McGill University Theses and dissertations published in 1993

This study explored undergraduate music majors' strategies in two-part dictation. Sixty volunteers answered a questionnaire on their musical background, learning styles, and dictation methods. They then took part in three dictation sessions. Two sessions directed attention to rhythm first or pitch first, and one session was a non-directed control dictation. Treatments were counterbalanced across 6 groups (n = 10). Dependent measures were pitch and rhythm accuracy scores on dictations. Analysis of variance showed no order effects. A repeated measures MANOVA (pitch and rhythm by 3 conditions) showed a significant effect for condition ($p < .0001$). Higher rhythm accuracy resulted from …  Read more

The main objective of the present work is to investigate the nature of the cognitive processes responsible for the problem-solving operations of novices, intermediates, and experts in a semantically rich and complex domain, i.e. electronics trouble shooting, in relation to their knowledge of the task. The performance for each group of subjects shows a varying degree of knowledge integration (theoretical and procedural). The results show (1) that novices lack theoretical knowledge and make theoretical errors, (2) that intermediates do not lack theoretical knowledge but they have some difficulty in applying it, and (3) that experts have well-integrated knowledge and troubleshooting …  Read more

The goal of this study is to identify factors which may be preventing use of an experimental health care program in the People's Republic of Benin. While previous surveys have focused more specifically on the impact of fees on use and demand, our aim to identify a wider range of factors. There are two principle methods by which this can be done. One is to extract possible factors from a review of the relevant literature. The other is to carry out an exploratory, qualitative study in the field. We have used both these methods. A qualitative study is a necessary …  Read more

This thesis focuses on the underlying mechanisms of Sciascia's writing, especially on its social destiny and literary scope. Beyond realism, Sciascia's writing comprises important information regarding the author's conception of the intellectual's work in the political and social domains. Sciascia had to develop writing techniques that enable him to efficiently merge his essayist bent and narrative inspiration, his penchant to document facts and his capacity to create them artistically. These are the origins of his unusual narrative technique--an amalgam of the eighteenth century essay and contemporary detective novel, locked in a crossroads of reason and non-reason. Sciascia's cultural background, a …  Read more

Nowadays, the discourse tn Maeterlinck's dramas seems to be a web of faults concerning the story levels as well as the meanings. L'Organisation du recit dans Pelleas et Melisande de Maeterlinck analyses the text regarding these aspects which confer to the play a dreamlike character. The dream atmosphere is mainly suggested by a narrative background interfering into the plot: the symbolic message. Our survey of the play tends to examine the paradoxal and incomplete nature of the events in their accounts. The reports also contain potential new facts and stories' material to be developped. It is the laborious introduction, the …  Read more

The goal of this study was to examine theory of mind and deliberate rule use in children with Down syndrome as compared to children of normal intelligence. Theory of mind was defined as the ability to understand that other people have thoughts, beliefs and desires. Deliberate rule use was considered to be the extent to which children were able to learn and subsequently switch between a set of ad hoc rules unrelated to mental states. Participants included 10 individuals with Down syndrome and 10 individuals of normal intelligence matched for mental age. The primary finding of this study was that …  Read more

Research has demonstrated that for a significant minority of men, exposure to sexually violent media results in a series of changes. These men are more likely to be sexually aroused by sexually violent stimuli, and also believe in certain rape myths and admit a greater likelihood to sexual aggression. The construct Attraction to Sexual Aggression, which comprises the affective, cognitive and behavioral responses to sexually aggressive media, has been proposed by Malamuth (1989a, 1989b). The Attraction to Sexual Aggression Scale has been developed as a dependent measure of the construct. A study by Malamuth and Check (1983) proposed that lack …  Read more

This thesis examines the role of transfer of first (L1) language properties and access to knowledge of Universal Grammar in second language (L2) acquisition. Two empirical components are included: a study of the syntax of anaphora in Serbo-Croatian and an experimental study of second language acquisition of reflexive binding. Data from field work on the coreference properties of anaphors in Serbo-Croatian are discussed in terms of standard, parameterized, LF movement, and Relativized SUBJECT approaches to Binding Theory. Recent versions of the theory identify a categorial distinction between morphologically simple ($ rm X sp circ$) and complex (XP) anaphor types as …  Read more

This thesis considers the notion that it is the future which judges the present and that judgement is always guilty. In effect to understand modernity on its own terms one would have to inquire if we have any more right to affirm a given future than to deny one? The question arises as follows. If a subject exists prior to the process which is its being, an uncomfortable aporia ensues. Firstly, if being human is understood as "becoming", i.e. humans can and do appear through the enactment of change, then "being" itself is temporal. How then does this self secure …  Read more

An alignment/phylogeny of the papain superfamily of cysteine proteases was created from which the existence of at least 11 families of mammalian cysteine proteases was inferred, including two as yet uncharacterized ones. Character weighting increased the average speed of maximum parsimony phylogenetic searches two- to three-fold. To study a sequence motif in pro-cysteine proteases and mammalian cystatins, cystatin C, a cysteine protease inhibitor, was expressed and purified using a new affinity method giving $>$99% purity. Methionine oxidation to the sulfoxide occurring during protein production was eliminated. Reduced stability caused by Met14 oxidation was demonstrated. No function for the sequence motif …  Read more

The signal responsible for blocking elongation by RNA polymerase II during transcription of the late DNA strand of polyomavirus was characterized. A 10 to 20-fold excess of stalled RNA polymerases was localized by transcriptional run-on analysis to a 164-nucleotide region that contains four binding sites (A, B, C and 1/2) for polyomavirus large T antigen. Inactivation of thermolabile large T antigen using a temperature-sensitive virus eliminated stalling by RNA polymerases in this region. Mutations in large T antigen binding site A, but not sites B or C, also eliminated the block to transcription elongation. These results suggest that polyomavirus large …  Read more

Patterns of variability in growth, development and mortality in early life histories were examined at two levels--general and specific. At the general level, I examined the functional significance of larvae in metazoan life cycles. This was achieved by surveying the metazoa at the class level and categorizing mode of development by habitat. Three long-standing hypotheses for the paucity of larval development in fresh water were rejected. I argue that viewing metazoan larvae as a means for feeding and growth provides a unifying framework for evaluating the features of habitats which correlate with the range of variation expressed in development modes. …  Read more

This thesis examines the writing in poetry and prose of a small group of English feminist writers of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The best known of these authors was Mary Astell (1666-1731). The influence on the feminists' ideas of the philosophies of Descartes and of the most prominent English thinkers of the period, the Cambridge Platonists, is described. The thesis focuses on three main themes in the seventeenth century feminists' writing. These were occupation, education and marriage. Emphasis is put on education as the most important of the feminists' concerns. They believed that the poor education women …  Read more

The present thesis has examined in detail the dynamics of adrenomedullary glucocorticoid (GC) receptors at various concentrations of steroid, the regulation of levels of receptor following various treatments, and the regulation of phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT) activity following acute exposure to GCs and various time delays, providing evidence that GC regulation of adrenomedullary catecholamine biosynthesis is more dynamic than was classically thought. We report that adrenomedullary GC receptors are translocated, both in response to nM concentrations of GCs, and in response to higher concentrations of GCs encountered by the glands during stress. We show that long-term increases in cyclic nucleotide second …  Read more

Smeared crack analysis models, based on nonlinear fracture mechanics concepts, have been developed to investigate the fracture behaviour of concrete gravity dams. The proposed constitutive models have been implemented in a finite element analysis computer program for nonlinear static and seismic analyses of plain concrete structures. Extensive verifications of the computational models have been carried out by studying the nonlinear static response of notched concrete beams, a model concrete dam, and a full scale concrete gravity dam, all experimentally or numerically investigated in the past. Seismic fracture and energy response of Koyna Dam, a classic example of seismic induced cracking …  Read more

Smeared crack analysis models, based on nonlinear fracture mechanics concepts, have been developed to investigate the fracture behaviour of concrete gravity dams. The proposed constitutive models have been implemented in a finite element analysis computer program for nonlinear static and seismic analyses of plain concrete structures. Extensive verifications of the computational models have been carried out by studying the nonlinear static response of notched concrete beams, a model concrete dam, and a full scale concrete gravity dam: all experimentally or numerically investigated in the past. Seismic fracture and energy response of Koyna Dam, a classic example of seismic induced cracking …  Read more

Hurtubise, Jacques (Supervisor)  Read more

This thesis is about a problem of interest to reading theorists, psychological anthropologists and cultural studies researchers alike: why we find some narratives, plots, and images compelling and what this phenomenon can tell us about the cultural bases of human motivation. Gesturing to the interdependence of emotion, cognition, and motivation, the notion of the '(dis)positioned self' is proposed as a conceptual tool by which to address how motivation is both acquired and expressed in the way the self as 'feeling-mind' reads, that is, negotiates an interpretation of the signifying systems of a text to render it personally meaningful. (Dis)position allows …  Read more

The research presented in this thesis deals with the problem of range image registration for the purpose of building surface models of three-dimensional objects. The registration task consists of finding the translation and rotation parameters which properly align overlapping views of the surface so as to reconstruct from these partial surfaces, the complete surface representation of the object. The approach taken is to express the registration task as an optimization problem. We define a function which measures the quality of the alignment between the partial surfaces contained in two range images. The function computes a sum of Euclidean distances between …  Read more

Whalen, R. G. (Supervisor)  Read more

In this dissertation I apply the literary and cultural theory of Fredric Jameson to some biblical texts. In the first chapter I present Jameson's theory as a complex relationship between an effort to account for the pluralism of methods and interpretations (metacommentary) and a specific Marxist method, comprising three phases of interpretation. In chapter two I apply metacommentary and the Marxist method to 1 Kings 11-14, moving from a formal and ideological analysis to questions of class and economics in an imperial context. In chapter three the method is similarly applied to two reinterpretations of the Kings passage: 3 Reigns …  Read more

Presence of Triaenophorus crassus Forel in the flesh of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis (Mitchill)) and cisco (C. artedi Lesueur) can be an important economic problem for commercial coregonine fisheries. This study was initiated during the development of native fisheries in northern Quebec. Coregonine populations from 6 lakes of the Nottaway watershed were sampled to determine infection patterns of T. crassus in relation to age and size of fish, and to document interlake differences in prevalence and number of T. crassus. Interspecific and interlake differences in the infection dynamics of T. crassus were described in relation to capsule types, sizes and …  Read more

A specialized day care program was developed for community-residing individuals diagnosed with Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (SDAT). Eighteen subjects with SDAT who were categorized at stages 3 and 4 of the Global Deterioration Scale participated in the day care program once a week for 12 weeks. Activities for the program were selected so as to stimulate cognitive processes as well as promote independence in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Emphasis was placed on habilitation. The Mini-Mental State Examination, the Hierarchic Dementia Scale, and the Rapid Disability Rating Scale-2 were used to …  Read more

This thesis is qualitative study of the perceptions of aged Italian women in receiving care. It examines intra-ethnic group differences between Italian-Immigrant and Italian-Canadian women, and their definition of the experience of receiving care. Also, it addresses gender, class, and ethnicity issues which have implications for social work practice, policy, and research. Sixty-one interviews were conducted with thirty participants, over the age of sixty-five. Participants were interviewed in their treatment environments with follow-up interviews in their home settings. Semi-structured in-depth interviews documenting these women's life histories, as well as participant observation, were the qualitative methods used to collect data. Interview …  Read more

A number of T-cell membrane molecules influence the outcome of antigen recognition by TCR/CD3 complex. CD4, by virtue of its non-covalent association with the protein tyrosine kinase lck has the capacity to enhance TCR$ alpha beta$ signalling. The extracellular domain of CD4 interacts with monomorphic determinants of Major Histocompatibility complex class-II molecules such that antigen presented in association with MHC class-II to CD4$ sp+$ T-cells results in the coaggregation of CD4 and TCR/CD3, thus juxtaposing lck and the antigen-receptor complex. Anti-CD4 antibodies abrogate both antigen and anti-TCR-induced T-cell activation. Studies using antigen specific T-cell clones that express either no CD4, …  Read more

Il a été démontré, antérieurement, que l'eau saline pouvait être utilisée pour l'irrigation souterraine à long terme, à condition que les sels accumulés dans le sol puissant être lessives par la pluie, l'eau de la fonte des neiges ou de l'eau d'irrigation douce. Une méthode de réflectométrie temporelle (TDR) a été utilisée pour suivre les mouvements des sels et de I' eau dans des colonnes de sols, en laboratoire, qui étaient soumises à des cycles alternés d'irrigation souterraine avec de l'eau de qualité variable, et de lessivage avec de l'eau distillée après chaque périodes d'irrigation. Les résultats ont montré que …  Read more

Ivan Vasilyevich Kireevsky (1806-1856) was one of a whole generation of Russian litterateurs who made it their business to develop new genres on the foundations laid by Russia's literary pioneers. In 1827 Kireevsky declared his intention of giving his own direction to Russian letters through criticism, a genre he helped create in Russia. The working out of the principal attributes of the narodnost' conceptual variable, key to his time, is a constant in all his articles. Also pervasive are his several professional deficiencies. These did not hinder his contemporaries' true and often stated appreciation of his contribution but for the …  Read more

A 915 MHz Doppler radar was able under certain conditions to provide Doppler spectra containing separate and distinct modes due to scattering by rain and by the clear air. The rain spectra are broadened and shifted on the velocity axis due to turbulent air motions. Information in the clear air mode is used to correct for these effects, leaving in the rain spectra the reflectivity-weighted distribution of drop fall speed, from which the drop-size distribution can be computed. The fast Fourier transform and two iterative methods of deconvolution were applied to simulated Doppler spectra. We concluded that the iterative methods …  Read more

McAlpine, L. (Supervisor)  Read more

Surface and interaction characteristics of poly(styrene-b-4vinylpyridine) (S-4VP) and poly(styrene-b-methacrylic acid) (S-MAA) diblock copolymers were investigated by the method of inverse gas chromatography (IGC). Not surprisingly, the MAA segments were found to be acidic, while the polystyrene (PS) and the 4VP blocks were found to be basic, the 4VP moiety being the stronger base. For the S-4VP diblocks, when adsorbed onto particulates with acidic surfaces, the 4VP block is preferentially oriented to the substrate, leaving an air interphase which is enriched in PS. For the S-MAA diblock, at higher interphase thicknesses, the bulk and surface compositions became similar, and the interphases …  Read more

This dissertation deals with the changes which have intervened since the inception of deregulation in the US and Canadian airline industry, in the 'effort bargain'. It deals first with the role of economic, institutional and legislative conditions, in each country, on labour, through a comparison of aggregate labour outcomes from 1960 to 1990. It subsequently assesses the impact of carriers' strategies to lower costs through an analysis of the collective agreements of pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and agents. This part of the research covers two airlines in each country. Collected data indicate that deregulation decreased average earnings in both countries …  Read more

This study was designed to better define the molecular interactions that govern cell surface depletion of the CD4 receptor after HIV-1 infection of susceptible cells. The effects of intracellular association between the envelope glycoprotein precursor gp160 and CD4 were addressed in the U-937 monocytic cell line. Formation of complexes between these molecules was shown to impact on the maturation and transport of both in U-937 cells that were chronically-infected with either wild-type virus or with viruses unable to cleave the viral envelope precursor protein gp160. This arrest in maturation was demonstrated to be pre-Golgi in nature and was characterized by …  Read more

The purpose of this thesis is to examine from a feminist perspective two novels of the Austrian writer, Marlen Haushofer (1920, Frauenstein-1970, Steyr): Die Tapetentur (1957) and Die Mansarde (1969). Both work were written in a "pre-feminist" period in the history of German women writers. However, with the aid of contemporary feminist approaches, they can be rediscovered and deciphered for the modern reader. In the first chapter I will introduce the theories to be applied, the biography of her author and the reception of the work, focusing on areas relevant to the topic of the thesis. The recurring themes of …  Read more

Dissolution, rest potential, cyclic voltammetry and contact angle studies have been conducted on the components of INCO matte, chalcocite (Cu4$ sb{2}$S) and heazlewoodite (Ni$ sb{3}$S$ sb{2}$), in water and collector solutions. Dissolution of Ni from heazlewoodite was observed at pH .25 V. A reaction for MBT on chalcocite at $-$0.06 V, not reported previously, was proposed. Contact angle measurements were performed with chalcocite and heazlewoodite in the presence of 2 $ times$ 10$ sp{-3}$ M NaEX over a range of potential and pH values. A significant difference in contact angle between chalcocite and heazlewoodite was observed. There was general agreement …  Read more

This thesis examines, from a feminist perspective, conceptions of the body proposed by poststructuralist philosophy and postmodernist art practice. Within both feminist and postmodern critiques of the humanist subject, the body has come to be understood as a site of cultural inscriptions. In tracing the relationship between postmodernism and feminism, the thesis addresses specifically the shift from celebratory, affirmative female imagery typical of feminist art in the seventies, to the semiotic analysis of images of women which, in the eighties, problematized the question of sexual difference as one of representation. During the eighties women artists generally eschewed figurative representations of …  Read more

I investigated the effects of continuous administration of fluoxetine, a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, on energy expenditure, body temperature, and thyroid and catecholamine metabolism during weight reduction using a very low calorie diet (VLCD, Optifast, 1757 kJ/day) followed by a balanced deficit diet (BDD, 5016 kJ/day). Fluoxetine (60 mg/day by mouth, n = 10) or placebo (n = 10) were administered during 3 weeks of inpatient VLCD followed by 8 weeks of outpatient BDD in a double-blind, randomized design. A similar amount of weight was lost in both groups during the VLCD, but by the end of the BDD total weight …  Read more

In the present study, the influence of boundary conditions on the propagation of a vapor explosion in a stratified tin/water system has been investigated experimentally. In one of two experiments, a propagating interaction was initiated, by an exploding wire trigger, in a channel formed by two sections of 1.25 cm and 5 cm in width. The interaction failed consistently at the transition into the larger channel, due to the sudden lateral expansion. The behavior of the interaction was also investigated in the absence of confining walls, accomplished by triggering it in the center of a cylindrical tank. The system's response …  Read more

Methane (CH$ sb4$) fluxes were measured in a range of peatland sites by a static chamber method in two regions of northern Canada, the Clay Belt of boreal Ontario and the Labrador Trough of subarctic Quebec. In both regions, seasonal mean water table position was the best predictor of mean CH$ sb4$ flux when microtopography was included in the analysis (r$ sp2$ = 0.73; p $<$ 0.01). The regression coefficients (slopes) were similar in both regions, suggesting a similar functional relationship between water table position and CH$ sb4$ flux; but the constants (intercepts) were different, implying a regional difference in …  Read more

Two sets of connectionist simulations of children's acquisition of distance (d), time (t), and velocity (v) concepts using a generative algorithm, cascade-correlation (Fahlman & Lebiere, 1990), are reported. Pure condition simulations represent a situation in which memory demands across the concepts are equal. The limited memory condition explores the effects of differing memory demands. It was found that the rules that correlated most highly with network responses during training were consistent with the developmental course of children's concepts (Wilkening, 1981; 1982). Networks integrated the defining dimensions of the concepts first by identity rules (e.g., v = d), then additive rules …  Read more

The purpose of this study was to describe the process used to select elementary school principals in Quebec. The results of the study indicated that the majority of school boards do not have written selection policies and procedures to guide the selection of elementary school principals. In addition, the majority of school boards do not have written job descriptions, written selection criteria or written selection techniques. Although there was an absence of written job descriptions, respondents considered educational leadership as the main expectation for elementary school principals. In the absence of written selection criteria, it was noted that respondents had …  Read more

Le separateur Falcon est un nouvel appareil centrifuge qui a ere concu pourrecuperer de l'or fin « 53ILm). Cette etude visait a mieux comprendre sonfonctionnement.Un concentre de flottation de la mine Agnico-Eagle, Division LaRonde (75%de pyrite, 200 g/t d'or) a ere traite avec un separateur Falcon afin de produire unconcentre fusionable (200000 a 300000 g/t). Pour une masse traitee de 20 kg, lemeilleur rendement (recuperation d'or: 22 ± 3%; teneur du concentre: 900 g/t) a eteatteint aune densite de 20 a30 l/min, et un debit de 20 a 30 l/min al'alimentation.On a note qu'en augmentant la masse de 20 a80 …  Read more

This thesis explores Jurgen Habermas's dualist, system and action methodology of the social sciences as a continuation of Frankfurt School critical theory. It also interprets it as a reworking of this tradition. First, it lays out the criteria and models Habermas uses for a theory of rational modern progress, and relates these ideals to his empirical political theory of practice in the public sphere (Chapter One). Then, it looks for positivisms and objectivisms in the project that threaten its critical function (Chapter Two). Finally, it illustrates these positivisms at work in Habermas's dualist theory of new social movements (Chapter Three). …  Read more

Chipmunk antipredator calls were examined during the summers of 1990 and 1991. The structural characteristics of the three calls, chipping, chucking and the trill, were obtained through taped recordings and sonagraphic analysis. Behavioural observations indicated that chucking by choruses of individuals occurs in the presence of aerial predators, chipping by choruses of individuals occurs in the presence of terrestrial predators and the trill is given by single individuals when fleeing from predators. Experiments were carried out to determine the function of the trill and chipping. Demographic and contextual effects indicate that the trill is in part a call which functions …  Read more

This study investigates dyspnea and the mechanics of breathing during progressive exercise. Three subject groups, athletes, normal sedentary subjects and chronic obstructive diseased patients were studied during progressive exercise testing to exhaustion on a cycle ergometer. Subjects rated dyspnea on a Borg Scale. Inspiratory flow, esophageal/gastric pressures and rib cage/abdominal displacements were measured. Subjects demonstrated two patterns of dyspnea response to changes in esophageal (pleural) pressure. All athletes, two normals and five patients were termed "low dyspnea responders", (LDR), whereas the remaining subjects were termed "high dyspnea responders", (HDR). LDR demonstrated large, rapid negative gastric pressure swings, coupled with outward …  Read more

This thesis discusses the shadow play in mediaeval Arabo-Islamic societies, and the most outstanding playwright in that genre, Ibn Daniyal (d.710/1310). Despite the lack of other extant plays, it is shown that the shadow play had a long and dynamic tradition in mediaeval Islam, as attested to by various written sources that refer to it through two 'frames' of perception: as allegory and as theatre. These two frames indicate that there is a close link between the intrinsic development of this theatrical genre and the coinage of allegorical expressions geared to the understanding of the cosmological order. The principal features …  Read more

The history of products liability law affecting aircraft manufacturers today is rooted in the early decisions of English courts and, in America, still remains largely judge-made law. The cost of the legal diversity of more than fifty jurisdictions has been devastating to the American general aviation industry. This segment of American industry is no longer competitive, largely due to the cost of product liability litigation, and major corporations have abandoned the effort. At this time, the United Kingdom is forging ahead with its European Economic Community partners to achieve uniform products liability laws. In America, manufacturers must design, select materials …  Read more

Through an examination of the life and writings of the Egyptian Islamist Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966), this dissertation seeks to determine the conceptual bases of the Islamic movement in twentieth-century Egypt. It is argued that the central factor in the rise of islamically-oriented opposition to the elite order has been the gradual emergence in Egypt of the distinctively modern form of the nation-state. Specifically, the processes of Egyptian State formation are seen as responsible not only for the creation of conditions conducive to oppositional Islamism, but for engendering notions of national community and historical transformation which, through the processes of discursive …  Read more

Cooper, D. G. (Supervisor)  Read more

Gerbils, experimentally infected with Giardia lamblia trophozoites, had trophozoites and encysting trophozoites in all 3 equal sections of the small intestine and in the colon at necropsy. Cysts were found in the second and third sections of the small intestine and in the colon. WB strain derived trophozoites (WB, D1, WB-C6, and V1) differed in levels of encystation in vitro but not in gerbils. Passage in gerbils increased the in vitro encystation levels of WB and D1 but decreased that of WB-C6 and V1. No differences were found in the total protein profiles or isoenzyme patterns of these G. lamblia …  Read more

This thesis analyzes the People's Republic of China's modernization strategy in order to test the hypothesis according to which the "open-door" policy might represent a shift from Marxism to a Neoclassical economy model. To do so, the author compares the performance realized by the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and by the newly established Shanghai-Pudong New Area (1990). Although it benefits from the fourteen year old SEZs experience, it is argued, Pudong duplicates the flaws inherent to the SEZs and fails to offer advancement over their development. The author then suggests that China's initial objective to build a strong modern socialist …  Read more