McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 1981

This work is focussed on the equilibrium properties of r-mer fluids and their mixtures with particular emphasis on the limiting case of polymer mixtures. The Flory-Patterson-Prigogine corresponding states theory of Polymer Solutions is corrected for non-randomness and extended to multicomponent multigroup systems. A novel equipment for vapor sorption measurements in concentrated polymer solutions is described. With this equipment five polymer-polymer-solvent and one block copolymer-solvent systems have been studied. The Flory-Huggins (chi) interaction parameters for the polymer pairs have been determined. The experimental data have been treated with the non-random new Flory theory. Interactional constants for the polymer pairs have been …  Read more

Defining a television “delivery mode” as a technology plus a means of finance, five current tv options, (commercial broadcasting, the U.S. public broadcasting system, cable-tv, pay-tv and cable satellite networks), are described, and assessed for potential for specialized-interest programming. Cable-satellite networks, (using advertising and/or small fees per subscriber paid by cable-tv operators to satellite programmers providing content), have particular promise for specialized programming, due to cable-tv’s multi-channel capacity, use of satellite to accumulate audience, and means of finance: participant advertisers are interesting in targeting audience subgroups, and cable cable operators paying fees to content providers are more interested in range …  Read more

An inside information is the knowledge of material corporate facts not blicly disclosed permitting an insider to make a personal, inequitableprofit by dealing in the securities of a company.Disclosure is necessary to enable the general public to trade on an equal basis. Insider trading regulations containing disclosure requirements, trading prohibitions and sanctions are designed to balance the interestes of investors and insiders.The Anerican solution dominated by two statutory provisions and elaborate jurisdiction. The Canadian federal and provincial statutes provide detailed and advanced resulations. The British jurisdiction ap)lies the principle of fiduciary duty supplemeteci by some statutory provisions of the Companies …  Read more

Rembrandt's The Conspiracy of Julius Civilis, painted for the Town Hall of Amsterdam, reflects the political situation prevailing in the United Provinces following the treaty which was concluded in l648 in Spain. The revoIt of the Batavians against the Romans was viewed byseventeenth-century Duteh Republicans as a precursor of their own struggle to wrest independence from the Spanish. Because of the evolution of the unique political structure, which pitted a centrist House of Orange against more particularist interests of the Provinces, the domestic,union was continually faced by threat of dissolution. The contrasting views of sovereignty in the Dutch Republic can …  Read more

Lithogeochemical investigations were carried out in and around the Montauban polymetallic deposits of the Grenville Province, Quebec. A number of chemical criteria used to distinguish sedimentary and igneous protoliths for the ore host rocks were tested and found to be weak in their discriminating capabilities. Critically evaluated chemical criteria show that the protoliths for quartzofeldspathic gneisses, quartz-rich rocks, and host rocks were mainly siliceous sediments and intercalated carbonate lenses. Hornblende gneisses of the Montauban area are orthogneisses. They and other orthoamphibolite rocks in the study area have a tholeitic affinity. Incompatible element chemistry suggests that they were formed in an …  Read more

A theoretical treatment has been combined with practical methods to obtain quantitative measurements from the transient responses of electrically coupled cells. Communication via electrical synapses is characterized as a low resistance pathway, whereas membrane response is represented by a resistance in parallel with a capacitance. The validity and consequences of this model have been investigated using data from identified pairs of electrically coupled neurons in the freshwater snail, Helisoma trivolvis. An automated procedure has been developed to monitor the degree of coupling over extended periods of time and transform these measurements into equivalent electrical units. The model has been used …  Read more

The cellular basis for genetically-determined differences in resistance to infection with Listeria monocytogenes has been investigated in Listeria-resistant and Listeria-sensitive mouse strains. Adoptive transfer of specific immunity to naive recipients of sensitive and resistant genotypes has shown that the gene (Lr) controlling the level of resistance is expressed in the macrophage, rather than in the T-cell, response. In resistant mice, shortening of promonocyte generation time (T(,G)), together with prompt monocytosis and decreased half-time (T(, 1/2)) of circulating monocytes is seen following infection or injection of listerial cell wall extract; furthermore, the enhanced antilisterial response of resistant mice is highly radiosensitive …  Read more

Diastereomers of CpRh{C(O)Me}(P*)I, (P* (TBOND) (S)-Ph(,2)PNHCH(Me)Ph), have been prepared and separated. Decarbonylation with AgBF(,4) gave a single diastereomer of CpRhMe(CO)(P*)(.)BF(,4) and subsequent treatment of the salt with anions likewise gave single isomers of CpRh{C(O)Me}(P*)X (X = Cl, Br, I, SCN, NCS). The high stereospecificity of these transformations is attributed to the ability of the acyl ligand to undergo stereospecific reversible decarbonylation such that the methyl group occupies the site vacated by the iodide ligand, i.e., inversion. Addition of N(,3)('-) and MeO('-) to the salt resulted in the stereospecific formation of CpRhMe(P*)X' (X' = NCO, COOMe). Metathesis of CpRh{C(O)Me}(P*)Cl with I('-) …  Read more

An enzyme that catalyzed the terminal step in GM(,1) ganglioside biosynthesis was demonstrated in rat brain and rat liver microsomal preparations. This galactosyltransferase enzyme could be solubilized from the Golgi fraction of rat liver homogenates. Anion exchange chromatography resolved two distinct enzymes with activity toward GM(,2) ganglioside. These two activities could be distinguished by such properties as pH optima, detergent requirements, and isoelectric points. The two enzymes had similar molecular weights and cation requirements. Extensive characterization of the acceptor specificities of galactosyltransferase enzymes present in solubilized Golgi preparations led to the identification of five enzyme reactions. Two activities were identified …  Read more

Water balance calculations were conducted for data obtained from a soil moisture characteristic to demonstrate the effect of different subsurface drain depths on the extent of droughtiness of a sandy soil. Laboratory experiments were conducted on samples of sandy soils of the St. Lawrence lowlands to determine pertinent physical and soil-water properties. These properties were used, together with published crop data, to determine the effect of different subsurface drain depths on the quantity of available water in the soils studied. Empirical relationships were derived among some of the properties measured, with the objective of enabling future drainage planners to make …  Read more

A three-part study of the vocal and visual cues important for species recognition in six species of Darwin's Finches (Geospiza) in the Galapagos is presented. Part I quantifies structure and species-specificity of advertising song. Part II describes experiments on song function and recognition. Part III examines the role of morphology in mate recognition and reproductive isolation. Geospiza song is variable and lacks species-specificity, due to intrapopulation song polymorphism, dialect divergence, song parallelism and interspecific song overlap. Song functions in conspecific territorial communication. Much intraspecific song variation apparently has little functional significance, although vocal confusion between syntopic G. fuliginosa and G. …  Read more

A word-generation experiment explored the relative contributions of the left temporal neocortex and the left hippocampal region to verbal recall. Patients with large hippocampal excisions (LTH) were impaired in immediate recall of synonyms, whereas those with small hippocampal excisions (LTh) were not. Both groups were impaired in immediate recall of rhymes, and in delayed recall of both synonyms and rhymes. A nonverbal associative-learning task, where the stimulus-items came from a visual continuum, also resulted in a deficit for the LTH (but not the LTh) group. Patients with right temporal lobectomy performed both tasks normally. On an absolute-judgement task involving the …  Read more

The thesis consists of a brief novel entitled, TowardsAmedeo’s Eden, plus an accompanying analytical essay, and alist of readings. […]  Read more

A utility-based method of design for serviceability is developed and applied to a case study of office floor deflections. Structural design for serviceability is reviewed and surveys of engineers and building developers yield information on the occurrence and evaluation of serviceability problems. A probabilistic utility-based formulation of the serviceability design problem is presented, and design optimization is related to pseudo-limit states and associated serviceability indices appropriate to 'single point' design checks. The case study includes the review and adaptation of stochastic load models, the development of a load-response model to account for random spatial variations of structural properties, and detailed …  Read more

Magdélenant, J. L.  Read more

This study is concerned with the situation in which a passenger holding a valid airline ticket and a confirmed reservation is nevertheless refused carriage. The categories of travellers which are examined are "bumpees" i.e. victims of the airlines' overbooking practices; the handicapped, with special emphasis placed on the situation of pregnant women; the elderly and children; smokers and drunks; racial minorities; and those passengers whose characteristics fit the so-called hijacker profile. Of these, the handicapped, including expectant mothers, emerged as the passengers most often subjected to detrimental discrimination; the treatment of unaccompanied children was also unnecessarily restrictive, whilst overbooking and …  Read more

Montgomery, David  Read more

This thesis is concerned with the experimental determination of surface displacements of material foils by means of an automatic evaluation of the holographic interferograms obtained in testing. The experimental work utilizes a newly developed method referred to as the "holographic-electro-optical" technique that employs a specially designed microcomputer unit. The experimental procedure and the microcomputer organization are fully described. The application of this technique is illustrated by the evaluation of strain field and thickness changes at a large number of points on both sides of a commercial newsprint paper sample subjected to uniaxial loads. Furthermore, a new quantity called the "volumetric …  Read more

Cooper, B. A.  Read more

Particle-particle heat transfer is a new and promising method of heat transfer in granular materials, with numerous potential applications to processing and drying. Up to this day, however, there has been little analytical research on the fundamental mechanism of heat transfer involved in such a process, impeding its further development. In this study, an analysis was performed on the heat transfer involved in this type of process for a few simple situations. Heat transfer between a constraining surface and a granular material was modeled as being dependent on the duration of contact and on a fixed contact resistance. A generalized …  Read more