McGill University Theses and dissertations published in 2013

Turgay, A. Uner (Supervisor1)  Read more

MCLK1 (a.k.a. COQ7) is an evolutionarily conserved mitochondrial hydroxylase necessary ubiquinone biosynthesis. Mclk1+/- mice display a 50% reduction in this protein, as well as an array of phenotypes including increased longevity, decreased ubiquinone in the inner mitochondrial membrane, decreased mitochondrial respiration, and increased mitochondrial oxidative stress. We report here by various measures that Mclk1+/- mutants also exhibit an enhanced immune response in vivo. That is, Mclk1+/- mice mount a more extreme inflammatory response to bacterial lipopolysaccharide stimulation and bacterial infection, evidenced by increased measures of plasma cytokine levels. These mice also demonstrate resilience to tumour development, evidenced by a prolonged, …  Read more

Schoen, Daniel J. (Supervisor2)  Read more

Ce projet répond aux préoccupations du public canadien au sujet de la qualité de l'eau dans les régions où de nombreuses exploitations agricoles sont présentes. Les coliformes fécaux sont endémiques chez les volailles et sont difficiles à éradiquer des sites de production. Le biochar, un charbon produit par pyrolyse de la biomasse, gagne de plus en plus de reconnaissance à l'échelle mondiale en raison de ses propriétés uniques lorsqu'il est utilisé comme amendement de sol. Sa demi-vie est estimée à des centaines d'années. Par conséquent, son rôle dans la réduction de la pollution agricole pourrait s'étendre sur une longue période.Dans …  Read more

The goal of this research was to investigate the relationships between narrative processes and narrative process shifts, alliance, session evaluation, and trainee therapist facilitative interpersonal skills. Study 1 provided evidence that narrative process shifts can be used to track client-therapist interactions and session progress. Study 2 showed that trainee therapist facilitative interpersonal skills relate to client-rated depth, client-rated smoothness, client emotional arousal, and therapist emotional arousal. The participants for Study 1 and 2 were M.A. counselling trainees in their first clinical practicum experience; the clients were undergraduate students. Clients completed the Target Complaints questionnaire (TC) and the Working Alliance Inventory …  Read more

This qualitative study explored the educational and occupational decisions of emerging adults from a small Caribbean island (referred to as "SCI") during a time of robust socioeconomic and infrastructure development, followed by a sudden change in the labor market resulting from political uncertainty and an economic downturn. What drives this research is the question of how does living in a labour market during a boom and/or bust period of socioeconomic and infrastructure development in a small Caribbean island (herein referred to as the "SCI") contribute (or not) to the educational and occupational (career) decisions of local emerging adults? Using an …  Read more

Notre expérience perceptuelle du monde visuel se base sur la bonne segmentation de régions distinctes dans une image pour en délimiter les bords. Cette thèse présente une série d'études qui tendent à combler le fossé entre les modèles d'énergie standards de segmentation de texture et les propriétés des textures naturelles qui affectent la segmentation de textures par l'homme en conditions écologiques. Des méthodes psychophysiques et computationnelles sont appliquées à une combinaison de textures naturelles et naturalistes afin d'identifier parmi les statistiques des textures naturelles, celles qui sont utiles aux mécanismes de segmentation de textures et comment elles sont traitées par …  Read more

Ce mémoire explore la question de la souffrance dans le roman Soifs de Marie-Claire Blais, souffrance en tension constante entre sa représentation particulière et générale. La soif ressentie par plusieurs personnages révèle le lien entre leur manque physique et individuel et l'injustice sociale qu'ils subissent. Une critique de la condition des femmes, de la marginalisation des homosexuels et du racisme peut se lire directement et indirectement à travers les pensées et paroles des personnages. Une analyse féministe et une critique des genres sexuels soulignent l'importance accordée aux corps dans le roman, que ce soit les corps des femmes, des malades …  Read more

A building is composed of two main types of components: structural components (see Figure 1) and non-structural components (NSCs) also called operational and functional components (OFCs) (see Figure 2). OFCs are those components or systems housed or mounted in the buildings which are not part of the main or intended load-resisting system of the structure. Therefore, the building structure is commonly called “primary structure” or “supporting structure” and OFCs are also known by alternative names such as "non-structural elements", "building attachments", "architectural, mechanical, and electrical elements", "secondary systems", and "secondary structural elements".  Read more

A basic framework for sustainable community-based drinking water systems (CBDWS) is studied in this research program; it is based on the performance of existing water supply systems and on the responses to a survey by the various stakeholders. A model for overall sustainability was developed and validated through its application to about 70 CBDWS in rural settings of northern areas of ' Pakistan (as part of a developing country case study). In addition, analyses and scenario projections of environmental component of sustainability were made along with detailed analyses and syntheses of statistical surveys to gauge stakeholder perspectives and priorities and …  Read more

This dissertation designs and analyzes three innovative models dealing with policy formulation in resource-dependent economies. The emphasis is on two environments characterized by conflicting interests. The first environment deals with the political transition to democracy while the second deals with environmental regulation. The first chapter surveys the recent literature on the political economy of the resource curse. One strand of literature suggests that the resource curse is an outcome of a competition between rent seeking activities and productive activities. The second strand suggests that politicians desire to retain power distorts the efficiency of the economic activity leading to the resource …  Read more

Hip fracture is a major public health problem in many developed nations. An estimated 30,000 hip fractures occur each year in Canada. To initiate adequate preventive measures, a thorough understanding of hip fracture patients' characteristics and the healthcare services they receive over the continuum of care is warranted. The global objective of this thesis is to contribute to our knowledge base concerning current and future needs, gaps, and solutions to provide optimal care for people with hip fractures.The first part describes the recovery process of patients with hip fractures and its definition. A post acute cohort was followed up to …  Read more

Une vidéo interactive complémentaire à ce résumé est disponible sur le site Internet razlab.mcgill.ca/thesis_aubertbonn.html. Une fois automatisés, certains processus cognitifs retournent très difficilement au contrôle conscient. S'inspirant d'une branche de la recherche selon laquelle la suggestion peut faciliter la dé-automatisation de certains processus cognitifs, la présente thèse cherche à comprendre le rôle des suggestions hypnotiques dans l'automatisation des processus cognitifs difficiles. Nous avons utilisé MoTraK, une tâche basée sur une illusion visuelle documentée en recherche sur la perception, afin de déterminer si une suggestion hypnotique spécifique peut suffire à améliorer la performance sur cette tâche difficile. Nos résultats montrent que …  Read more

EBEX ("E and B Experiment") est un télescope maintenu en haute altitude par un ballon stratosphérique. Ce télescope conçu pour détecter la polarisation de type B du rayonnement cosmologique fossile possède une résolution de 8'. Une telle détection représenterait une évidence forte de la période inflationniste de l'univers. EBEX caractérisera également la poussière galactique ainsi que l'effet de lentille gravitationnelle. Pendant un vol de 11 jours prévu pendant l'été austral 2012-2013 au dessus de l'Antarctique, EBEX opérera 872, 436 et 256 bolomètres en transition supraconductrice dans les bandes de fréquence 150, 250 et 410 GHz, respectivement. EBEX observera une région …  Read more

In France, the introduction of class actions has been a topical issue for about twenty years. Although many politicians and lawyers consider these procedures as essential, company lobbies and conservatism have prevented the evolution of French law. Any thoughts on the introduction of this procedure in France collided, on the one hand, with a fear to see French law being permeated by mechanisms coming from the American culture, and, on the other hand, a fear to leave companies under the power of a "legalised bribery". Even though the debate has not ended yet, it is unlikely that an umpteenth report …  Read more

The freshwater shrimp Hemimysis anomala is a recent Ponto-Caspian invader of the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River basin. Based on its invasion history, high predation rate and the naiveté of the ecosystems in which it has been introduced, it has the potential to exert strong impacts on native food webs. Risk assessment and effective monitoring of the spread of this invader require information about the environmental factors that limit its local abundance and distribution. A literature review suggests that H. anomala has broad environmental tolerances but may be limited by low water conductivity levels, high local flow, and low …  Read more

Les études récentes sur les aciers se sont surtout concentrées sur le développement avancé de nouvelles feuilles d'acier à haute résistance (AHSS, advanced high strength sheet steels, en anglais), particulièrement pour les applications automobiles. Les "AHSS de première génération" sont des aciers qui possèdent principalement des microstructures à base de ferrite ayant une résistance à la traction (à l'état brut de laminage) de l'ordre de 450 à 700 MPa tandis que les "AHSS de seconde génération" sont des aciers austénitiques à haute teneur en manganèse ayant une résistance à la traction de l'ordre de 900 à 1100 MPa. Récemment, un …  Read more

La formation de thaumasite dans du ciment Portland ordinaire et du ciment Portland comportant du carbonate de calcium qui furent sujet à la carbonatation fut vérifiée. La motivation de la recherche est de déterminer si le béton carboné est vulnérable à une attaque chimique en présence de sulfates, lorsque exposé à de basses températures. La formation de thaumasite fut remarquée dans du béton contenant du ciment Portland comportant du carbonate de calcium. La carbonatation du béton produit aussi une grande quantité de carbonate de calcium, ce qui peut rendre ce type de béton plus vulnérable à la formation de thaumasite. …  Read more

La spectroscopie de fluorescence s'est avérée une technique précieuse pour étudier la structure et la fonction des acides nucléiques et d'autres molécules essentielles en biologie cellulaire. À cet égard, les analogues de nucléoside fluorescentes intrinsèques sont largement utilisés pour sonder les propriétés structurales et dynamiques des acides nucléiques. À cause de ses propriétés émissives uniques, 6-phénylpyrrolo-2'-déoxycytosine (dPhpC), un nouvel analogue fluorescent de la déoxycytosine, est un reporter fluorescent approprié qui a été exploitée pour étudier la structure, la dynamique et la localisation des acides nucléiques. dPhpC possède plusieurs propriétés souhaitables, notamment le rendement quantique élevé et une sensibilité à des …  Read more

Background Sedentarism or prolonged sitting time is an emerging risk factor for obesity, independent of physical activity (PA). Bariatric surgery seems to be most effective form of treatment that works for severely obese individuals (Body Mass Index (BMI) of >40 kg/m2). Objectives The purpose of this investigation was to characterize with the use of accelerometers, daily steps/day and sedentary behavior (SB) by measuring time-spent sitting/lying in severely obese patients before and after bariatric surgery. Setting McGill University Health Center (MUHC). Methods Seventeen patients (58.5% of the patients were female) with a mean age of 46.5 ± 10.1 years, and a …  Read more

Snell, Linda (Internal/Cosupervisor2)  Read more

Hamel, Edith (Supervisor1)  Read more

The discussion pertaining to the inarbitrability of public policy disputes has a long-standing position in arbitration law. To protect public interests, domestic legal systems imposed a general ban on the arbitration of public policy disputes. In 1985, however, the United States Supreme Court in Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc. removed antitrust disputes from the category of inarbitrable matters and marked a new phase in the history of inarbitrability. The general nature of Mitsubishi's reasoning affected other Western jurisdictions to remove the inarbitrability of public policy disputes in order to develop international arbitration. Mitsubishi's rationale and holding, therefore, can …  Read more

mTOR is a serine/threonine protein kinase that controls cell growth, proliferation, and survival in response to mitogens and nutrients. When inactivated by nutrient deprivation or serum withdrawal, mTOR can also enhance stress transcriptional responses. In agreement, once inhibited, mTOR binds 'signal transducer and activator of transcription-1' (STAT1), a pro-apoptotic transcription factor, and the STAT1 kinase 'protein kinase C-delta' (PKCδ). Inactivation of mTOR enhanced STAT1 nuclear import, the induction of STAT1-dependent genes (including STAT1 per se), and apoptosis, indicating a role for mTOR activity in suppressing apoptosis transcriptional responses. However the function of PKCδ in the mTOR/STAT1 complex is unknown. After …  Read more

Le Programme d'analyse des troupeaux laitiers du Québec (Valacta, Québec, Canada) a fourni une imposante base de données de relevées laitiers au jour du contrôle pour des vaches ayant vêlé entre janvier 2000 et mai 2007. Cette base de données contenait 919,814 relevées de production laitière au jour du contrôle provenant de 45520 vaches de race Ayrshire sur 956 fermes laitières, 133,690 relevés provenant de 7493 vaches de race Jersey sur 910 fermes laitières, et 118,996 relevés de 5693 vaches de race Suisse Brune sur 476 fermes laitières. Les relevées au jour du contrôle pour les trois premiers rangs de …  Read more

Immunoglobulin superfamily, member 1 (IGSF1, formerly known as InhBP/p120) is a protein of unknown function, highly expressed in the pituitary gland. In this thesis, I characterized: 1) co- and post-translational processing of IGSF1, 2) expression of IGSF1 in several tissues, and 3) the link between IGSF1 and the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis. The IGSF1/Igsf1 gene is located on the X chromosome, and multiple mRNA isoforms have been identified in both humans and mice. The canonical full-length protein is encoded by human mRNA isoforms IGSF1-1, IGSF1-3, and IGSF1-4, and murine Igsf1-1. Along with our collaborators, I demonstrated that the canonical full-length protein …  Read more

Abrege--- Dans cette thèse, une plateforme technologique hybride basée sur l'As_{2} Se_{3} et le PolyMethyl MethAcrylate (PMMA) est étudiée avec l'objectif d'obtenir des microfils hybrides hautement nonlinéaires, versatiles, compacts et mécaniquement robustes. Les microfils hybrides composés d'un coeur d'As_{2} Se_{3} et d'une gaine de PMMA sont fabriqués par l'étirement de structures hybrides à partir de méthodes de fabrication dans l'état de l'art. Deux approches basées sur l'usage de deux structures de fibre hybrides ont été utilisées pour la fabrication des microfils. Dans la première approche, une fibre hybride monomode composée d'une fibre optique monomode d'As_{2} Se_{3} enrobée d'une couche de …  Read more

Mongeau, Luc (Supervisor1)  Read more

Approximately 20% of all metastatic breast cancers overexpress the HER-2 receptor, a cell surface-bound receptor tyrosine kinase upstream of crucial proliferation and cell survival pathways. Trastuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody binding to the extracellular domain of HER-2, has proven to be a beneficial treatment for patients diagnosed as HER-2+ but continues to have limitations. With low response rates for patients when administered alone and for patients having received prior chemotherapy, the true potential of trastuzumab seems to arrive only through combination therapies. However, the majority of advanced HER-2 positive breast cancer patients still develop resistance to the therapy by the …  Read more

Braitstein, Lara E (Supervisor1)  Read more

This dissertation is based on a 7-week classroom intervention in two French immersion classes (Grades 3and 3/4) in two schools that enroll both English- and French-dominant students near Montreal, Quebec. The intervention aimed to bridge the students' first and second languages (L2) through a 'biliteracy' project that linked English and French language arts content and through the instruction of reciprocal language learning strategies designed to help students make language-learning connections with other students.For the biliteracy project, students' English and French teachers read to them from the English and French versions of three picture books. Following each reading, student pairs consisting …  Read more

Albuquerque, Rubens Ferreira (Internal/Supervisor)  Read more

Hydroxyurea is commonly used to treat myeloproliferative diseases and sickle cell anemia. It is also a potent teratogen, inducing severe developmental malformations in many animal models after in utero exposure. The administration of hydroxyurea to CD1 mice during organogenesis causes predominantly hindlimb, tail, and neural tube defects. Hydroxyurea inactivates ribonucleotide reductase, inhibiting DNA replication and leading to DNA replication stress and cell death. Hydroxyurea exposure during embryo development also induces oxidative stress and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) signaling. My goal was to test the hypothesis that hydroxyurea-induced p38 MAPK activation, DNA damage, and cell death are spatially related …  Read more

Angeles, Jorge (Supervisor1)  Read more

Les petits ruminants sont naturellement infectés par les nématodes gastro-intestinaux lorsqu’ils broutent au pâturage. Haemonchus contortus contamine la caillette de mouton. Il s'agit d'un nématode qui se nourrit du sang de son hôte et provoque des pertes considérables dans les industries ovines. Les agriculteurs ont utilisé des médicaments anthelminthiques pendant de nombreuses années pour éliminer l'infection parasitaire et cette utilisation intensive a conduit au phénomène de résistance aux médicaments chez les nématodes. La résistance aux benzimidazoles, à l'ivermectine ou au lévamisole ont été signalées dans la majorité des régions où H. contortus est présent. La résistance aux médicaments représente une …  Read more

AbstractProtein disulfide isomerases (PDIs) family members are essential for proper folding of proteins entering the secretory pathway. Studies of these remarkable enzymes have shown that PDIs catalyze the oxidation, reduction and isomeration of disulfide bonds in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). PDIs are found and conserved in a wide range of species and are ubiquitously expressed.In all eukaryotes, the ER redox potential must be tightly controlled since a large fraction of proteins within the cell require disulfide-bond formation. How PDIA1 maintains a balance between oxidation and reduction remains an important open question. Previous studies have revealed the tendency of PDIA1 to …  Read more

Un modèle d'optimisation de laitier est le premier objectif de cette thèse. L'importance de laitier dans la qualité et la rentabilité de l'acier a été très bien comprise par l'industrie sidérurgique. En effet, la phase de laitier est devenue une partie essentielle du processus de production d'acier. La composition et les propriétés du laitier jouent un rôle important dans la protection des réfractaires de four. La recherche s'est portée sur le développement d'un modèle de laitier afin d'avoir le laitier optimal, saturé en MgO, pour allonger la vie de réfractaire. Un modèle informatique a été développé pour calculer la quantité …  Read more

Today's Web browsers provide a platform for the development of complex, richly interactive user interfaces. But, with this complexity come additional challenges for Web developers. The complicated behavioural relationships between user interface components are often stateful, and are difficult to describe, encode and maintain using conventional programming techniques with ECMAScript, the general-purpose scripting language embedded in all Web browsers. Furthermore, user interfaces must be performant, reacting to user input quickly; if the system responds too slowly, the result is a visible UI "lag," degrading the user's experience. Statecharts, a visual modelling language created in the 1980's for developing safety-critical embedded …  Read more

At sufficiently high energies and jet resolution, the fragmentation effects of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) become small and the number of jet-like sub-structures within a jet, known as the subjet multiplicity, can be parametrised bymeans of perturbative QCD (pQCD). This thesis investigates such a relationship by measuring the mean subjet multiplicity <n_sbj> as a function of the jet resolution scale y_cut with the ATLAS experiment. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-k_T jet clustering algorithm and subjets were resolved by application of the k_T algorithm at a smaller resolution scale y_cut . The value of the strong coupling constant α_s , extracted …  Read more

Pick, Frances (Internal/Cosupervisor2)  Read more

The purpose of this master's thesis is to study the enigmatic figure of Wajdi Mouawad, looking into the dramatic quartet Le Sang des promesses, the interviews the author gave over time, as well as his physic appearance and his public acts. We look to, with the help of the Meizoz's theory, better understand the "posture" of the writer, claimed as here as in France. The first chapter treats, with the metaphoric figure of the looter, the dramatist's propensity to take over other people's words, their speech and even the story of a people for the benefit of his own work. …  Read more

Marcus Loew, magnat de l’industrie du cinéma aux Etats-Unis, était connu pour sa maxime “We sell ticketsto theatres, not movies.” Ce constat peut sembler incongru aujourd’hui alors que la grande majorité dessalles de cinéma sont des multiplexes dont l’architecture générique se répète d’un bout à l’autre de laplanète. L’accent est donc mis sur le divertissement plutôt que sur l’environnement dans lequel se déroulel’activité culturelle. Cette tendance, cependant, n’a pas toujours été la norme. Des années 1910 jusqu’àl’avènement de la télévision en 1952, le design des salles de cinéma était tout autant, sinon plus important,que le film projeté à l’écran. Si …  Read more

Clinicians and researchers have reported that perceptions of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) have changed over time, while speculation has been generated related to the media portrayal of NSSI and the individuals who engage in this behaviour. However, no study to date has directly examined representations of NSSI in print media longitudinally. This dissertation's objective was to investigate the depiction of NSSI within print-based media over a 20-year period (1988 to 2007) by examining articles published in popular English-speaking magazines. The theoretical framework for the thesis draws from social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) originating in social psychology, and from cultivation theory originating …  Read more

Al-Saji, Alia (Supervisor1)  Read more

Devic, Slobodan (Internal/Supervisor)  Read more

Pack, Christopher (Internal/Cosupervisor2)  Read more

N-cadherin is a prominent cell adhesion molecule involved in developmental morphogenesis and synapse formation. We transgenically overexpressed N-cadherin in a spatially and temporally specific manner using the Cre-loxP system. We overexpressed N-cadherin following the peak developmental period for synaptogenesis using the CamKIIa promoter to explore the effects of N-cadherin upregulation on synapse formation. N-cadherin, in concert with other proteins, plays an important role of adhesion in synapse formation and maintenance. Overexpressing N-cadherin in the hippocampus led to an upregulation of specific components of the synaptic complex; β-catenin, PSD-95, GluN2B and synaptophysin were elevated at the protein level whereas the GABAAR, …  Read more

By the 1980s, Quebec formalists, including Bellefeuille, had abandoned the formalist practice typical of the previous decade. Bellefeuille then chose to write differently, integrating the expression of both self and reality in his work. He didn't, however, exclude the formalist contribution altogether, wishing rather to find a mixed aesthetic, combining both formalist and intimist elements. The dissertation will consider this aesthetic as exemplified in the poetry collection entitled Elle était belle comme une idée, a work encompassing an awareness of one's self as well as the Other and the world, while exploring the need of making room for reality and …  Read more

Greer, Charles William (Supervisor1)  Read more

Le tsar Ivan IV, surnommé le Terrible, fut un personnage qui devint rapidement un symbole pour l'identité nationale russe. Dès la création de l'Empire russe par Pierre le Grand, il fut reconnu comme celui qui a consolidé le territoire de la Moscovie au XVIe siècle et a centralisé son pouvoir contre les velléités d'une élite à conserver ses privilèges. Cependant, la construction de ce récit historique fut un long procédé, limité par la rareté des sources et les conventions étatiques. Cette thèse visait à analyser comment quatre historiens clés de la Russie impériale construisirent les connaissances historiques sur Ivan. Les …  Read more