六章， 節，文長約 萬餘言。各章大要如后： 第一章 簡逑研究目的、態度與方法，以及貝爾的生平。 第二章 探討其理論根源，是以社會變遷理的省視為主題，而有其方法論上的主張。 第三章 則在評析後工業社會這個概念。 第四章 論逑後工業社會將面對的政治與文化問題。 第五章 論逑後工業社會將面對的政治與文化問題。 第六章 結論，提出研究心得以及對後工業社會理論的一些省思。 在本文之外，特置附錄：「後工業社會的多樣詮釋」一章，以做比較、參考和概念釐 清之用。

Ce mémoire prend la forme d’une réflexion critique sur le modèle proposé par Hosler afin d’expliquer les taux quantifiés d’étain et d’arsénique dans des objets de statut métalliques Mésoaméricains provenant principalement de l’Occident mésoaméricain et couvrant les deux phases de développement de la métallurgie mésoaméricaine. Ces objets font partie de la collection du Museo Regional de Guadalajara. Plus particulièrement, ce mémoire s’intéresse aux grelots mésoaméricains puisqu’ils représentent un élément important de la métallurgie préhispanique en Mésoamérique. Cette réflexion critique soulève plusieurs considérations techniques, méthodologiques, étymologiques, iconographiques, ethnohistoriques et logiques du modèle de Hosler relativement à la couleur des alliages constituant les grelots mésoaméricains. Les paramètres sur lesquels Hosler base son modèle sont questionnables à plusieurs niveaux. Ainsi, le fait que les niveaux d’arsenic ou d’étain observés dans les alliages cupriques de biens utilitaires sont généralement inférieurs à ceux quantifiés dans les alliages cupriques usités pour la fabrication de biens de statut de la Période 2 pourrait s’expliquer par le fait qu’il s’agit de deux méthodes de fabrication distinctes ayant des contraintes techniques différentes ou que ces artéfacts ont des paramètres et des fonctions distinctes. Les limites de l’association soleil-or, lune-argent y sont également exposées et un chapitre est consacré à la sonorité. / This thesis takes the form of a critical reflection on the model proposed by Hosler to explain the levels of tin and arsenic in metallic Mesoamerican status objects coming mainly from the western part of Mesoamerica and covering both phases of the development of Mesoamerican metallurgy. These objects are part of the collection of Museo Regional de Guadalajara. In particular, this thesis focuses on Mesoamerican bells since they represent an important element of the development of pre-Hispanic metallurgy.This critical reflection raises several technical, methodological, etymological iconographic, ethnohistorical and logical concerns regarding Hosler’s model relating to the colour of the alloys making up Mesoamerican bells. The desire to obtain certain colours can not be proven based solely on the results of composition analysis. Furthermore, the parameters on which Hosler bases her model are questionable on several levels. For example, the fact that the levels of arsenic or tin observed in copper based alloys used for the fabrication of utilitarian goods are generally lower than those measured in copper alloys used for status goods from Period 2 could be explained by the differing technical constraints of two distinct fabrication methods or by the contrasting parameters and functions of the two types of artifact. The limits of the association between sun-gold and moon-silver are also exposed. A chapter is also dedicated to the sonority of the bells.