McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 2004

High-pressure (HP) depresses the phase-transition point of water especially in the case of ice-I (down to -21°C at about 210 MPa). This phenomenon has several potential advantages in food processing applications, such as pressure shift freezing (PSF) and HP thawing. However, scientific knowledge available in this area is still relatively limited. The main objectives of this research were to investigate the phase-transition behavior of foods under pressure processing in the context of PSF and HP thawing techniques and to evaluate their impact on product quality. Distilled water and fresh pork muscle were tested by a HP differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) …  Read more

Immediately after its appearance in 1999, Web Services has become the hottest topic in the information technology industry. Web Services was primarily fostered by the exponentially growing demand for highly efficient Business-to-Business (B2B) solutions. Web Services is a highly modularized application level framework. Its fundamental idea is to enable Web applications to interact with each other regardless of platforms, languages or network infrastructure used. This understanding has been accepted and shared by current Web Services vendors, users, professionals and standards organizations. Meanwhile, Web Services concepts, architecture, components, working models and direction are still under debate. This thesis provides an introduction …  Read more

Cardiac action potential characteristics are known to vary in different species, but also in the different regions of the heart within a given species and in cardiovascular disease. The heterologous expression of voltage-gated ion currents is believed to underlie these differences. The purpose of this thesis is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms which may underlie some of the observed current changes in different species, as well as regions and diseases of the heart. Here, we describe the variable dependence on repolarizing K+ currents in different species as being the result of the lack of Ito subunits in guinea pig heart …  Read more

This qualitative study investigated what factors impact Home-care professionals' ability to effectively discuss and intervene with older adults on the topic of intimacy and sexuality, and to generate a theoretical model for methods in which professionals deal with the subject matter. In depth interviews with nine Home-care professionals (social workers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nurses, home-care workers, team coordinators) from a Montreal CLSC who regularly intervene among older adults and utilize the Multiclientele Autonomy Assessment form, documentary evidence, and grounded theory analysis were utilized. Interviews centered on the professionals' conceptions of their roles and experiences as health and social service providers …  Read more

Due to the significance of education and upbringing in the individual and social life of human, these two subjects have received a great deal of attention from Muslim thinkers. The present work looks at Murtaḍa Mutahhari's (1920--1980) thought on these subjects. Ta'lim (education) and tarbiyah (upbringing) in his view are the only paths to human perfection. The humanity of insan (human), which is based on human knowledge and tendencies, makes him capable of receiving ta'lim and tarbiyah and thus of becoming a perfect human being. Mutahhari believes that Islamic ta'lim and tarbiyah are the best means of attaining such a …  Read more

The steady two-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved using an iterative pseudo-time relaxation technique. An implicit first-order accurate Euler scheme is implemented after augmenting the steady governing equations by pseudo-time derivative terms, including artificial compressibility in the continuity equation and preconditioning in the energy equation. These augmented equations are modified by lagging certain flow variables in pseudo-time and by applying approximate factorization and an alternating direction implicit (ADI) method to split the solution procedure into two successive sweeps. Spatial discretization is performed on a stretched staggered grid using central differencing. Then, the momentum equations are decoupled with the elimination of …  Read more