McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 1995

The crystallization of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in blends with amorphous poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), in a mixture with the PVC-selective plasticizer tricresyl phosphate (TCP), and in ternary mixtures with both PVC and TCP has been investigated at several structural levels using the techniques of: (i) theoretical surface interfacial tension calculations, (ii) thermal analysis, (iii) polarized light microscopy, and (iv) polarized infrared microspectroscopy. The invariance of the glass transition temperature of the interlamellar, amorphous PEO suggests a relatively low degree of dispersion in PEO/PVC blends. A slight depression in the equilibrium melting temperature of PEO in blends of high PVC content was …  Read more

A case study of American Sign Language (ASL) acquisition revealed an emerging phonological system influenced by biological, cognitive, and linguistic factors. A hearing child (SJ), acquiring ASL from her Deaf parents, was videotaped over seven sessions between the ages of 1:0 and 2:1. Of the 1,699 manual behaviors observed, 804 were lexical items, or signs. All signs were phonetically coded. Detailed analyses were undertaken to discover acquisition patterns for the three major parameters of ASL signs (handshape, hand location and movement). Overall, SJ's signs were well-formed and adhered to ASL phonological constraints. Location primes were produced accurately, due to SJ's …  Read more

Considering the specific experiences of Chile and Argentina, this study undertakes the analysis of economic liberalization policies from a "credibility constraint" perspective. Building on the assumption that, in a context interdependence, one of the essential conditions for economic development is the attraction of foreign capital, it suggests that confidence-seeking is a major concern constraining the rest of the government's activities. From these premises, the thesis addresses the socio-political consequences of this quest for credibility and provides an analysis of these criteria's compatibility with democratic and authoritarian rule. In this endeavor, the project relies on a comparative observation of four case …  Read more

For the last two decades, available results have suggested that CD4 and CD8 are functional analogs which, expressed in a mutually exclusive fashion, have provided a fundamental basis for the characterization of the two T cell lineages. This functional analogy has been described during both T cell development and maturation, as well as during the activation of mature peripheral T lymphocytes. It has been demonstrated that the stringency for CD4/CD8 expression, and their ability to interact with MHC molecules during positive and negative selection, are comparable. Further, mAb mediated coaggregation of either CD4 or CD8 with TCR$ alpha beta$ enhances …  Read more

Nitric Oxide (NO) has been detected in the expiratory air of normal animals and human subjects. Recent experiments revealed that expiratory NO production rises during exercise and correlates well with O$ sb2$ consumption and heart rate. Whether or not physical conditioning influences expiratory NO output production remains unclear. In this study, NO concentration in expired gas was measured in 18 healthy male volunteers subdivided into 3 groups (sedentary, intermediate, athletes) based on their state of physical conditioning. Measurements were taken at rest and during two steady-state exercise bouts on a bicycle ergometer designed to elicit VO$ sb2$ of 1 and …  Read more

The present study investigated the possibility of using an electrolytic cell to prevent nonenzymatic browning in lemon juice products. A single-strength, a double strength and a triple-strength lemon juice were subjected to four different current densities (0.116, 0.231, 0.463 and 0.926 A/m$ sp2)$ for 30 minutes using an electrolytic cell. Dissolved oxygen level, conductivity, redox potential, pH in juices and the voltage applied to the electrodes required to maintain constant current density through the cell were monitored. Juice samples were taken at 0, 5, 15 and 30 minutes and then stored for one month at 30$ sp circ$C. After one …  Read more

Nineteenth-century Montreal convents are complex, multi-functional buildings. As a form of collective housing, convents provided an alternative urban "space" for women, one in which they were able to realize themselves individually and collectively. This thesis explores the Mother House of the Grey Nuns, typical of Montreal's convents, as a purpose-built environment for women. The research involves the extensive use of a unique documentary legacy preserved in the archives of the Grey Nuns: the architectural drawings and written accounts of Soeur Saint-Jean-de-la-Croix (1854-1921), in addition to the religious community's annals and period photographs. These documents recorded how the nuns organized their …  Read more

This thesis offers both a survey of representative French language literary plagiarisms from Corneille's Le Cid to contemporary internet downloading, and an evaluation of theoretical approaches to plagiarism and plagiarism-related subjects including intertextuality, pastiche, heteroglossia, and citation. The author argues that all-encompassing theoretical approaches to plagiarism cannot account for vast variations, both in the motivation for plagiarizing on the part of the author, and in the reception of the plagiarized material by individual readers and by the literary/discursive community. Varying standards of acceptability for plagiarized texts are contingent upon the historical, political, geographical and legal juncture within which they are …  Read more

This study focuses on various aspects of solid-state diffusion bonding of two ceramic-metal combinations, namely: silicon carbide-molybdenum (SiC-Mo), and silicon nitride-molybdenum (Si$ rm sb3N sb4$-Mo). Single SiC-Mo and $ rm Si sb3N sb4$-Mo joints were produced using hot-uniaxial pressing. The microstructure of the resulting interfaces were characterized by image analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The mechanical properties of the joints were investigated using shear strength testing, depth sensing nanoindentation, and neutron diffraction for residual stress measurement. SiC was solid-state bonded to Mo at temperatures ranging from 1000$ sp circ$C to 1700$ sp …  Read more

Cascade poly(aryl ether) containing aryl sulfide or aryl sulfone groups, and aryl fluoride terminal functionality, were synthesized. Four generations of the dendrimers were prepared. The divergent initiator core method was employed, using 4,4$ sp prime$-difluorodiphenyl sulfone, as the core precursor, and a relatively high molecular weight phenol as the monomer. The strategy is based on an activation/condensation sequence that involves oxidation of the aryl sulfide group and the displacement of the activated aryl halide moiety by a phenolate ion. The aryl halide was activated by a sulfone group formed by oxidation of a sulfide group. Optimum conditions for the condensation …  Read more

Micellar-enhanced extraction (MEEX) is a solvent extraction process which transfers organic solutes from wastewater to an aqueous surfactant phase containing micelles which solubilize the solutes. The feed and solvent contact each other across a microporous membrane having pore sizes small enough to prevent the micelles from crossing the membrane and contaminating the purified water. Back-contamination of the wastewater by surfactant monomers which cross the membrane is minimized by using a surfactant with a low critical micelle concentration (CMC). MEEX was demonstrated with an aqueous feed solution containing 500 ppm of benzoic acid as a model solute. The aqueous solvent contained …  Read more

This study focuses on the use of English as the sole medium of instruction in Zimbabwean schools and the effect of such a policy on the educational achievement of students, particularly in secondary schools. The role of Shona and Ndebele, two other Zimbabwean official languages, in schooling is also examined. Some of the findings reveal a learning and teaching environment that prevents strategies from addressing linguistic, social and cultural development with a coherent workable vision in the English classroom. Because English is the working language of government, business, and industry in Zimbabwe, an English-only policy seems to be a practical …  Read more

The physical state of the seedbed is of importance to the plant environment as it influences some important processes in the soil such as seedling emergence, water and solute transport, and ease of root penetration. This is affected to a large extent by tillage process, the tillage implement type and the geometry of the implement used. A field experiment was carried out on a clay soil to determine the effect of the geometry of bladed tillage implements on some soil physical properties after tillage. The soil properties evaluated were bulk density, mean clod size distribution and total pore space after …  Read more

The sugar refinery process used by Lantic Sugar Ltd generates three by-products having characteristics that give them potential as soil amendments or fertilizers, particularly as a phosphorous and calcium source. Laboratory and a field trials were conducted in order to examine the changes in agronomic properties of soil produced by the application of these residues. During the laboratory experiment, the by-products examined were spend bone char (SBC), filter-press mud (FPM), clarification scum (SCU) and a compost (COM) produced using FPM and SCU, where as in a field experiment, COM, SBC and a mixture (MIX) made of FPM and SCU, were …  Read more

A field tillage tool carrier was constructed using a tractor trailer, hydraulic cylinder and steel construction material. Tillage tool blades of varying lengths, widths and angles of attack were fabricated from steel and were used in the study of the effect of tool rake angle, tool width and depth of operation on soil strength properties, draft, draft efficiency, volume of soil manipulated, degree of soil loosening and penetration resistance. The results showed that the draft increased with tool rake angle and width. Operating at a depth of 150 mm and 100 mm depth did not make any significant difference on …  Read more

Nagarajan, S. (Supervisor)  Read more

This paper considers two major issues in the evolution of the European Union, the Single Market and the Single Currency. The first chapter deals with the projected effects of the 1992 Programme, and the second chapter deals with the collapse of the Exchange Rate Mechanism of the European Monetary System and examines the prospects for European Monetary Union given this collapse. The third chapter revolves around the concept of Central Banking under Monetary Union and focuses on the European Monetary Institute and the European System of Central Banks. Chapter four presents data regarding the progress of the European Union towards …  Read more

The present study is an investigation of on-line and off-line processing of verb tense in individuals with developmental language impairment. Three groups of subjects performed two experiments, (1) a lexical decision task (on-line) and, (2) a grammaticality judgement task (off-line). Grammaticality was controlled by the manipulation of tense for regular and irregular verbs. Participants were six members of a large British familial aggregation diagnosed with developmental language impairment, six of their unaffected relatives, and seven unaffected Canadian individuals. The results of the lexical decision task indicate that the reaction times of the affected group were slower than the Canadian control …  Read more

The early Canadian long poem has often been faulted for its lack of aesthetic integrity, being seen in many cases as little more than poorly "versified rhetoric," but it has never been submitted to a thorough rhetorical analysis. An investigation of the rhetorical devices at work in the early Canadian long poem, however, reveals them to be highly strategic operations of both the imperial-colonial project in British North America and the emerging national consciousness of the new nation of Canada. These operations may be understood more clearly through the close examination of periodic "ruptures" in the texts--inconsistencies, contradictions, anomalies, and …  Read more

The capacity of pea root plastids for galactolipid synthesis was investigated utilizing radiolabelled acetate and UDP-galactose. Galactolipid biosynthesis was completely dependent on an exogenous supply of UDP-galactose. UDP-galactose stimulated both total lipid biosynthesis from acetate and the proportion of radioactivity accumulated in monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG). The proportion of MGDG synthesized was saturated at 30$ mu$M UDP-galactose and represented approximately 30% of the total lipid radioactivity after a one hour incubation. However, total lipid biosynthesis continued to increase with concentrations of UDP-galactose up to 75$ mu$M while the proportion of radioactivity in MGDG remained at 30%. MGDG biosynthesis was always accompanied by …  Read more

An imbalance of the oxidant-antioxidant equilibrium has been associated with disease progression in HIV-seropositive individuals. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated the efficacy of antioxidant supplementation in reducing the concentrations of oxidative stress markers. The objectives of the present cross-sectional study were to evaluate the dietary intake and nutritional supplementation practices of 24 HIV-seropositive persons in Montreal and explore the relationship between dietary intakes of antioxidant micronutrients (ascorbic acid, vitamin E, $ beta$-carotene, zinc, selenium), oxidative stress (plasma malondialdehyde (MDA), leukocyte glutathione (GSH)) and immunological indices (absolute CD4+ counts, polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN)). Unexpectedly, and paradoxically, a tendency to …  Read more

This thesis has two main themes: that law is of primary importance to Scotland as a nation and to Scottish nationalism and that the distinctiveness of Scots law is threatened by a discernible tendency towards anglicisation or standardisation with English law. The thesis examines the nature of culture and nationalism in general, and in the Scottish context in particular, and discusses the foundational elements of Scotland's nationhood. Law is specifically considered in the latter two contexts. Thereafter, some elements which substantiate the claim of distinctiveness made for Scots law are identified and one view of the mechanisms by which it …  Read more

The pro-opiomelanocortin gene encodes protein precursor expressed primarily by the anterior pituitary corticotrophs and intermediate lobe melanotrophs. Pituitary expression of the POMC gene provides a paradigm for studying both tissue-specific and hormonally-regulated gene expression. The POMC promoter is composed of at least 13 different regulatory elements binding many different classes of transcription factors. There are several E-box sequences present in the POMC promoter, including elements DE-2C, CE-1A, and CE-1B. E-box elements bind members of the helix-loop-helix family of transcription factors. These factors exhibit either ubiquitous or cell-restricted expression patterns. The DE-2C element binds cell-specific HLH factors termed CUTE (Corticotroph Upstream …  Read more

The visual appearances of twelfth and thirteenth century Scottish castles are interpreted through an iconographic and iconological analysis. in examining the symbolic possibilities evidenced in the castles's visual programs, an architectural language of authority, "castle style," is identified. The connections of this architectural language to twelfth and thirteenth century "new men" is considered through a review of historical and architectural evidence. Socio-political ambition and the representation of social stature are recognizable in "castle style."  Read more

Primarily, the thesis will reconsider the "minority report" position regarding Hemingway, and attempt to rationalize attendant charges that Hemingway's later fiction betrayed elements of self-parody (Across the River and Into the Trees. 1950), self-imitation (The Old Man and the Sea, 1952), and self-indulgence (A Moveable Feast, 1964). The minority report holds that the later writer had come to identify with the image of his public persona, and that subsequent attempts at fiction were as a result overcharacterized by self-congratulation, wish-fulfillment, and a crucial loss of ironic or otherwise aesthetic distance. The paper will dispute the biographical bias which advances much …  Read more

William of Ockham's (1285-1349) influence on medieval philosophy has been generally acknowledged. Little, however, has been written on the possibility that his work had an effect on the arts. His radical reversal of traditional epistemology and ontology raised new questions which had great implications for poetry. This study seeks to establish the extent of his influence on one poet, Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1345-1400), by examining Chaucer's engagement with Jean de Meun (c. 1232-1305) on the theme of language and morality.  Read more

The essay examines Robert E. Park's theory of the role news and newspapers have in processes of social interaction, and of the role they consequently play in the constitution of society. Park's theoretical work is often cited for its appreciation of the dynamic aspects of social interaction. This perspective is evident in his analysis of news and newspapers. In The Immigrant Press and its Control (1922), Park examined how immigrant groups responded to the experience of immigration and how their newspapers contributed to that response. Park adopted from American pragmatism a definition of pragmatic or 'rational' social interaction and applied …  Read more

This dissertation describes and evaluates a thesis about the means of identifying verbs early in learning a language, and a first language in particular. The thesis is presented briefly in the first section. The second section provides a critical review of theories about children's early part-of-speech identifications. Section 3 presents a new theory of verb identification. I argue that learners initially identify members of a category, predicator, that subsumes verbs and adjectives. Predicators have argument structures. Learners identify a predicator through an inference that the word must take noun-phrase arguments because the phrase containing the word is interpreted into a …  Read more

Cette thèse examine comment les ouvrages In Search of April Raintree, de Beatrice Culleton, Obasan, de Joy Kogawa, et Running in the Family, de Michael Ondaatje, perturbent, par leur respect et leur transgression des règles de l'autobiographie littéraire, les formulations du "sujet" historique liées aux conventions propres à ce genre. Le site principal d'interprétation réside donc dans la délimitation des contours des narrateurs de ces textes en tant que "sujets" qui, tout à fois, écrivent l'histoire et sont écrits par elle. Cette thèse démontre que ces "fictions autobiographiques" inscrivent des récits qui remettent en question les comptes rendus "officiels" et …  Read more

A frequently reported disorder affecting mostly women, dyspareunia (pain with penile-vaginal intercourse) has been under-investigated in comparison to other sexual dysfunctions and pain syndromes. After presenting a critical review of the literature, delineating the history of description, classification, prevalence, etiology, and treatment, this thesis reports two sets of results from a clinical study of over 100 women who suffer pain with intercourse and 100 matched controls. A biopsychosocial protocol was used to assess both groups. Results from the two sets of analyses showed that (1) dyspareunia may be a heterogeneous disorder with, at least, three sub-types based on physical findings, …  Read more

This thesis investigates the cultural and social production of AIDS in popular discourse, particularly film and mass media, and offers a critical consideration of the ways in which the proliferation and dispersion of these discourses function in our current episteme to rearticulate and reinscribe traditional value systems of sexuality, familialism, and nationalism. Taking the lead of the work of Michel Foucault on the body in various historical regimes, the author here will posit a theoretical analysis of the "discursive formation" of AIDS, how the body of AIDS is put into discourse, to provide a matrix for establishing the various disciplinary …  Read more

The procolophonid amniote Barasaurus besairiei Piveteau 1955 is fully described and restored for the first time with emphasis placed on the postcranial skeleton, which is only poorly known in most of the other taxa of early amniotes. The study focuses on testing a hypothesis of relationships, namely whether procolophonids are the sister-group of Testudines as proposed by Reisz & Laurin (1991). The description provides a sound basis for a new phylogenetic study of early amniotes. Using 13 taxa and 68 characters, the analysis indicates that synapsids are the sister-group of all other known amniotes, named Sauropsida. The Sauropsida are divided …  Read more

This thesis is an exposition on the British traveller Mary Edith Durham and her various activities in the Balkans from 1900 to 1914. Durham earned a reputation as an ethnographer, traveller, reporter, political activist and relief worker. First, the thesis documents her experiences between 1900-1908 as a traveller in the Balkans. In this period Durham developed a keen interest for the history and cultures of the peoples of the Balkans. She also gained a solid knowledge of Balkan politics and became a familiar face in Montenegro and the Albanian territories of the Ottoman Empire. The study then describes her relief …  Read more

External forces exerted on ambulatory assistive devices by spinal cord injured subjects gait-trained with functional electrical stimulation were measured during a twelve-week period to determine the contribution of devices to gait. Impulse, applied force, and contact time quantified the propulsive, restraining, supporting and stabilizing functions of devices and lower extremities. Peak axial force on devices and ground reaction force on lower limbs reached between 30 to 40 and 88 to 100 percent of subjects' total body weight respectively. Variables assessed varied with the gait pattern and assistive device employed. Results contribute towards a better understanding of assisted gait and represent …  Read more

This thesis describes a new Compliant Articulated Robot Leg (CARL) which is a prototype leg for an autonomous quadruped robot. The leg is designed for dynamic walking, trotting and bounding gaits, with an expected top speed of 3m/s. To facilitate the construction of multi-legged creatures, the leg was designed as a modular, self-contained unit with integrated amplifiers and control electronics. It is an articulated 3 DOF design with revolute joints as opposed to prismatic joints for improved mobility, simplicity and low friction. It employs electric actuation instead of hydraulics for indoor power autonomy, improved modeling, control and reliability. The use …  Read more

The notion of improving employee productivity and satisfaction through increased work autonomy has led to a variety of managerial practices that seek to enhance employees' sense of control over their work and workplace. One such organizational intervention which has gained currency last decade is empowerment. This thesis is an attempt clearly explicate the precise nature of the empowerment construct through theoretical analysis and empirical investigation. An analysis of the construct of power from a psychological perspective yielded three dimensions of power: power as perceived control, power as perceived competence and power as being energized toward valued goals. Based on this …  Read more

Mucciardi, Frank (Supervisor)  Read more

This research paper investigated whether a higher level of topic knowledge affects the ability of English as a second language university students to produce better written arguments.  Read more

The effect of a heat-killed, unencapsulated strain of type III group B streptococcus (GBS), COH 1-13, on cerebral blood flow (CBF) and prostanoid production was investigated in two separate piglet models. In the first model, we examined the temporal profile of changes in CBF and cerebrospinal fluid cytochemistry in response to GBS challenge during a 6 hour study period. Despite marked leukocytosis at 6 hours, GBS did not significantly affect CBF and other cardiovascular parameters, hematology and cerebral prostanoid production. In the second model, we evaluated the early effect of GBS on CBF autoregulatory function and subsequently employed pharmacologic agents …  Read more

The writing of the French architectural theorist and critic Cesar Daly (1811-1894), editor of the influential Parisian journal, the Revue generale de l'architecture et des travaux publics, may be considered to be representative of the ambivalence of the supposed 19th century dialectic between scientism and metaphysical idealism. For Daly the physical and representational needs of society expressed in architecture were always and forever inextricably linked by the universal and permanent pattern of History. Although it was his fundamental thesis that the human sensibility was more important than any other consideration in the creation of architecture, his theory is paradigmatic of …  Read more

Peter Paul Rubens' creative genius, as expressed with consummate mastery in his paintings, is but one of the many elements that have compounded to establish his fame. He is also renowned as a man of immense erudition. Indeed, his reputation is such that it is taken for granted that his great learning informed all aspects of his art in a fundamental way. In accordance with this kind of thinking, current scholarship on Rubens accepts, as a matter of course, that the artist, whilst creating his painted works, followed the dictates of a colour theory, as we would know it today. …  Read more

In this thesis, we study toy models of two-dimensional gravity. We first review two known models: the classical and quantum corrected CGHS models and the quantum corrected model of RST. These two models have black holes solutions with curvature singularities, similar to the Schwartzschild black hole. This singularity becomes naked in the RST model at a certain event during the evaporation. In the third chapter, we build a more general version with new quantum corrections beyond those presented in the RST model, which enable us to find a model without curvature singularities. We will also see that these new quantum …  Read more

An overview of the statistical procedures used in the analysis of electrocardiogram traces is presented in this thesis. The purpose of these procedures is twofold: (i) they may suggest underlying mechanisms that influence heart rate (ii) they may be used as a means of classifying one or more patients into disease categories, by using objective criteria rather than the subjective approaches prevalent in current practice. In an attempt to apply the methods discussed in this thesis, a selected group of patients was analyzed using spectral analysis. Lack of information and of control of the patients' activities while they were being …  Read more

In this research, the test methods and specimen configurations are studied for both static and fatigue characterization of composite materials in compression, using carbon/epoxy as an example. A new test method was developed to allow for both static and compression fatigue testing. Finite element analyses were performed to analyze the effect of Teflon inserts between the tabs and specimen on the stress distribution in the specimen. The test uses a conventional material testing machine equipped with hydraulic grips. No fixture was needed to test the specimen, which is an important advantage especially in fatigue testing, where the fixture itself can …  Read more

We investigate the geometric properties of multi-dimensional Lie-algebraic operators. Such operators are relevant to the study of quasi-exactly solvable, quantum mechanical systems. The present effort addresses several issues raised by the Q.E.S. research program. One such issue is the normalizability of an operator to Schrodinger form; this criterion is known as the operator closure conditions. We give a geometric, and a representation-theoretic reformulation of the closure conditions, and then use these techniques to obtain solutions for the case of linear SL(2) actions in the plane. The study of multi-dimensional Lie-algebraic operators benefits from an intrinsic, geometrically based approach. We do …  Read more

Myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) is amongst the earliest expressed myelin specific proteins. Its precise function remains unknown, though evidence supports a role for cell-cell adhesion. MAG may also act as a spacer molecule and could be involved in signal transduction. MAG is expressed as two isoforms, designated as L-MAG and S-MAG. Both share identical extracellular and transmembrane domains but differ in their cytoplasmic domains. L-MAG is expressed earlier during myelination than S-MAG. These features, as well as others, suggest that the isoforms have different functions. To confirm this hypothesis, both isoforms were expressed transiently and stably in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) …  Read more

One must consider the effects of both soil N and fertilizer N, if rates of N-fertilizer application are to be optimized and NO$ sb3 sp-$ leaching into groundwater be controlled. Objectives were (1) to determine soil $ rm NO sb3 sp-$-N and NH$ sb4 sp+$-N, soil total N, and N fertilizer levels and corn and wheat yields; and, (2) to determine soil sampling times and depths for N analyses that correlated with yields and fertilizer N response. Soil samples taken at seeding and postseeding were analyzed for NH$ sb4 sp+$-N and NO$ sb3 sp-$-N, and for total N in 29 …  Read more

This thesis is the study of one of the most consistently used primary sources of early seventeenth century Mughal India. The Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe, written by England's first ambassador to the court of Jahangi r, has traditionally been construed to be a succinct and perceptive account. Moreover, historians have relied on Thomas Roe's observations and conclusions to offer certain interpretations of Jahangi r's court: most notably, its decline as a forum of centralized absolutism into an arena of intrigue and rivalry. Roe, as a product of Jacobean society, perceived Mughal events and institutions from an early seventeenth century …  Read more

The thesis is a short novel, Adam's Navel, followed by a critical afterword. The narrator, Sam Meir, a first year medical student at McGill University, recounts the events of the unsuccessful road trip from Montreal to Seattle that he made in the summer before his last year of undergraduate study. Sam attempts the trip with his girlfriend, but his increasing obsession with historical, and mythical figures disrupts their relationship and their travel plans. As the two travel deeper into the middle of America, Sam realizes he cannot leave his family or his past behind him. Thematically, Adam's Navel is a …  Read more

Maize production in short-season environments has at least two critical problems. Firstly, maize grown in short-season areas has lower leaf area indices (LAI) than maize grown in long season areas, due to shorter plant stature and less time for development, which results in reduced leaf number and size. Secondly, in very short-season areas the seasonal thermal-time available may be insufficient to mature grain of current maize hybrids. Therefore development of maize types that accumulate leaf area and mature quickly would increase production of maize in mid- to short-season areas. The leafy (Lfy1) and reduced-stature (rd1) genes make contributions to this …  Read more