McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 1995

This dissertation considers the relation between culture and communication with respect to the development of aboriginal media in Canada. It introduces and elaborates a concept of cultural politics with which to interpret the history of contact between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people. This concept is further applied to an analysis of Canadian cultural and communications policy and the intervention of native broadcasters in policy procedures and discourses. The dissertation undertakes a critical review of existing research on aboriginal media. It assesses the usefulness of interpretive tools drawn from poststructuralist philosophy, ethnography and postcolonial theory in understanding the relation between cultural politics …  Read more

The relative strength of both neuroticism and affect in predicting common physical symptoms was tested. An event-sampling design was used to overcome methodological limitations of past research in the area. Contrary to much previous research, neuroticism was not related to reports of physical symptoms, although it was related to unpleasant affect. Unpleasant affect bore a strong concurrent relation to the frequency of reported symptoms. Temporal relations between experiences of unpleasant affect and subsequent symptoms were found for some individuals, but wide individual variability was seen in both the strength and direction of this linkage. The findings suggest that when individuals …  Read more

Chapter One of this thesis looks at psychoanalytical object relations theory dealing with early childhood, with an aim to outline the shift that has taken place within critical thinking on personal development--from an emphasis on oedipal relations to the auspicious re-exploration of pre-oedipal states. Here the main theme derives from the paradoxical nature of the human skin, whose fluid sensory and communicative qualities profoundly shape our psychological functioning, and thus ultimately our creation of (gendered) knowledge in all its forms. Chapter Two seeks to establish some of the possible socio-political implications of a recovered pre-oedipal sensibility, by way of situating …  Read more

The ability to tailor specific properties, such as stiffness, hardness and thermal expansion has led to the use of metal matrix composites (MMCs) in a wide variety of engineering applications. Squeeze casting can be used to produce MMCs and involves the infiltration of a ceramic preform by liquid metal under pressure exerted by a punch. This work deals with the fabrication and evaluation of an aluminum casting alloy (A356) reinforced with short Al$ sb2$O$ sb3$ fibre (mean fibre length $ sim$265 $ mu$m) using the squeeze casting technique. Discontinuous Al$ sb2$O$ sb3$ fibre preforms of different volume fractions (5-15%), were …  Read more

Territorios is a 15-minute composition for eight percussionists and prerecorded sounds on digital tape. The composer chose this particular instrumentation because of his conviction that percussion and electronic/digital instruments are the most powerful sources of fresh and innovative sound matter that have appeared during this century. This choice also allowed him to challenge the development of a new and consistent rhythmic syntax derived from the internal structure of percussion instruments, which in turn made it possible to establish solid ties between the sound itself and the musical syntax that rules its organization. Since different tempi are often used simultaneously in …  Read more

FPGAs have been among the fastest growing segments of the semiconductor industry and this growth is expected to continue over the next several years. The complexity of FPGAs makes manual designs time consuming and error prone; design automation tools are essential to the effective use of FPGAs. Routing is one part of the design process of VLSI chips that is computational complex and hence very time consuming. The arrival of the interior-point method proposed by N. Karmarkar was an important event in linear programming and several variants have been developed since then. Recent experiments in a variety of areas report …  Read more

The synthesis, characterization and an evaluation of the physical properties including infrared, UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence spectra, quantum yields and thermal stability of a variety of 2,5- and 2,6-diethynylypyridine based organic and Pt(II)-$ sigma$-acetylide monomers, oligomers and polymers, are reported. Quaternization of the pyridine-nitrogen in these compounds via solution nucleophilic substitution reactions with methyl iodide and methyl triflate yield stable pyridinium analogs. The introduction of positive charge into the backbone by this simple solution chemistry has a significant effect on the $ pi$-electron delocalization. For example, quaternization of the pyridine-nitrogen is accompanied by strong red-shifts in the UV-Vis absorption spectra. …  Read more

Stubley, Eleanor (Advisor)  Read more

We used genetically T-lymphopenic rats as donors to probe the contribution of T-lymphocytes to graft immunogenicity. Graft survival (GS) of lymphopenic donors was significantly increased as compared to normal donors (median (M) = 17 days vs M = 7d, n = 10). To confirm this observation, we reconstituted 7 lymphopenic rats before organ retrieval with $10 sp7-10 sp8$ purified T-lymphocytes. GS was significantly shorter than with lymphopenic donors (M = 7d, n = 7 vs M = 17d, n = 10). Conversely, we treated 6 normal donors with R7.3 (mouse anti-rat TCR $ alpha/ beta$) monoclonal antibody (mab). GS was …  Read more

The way in which texture development is affected by hot rolling, intercritical rolling, and warm rolling was studied in a plain carbon, a niobium microalloyed and an interstitial free steel. Three processing parameters were varied: the austenitizing temperature (1250$ sp circ$C or 1150$ sp circ$C), amount of reduction (90% or 75%) and finish rolling temperature (1020$ sp circ$C, 870$ sp circ$C, 770$ sp circ$C, 730$ sp circ$C and 630$ sp circ$C for the first two materials, and 1020$ sp circ$C, 920$ sp circ$C, 870$ sp circ$C, 820$ sp circ$C, 720$ sp circ$C and 620$ sp circ$C for the IF steel). …  Read more

When I first encountered James Joyce's Ulysses, at the age of sixteen, I was predictably unprepared for the book. Its shifts in narrative voice, extensive use of stream of consciousness, and ostensible disorder make the book a daunting task for the first time reader. Fortunately, my age allowed me to consign my lack of understanding to naivete, rather than, as did many early critics, to authorial deficiencies. In addition to my ignorance regarding Ulysses itself, I was completely unaware of the extensive critical debates surrounding its myriad aspects, from the supposed "communion" between Stephen and Bloom in "Ithaca" to the …  Read more

This exploratory research examines the wage effects of a variety of measures thought to be important in the employment income determination process. It does this by using ordinary least squares multiple regression techniques to construct wage equations for two samples of blue-collar workers in Montreal. Blue-collar wage equations are constructed for: (i) the Montreal labour market and (ii) the Montreal food processing industry. The results of this study show that Montreal blue-collar wages are determined by a variety of factors. Most importantly, however, are the wage effects exhibited by a worker's gender, union membership status and whether or not a …  Read more

The room temperature morphology of quench-cooled isotactic polypropylene (iPP) films and its development were investigated by scanning transmittance electron microscopy (STEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). STEM dark field images revealed that within an amorphous matrix there exist microcrystalline regions, 160 A in size on the average, having the $ alpha$-monoclinic crystal form. Regions of lower crystalline order were also observed which have an $ alpha$-monoclinic crystal form that has a substantially longer b crystallographic axis. DSC studies indicate that during quench-cooling to the glassy state iPP samples attain a low degree of crystalline order to an extent that depends …  Read more

Carroll, Robert L. (Supervisor)  Read more

The concentration of waste cutting oils by ultrafiltration was studied in a thin channel crossflow unit using regenerated cellulose membranes having molecular weight cutoffs (MWCOs) of 10 000 and 30 000. Experiments were carried out to determine the effects of emulsion concentration (1-5% w/v), transmembrane pressure (0.103-1.241 MPa), and temperature (25-45$ sp circ$C) on the permeation rate of clean water and on the oil content of the water, using a model cutting oil emulsion having a mean droplet size of 2.8 um. The emulsion concentration had no effect on the permeate flux. Increasing temperature or pressure increased the flux. The …  Read more

An overhead power transmission conductor must maintain a safe distance from the objects underneath it. However, this distance decreases with time, even under conditions where metallurgical creep of the cable material does not occur, for instance, at room temperature. This phenomenon is first identified as "pseudo creep". The creep behavior of a cable is directly related to its mechanical properties, which correspond to the applied loads under certain boundary conditions. Twist due to cable rotation and radial compression due to layer-to-layer contact are taken into consideration, so that a deeper understanding of what happens inside the cable and a quantitative …  Read more

Boivin, Guy (Supervisor)  Read more

Light in the poetry by Saint-Denys Garneau appears in touches. At first imperceptible, it is soon revealed through the movement of wind or water. If the light in movement gives form to the landscape by outlining the contour of things, the fixed light, on the other hand, hollows out large holes of darkness which engulf the landscape. The space thus displayed reduces the poet to anonymity and silence. The conflict pulling the poet between these two forms of light, which refers to the problematics of Orpheus' song and sight, as defined by Blanchot, constitutes the drama of Saint-Denys Garneau. The …  Read more

This thesis project was an experiment in thinking/making. Borrowing from the Renaissance Hermetic Tradition of power magic in the work of Dr. John Dee, it began in contemplative research mode in order to find sources for action. The project had its final goal, a theatrical performance (masque) to be delivered as an act of inter-subjective exchange extending beyond solipsism by means of thinking through actions and things. The interdisciplinary nature of the event spoke of architecture's ability to bring together various modes of abstract expression (literature, theatre, theory, music, etc.) without attempts at explicit meaning but by searching for implicitness …  Read more

Peer relationships of students with developmental disabilities in self-contained classrooms were investigated. Eighteen boys enrolled in three separate classrooms participated in the study. The mean chronological age of the boys in each class were 6.7, 8, and 7.7 years, and their mean mental ages were 4.6, 5.8. and 6.7 years. Peer relationship measures included sociometric measures such as peer ratings and sociograms and observational measures such as coordinated group activity and dyadic interaction. Spearman rank correlation coefficients were obtained. Peer ratings shared high correlations with cognitive variables such as I.Q., for the middle mental age class. Behavioral variables were correlated …  Read more

This work presents an experimental database encompassing known and suspected factors causing in-the-hole deviation when drilling long production holes at Canadian underground mines. Using this experimental database and previous studies on the subject, an idealized model of minimal detail but complete structure is proposed using the principles of beam bending, the constraining effect of the drill hole on the drill string and simple relationships for bit rock interaction. Next, the proposed model is programmed digitally to produce a longhole drill deviation simulator, which is first checked for self consistency and stability and then verified against the experimental field results obtained …  Read more

The main objectives of this research are to propose a general stochastic method for determining analytically the distribution of flood volume, and to develop a simulation procedure for generating synthetic multiseason streamflows at different sites simultaneously. The research study is divided into two parts: (a) First, a general stochastic model is proposed to derive analytically the probability distribution function for flood volume. The volume of a flood is defined as the sum of an unbroken sequence of consecutive daily flows above a given truncation level. Analytical expressions were then derived for the exact distribution of flood volume for various cases …  Read more

The response of CsI photocathodes widely used in Fast RICH detectors is greatly affected by the environment in which the CsI is deposited. It has been shown in previous studies that the exposure of the CsI to air is detrimental to the CsI photocathode response. In this work we introduce a novel spraying technique where the whole chamber is exposed to nothing but a controlled dry argon atmosphere and the ambient gas environment in which measurements are taken, i.e., methane. All results concerning the CsI are obtained relative to copper. A relative quantum efficiency of 400 to 700 was measured …  Read more

Cette thèse développe une théorie basée sur les champs électromagnétiques d'un nombre théoriquement infini de lignes de transmission très minces placées sur un fondement diélectrique plane. Ces lignes de transmission possèdent un nombre infini de modes de propagation distincts qui peuvent être détermines par un problème de valeur propre exprime sous forme d'opérateur. Les modes d'une structure composée de conducteurs infinitésimaux sont utilisés pour avoir une approximation d'une structure qui contient un nombre détermine de conducteurs. Afin d'être en mesure de calculer les modes de propagation ainsi que leur vitesse respective, les fonctions de Green sont calculées sous forme de …  Read more

Long-term clinical success of total hip replacement surgery is dependent on initial implant stability. For noncemented, porous coated implants in particular, initial stability is essential for fixation by bone ingrowth to occur. A method for evaluating initial stability by quantifying relative implant-bone micromotion has been developed. Based on the assumption that transverse sections of the implant are rigid bodies, the technique measured motion at proximal and distal sites, two clinically relevant regions of an implant. Mathematical transformations derived from measurements obtained by a series of linear displacement transducers were used to determine the three-dimensional displacement vector of any point on …  Read more

Current evidence indicates that there are two populations of nicotinic receptors, the $ alpha$-BGT sensitive and $ alpha$-BGT insensitive neuronal nicotinic receptors. The latter are known to be involved in neurotransmission. However, the physiological significance of the $ alpha$-toxin sensitive population is unclear, although an involvement in trophic functions has been suggested. The present studies were carried out to investigate the possible involvement of the nicotinic $ alpha$-BGT receptor in growth related activity in neuronal PC12 cells and in H69 cells, a small cell lung carcinoma cell line. In PC12 cells, nicotine treatment resulted in a decline in neuritic outgrowth …  Read more

Hay, Allan S. (Supervisor)  Read more

Family members have been observed to cope with the losses inherent in terminal illness by grieving. Little is known, however, about the factors which influence their grieving before the death of a significant other. This paper describes an exploratory, cross-sectional, correlational study designed to examine the relationships among general coping style, hope, and anticipatory grief in a convenience sample of 61 family members of individuals with terminal cancer. The organizing framework for this study was based on grief theory, Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) theory of stress and coping, and Davies, Reimer, and Martens' (1990) transition framework. Data were collected by …  Read more

The cellular transformation of the Leishmania protozoan parasite from the promastigote to the amastigote stages takes place in the phagolysosomal compartment of vertebrate host macrophage cells. This cytodifferentiation is a prerequisite for parasite survival and for the establishment of the infection in the mammalian host. The differential screening of a L. donovani amastigote cDNA library using stage-specific cDNA probes allowed the identification of the A2 genes, which are only expressed by the parasite as an amastigote. A2 specific transcripts are developmentally expressed in Leishmania in response to a combination of pH and temperature shifts, conditions associated with the transfer from …  Read more

Maugey, Axel (Supervisor)  Read more

La littérature haïtienne a toujours eu une vocation nationale. Comme le montre La socialité dans le roman haïtien de la diaspora qui examine l'éthique révolutionnaire du romancier à travers son processus d’esthétisation, c'est surtout sous la dictature duvaliériste (1957-1986), que des intellectuels militants ont défendu la cause des démunis. Après avoir fui la dictature en se jetant sur les routes de l'exil, ces intellectuels, façonnes par la pensée révolutionnaire de l'époque, en ressentent encore l’horreur, et se servent du genre romanesque comme instrument de conscientisation. […]  Read more

Pterygomaxillary separation during Le Fort I osteotomy has been associated with life-threatening complications. Fractures of the pterygoid plates may play a role in the occurrence of these problems and may impede desired movements of the maxilla. This study compares the incidence of complications and pterygoid plate fractures during Le Fort I osteotomy with and without the use of a curved osteotome. Patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups in which pterygomaxillary separation was achieved either with or without osteotome. Measurements of lateral maxillary wall thickness, clinical assessment of the presence and location of fractures, and a subjective evaluation …  Read more

Durand, L. G. (Advisor)  Read more

Tsao, M.-S. (Supervisor)  Read more

This study focused on the comprehension and cognitive processing of texts in biology by 36 graduate science students for whom Chinese was their first (L1) and English their second language (L2). The students in the study were from two disciplines: one in biology, and the other in engineering. These groups were subdivided into less proficient L2 (i.e., low-intermediate to intermediate) and more proficient L2 group (i.e., high-intermediate to high). From the perspective of a stratified model, the study examined L1 and L2 comprehension of general biology texts. Specifically, it investigated the effects of readers' domain-specific knowledge and language proficiency on …  Read more

Alors que la sensibilité renaissante se représentait l'univers comme un ensemble d'ordres correspondants dont la métaphore avait pouvoir de révéler les infinies similitudes, le classicisme conçoit le monde comme un tout qui s'ordonne hiérarchiquement selon un principe unitaire. L'écrivain de goût, même quand il use d'images hardies, se doit avant tout de les accorder avec sa raison et le témoignage de ses sens. Ce principe esthétique fonde une bienséance du style où auteur et lecteur maintiennent l'équilibre d'une communauté. Avec le XIXe siècle, ce rapport se dénoue. L'écrivain cesse de vouloir exprimer la condition humaine et cherche à nouveau à …  Read more

Maclachlan, G. (Supervisor)  Read more

Amaranthus retroflexus L. (redroot pigweed) is a major weed of many crops in North America including corn, soybean, and potato. It can be readily controlled by chemical and cultural methods. However, some populations of A. retroflexus have developed resistance against the application of triazine herbicides. Biololical control could be an alternative method to control this weed species. In 1990, a Macrophoma sp. causing foliar lesions was isolated from redroot pigweed and the potential of this plant pathogenic fungus as a mycoherbicide was evaluated. Large numbers of infective propagules were produced in solid substrate fermentation with chickpeas. When inoculated with 10$ …  Read more

Serotonergic Retzius (R) neurons of the leech Hirudo medicinalis in culture reform inhibitory synapses with pressure sensitive (P) neurons while selectively reducing an extrasynaptic, depolarizing response to serotonin (5-HT) in the P neuron. We have examined if the selection of 5-HT responses is restricted to sites of contact between processes and growth cones of these cells. As measured by intracellular recording at the soma, focal application of 5-HT depolarized uncontacted P cell bodies, neurites and growth cones but not processes contacted by R cells. In patch clamp recordings of the depolarizing channels, application of 5-HT modulated channel activity in uncontacted …  Read more

The present study was designed in an effort to address two general questions: (1) the primacy of social dysfunction in bulimia nervosa, and its potential as a risk factor in disease onset; and (2) the proximal antecedents of the binge eating episode in bulimic patients. Given the substantial clinical and empirical evidence of social impairment in this psychiatric group, as well as findings documenting the treatment effectiveness of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (a therapeutic program designed to exclusively address social disturbances) with bulimic patients, it has been speculated that difficulty with interpersonal relationships may be a predisposing factor in the development of …  Read more

The inherent contradiction that lies in the systematic use of the claim to veracity in narratives built on traditional, widely used motifs and themes is the starting point of this thesis. Through a comparison of Philippe de Vigneulles' (1471-1525) Chronique and his collection of short stories the Cent Nouvelles nouvelles, this study analyses the link between the nouvelles and their historical background. Analysis of those texts whose basic structure is founded on the commission of an infraction, indicates on the one hand that the author's didactic intention, apparently of minor importance and subordinate to the comic of the tales, is …  Read more

Hori, Noriyuki (Supervisor)  Read more

This thesis examines the connections between three frequently associated nineteenth-century texts, Carlyle's Sartor Resartus, Melville's Moby Dick, and Thoreau's Walden. It begins by reviewing the contexts normally offered for them, and then proposes an alternative one, "dialogic irony," that is based upon the complementary theoretical models of Friedrich Schlegel and Mikhail Bakhtin. After this conceptual background is outlined, the various modes of dialogic irony presented in the three works are discussed. That of Walden arises out of a close analogy between self and text: both are a series of inner voices juxtaposed with and often contradicting one another. Sartor complicates …  Read more

A biosorbent prepared from Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed biomass, designated as FCAN2, was examined for its sorption capacity. Equilibrium batch sorption studies were performed using two-metal systems respectively comprised of (Cd + Cu), (Cd + Zn), (Cu + Zn) and a three-metal system comprised of (Cd + Cu + Zn). In the evaluation of the two-metal sorption system performance, simple sorption isotherm curves had to be replaced by three-dimensional sorption isotherm surfaces. In order to describe the isotherm surfaces mathematically, three Langmuir-type models were evaluated. The apparent one-parameter Langmuir constant was used to quantify FCAN2 'affinity' for one metal in the …  Read more

A subpopulation of astrocytes in the limbic and periventricular brain regions of many vertebrates, including humans, progressively accumulates cytoplasmic inclusions with advancing age which are morphologically and histochemically distinct from the aging pigment, lipofuscin. The sulfhydryl compound, cysteamine (CSH), promotes the accumulation of identical autofluorescent, peroxidase-positive granules in primary astrocyte cultures. In the present study, we demonstrated that within 6 hours of CSH-treatment, long before cytoplasmic granulation occurs, cultured astroglia exhibit increased levels of HSP 27, HSP 90 and heme oxygenase (HO-1) protein and mRNA, relative to control (untreated) cultures. Moreover, CSH treatment elicited relatively minor increases in HO-1 mRNA …  Read more

Veillette, Andre (Supervisor)  Read more

Tully, James (Supervisor)  Read more

Lors de l'évaluation de la résistance du mais a la fusariose de l’épi, le choix de la (des) méthode(s) d'inoculation doit être pris en compte, car différentes méthodes mettent en évidence différents mécanismes de résistance. La comparaison de six méthodes d'inoculation a montré que la technique d'injection des canaux des soies et la technique de piquage des grains étaient efficaces pour détecter la résistance des soies et détecter la résistance des grains respectivement. La transmission héréditaire de la résistance des grains a été évaluée après que les épis aient été inocules avec la technique de piquage des grains. La résistance …  Read more

Biomedical ethics gave birth to different kinds of ethics committees which pursue essentially a better understanding of the multidisciplinary problems it raises. The present thesis will first elucidate the legal implications related to the emergence of those committees. These preliminary considerations will show the topicality of those legal aspects as to hospital ethics committees. The author will then focus on the potential civil liability of all actors evolving within the hospital setting for the participation of those committees in the medical decision making process. In theory, this participation could arguably entail rather easily the liability of the health care providers …  Read more