Generations, Mobility and Persistence: A View from Genealogies

Recent studies on rural transformation and mobility have emphasized the importance of considering these interrelated themes in relation to specific locational and historical contexts. This paper argues that in order to integrate historical demography with the social history of Ontario's rural population, it will be necessary to move beyond the confines of the census-based cross-sectional approach and instead develop a longitudinal perspective. A life-history approach based on linking the information found in genealogies with other records is suggested as a possible strategy enabling researchers to better understand how individuals and families responded to changes in rural society.Les études récentes portant sur la mobilité et les transformations dans le monde rural ont mis l'accent sur l'importance de considérer ces deux sujets en relation avec le contexte régional et historique. Cet article tente de montrer que pour intégrer la démographie historique et l'histoire sociale de la population rurale ontarienne, il est nécessaire de dépasser les limites de l'approche transversale basée sur les recensements et de développer plutôt une perspective longitudinale. Nous suggérons que la constitution d'histoires de vie, liant les informations trouvées dans les généalogies et celles provenant d'autres sources, pourrait permettre aux chercheurs de mieux comprendre comment les individus et leurs familles ont réagi face aux changements dans la société rurale

The impact of trait attributions on evaluations of political leaders

Evaluations of political leaders have long been considered an important component of the vote decision. Nevertheless, little research has been conducted in Canada on voters’ overall evaluations of their political leaders. Indeed, the topic has only recently received much systematic attention in the comparative literature. The study of how voters’ judgements about the personality characteristics of candidates affect their overall evaluations of those candidates is an area that has been particularly neglected. In this thesis, we test three hypotheses about the impact of personality trait attributions on voters’ overall evaluations of Canadian federal party leaders. The data for our analyses are drawn from the 1974, 1979 and 1984 Canadian National Election Studies. The first hypothesis is that there is a relationship between trait attributions and voters’ overall evaluations of Canadian political leaders that is independent of such factors as party identification, issue positions, and other impressions of the parties and leaders. This hypothesis is supported. The second hypothesis is that trait attributions will have an impact on voters’ overall evaluations of Liberal and PC leaders second in importance to party identification, and that trait attributions will be second in importance to issue positions with regard to evaluations of NDP leaders. This hypothesis is only partially supported. For Liberal and PC leaders, the impact of party identification on evaluation is generally surpassed by the impact of positive trait attributions. With regard to evaluations of NDP leaders, the impact of issue positions is generally surpassed by the impact of party identification, positive trait attributions and negative trait attributions. The third hypothesis is that attributions of competence and integrity will have a greater impact on overall evaluation than attributions of other personality traits. This hypothesis is also only partially supported. The impact of integrity is considerably less than has been found to be the case by other researchers

Speculation and the Surveyor: An Analysis of the Role Played by Surveyors in the Settlement of Upper Canada

Land speculation has been recognized as playing a major role in the settlement of Ontario, but only recently have scholars examined this activity at a detailed level. One theme which remains to be investigated is the relationship between speculation and surveyors. From the beginning of settlement, the government used land in lieu of cash to reward people for different services. After 1818, surveyors were reimbursed for their duties with a percentage of the land surveyed. This paper outlines the dimensions of this particular process of remuneration and then examines the landholding behaviour of a small number of surveyors, making use of the information contained in the Abstract Index to Deeds. On sait que la spéculation foncière a joué un rôle important dans la colonisation de l’Ontario, mais elle n’a que récemment fait l’objet d’études détaillées. La place qu’y ont occupée les arpenteurs reste encore à dégager. Dès le départ, les autorités ont substitué l’octroi de terres au paiement comptant pour services rendus. Après 1818, les arpenteurs reçurent ainsi une partie des terres qu’ils avaient arpentées. À partir des renseignements que fournissent les registres de l’Abstract Index to Deeds, nous définissons ici ce mode de rémunération dans ses aspects essentiels et nous retraçons le comportement de quelques arpenteurs devenus propriétaires fonciers

Computational and Experimental Studies of Catalytic Decomposition of H2O2 Monopropellant in MEMS-based Micropropulsion Systems

The next generation of miniaturized satellites (“nanosats”) feature dramatically reduced thrust and impulse requirements for purposes of spacecraft attitude control and maneuvering. E↵orts at the University of Vermont have concentrated on developing a MEMS-based chemical micropropulsion system based on a rocket grade hydrogen peroxide (HTP) monopropellant fuel. A key component in the micropropulsion system is the catalytic reactor whose role is to chemically decompose the monopropellant, thereby releasing the fuel’s chemical energy for thrust production. The present study is a joint computational and experimental design e↵ort at developing a MEMS-based micro-reactor for incorporation into a monopropellant micropropulsion system. Numerically, 0D and simplified 2D models have been developed to validate the model and characterize heat and mass di↵usion in the channel. This model will then be extended to a 2D model including all geometric complexities of the catalyst bed geometry with the goal of optimization. Experimentally, both meso and micro scale catalyst geometries have been constructed to prove the feasibility of using RuO2 nanostructures as an in situ in a microchannel

Health Care Policy Analysis and Decision Support Using Agent Based Simulation Techniques

No abstract availabl

Population et urbanisation au Québec et au Canada, XIXe et XXe siècles

La croissance urbaine rapide de la fin du XIXe siècle et du premier tiers du XXe a suscité nombre de travaux sur un large éventail de sujets, notamment en rapport avec les processus démographiques associés à l'urbanisation: formation et évolution des populations des villes, transition démographique, structure et composition des ménages, rôles des membres des familles, logement, etc... Au Québec en particulier, les études sur les populations urbaines apparaissent plus fragmentaires. Si des recherches récentes ou en cours contribuent à une meilleure compréhension de l'urbanisation des Canadiens français (sinon de la franco-canadianisation des villes québécoises), il reste encore largement place pour des études englobantes de la croissance rapide qu'ont connue les villes entre 1860 et 1930. Ainsi est née l'idée d'un atelier sur cet objet éminemment complexe et interdisciplinaire que sont les populations urbaines du passé. Il visait à proposer quelques jalons quant aux pistes de recherche à explorer sur le sujet: jalons liés aux questionnements et problématiques, jalons méthodologiques sur les façons de faire, notamment par l'exploitation des données tirées des grandes séries documentaires tels les recensements nominatifs. Ce livret regroupe les contributions de quatre des huit conférenciers invités à lancer les échanges sur l'un ou l'autre des sujets proposés aux participants. Leur contenu offre diverses pistes susceptibles d'aider à mieux comprendre à échelle fine ce phénomène fondamental qu'est l'urbanisation des populations contemporaines