This is an investigation and analysis of the institution of indentured servitude in the English colonies of Virginia and Barbados in the first half of the seventeenth century. It argues that the system of indentured servitude contributed to the development of property rights in individuals and thereby provided early examples of treating people as property that would ultimately lead to the rise of chattel slavery in both colonies. It investigates servitude in law, politics, and practice providing examples of the treatment, trade, and resistance of servants throughout this period. Included are chapters examining the trade in servants and a statistical breakdown of the servant population, a comparison of the practice of servitude in both colonies, and a description of the factors that led to the eventual transition to black slavery. / Master of Arts

When Francis Troutman attempted to recapture the Crosswhites, a family of runaway slaves that found a home in Marshall, Michigan, he did not anticipate that a sizeable amount of the community would rebuke him. The event, known as the Crosswhite Affair, placed the runaway family at the heart of the sectional battle over slavery. Troutman’s failed recapture set in motion a chain of events that eventually ended with the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, a law despised by many, particularly in the North. It allowed slave catching to become widespread and forced American citizens to actively participate in recapturing runaways or face severe penalties. By connecting the Crosswhite Affair to the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, this dissertation asserts that the plight of runaways forced many Americans to confront slavery, especially when slave hunters prowled the North in search of these freedom seekers. / History

Unlawful assembly accounts extracted from the Fredericksburg Mayor’s Court Order Books from 1821-1834, reveal rare glimpses of unsupervised, alleged illegal interactions between free and enslaved individuals, many of whom do not appear in other records. Authorities enforced laws banning free blacks and persons of mixed race from interacting with enslaved persons and whites at unlawful assemblies to keep peace in the town, to prevent sexual relationships between white women and free and enslaved black men, and to prevent alliance building between individuals. The complex connections necessary to arrange unlawful assemblies threatened the town’s safety with insurrection if these individuals developed radical ideas opposing the existing social order, the foundation of which was slavery. Akin to residents of areas where natural disasters like volcanoes always pose a risk of dangerous eruptions, those living in Fredericksburg lived their lives within the town slave society and its potential threats. In an area, state, and region where insurrections occurred, unlawful assembly, whether frequent or infrequent, mattered.

This research looks to identify precursors to women becoming involved in trafficking for prostitution and/or sexual services in the United States. The failure to find patterns or trends regarding why women are trafficked or what types of women are trafficked most often, helps dispel some myths regarding the stereotypical victim of trafficking.

This diploma thesis deals with the design of the linear axis of a heavy machine tool. It describes the basic specifications of these machines, their manufacturers, the parts of which the axis consists and the design itself. The design includes several design variants, calculation of the movement mechanism, drive and linear guide. Follows the selection of the most suitable variant and the drawing documentation of the resulting linear axis.

The localized/delocalized duality of 5f electrons plays an important role in understanding the complex physics of actinides. Band-structure calculations based on the ad hoc assumption that 5f electrons are simultaneously localized and delocalized explained the observed dHvA experiments very well. This ad hoc assumption also gives the correct equilibrium volume for delta-Pu. Experimentally, the duality of 5f electrons is observed by inelastic neutron scattering experiments, or by soft X-ray angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. It is worth recalling that the origin of partial localization in the 3d and 5f systems is quite different. In compounds with 3d electrons, the large crystalline electric field set up by the surrounding environment of transition metal ions plays a major role. On the other hand, in 5f systems, the Hund's rule correlations play the key role whilst the crystalline electric field is less important. In this thesis we have studied the effect of intra-atomic correlations on anisotropies in hopping matrix elements of different 5f orbitals. For that purpose, we used the effective model that includes on-site interactions that are responsible for Hund's rules and effective hopping terms that result from the hybridization of different 5f orbitals with the environment. Two different approximations, namely, rotationally invariant slave-boson mean-field (RISBMF) and infinite time-evolving block decimation (iTEBD), have been used to investigate the ground-state properties of the Hamiltonian. We have demonstrated that Hund's rule correlations enhance strongly anisotropies in hopping matrix elements. For a certain range of 5f bandwidth parameters this effect may result in a complete suppression of hopping processes for some of 5f orbitals, i.e., the system is in a partially localized phase. Within the RISBMF method, we calculated the ground-state properties and the phase diagram of the system. The suppression of hopping processes in some of 5f orbitals due to Hund's rule correlations can be seen through orbital-dependent quasiparticle weights. In a mean-field theory, a quasiparticle weight of zero for an orbital means a complete suppression of hopping processes in this orbital. Thus, quasiparticle weights and occupation numbers were used to classify partially localized phases. In the calculated phase diagram we obtain four partially localized phases that can be separated into two different sets. In the first set electrons in two orbitals are localized. In the second, electrons in one orbital are localized. The difference between the two sets is not simply the number of localized orbitals but the mechanism for the partial localization. For the first set, the Hund's rule mechanism applies: only those 5f electrons that enable the remaining ones to form a Hund's rule state will delocalize. This mechanism requires to have at least two localized orbitals, therefore it is definitely not applicable to those phases with only one localized orbital. For the second set, a situation similar to a single-band Mott-Hubbard transition applies. The direct on-site Coulomb interaction between jz and -jz electrons plays the key role for understanding the partial localization transition. In order to assess the validity of the RISBMF results we have used the iTEBD method to calculate the ground-state properties of a 1D system. Qualitatively, the two approaches agree with each other. However, we found an area where the RISBMF yields an artificial ground-state. Note that the mean-field method is worst for a 1D system. Therefore one shoud not judge from it the quality of the RISBMF method for the more general case.

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Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) in human beings is performed by making small incisions in the abdominal region of the patient and inflating the abdominal cavity with CO2. This procedure enables the surgeon to manipulate long rigid surgical instruments inside the patient in order to perform the surgery. Unfortunately the current methods of insertion and assembly of MIS instruments limit the surgeon to only five (of a possible seven) Degrees of Freedom (DOF). Along with this, the surgeon’s movements are mirrored (called the Fulcrum effect) and scaled around the point of incision. Minimally invasive surgical robots attempt to alleviate these drawbacks by eliminating the Fulcrum effect, as well as improving dexterity and accuracy. These robots’ abilities to improve the surgeon’s hand-eye coordination, enables the surgeon to perform surgeries using their natural movements with reduced fatigue. As a result of this, the risk to both patient and surgeon is reduced. Existing MIS robotic systems are extremely expensive and large, and as a result they are not widely used. In this thesis a new, lower cost, seven DOF robotic manipulator is further developed. The thesis focuses on the external three DOF Secondary Slave Manipulator (SSM) and combines it with the Primary Slave Manipulator (PSM) that was developed by a previous Masters student. Tests done on the SSM showed that the manipulator has a minimum resolution of 0.7 ± 0.2 mm (mean ± standard deviation) on the shoulder joint’s yaw rotation and 0.5 ± 0.2 mm in pitch rotation. The linear actuator used for insertion has a minimum resolution of 0.2 ± 0.2 mm. A strength test was also conducted and showed that the manipulator is easily capable of producing a 10 N actuation force as required during Minimally Invasive Robotic Surgery (MIRS) procedures. In conclusion the complete system has potential as a viable alternative to the existing systems due to its accuracy and lower cost. Future work will include the development of a user interface and control system for the complete robot. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Minimaal Indringende Chirurgie (MIC) op mense word uitgevoer deur klein insnydings in die pasiënt se buik te maak en dan die abdominale holte met CO2 te vul. Dit stel die chirurg in staat om lang, onbuigbare instrumente binne die pasiënt te manipuleer om sodoende die operasie uit te voer. Die manier waarop die MIC instrument ontwerp is en die pasiënt binnegaan, laat egter slegs vyf vryheidsgrade toe, terwyl die chirurg self sewe vryheidsgrade in sy handbewegings het. Verder veroorsaak hierdie instrumente ook dat die chirurg se aksies in spieëlbeeld vertolk word (Fulcrum effek) en geskaleer is. Chirurgiese robotika poog om hierdie nadele teen te werk deur die Fulcrum effek te verwyder, en ook om handvaardigheid en akkuraatheid te bevorder. Die robot se potensiaal om die chirurg se hand-oog koӧrdinasie te verbeter, maak dit moontlik vir die chirurg om op ’n meer natuurlike en gemaklike manier te werk te gaan en bring minder vermoeienis mee. Dit verminder die risiko’s vir beide die pasiënt en die chirurg. Bestaande robotiese stelsels is egter baie duur en groot, en word dus nie meer algemeen gebruik nie. In hierdie tesis word ‘n nuwe sewe-vryheidsgraad robotiese manipuleerder ontwikkel. Die tesis fokus op die eksterne drie-vryheidsgraad Sekondêre Slaaf Manipuleerder (SSM) en kombineer dit met die Primêre Slaaf Manipuleerder (PSM) wat deur ʼn vorige Meestersstudent ontwikkel is. Toetse wat uitgevoer is op die SSM het getoon dat dit ’n minimum resolusie van 0.7 ± 0.2 mm (gemiddeld ± standaard afwyking) op die skouer se afwyking en 0.5 ± 0.2 mm om die onderskeie skouer aslyne toon. Die linieêre aktueerder wat vir inlassing gebruik word het ’n minimum resolusie van 0.2 ± 0.2 mm. ’n Sterktetoets is uitgevoer en het getoon dat die manipuleerder maklik die nodige 10 N krag soos benodig in Minimaal Indringende Robotiese Chirurgie (MIRC) prosedures kan lewer. Ter afsluiting, die volledige stelsel het die potensiaal as lewensvatbare alternatief tot die bestaande stelsels vanweë die akkuraatheid en laer koste verbonde. Toekomstige navorsing kan moontlik die ontwikkeling van ʼn gebruikerkoppelvlak en beheerstelsel vir die volledige robot insluit.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1999 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / The Transportable Range Augmentation and Control System (TRACS), Mobile Telemetry System (MTS), is a versatile system capable of supporting anywhere when called upon. The MTS is designed to operate anywhere on land. It is unknown how the system will perform on a floating platform without a stabilizing gimbal. The operation of a tracking system at sea generally require the use of a three-axis pedestal. The MTS is a two-axis pedestal. This paper is a report on how the MTS responds to simulated ocean-motion. Testing the system on a body of water is very expensive, especially out in the desert. The MTS was tested in the desert area of Las Cruces, New Mexico in the parking lot of EMI Technologies, prime contractor, using two forklifts to simulate ship motion in the pitch and yaw planes. The location is perfect for crossover dynamics tests. The tests conducted were for the purpose of determining if the MTS could auto-track a moving signal in space while it also moves due to “simulated ocean swells” that increase the generated tracking error signal levels in an opposite or in addition to the ones generated from the space vehicle. There is no gyroscopic correction. Successful results of the tests could preclude the use of a gyroscopically stabilized gimbaled platform necessary to keep the tracking system steady for auto-tracking a target during “6 degrees of freedom” disturbances. Several thousand dollars can be saved if the concept can be proven.

L’étude comparative de Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Harriet Jacobs), Our Nig ; Sketches from the Life of a Free Black (Harriet Wilson) et The Bondwoman’s Narrative (Hannah Crafts) s’attache à ouvrir de nouvelles perspectives sur la singularité du sujet féminin noir dans les anfractuosités de l’écriture autobiographique du récit d’esclave. Si ces femmes auteurs se constituent en témoins privilégiés de la condition féminine noire de l’Amérique « antebellum », elles n’engagent pas moins leur plume dans l’activisme. L’enjeu de cette thèse est de revenir sur les liens entre écriture et féminin en prenant comme point de départ l’œuvre elle-même, fût-elle autobiographie ou fiction. La saisie de soi et du monde et la quête identitaire sont des thèmes fondamentaux de la tradition romanesque africaine américaine où des voix marquantes se succèdent. L’affranchissement du genre autobiographique s’affirme comme instance de survie où la mise en perspective de la fiction permet de révéler la vérité du sujet. Ainsi, la question du genre constitue la trame de ce panorama où sont examinés la nature du discours du sujet noir, l’écriture du corps féminin, et le théâtre « ima-gyn-aire » d’un sujet en crise. En véritable héritière de Dickens et Byron, Hannah Crafts s’attache à créer des correspondances entre les genres, tandis que Harriet Wilson adresse une lettre ouverte à Emerson et Harriet Jacobs subvertit le roman sentimental. Ces trois femmes situent, contre toute attente, l’esthétique du récit d’esclave au carrefour de la littérature autobiographique, sentimentale, gothique et picaresque. Nous verrons, à travers ce travail, que ce n’est pas tant l’anatomie qui distingue le sujet mais plutôt la façon qu’a le sujet de se ranger d’un côté ou de l’autre du genre ; le sujet féminin peut désormais évoluer dans un nouvel espace le libérant de l’emprise du masculin. Cette thèse est également l’occasion d’une réflexion sur la dialectique de l’historicité et la littérarité où l’engagement politique de l’auteur du récit d’esclave, qui est appelé à s’imposer comme littérature, invite à porter un nouveau regard sur la production littéraire féminine avant-gardiste, et ainsi donner un nouvel élan à la littérature africaine américaine. / The comparative study of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Harriet Jacobs), Our Nig ; Sketches from the Life of a Free Black (Harriet Wilson), and The Bondwoman’s Narrative (Hannah Crafts) aims at opening up new perspectives on the specificity of the female subject, through the slave narrative’s autobiographical writing. If these women writers stand as privileged witnesses of the female condition in Antebellum America, they do not remain passive nonetheless. The aim of this dissertation is to approach the links between « writing » and « feminine », by taking into account the text itself, be it autobiographical or fictionalized. Significantly enough, self-consciousness, identity and the construction of a self through writing are definitely major components of the African American literary tradition in which outstanding voices are singled out. The slave narrative tends to drift away from autobiography in order to afford its survival and conforms to the conventions that proved successful, thus revealing the truth of the subject. In this perspective, gender is the key issue of this study which brings an exclusive insight on black women’s writing. Discursive difference, writing the female body, and a staged conflicted subject are the core themes of this work. As a follower of Dickens and Byron, Hannah Crafts creates a unique blend of genres, while Harriet Wilson’s modus operandi is to rewrite Emerson’s reflections on society, and Harriet Jacobs offers a subversion of the sentimental novel. By all means, these female slave narratives’ « tour de force » lies in the aesthetics and poetics of the genre located at the crossroads of autobiography, sentimental fiction, the gothic and the picaresque. The subject determines its own sexuation, which enables the female subject to break free from the male subject. This dissertation also offers the opportunity to raise the question of history and literature. The slave narrative falls within the frame of literature as the writer’s political stance is an invitation to reconsider avant-garde women’s literary production within the African American literary canon.