McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 1993

Mutations in the p53 gene are known to be associated with a wide range of human tumors. In some primary tumors and established cell lines, stable mutant p53 protein is expressed at high levels, whereas, in normal cells unstable wild-type p53 protein is expressed at very low levels. Sera from some patients with breast and colon tumors contain anti-p53 antibodies. It is unclear whether changes in p53 structure, or its increased level in tumors, causes p53 to become antigenic. In our study we tested sera from patients with various types of cancer for anti-p53 antibodies. Examination of the sera was …  Read more

In the late sixteenth-century a Peruvian Indian and Inca nobleman named Guaman Poma de Ayala wrote a one-thousand page history of the world, his Nueva Cronica y Buen Gobierno, recounting the development of Andean and European humanity from the beginning of time up to the period in which the author lived. My analysis focuses on the mode of communication used by Guaman Poma, his use of Renaissance Iberian discursive and visual codes, to articulate his radical views of Spanish rule in Peru. His views, I argue, although articulated in a foreign language and media, express a fundamentally Andean understanding of …  Read more

The thesis consists of the first part of a four-part novel and critical afterword. The Slaughter is an account of Peter Scythes' poetic attempt to accommodate himself in a world he perceives as strange. In this mythological novel, character development takes place where the carnivalesque and the fantastic intersect. The required critical afterward is in three parts: a summary Mikhail Bakhtin's writings on Rabelais; a consideration of plot ambiguities in the text The Slaughter and Henry James' The Turn of The Screw; and a discussion of how Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and The Slaughter use language, memory and myth-making …  Read more

The four main units of the epizonal Strange Lake peralkaline complex (Quebec-Labrador) document a transition from early hypersolvus granite, to transsolvus granite, to geochemically more evolved subsolvus granite and, finally, to highly K-enriched pegmatites. The felsic and mafic minerals constrain the temperatures of crystallization of the different units. The hypersolvus granite has a solidus above 650$ sp circ$C, and the pegmatite has a solidus below ${ sim}590 sp circ$C at 0.7 kbar. The textural transition and reduced solidi of the units are explained by an increase in (Na+K)/Al and fluorine in the evolved granitic melt, which allows crystallization to lower …  Read more

Cell adhesion molecules are known to play crucial roles in a variety of developmental processes. The neural cell adhesion molecule N-CAM is strongly implicated in neurulation and neural crest cell (NCC) migration and was thus studied in splotch (Sp) neural tube defect mutant embryos. At the 20 somite-stage of gestation day 9, Sp N-CAM was found to contain polysialic acid (PSA) side chains which are normally only present beginning at gestational day 11. Younger embryos at 12 and 14 somites also showed the presence of PSA on N-CAM, which was absent in controls. Enzymatic removal of PSA from N-CAM resulted …  Read more

Little, Donald P. (Supervisor)  Read more

The study presented in this thesis is an investigation of M$ phi$ effector mechanisms that mediate the pathogenesis of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Since the time that the GVH reaction was first described the mechanisms underlying the development of the disease have not been characterized. We have examined the state of M$ phi$ activation in nonirradiated B6AF1 mice injected with either 60 $ times$ 10$ sp6$ (acute GVHD) or 30 $ times$ 10$ sp6$ (nonlethal GVHD) parental B6 lymphoid cells. TNF-$ alpha$ and nitric oxide (NO) generation by M$ phi$ occurs following priming by IFN-$ gamma$ and triggering by LPS. …  Read more

A new approach to underground excavation design at INCO's Manitoba Division was undertaken by incorporating ground and support monitoring, and numerical modelling into an empirical framework. In the first phase of the study, a field measurement geomechanics guideline was developed for the Manitoba Division. Work in instrumentation led to the development of a new cable bolt monitoring device by INCO Ltd. and McGill University. This device has the ability to measure cable bolt performance reliably and at a low cost. As a result, a cost efficient and effective program is being implemented to monitor cable bolt layouts representatively. The second …  Read more

This thesis is arranged in two distinct parts. The first part involves the construction of a novel dynamical scheme which is capable of generating the masses of the quarks and the elements of the Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix, and which does not rely upon the Higgs mechanism. The up quarks acquire their masses by coupling to a new heavy fermion via emission and reabsorption of a new scalar boson. The down quarks, on the other hand, obtain their masses via a correction to the up mass matrix as a result of an anomalous flavour changing interaction of the $W sp pm$. Extensions …  Read more

According to the structuralist Claude Levi-Strauss, all myth has but one same structure. The purpose of this study is to expose the mythico-initiatory edifice that informs Vendredi ou les limbes du Pacifique, Le Roi des Aulnes, as well as Les Meteores, Michel Tournier's "trilogy". To write, according to Tournier, cannot be a matter of literary creation, but simply of literary renewal. Vendredi ou les limbes du Pacifique, Le Roi des Aulnes and Les Meteores represent literary reflections on the primordial importance of Myth, for the Artist and above all, for Man; it is this mythic dimension that makes Tournier's entire …  Read more

One of the major challenges in designing optimizing compilers, especially for scientific computation, is to take advantage of the parallelism in loops in order to obtain maximum speedup on parallel computer architectures. Optimal loop scheduling is therefore one of the most important topics studied by many computer scientists. However how to allocate minimum number of registers to support optimal loop scheduling for parallel architectures is less understood. In this thesis, we propose a simultaneous scheduling and register allocation approach for a parallelizing compiler, which will find one among all the time-optimal periodic schedules that uses minimum amount of registers. We …  Read more

In this work, a number of advances are described which we feel lead to better understanding and solution of the eigenvalue and inverse eigenvalue problems for Hermitian Toeplitz matrices. First, a unitary matrix is derived which transforms a Hermitian Toeplitz matrix into a real Toeplitz plus Hankel matrix. Some properties of this transformation are also presented. Second, we solve the inverse eigenvalue problem for Hermitian Toeplitz matrices. Specifically, we present a method for the construction of a Hermitian Toeplitz matrix from an arbitrary set of real eigenvalues. The procedure utilizes the discrete Fourier transform to first construct a real symmetric …  Read more

L'industrie des télécommunications est en changement: ce secteur autrefois à caractère essentiellement monopolistique subit les transformations reliées à l'introduction de la libre concurrence. La venue de nouvelles technologies et le mariage entre les télécommunications et l'informatique a définitivement mis de côté les théories économiques voulant que ce secteur soit un "monopole naturel" justifiant l'absence de concurrence. De plus, le fait que ce secteur ait une importance stratégique pour le développement d'un pays et le bien-être collectif n'est plus suffisant pour justifier une évacuation des forces du marché. Les télécommunications ne sont plus vues comme un "service d'utilité public" justinant la …  Read more

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae SKN7 gene has been identified through a search for genes which, at a high copy number, could restore the growth of the $kre9 Delta$ disrupted strain showing a cell wall $ beta$-glucan defect. SKN7 was mapped to the right arm of chromosome VIII, and is predicted to encode a 70 kDa protein, Skn7p, with a region of homology to the DNA binding domain of the yeast heat shock transcription factor, Hsf1p. Skn7p also has a domain which shows similarity to the prokaryotic receiver modules found on an extensive family of two-component response regulators, including the product of …  Read more

In spite of its spontaneous and improvised character, the informal sector has provided virtually the only appropriate housing, in terms of the organization of the outdoor space, for the urban poor of the developing countries. Through an analysis of the outdoor spaces in Eziukwu-Aba, a low-income and informal settlement in Aba, Nigeria, this thesis investigates the organization and mode of use of outdoor spaces, in relation to the day-to-day activities of the urban poor. It focuses on the patterns of outdoor spaces, the categories of activities found in them and the periods of time of the occurrence of the activities. …  Read more

The relationship between soils, soil water and stream chemistry was investigated for a first order stream in a small forested watershed in the southern Laurentians, Quebec. The study was restricted to near-stream processes, particularly how the chemistry of water leaving a hillslope influenced stream chemistry. For snowmelt, 1986, a number of naturally occurring chemical elements were used to separate stream flow into three subsurface flowpaths: groundwater, solum and upwelling flow. By quantifying upwelling flow, we introduced a new approach to identify solutions forced from the groundwater up through the solum before entering the channel. In upwelling flow, we found that …  Read more

The objective of this thesis is to complement the wealth of scholarly works which examine the "transitions from authoritarian rule" that occured in Spain and Brazil. This thesis distinguishes itself from these earlier works by bracketing discussion concerning the elite-level political transitions that occured in order to concentrate on the democratization and socialization of the Spanish and Brazilian societies. The work focuses on a number of collective organizations that emerge during these transitions, and will postulate an argument as to why they should be referred to as "transformation movements". Two important questions that the thesis addresses while examining these cases …  Read more

The thesis is focused on the first three novels of Esther Tusquets: El mismo mar de todos los veranos (1978), El amor es un juego solitario (1979) and Varada tras el ultimo naufragio (1980). It is inspired by the central theme of the three novels--the Spanish middle-class woman's search for identity--and it aims at showing that the female protagonists' search for identity and their failure in the process is inextricably linked with General Franco's dictatorial policy of imposing traditional norms and values on the Spanish people between 1939-1975. The introduction summarizes the novels, explains the objectives of the thesis and …  Read more

The present study was done to determine whether the muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) function and expression could be regulated by two different factors: (a) thymopoietin (TPO)$ sp *$, a nicotinic antagonist and (b) MyoD, a myogenic transcription factor. Exposure of rat neonatal muscle cells in culture to TPO on a long-term (days) and short-term (minutes) basis resulted in the inhibition of $ sp{125}$I-$ alpha$-bungarotoxin (BGT) binding. Short-term pretreatment with TPO also led to a decrease in carbachol-stimulated $ sp{22}$Na uptake; however, long-term exposure resulted in an enhanced carbachol-stimulated uptake. Chronic treatment also resulted in greater muscle cell morphological development. …  Read more

This thesis proposes an analysis of the tough construction in Japanese. It is proposed that there are actually two tough constructions, each derived by a different kind of movement. Three kinds of data which support the claim made here are presented: tough constructions with scrambling, tough constructions with reflexives, and nominals derived from tough constructions. It is argued that non-movement analysis is not appropriate and that both tough constructions are derived by movement. It is shown that tough constructions with a 'tend to' reading can also be accommodated by this analysis. The analysis accounts for a wide range of interactions …  Read more

In this thesis a method based on Green's second identity is developed for computing several orders of derivatives from finite element solutions with $C sp circ$ continuity. The integration by parts implicit in Green's theorem permits numerical integration to replace numerical differentiation. This procedure is initially developed for harmonic functions, then extended to Poisson and Helmholtz equations for a circular region, as well as to harmonic potentials in axi-symmetric coordinates. For the 2-D Laplace operator three other base regions have been introduced: rectangle, sector of circle and sector of ring. The method is numerically stable, position independent and very accurate. …  Read more

Dans ce memoire, une analyse sur la relation entre certaines desinences verbales du Mohawk est proposee a l'interieur du cadre d'analyse pour les langues "polysynthetiques" developpe dans Baker (1993). Il est montre que la desinence aspectuelle "statique", qui affecte les formes d'accord, peut etre traitee comme un predicat contenant un quasi-argument. Cette caracteristique rend compte du changement d'accord sur le verbe principal lorsque le morpheme statique s'allie avec celui-ci pour former un predicat complexe et ce, conformement aux principes qui regissent l'accord dans la langue. Nous defendons ensuite l'hypothese que la presence des prefixes modaux depend de la presence d'un …  Read more

This study examines the situation and activities of Hindu temple women (devadasis) in the 9th-13th centuries, as revealed in Tamil inscriptions. These temple women, unlike their male counterparts or the devadasis of more recent times, were not primarily identified as temple servants, with professional expertise or ritual responsibilities, but were instead defined with reference to a particular status, predicated on relationship with a temple. This relationship was secured through the donations that temple women made to temples. In the course of the Chola period, the status of "temple woman" became increasingly well-defined and the numbers of temple women increased, while …  Read more

The subject of this thesis is the attenuation of disturbances by feedback in the presence of large plant uncertainty in MIMO systems. Some relevant optimizations are formulated in an H$ sp infty$ setting, and are shown to reduce to a 'two-disc' mixed sensitivity problem. Despite its basic nature, the two-disc problem has not previously been solved, although approximations to it have been proposed. It is shown, by means of examples, that such approximations may involve large errors, highlighting the need for an accurate theory. An accurate theory of the two-disc problem is achieved by expressing the two-disc problem as a …  Read more

In this research, we review the Petri net formalism as well as the resolution methods involved in graphical simulation and performance analysis and introduce generic concepts that enable users to visualize the results of dynamic analysis through a consistent user interface. From the user's point of view, our goal is to facilitate the usage of dynamic analysis and ease the interpretability of its results. This is achieved by hiding complex dynamic analysis resolution methods behind an attractive user interface layer, while providing the user with full control over both the methods' execution and the display of their results. From the …  Read more

Adaptive processes were comparatively examined in elementary school children experiencing the postdivorce process and their peers from intact homes using a developmental conceptualization of coping with a family systems perspective. Children's psycho-social coping resources were assessed using the Self Perception Profile for Children, Coping Inventory, Children's Beliefs About Parental Divorce Scale, and Family Environment Scale. Children's global and specific coping efforts were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist and the Schoolagers' Coping Strategies Inventory, respectively. Parental coping efforts were examined using the Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Children from disrupted families were found to have diminished psycho-social coping resources (self-efficacy, self-esteem, …  Read more

The Amba Dongar carbonatite complex, India is host to a large fluorite deposit. The complex consists of a small ring structure comprised of early carbonatite breccia, a large, outer lining of calcitite and a number of small ankeritic carbonatite plugs. Surrounding the carbonatite ring are numerous plugs of nephelinitic and phonolitic syenites. The complex was intruded into Late Cretaceous Bagh Sandstones and Late to Early Paleocene Deccan Volcanics. The hydrothermal history of the complex is extensive, consisting of two main systems, the first resulted in large amounts of fenitization, causing extensive K and Na metasomatism of the surrounding sandstones and …  Read more

The Archean rocks in the D'Alembert-Clericy area of the Noranda district were mapped along a transect across stratigraphy. Located within the youngest part of the Blake River Group, this six km thick volcanic assemblage trends northwest, youngs northeast, and has increasing dip from $ sim$45$ sp circ$ in the west to subvertical in the east, with some folding within the sequence. Chemostratigraphic units were established using Zr/Y, La$ sb{ rm N}$/Yb$ sb{ rm N}$, and other immobile and incompatible HFSE ratios, and AFM and Miyashiro major element plots. Lithogeochemical technique based on the HFSE and other immobile and incompatible elements …  Read more

The design of thermomechanical processing schedules to control microstructures requires the knowledge of the austenite-to-ferrite transformation start temperature (Ar$ sb3$). Further, in curved mold continuous casting, transverse cracking occurs during the unbending procedure to straighten the solidified curved strand, and this can also strongly depend on the austenite-to-ferrite transformation. In both of these industrial processes, during deformation, the temperature usually decreases continuously. Thus, two new methods to determine the Ar$ sb3$, based on continuous cooling compression (CCC) and continuous cooling torsion (CCT), have been developed. While the latter is applicable for low and high strains, the former can be only …  Read more

Last year (1992) marked the 50th anniversary of wartime housing in Montreal. Built as temporary shelter for workers engaged in the war industry, these homes were to be demounted after the war. Public demand for inexpensive housing however, forced authorities to allow workers and veterans to purchase a unit. No bigger than a 1000 ft$ sp2$ (100 m$ sp2$), the wartime home can be investigated as a prototype for today's small affordable housing. Downsized homes, tailored to suit modern lifestyles and provide opportunity for ownership, have been criticized by theorists like Ruth Madigan, Moira Munro and Constance Perin for their …  Read more

Various generalizations of the Artin's Conjecture for primitive roots are considered. It is proven that for at least half of the primes p, the first log p primes generate a primitive root. A uniform version of the Chebotarev Density Theorem for the field ${ cal Q}( zeta sb{l},2 sp{1/l})$ valid for the range $l < { rm log} x$ is proven. A uniform asymptotic formula for the number of primes up to x for which there exists a primitive root less than s is established. Lower bounds for the exponent of the class group of imaginary quadratic fields valid for …  Read more

This dissertation has explored the problem of a yawning gap between policy and the implementation of lay participation in health development activities in Ghana, using data from 577 households in 22 rural communities. A Health Systems model has been applied to data, to explain relationships and four sets of variables--household need for health services, predisposing attributes, participatory patterns, enabling factors--on household use of available health facilities and services. Overall, results indicate a complex interdependence of factors which influence modern health services use. A multiple regression procedure identifies the presence of children under 5 years, the household's perception of its influence …  Read more

We investigated possible sex differences in PRL secretory patterns and regulation by E$ sb2$ in gonadectomized Dorset x Leicester x Suffolk sheep kept under natural photoperiod (latitude 45$ sp circ 31 sp prime$). Patterns were assessed over 14 months in groups of 10 rams and ewes, half of which received E$ sb2$ replacement (Silastic implants) at the time of gonadectomy to maintain blood E$ sb2$ at ram breeding-season values. Mean monthly PRL level (based on two 3-h periods of blood sampling) was consistently elevated by E$ sb2$ in the ram (mean 19%), and during all but a few months in …  Read more

In the first study, the effect of intrathecal administration of substance P at T9/T2 on arterial blood pressure and heart rate was studied in acute spinal (T5/T1) transected rats. The results indicate that excitatory effects of substance P on sympathetic output can be elicited in spinal transected rats and that the neural substrate for the effects is intrinsic to the spinal cord. An opioid involvement in suppressing the response to substance P is also confirmed. In the second study, the role of angiotensin (AII) receptors (AT$ sb1$ and AT$ sb2$) in mediating the effects of intrathecally administered AII on sympathetic …  Read more

Anarchist theory assumes that non-hierarchically organised societies both possible and desirable. To show the former requires (1) empirical evidence and (2) a discussion of the theoretical preconditions of cooperation. To show the latter, it is necessary to show that the faults found with the state can be remedied within non-hierarchically ordered societies. One obvious condition for a successful anarchist theory is that the solutions to these separate tasks are mutually consistent. It is the aim of this thesis to show that the theories of Robert Paul Wolff and Robert Nozick are found wanting in this respect. Both their theories of …  Read more

This thesis proposes models for the calculation of upper and lower limiting values to the backscatter factor (BSF) that can be used to evaluate measured and modelled BSF values. The upper limit to the BSF is obtained from a Monte Carlo simulation of an infinite parallel beam incident on a semi-infinite phantom in which the dose contribution from all orders of photon scatter is considered. The lower limit is calculated using an analytical photon transport model which considers only the primary dose and the scatter dose from photons that have undergone a single scattering interaction in the phantom. A parametrization …  Read more

The current work determined whether there is a constant tissue residue associated with narcotic compounds. In this investigation, the cladoceran, Daphnia magna was exposed to lethal levels (48h LC50) of ten, $ sp{14}$C-labelled, narcotic organic chemicals in a closed system. Exposure times, ambient concentrations, and body sizes were varied to evaluate their effects. The $ sp{14}$C-method developed in current work can detect chemicals in single D. magna in concentrations ranging from 0.02 to 6310 mmol/kg. Moreover, the technique detected phobic and lipophilic chemicals equally well. The technique's sensitivity (nmol/kg) allowed for detection of differences in the internal concentrations of pollutants …  Read more

The effects of marital separation or divorce on children have been widely researched, often relying on clinical samples, and the short-term and long-term consequences have been documented. Research findings are divergent: some studies suggest that adolescents are not adversely affected while other studies show that adolescents' functioning is affected in a permanent way by parental separation. Ambert and Saucier (1983) reviewed adolescents' perceptions of parents, controlling for gender and parental marital status. Their findings suggested that adolescents perceive their parents differently on the basis of marital status and gender. Inspired by Ambert and Saucier's research, this exploratory study was based …  Read more

Chapter One of this thesis explores the identity of the Eumenides, the resident deities in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus. By examining the language and contents of two important ritual acts in the play, it is proven that their title is euphemistic; these goddesses are the transformed Erinyes of Aeschylus. Oedipus and his sinfulness is the focus of Chapter Two. Although he has committed the heinous crimes of incest and parricide, Oedipus seems to be exempt from the Erinyes' hounding. By reviewing the charges laid against him, it is revealed that Oedipus is a morally innocent man. The final chapter deals …  Read more

Tasks testing linguistic and affective prosody were administered to nine right-hemisphere-damaged (RHD), ten left-hemisphere-damaged (LHD), and ten age-matched control (NC) subjects. Two tasks measured subjects' abilities to make same/different judgments about prosodic patterns which had been filtered of the linguistic content, while six tasks required subjects to identify typical linguistic or affective meanings for intonation contours. The six identification tasks varied in the amount of linguistic structure available to subjects during auditory perception; stimuli were either filtered of their phonetic content, presented as nonsense utterances, or provided appropriate semantic information which biased the prosodic target. Unilateral damage to either cerebral …  Read more

The purpose of the present study was to identify the muscle and kinematic parameters associated with the emergence of a skilled organization of landing from a jump in boys 7 years to 13 years of age. Jumps were videotaped (60Hz) in the right sagittal plane. The digitized coordinates of six landmarks were used to calculate the angular position, velocity, and acceleration parameters for the hip, knee, and ankle joints. Surface EMG signals were recorded for six muscles (Tibialis Anterior, Lateral Gastrocnemius, Soleus, Vastus Lateralis, Rectus Femoris, Biceps Femoris) to obtain the pattern of muscle onsets in anticipation for landing and …  Read more

The objective of this study was to assess tree species influence on forest floor fertility in a mixed forest stand using Redundancy Analysis (RDA). Eighty microsites were located in a beech-hemlock-red maple forest. Forest floor was analyzed for thirteen variables; total N, P, K, Ca and Mg, extractable Ca, Mg and K, mineralizable N (NH$ sb{4+}$), basal microbial respiration (CO$ sb2$), pH, thickness and bulk density. The influence of seven tree species was calculated as a function of tree diameter and distance from each microsite. Spatial patterns were detected by using correlograms and incorporated in a variation-partitioning model with trend …  Read more

The atmospheric fluctuations associated with sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the northern North Atlantic and their subsequent effects on river runoff variations over Siberia are studied in this thesis. A data analysis is performed in Part I of the thesis using 50 years (1930-79) of records of SST sea level pressure, precipitation and runoff. It is found from this analysis that the winter SST anomalies in the northern North Atlantic are significantly correlated with the winter and the following summer runoff fluctuations of the Ob and Yenisey rivers in western Siberia. A modelling study is conducted in Part II …  Read more

We study the production of hadrons by a polarized photon beam on a longitudinally polarized proton target, including the contributions due to the structure of the photon. We predict cross sections sizeable enough for good tests and show that, in certain kinematic domains, single hadron production is a good probe of the size of the polarized gluon distribution $ Delta$g. We find that a special combination of cross sections for production of two large $p sb{T}$ hadrons provides a particularly clean probe of the size of $ Delta$g.  Read more

This thesis traces the development of women's subjectivity through anorexic discourse, in Doris Lessing's Martha Quest, Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions and Jenefer Shute's Life-Size. The first chapter draws from feminist philosophies and Foucauldian genealogies to construct a framework for discussing anorexia's relation to subjectivity. Here, I convey how social apparatuses that constitute and constrain women's bodies and female experience differ from women's attempts at self-constitution. The conflicts that arise from these differences are embodied in the anorexic's struggle for subjectivity. The second chapter is a literary genealogy of anorexia, where the three narratives demand such questions: what is she using …  Read more

The ability to fully activate the motor units of the quadriceps femoris muscle when performing an isometric maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) was assessed in 30 subjects. The twitch interpolation technique (TIT) was used to measure the increase in force superimposed on the MVC by a supramaximal shock to the femoral nerve. The superimposed force was compared to the potentiated twitch (PtP) force, and an activation ratio (A.R.) was calculated. The resting twitch (PtR) force, MVC force, and the inverse relationship between the level of voluntary force and the superimposed twitch force were also measured. Subjects were compared on the basis …  Read more

Two experiments studied the effectiveness of Imitation and Listener Uncertainty as speech training techniques for profoundly hearing-impaired children. In the first study, a single-subject design was employed with two children who were trained on /$ int$/ and /r/ in words using alternating treatments. Results showed short term benefits for both treatments, but better retention and better generalization to spontaneous speech for the Listener Uncertainty approach. In the second study, 33 children were matched as closely as possible and randomly assigned to the Imitation Group, Listener Uncertainty Group or Control Group. Students in the treatment groups were trained on fricatives in …  Read more

Two separate field studies were conducted to examine the predictions of the multidimensional anxiety theory with both elite able-bodied basketball players and elite wheelchair basketball players. A secondary purpose of this study was to examine the influence of functional classification on cognitive and somatic anxiety and self-confidence in wheelchair athletes. In experiment one, twelve collegiate basketball players completed the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-II) prior to each of nine league games and in experiment two, thirty-one elite wheel chair basketball players completed the CSAI-II prior to each of three tournament games. Results were analyzed in both field studies using the …  Read more

In Walter Bagehot's book, The English Constitution (1867), he described the role that the Crown was to play in the late Victorian Age. Separating the Constitution into two parts, the dignified and the efficient, he deemed the Crown part of the dignified part of the Constitution. The roles he assigned to this dignified Crown, were by nineteenth century standards, "feminine"--symbol of virtue, societal leader and personification of family life. In Canada, this feminization of the Crown was particularly evident from 1872 onwards. With the arrival of Harriot, Lady Dufferin, Consort to Canada's third Governor-General, Lord Dufferin, the functions of the …  Read more

PETSIM, a Monte Carlo simulation program of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) systems, was improved in terms of accuracy and efficiency. First, the accuracy, the speed and the ease of use of PETSIM were improved by using tabulated values of the Compton scattering and photoelectric absorption partial interaction attenuation coefficients for all common biological, collimator and detector materials. These were generated from chemical formula, or physical composition, and density of the absorbing medium. Furthermore, simulations of PET systems waste considerable time generating events which will never be detected. For events in which the original photons are usually directed towards the detectors, …  Read more