The main objectives of this thesis are to examine the relations between people and things in American novelist Henry James's 1897 novel The Spoils of Poynton, and thus to deepen our understanding of James's engagement with material culture. Critics have tended to frame James's works in general in terms of his detachment from economic and material reality; and criticisms on the novel in particular have seen it as exemplifying the alleged detachment, interpreting the things accumulated by a female collector at Poynton, as something illusory and unsubstantial, such as a form of commodity fetishism, a Freudian fetish, or a Lacanian signifier. Contrary to the conventional view, however, this thesis argues that James, in this novel about a struggle between a mother and her son over a house and its furnishings, represents and explores physical and affective relationships between the characters and things. James, focusing on the characters' sense experience, attempts to criticize the phallocentric power of his own culture that not only excludes women from the legal right of possession but also undervalues female domestic work in spite of its support for the culture. Drawing our attention to the senses that have traditionally been thought "lower" and "feminine," and thus refusing the taxonomization and hierarchization of the senses, James expands the category of aesthetic experience. This thesis argues that in the novel, by adopting as his primary mode of writing immediate sense experience prior to philosophical abstraction, James makes clear the latent implication between cultural repudiation of the feminine and the material, on the one hand, and the political and institutionalized exclusion of women by patriarchal property law, on the other. Criticism that ignores the material urgency and presence in the novel will further replicate that patriarchal power structure.

Large areas within alpine and subalpine tundra have been x disturbed by mining during this century. The most promising method for retarding deterioration of these areas is revegetation with native species through both seeding and transplants. One natural process of revegetation which occurs on portions of many existing disturbances seems to be the establishment of a few species that expand with time to form matts of plants. At the McLaren Mine, located at 3000 m elevation in the Beartooth Mountains, Montana, active succession is occurring and is dominated by Carex species. Seed viability and successional patterns studies were conducted on the mine. The objectives included: 1) determinations of seed viability on the spoils, 2) determine to what extent the Carex communities enhanced seedling survival, 3) to quantify the vegetation characteristics within the Carex communities and adjacent mine spoil, and 4) determine the effect that Carex communities have on microenvironmental factors. Greenhouse tests were used to determine seed viability in soil samples taken from the mine. Paired observations in field studies were used to compare vegetational and microenvironmental differences between Carex communities and adjacent bare areas. Statistical analyses of the data collected showed that there was an adequate source of viable seeds of various species in the spoils to encourage natural revegetation if they could become established. Seedling mortality was reduced in Carex communities, apparently by decreasing soil disruption caused by frost action. Carex communities altered the microenvironment by reducing soil temperatures, wind speed, and radiation flux, and by providing a richer source of nitrogen and potassium than did the bare areas. Carex communities did not alter ?oil pH, phosphorus or soil water. Measurement of microenvironmental factors varied between the center and edge locations within the Carex communities. Species diversity and percent litter cover increased with increase in community size.

Current surface mine reclamation in Appalachia involves returning the land to approximate original contour by grading the surface and planting grasses and early-successional trees. This results in a greatly altered ecosystem compared to the native forest that was there prior to mining. The reclaimed land is usually degraded economically and environmentally because mine soils are usually less productive than the native soils, and because the mined sites do not provide the same level of ecosystem services. This research addressed constraints to the return of the native ecosystem by assessing how mine spoil properties and treatments affect native tree species and soil microorganisms. A 4x2x3 factorial greenhouse experiment was used to examine the growth of one-year-old Fraxinus americana, Quercus rubra, and Liriodendron tulipifera as well as herbaceous plant occurrence and microbial biomass and activity. Three mine spoils, brown, weathered sandstone (BWS), white, unweathered sandstone (WUS), and gray, unweathered shale (GUH) were compared with undisturbed forest topsoil (UFT) to determine their suitability for tree growth. Half of each of the four media was inoculated with a 2.5-cm layer of topsoil. BWS was the optimal spoil material for the growth of F. americana, Q. rubra and microbial populations. Foliar nutrient analysis indicated that L. tulipifera was highly dependent on nutrient levels and was unable to grow well on any of the spoil types due to deficiencies. Inoculation with topsoil increased tree growth on the GUH spoil, and increased microbial activity and presence of herbaceous plants across all growth media. The field study was used to determine what spoil properties most influenced three-year-old Quercus alba growth. This information was used to test a mine quality classification model. Northeast facing sites with sandy spoils high in nutrients, moderate in pH, and high in microbial populations were optimal for tree growth. These variables explained 52% of the variation in tree growth. Tree growth was also highly correlated with tree foliar nutrient levels, further suggesting that tree growth was influenced by spoil nutrients. Microbial biomass and dehydrogenase production were also regressed against soil properties and were dependant on a moderate pH, high nitrogen levels, and low salt content. These variables explained 53% of the variability in microbial biomass and 50% of the variability in enzyme production. These studies suggest that tree growth and soil microbial populations are closely linked, and both are affected by mine spoil properties. During mined land reclamation, mine spoils conducive to tree growth should be selected if return of the native ecosystem is the reclamation goal. / Master of Science

The present study covers the causes of victory and defeat in the light of chapter eight of the Holy Qur'an. It has been prompted by the current situation facing Muslims in many parts of the world, which is characterized by despair, reversals and loss, This study is thus reflexive in nature. In order to obtain a satisfactory response to this predicament, the relevant text in addition to several of its commentaries were scrutinized. The latter search remained unsatisfactory since their focus of inquiry was merely exegetical and failed to reveal any didactic element, which is crucial for obtaining guidance. This work has successfully managed to deduce this aspect from the text which amplifies the importance of extensive sacrifice for gaining glory. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Islamic studies)

The present study covers the causes of victory and defeat in the light of chapter eight of the Holy Qur'an. It has been prompted by the current situation facing Muslims in many parts of the world, which is characterized by despair, reversals and loss, This study is thus reflexive in nature. In order to obtain a satisfactory response to this predicament, the relevant text in addition to several of its commentaries were scrutinized. The latter search remained unsatisfactory since their focus of inquiry was merely exegetical and failed to reveal any didactic element, which is crucial for obtaining guidance. This work has successfully managed to deduce this aspect from the text which amplifies the importance of extensive sacrifice for gaining glory. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Islamic studies)

Orientador: Cristina Meneguello / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-11T15:45:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ribeiro_DaisySerra_D.pdf: 17587555 bytes, checksum: d7babb87daaf16082d65901528cb7f10 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: No período entre 1931 a 1946, verificamos, através dos relatórios dos prefeitos municipais à Câmara dos vereadores, que a cidade de Campinas passava por modificações urbanas significativas. Uma série de leis e medidas administrativas passam a ser implementadas no sentido, ao que tudo indica, de incentivar a organização do município para enfrentar uma vocação que teve início no final do século XIX, ou seja, uma função cada vez mais ligada à industria. Nas manifestações desta interferência e seus impactos no poder municipal, é que propomos projeto para se estudar as hipóteses de que os mecanismos aplicados nesta ação possam ter sido fator significativo na configuração do modelo de cidade industrial revelado em Campinas no período, como também parece ter vindo impedir o surgimento de lideranças políticas regionais. A implantação deste sistema nas políticas urbanas refletidas na distribuição do uso dos espaços, são pontos que nortearão nossa linha de pesquisa / Abstract: In the period enter 1931 and 1946, verify, through the reports of the municipal mayors to the Chamber of the councilmen who the city of Campinas passed for significant urban modifications. An administrative series of laws and me!lsures pass to be implemented in the direction to stÍmulate the organization of the city to face a vocation that had beginning in the end of century XIX, that is, a function each on time the industry. In the manifestations of this interference and its impacts in the municipal power, it is that we consider project to study the hypotheses of that the mechanisms applied in this action can have been significant facto r in the configuration of the discosed model of industrial city in Campinas in the period, as well as seems to have come to hinder the sprouting of leaderships regional politicas. The implantation of this system in the reflected urban politicas in the distribution of the use of the spaces, is points that will guide our line of research / Doutorado / Politica, Memoria e Cidade / Doutor em História