McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 1992

The purpose of this thesis is to study the coding of wideband speech and to improve on previous Code-Excited Linear Prediction (CELP) coders in terms of speech quality and bit rate. To accomplish this task, improved coding techniques are introduced and the operating bit rate is reduced while maintaining and even enhancing the speech quality. the first approach considers the quantization of Liner Predictive Coding (LPC) parameters and uses a three way split vector quantization. Both scalar and vector quantization are initially studied; results show that, with adequate codebook training, the second method generates better results while using a fewer …  Read more

This is an interpretive study of the life of the Prophet Muhammad as it is artistically depicted in the repertoire (especially the narrative ballads) of fifty-one contemporary Egyptian maddahin (singers of eulogies in honour of the Prophet Muhammad, sing. maddah). The elements of this repertoire, as diverse as narrative ballads, classical odes, Qur'an chanting, and the melodies of the secular songs of well-known Egyptian singers, do not exist as discrete units but rather as a lively tawlifa (blend)--to use a common term in Colloquial Egyptian Arabic (CEA). This study is about blends where discrete units lose their borderlines and leak …  Read more

Anthony van Dyck's contemporary vision of sovereignty and knighthood made him the principal image-maker in England during the 1630s. His portraits of Charles I exemplified the Arcadian realm and philosophies held at court, as well as complying with the artistic and historical traditions of English painting. As a celebration of Monarchy by Divine Right, Van Dyck's portrayals of the Sovereign summarize the philosophical concepts of knighthood expressed in the Platonic Love theory and the Order of the Garter. Charles I was Defensor Fides, Pater Patriae, the suitor to his lady, and the courtly gentleman--all roles of the knight. Beyond his …  Read more

This thesis presents Islamic modernism in Malaya as reflected in the life and works of Sayid Syekh al-Hadi (1867-1934). Having first described and evaluated the previous writings mentioned about al-Hadi, it outlines the main characteristics of Islamic modernism, and discusses al-Hadi's life and his thought covering four topics namely: ritualism, education, woman and politics. The study has shown that al-Hadi was a Malayan Muslim modernist. He seriously advocated Islamic modernism to overcome what he had perceived as the causes contributing to Malayan Muslim decadence and backwardness. He believed that Malayan Muslims could advance and progress even though they were under …  Read more

In hot strip mills, in the steel industry, reheat furnaces are utilized to reheat slabs, billets, blooms, etc., to uniform rolling temperatures prior to hot working. During this reheating operation, hot steel surfaces react with the in-furnace oxidizing atmosphere resulting in the formation of an iron oxides layer (scale). The yield loss due to this phenomenon depends on furnace operating conditions, i.e. steel temperature, excess combustion air, steel residence time in the furnace, etc., and ranges between 1.5 to 3% of reheated steel. In this research, the oxidation of a mild steel during reheating cycles as function of furnace atmosphere, …  Read more

The Burton, Kates and White model of community response to environmental change is used to study a rapidly developing suburb of Montreal. Between 1973 and 1988, 11 376 single family dwellings were built in the 'West Island'. A geographic information system (GIS) analysis shows 40 percent of vacant land was developed between 1983 and 1989, over half this was for low density housing. A study of citizens' perceptions of the changes shows 72 percent of residents felt local environmental conditions were the same or better than when they first moved to the area (average 14 years) and 71 percent felt …  Read more

Through an analysis of Cree concepts of well-being, I challenge conventional social scientific definitions of health. In this dissertation I argue that there exists a fundamental biomedical dualism in health studies and, using cross-cultural examples, explore an expanded notion of "health". I then introduce the Cree concept of miyupimaatisiiu ("being alive well") and explain that for the Whapmagoostui Cree there is no term that translates back into English as health. I present the core symbols of "being alive well" and in their analysis find a persistence of traditional meanings. For the Cree "being alive well" is consonant with "being Cree", …  Read more

Over the last decade, there has been considerable interest and success in the formulation of co-located equal-order Finite Volume Methods (FVMs) and Control-Volume Finite Element Methods (CVFEMs) for the prediction of fluid flow and heat transfer. This thesis is concerned with an evaluation and enhancement of some aspects of recent co-located equal-order FVMs and CVFEMs. In particular, the goals of this thesis are the following: (1) formulation and computer implementation of a co-located equal-order FVM that facilitates the evaluation and enhancement tasks; (2) evaluation and enhancement of iterative sequential and coupled-equation solvers; and (3) comparative evaluation of a recently proposed …  Read more

The transferrin receptor (TfR) is a membrane protein whose function is to deliver transferrin-bound iron into the cell. Erythroid precursor cells and reticulocytes require huge amounts of iron for hemoglobin synthesis and express large numbers of TfRs. However, as the reticulocyte matures into an erythrocyte, TfRs are lost from the cell, as are a number of other membrane proteins. Nearly a decade ago, it was shown that TfRs are released from the sheep reticulocyte in vesicular form (in exosomes) during culture. Exosome formation may be the mechanism for remodelling of the plasma membrane during reticulocyte maturation. In this thesis, we …  Read more

The effect of one day and five day antibiotic administration for prophylaxis in orthognathic surgical procedures was compared. A randomized double-blind clinical trial using placebo was conducted. Thirty patients were equally distributed between two groups. Each group received Penicillin G two million units intravenously pre-operatively, and one million units I.V. every three hours intraoperatively and three hours post-operatively. Group one then received Penicillin G, one million units I.V. every six hours for eight doses, then Penicillin V suspension 300 mg orally every six hours for eight doses. Group two received placebo in a similar dosing schedule. The wounds were inspected …  Read more

The factors that regulate dystrophin accumulation, and its association with other proteins in culture, are largely unknown. In this study I have examined the effects of chemical agents on dystrophin accumulation in culture, as well as determined whether dystrophin in culture has associations with glycoproteins in a similar fashion to that found in normal muscle tissue. My results show that the onset of detectable dystrophin accumulation occurs shortly after myoblast fusion has taken place, and increases rapidly thereafter as a percentage of total cell protein. The effects of depolarizing concentrations of potassium ion, resulting in the inhibition of myotube contraction, …  Read more

This dissertation applies the theoretical perspective of gender relations and develops methods to understand and analyze the movement of women from the center of social systems to its margins when these systems are undergoing rapid socio-economic and political change. This research responded to the pressing need for the application of newer, more appropriate theoretical and methodological perspectives to examine shifting power relations between women and men in areas undergoing transformation. In the case study, I investigate the locus of power in a system of cooperatives in the Departement du Nord, Haiti and discover how and why female members are being …  Read more

The kinetics of deposition of clay particles in packed beds of pulp fibers is investigated theoretically and experimentally for different operating conditions that might be encountered in the industry. A theoretical model is developed to predict the clay concentration within and at the exit of the bed. The bed is modeled by the plug flow model together with Langmuir kinetics; the solution is integrated over the residence time distribution function which is specified by the mathematical solution of the axial dispersion plug flow model. A stimulus response experiment was performed to measure the real residence time distribution of the fluid …  Read more

This thesis deals with the use of planar near-field measurements for characterizing and modeling general electromagnetic radiators, particularly non-directive ones. Relationships between the measured field on a plane and the equivalent currents on the radiator plane were established. These were used to determine the resolution with which these currents can be mapped. The equivalent currents then serve as a model from which the radiator external field can be calculated. It was shown that significant filtering of measurement errors results from the utilization of such a model. The consequent reduction in errors was estimated. The behavior of the measurement probe was …  Read more

DNA was microencapsulated by emulsification/interfacial polymerization within semi-permeable cross-linked chitosan membranes. Polar solvents and pH extremes were avoided during microencapsulation by using vegetable or mineral oil as the continuous phase and chitosan as the polymeric backbone. The membrane was cross-linked with glutaraldehyde or hexamethylene diisocyanate and microcapsules varied in diameter from 95 to 325 $ mu$m. DNA was visualized within the microcapsules with ethidium bromide stain. Binding of ($ sp{14}$C) methyl iodide and ($ sp{14}$C) benzo (a) pyrene by microcapsules was demonstrated in vitro and in vivo, respectively, although binding was mostly evident in the chitosan membranes. Magnetic recovery of …  Read more

This thesis examines the novels of quebecois writer Marie-Claire Blais from a North American feminist literary critical perspective. It challenges the assumption that francophone women writers should only be studied from a French Feminist perspective by attempting to situate Blais' writing within a North-American "female literary tradition". Issues of Blais' cultural specifity as a quebecois writer are also addressed.  Read more

Nylon membrane artificial cells were prepared to produce essential amino acids. The artificial cells contained leucine dehydrogenase, glucose dehydrogenase and Dextran-NAD$ sp+.$ These were packed in a column bioreactor to achieve continuous conversion of ammonia into L-valine with simultaneous regeneration of Dextran-NADH. Kinetic analysis showed that diffusion restriction is negligble when batch and packed-bed column bioreactors were used. The limiting step controlling the rate was the chemical reaction. The effect of backmixing on degree of conversion was insignificant. Ammonia conversion varied linearly with the space time in the range of 0.6-30 minutes. The microencapsulated multienzyme system showed higher efficiency when …  Read more

In recent decades, hazardous waste generation has increased in industrialized countries, and disposal facilities, especially landfill spaces, have become scarce and therefore more expensive. As a result, exports of hazardous waste to developing countries, especially to Africa grew considerably due to low cost of "disposal". African countries lack the legal and industrial set-ups and technical capacity to dispose of the waste safely. In an attempt to control such exports, African countries adopted the Bamako Convention in January, 1991. The Convention was modelled on the Basel Convention, an instrument adopted earlier on the same subject, but at a global level. Except …  Read more

Besides providing a biographical sketch of Bint al-Shati', this thesis analyzes her intellectual growth and provides the necessary information about her works relating to Qur'anic studies. The study also surveys al-Khuli's method of Qur'anic exegesis and Bint al-Shati' thinspace's attempts to apply it to her own works. Our analysis focuses on her works on Qur'anic studies such as al-Tafsir al-Bayani li al-Qur'an al-Karim, Maqal fi al-Insan and al-I'jaz al-Bayani li al-Qur'an wa Masa'il Ibn al-Azraq. The distinguishing features of her philological and thermatic approach are discussed and the main results obtained by the practical application of this method are shown …  Read more

It is believed that by knowing user characteristics during the pre-design stage, the architect can better satisfy the economic requirements and spatial preferences of the user. The author's goal in this study is to demonstrate the validity of four variables in providing information about prospective home buyers in a particular site in order to define their housing needs during the programming stage. Past studies suggested four variables from which basic design guidelines could eventually be extracted: socio-demographic characteristics, type of household/life cycle stage, economic characteristics and mobility. The validity of these variables were tested by the author in four case …  Read more

This thesis examines the formative years (1931-1940) of Canada's first birth control clinic, the Birth Control Society of Hamilton (BCSH). The focus of this work is to place the activities of the BCSH in an international and national context. Canada's first birth control clinic drew directly on the writings and experience of two well known birth control pioneers, the American Margaret Sanger and the English woman Marie Stopes. This reliance on foreign models demonstrates the enormous influence that the British and Americans had on the formation of Canadian social and medical institutions. This thesis also challenges the traditional perception of …  Read more

This thesis explored the influence of fish behavior and distribution on the accuracy and precision of quantitative estimates of fish biomass and abundance as assessed by hydroacoustic techniques. Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), a pelagic fish known to undertake diel vertical migrations and to exhibit changes in aggregation intensity associated with these movements was used as the model species for this study. The diel vertical migrations of smelt resulted in their potential inaccessibility to the acoustic gear. To obviate this problem a model of the diel migration of smelt based on observations of their behavioral responses to ambient light and water …  Read more

In order to understand and control the deportment of common impurity elements in the Pt(IV)-Pd(II)-HCl-8-hydroxyquinoline (TN 1911)$ sp{ rm a}$ system, their solvent extraction chemistry in chloride solution has been studied. The investigated elements were Fe(III), Cu(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), Pb(II), Sn(IV), Ag(I), As(V), Sb(V), Bi(III), Se(IV) and Te(IV). Extraction experiments carried out using multi-element and single element feed solutions helped to elucidate the extraction behaviour of the elements with the extractant TN 1911. From the collected data it was deduced that the majority formed anionic chlorocomplexes and extracted via the ion-pair mechanism involving the protonated extractant. Consequently, scrubbing procedures were …  Read more

One of the most perplexing figures in Shakespeare's tragedies is Lady Macbeth. In light of recent feminist studies, Lady Macbeth must be studied in the social and historical context of Shakespeare's own era. By comparing the situation of women at that time with the vast number of social constraints placed on them through state channels, we see these women emerging from the social ideal of the cloistered submissive wife despite the attempts of patriarchal politics to restrain their advances. Lady Macbeth's actions are often interpreted as those of a bloodthirsty woman overstepping her social position. But Lady Macbeth is a …  Read more

The legal relationship between trade unions and the subordinate units (locals, branches, regions etc) of which they are made up, has received little academic attention despite its importance in Canadian labour relations. Traditionally the link has been viewed as contractual, but the law of contract, developed in the context of individual rights, is ill-equipped to address the competing group interests which are at stake. This paper is a study of "disaffiliation" or the severance of ties between the "parent" and the "local" union, an event which more than any other reveals the subordination inherent in the relationship and the way …  Read more

Experimental and theoretical studies on the extraction of the cation K$ sp+$ and Mg$ sp{++}$ from a bulk aqueous phase to an organic phase using the water/dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid (HD)/heptane reverse-micellar system was conducted. The counter ion of the surfactant, H$ sp+$, was exchanged with the alkali metal cations in the aqueous phase. Two different types of experiments were conducted. The first set involved a constant total normality of ions while the second investigated the effect, of varying the normality of ions. Electrolyte solutions with molarities ranging from 0 to 1 were contacted with a reverse-micellar organic containing different concentrations …  Read more

This thesis places P. D. James's detective novels within the historical and critical framework of the detective genre, and explores her particular contributions to it. James's awareness of the implications of a police investigation, coupled with her strikingly bleak and moralistic representation of our contemporary world are two of the main reasons she has achieved such widespread critical acclaim. Her novels also have a didactic dimension that ranges from an assertion of morally-correct modes of behaviour in an age without religion, to the constant reminder that, although they provide entertainment, murder mysteries must never be taken too lightly. These signature …  Read more

This study was undertaken to characterize the oxygen consumption and heart rate responses of subjects during laboratory simulated aerobic dance circuit training sessions. Sixteen female subjects performed six randomly assigned 30-minute aerobic dance circuit training protocols. Oxygen consumption and heart rate responses were monitored in response to changes in three independent variables which were: interval duration, leg involvement and fitness level. Results revealed that the different interval durations generated significantly different oxygen costs. Also, it was found that in relative terms (% of max VO$ sb2$), the low fitness group (max VO$ sb2 $ 45 ml/kg.min). Furthermore, it was found …  Read more

This thesis is grounded in philosophy and in literature. It is concerned with the recognized human need for self-affirmation and with the consequences of its denial caused by exile. For the victim this means the loss of social interaction and public moral agency within his natural community through which self-affirmation can be actualized. In certain types of exilic literature constructive reactions were found to counteract this loss of freedom of choice of action and place, which entails potential annihilation of the exile's personal integrity. In the exilic text of Dante as my chosen case study, I investigate the use of …  Read more

Several numerical experiments are carried out using the Bryan-Cox Ocean General Circulation Model to investigate the variability of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation under steady, non-zonal, surface forcing and realistic geometry. To this end the annual mean surface forcing fields were derived from the climatological data sets of Levitus (1982), Hellerman and Rosenstein (1983) and, Schmitt et al. (1989). Further, Arctic freshwater flux, an important part of the hydrological cycle within the North Atlantic Deep Water formation region, is taken into account. It is found that under present-day climatological surface forcing the system may oscillate at interdecadal period. The mechanism …  Read more

Concept mapping in college-level physics was investigated. The study was carried out in three parts. First, an attempt was made to validate concept mapping as a method of evaluating student learning at the junior college level (ages 16-21). Several measures were found to be sensitive to differences in students' achievement. Second, the effectiveness of concept mapping as an instructional strategy was investigated. It was found that the strategy led to improvement in multistep problem-solving performance but not in performance on single step problems. Third, the concept maps made by experts in the field were compared with the maps made by …  Read more

Proteins of the Ner/Nlp family have been characterized in order to identify the evolutionarily conserved protein domains important to their structure and function. The homologous DNA-bonding Ner proteins of closely related temperate coliphages Mu and D108 regulate the transcription and transposition of the phage genomes by binding to nonhomologous DNA operators. In order to precisely define the DNA-binding domains of Mu and D108 Ner, recombinant Mu and D108 ner genes were constructed and the DNA-binding and pseudoimmunity properties of the recombinant proteins were examined. D3112 is a Mu-like transposable bacteriophage of Pseudomonas aeruginosa which was proposed to encode a ner-like …  Read more

The effect of level and timing of nitrogen (N) fertilizer application on grain yield (YLD), grain protein (GPC), and breadmaking ability of four hard red spring wheat cultivars and on soil residual nitrate was investigated. Nitrogen fertility caused an increase in YLD, lodging, several yield components, GPC, and breadmaking quality and caused a reduction in N harvest index and grain ash, and N use efficiency (NUE) resulting in an increase in soil residual NO$ sb3$-N. Split N application reduced lodging, tillers and spikes m$ sp{-2}$ and caused an increase in grain weight, GPC, loaf volume and NUE. Grain yield increases …  Read more

This study examines the relationship of Sir Sayyid Ahmad $ underline{ rm Kh}$an with the Indian $ sp{ rm c}$ulama'. As part of his reform movement, and in particular through his journal Tahzibu'l-Akhlaq, Sir Sayyid launched a severe attack on the $ sp{ rm c}$ulama'. He held the $ sp{ rm c}$ulama' directly responsible for leading the community to the verge of disintegration. For their part, the $ sp{ rm c}$ulama' thinspace's opposition to Sir Sayyid seems to have been inspired not so much by the theological ideas of Sir Sayyid as by the $ sp{ rm c}$ulama' thinspace's perception …  Read more

A study of novel ultrathin films is presented in two sections. The first section presents an investigation of several unconventional film-forming molecules at the air/water interface using the surface film balance apparatus. Strongly hydrophobic fullerenes (C$ sb{60}$ and C$ sb{70}$) were found to spread at the air/water interface to form Langmuir films of multilayer rather than monolayer thicknesses. The formation of these well-defined multilayers is independent of the initial surface density of the fullerene. The films adopt discrete thicknesses of 4-5 monolayer equivalents. The multilayer of the non-spherical C$ sb{70}$ exhibited a transition attributed to a reorientational process that was …  Read more

A thorough investigation of a pulsed plasma x-ray source is presented with the intent of improving its design and maximizing its x-ray emission efficiency. In this approach a hollow gas column is puffed in the z-pinch diode by magnetically ionizing and compressing an inert gas in an annular plenum. This gas column is preionized by the radiation coming out from the plasma in the plenum and pinched by a fast electrical discharge. It is shown that the system can be improved considerably by modifying the gas puff design. Three gas puffs developed in this work are optimized for x-ray emission …  Read more

This thesis is concerned with the numerical issues resulting from the implementation of geometric algorithms on finite precision digital computers. From an examination of the general problem and a survey of previous research, it appears that the central problem of numerical computational geometry is how to deal with degenerate and nearly degenerate input. For some applications, such as solid modeling, degeneracy is often intended but we cannot always ascertain its existence using finite precision. For other applications, degenerate input is unwanted but nearly degenerate input is unavoidable. Near degeneracy is associated with ill-conditioning of the input and can lead to …  Read more

Since the early 1980s, significant changes have occurred in the field of international telecommunications. This thesis examines how changes in the telecommunications environment have affected inter-system coordination procedures and what the future application of these procedures may be. The historical background and organizational structure of INTELSAT are discussed in order to obtain a better understanding of the issue. The inter-system coordination procedures in the INTELSAT Agreements, including examples of coordinations that have been completed, are examined. Three main changes in international telecommunications that have affected INTELSAT are discussed: private satellite systems and deregulatory changes; fiber optic cable systems; and technical …  Read more

The objective of this thesis is to solve model order selection, and change-point detection problems in real time using a form of predictive stochastic complexity. A consistent method for finding the best model order for certain kinds of ARMA processes is presented. An interesting fact is that the estimator "badness", obtained when using fixed gain, increases the "badness" of overparametrization. Model order selection simulations involving AR processes illustrate this fact very clearly. A successful model order selection simulation for ARMA processes is presented. A change-point detection method for certain kinds of ARMA processes is obtained for time variant change-points. Also, …  Read more

The study examined how cegeps, Quebec's public postsecondary (nondegree) colleges, plan strategically and perceive their ability to accomplish their individual mission. The study's conceptual base included both the process and focus of strategic planning as outlined respectively in Keller's (1983) process framework and Burns' (1986) theoretical model based on the focus of strategic planning. All Directors General, the chief executive officers of the cegeps, were surveyed. The data indicated that the majority of cegeps employ the components of Keller's strategic planning process. The large urban cegeps are more inclined to implement strategic planning than are the small, less centrally situated …  Read more

The French personalist movement (1930-1938) finds its origins in French Neo-criticism and Thomism, and German existentialism. The contribution of Russian religious-populist philosophy has not yet been studied. Nikolai Berdyaev (1874-1948) incorporated this tradition in his philosophy. Exiled after the Russian Revolution, he brought his version of Russian "personalism" to France, where his works were seized as a manifesto by the French personalist movements L'Ordre Nouveau and Esprit. Alexandre Marc (1904-), another exile, and Emmanuel Mounier (1905-1950) tried to reconstruct the Russian mir as a French institution. Populism envisioned Russia as a decentralized federation of autonomous mirs; likewise, French personalists advocated …  Read more

High pressure infrared and micro-Raman vibrational spectroscopy has been used to study the following organoplatium(II) complexes: Zeise's salt, K (Pt($ eta sp2$-C$ sb2$H$ sb4$)Cl$ sb3$); Zeise's dimer, (Pt($ eta sp2$-C$ sb2$H$ sb4) sb2$Cl$ sb2 rbrack sb2$; and dichloro(1,5-cyclooctadiene)platinum(II), Pt(COD)Cl$ sb2$. Pressure dependences of the vibrational modes have been used in the assignments of the $ upsilon$(C=C) modes and the ethylene and cyclic diene C-H stretching vibrations. Pressure increases the extent of $ pi$-backbonding, as shown by the negative pressure dependence of the $ upsilon$(C=C) stretching frequencies.  Read more

The concentration-profits relationship of the Bain-Mason paradigm is tested and an alternative "augmented model" is proposed which includes dimensions of task environments of food industries and industry strategy variables. The environment is characterized in terms of Dess and Beard's (1984) dimensions: munificence, dynamism and complexity. The augmented model was found to be a better descriptor of factors affecting the performance of the food industries than the Bain-Mason model. Profitability was found to be positively related to industrial concentration, and negatively related to munificence and complexity. No significant relationship between dynamism and profitability was found. Further studies on the performance of …  Read more

Based on studies indicating that prefrontal cortical (PFC) dopamine (DA) inhibits neurotransmission in DA neurons projecting to nucleus accumbens (nAcc), the role of PFC in d-amphetamine-induced sensitization of mesolimbic DA function was explored. The results indicate that DA depletion in PFC facilitates the sensitizing effect of repeated d-amphetamine on locomotion elicited by a subsequent injection of the drug without enhancing spontaneous locomotion or locomotion elicited by acute d-amphetamine administration. The enhancing effect of repeated drug injections on d-amphetamine-elicited DA overflow in nAcc was also potentiated by depletion of PFC DA. These effects were likely not the result of a nonspecific …  Read more

Gustatory sensilla in the blowfly Phormia regina contain five phenotypically distinct neurons. The neurons are thought to arise from a common precursor, however, little is known about their lineage or about how each one comes to assume a unique fate. This study examines the possibility that the neurons arise from a repeatedly dividing stem cell, in which case, the neuronal fate may be determined by birth order. To determine if the neurons are born at different times, their times of birth were assessed. This was achieved by using Hydroxyurea to arrest the gustatory neural precursors at different times throughout the …  Read more

Organic phosphorus (P$ sb{ rm o}$) in farm animal wastes must be mineralized to inorganic P for subsequent plant use. This study was conducted to determine if feed additives affect P$ sb{ rm o}$ mineralization, manure decomposition, and plant growth. Feed additives in aqueous systems affected the P mineralization of inositol hexaphosphate by phytase and of adenosine monophosphate by alkaline phosphatase. Pronounced effects were produced by bacitracin and both enzymes and by neomycin on phytase. Feed additives in dairy cattle (Bos taurus L.) manure produced effects on microbial activity as measured by gas production that differed from those produced on …  Read more

The following work consists of a careful analysis of the translation of the Iliad by Homer prepared by Melchiorre Cesarotti. Caught amidst the dilemma of loyalty to the original and the beauty of translation, Cesarotti decided to compose two versions: one in blank verses and the other in prose. This work is therefore none other than a comparison between Cesarotti's version in poetry and the version in prose. The first part deals briefly with a few details on the criticism that Cesarotti's work raised. The second part consists of the comparison work, which is subdivided in "Canti" (as Cesarotti's version …  Read more

This thesis investigates the nature and distribution of ground ice occurrences on the central Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, and assesses the potential for thermokarst in light of possible climatic warming. Field observations conducted in 1990 and 1991 involved geomorphological and cryostratigraphic examinations of twenty-eight ground ice sections exposed in retrogressive thaw slumps and ground probing radar surveys of two of the thaw slumps. Samples were taken of ground ice and sediments exposed in thaw slump headwalls for laboratory analysis. Samples were analyzed for moisture content, grain size distribution, and Atterberg limits. Gravimetric ice contents were calculated and an average ice …  Read more

This thesis is a description of the process of constructing a productive Other for the purpose of being admitted into Canada as a Convention refugee. The manuscript is divided into two parts: in Part One, The Claimant, the process of claiming refugee status is analyzed with respect to two actual cases which were transcribed in Montreal in 1987, and contextualized by reference to the laws and jurisprudence that underlie it. In Part Two, The Other, I re-examine the entire process with reference to methodologies from the realm of discourse analysis and interaction theory, paying special attention to the works of …  Read more