McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par A

Fedor Dostoevskii and Petr Verkhovenskii, the author and one of the main protagonists of the novel Demons, exhibit the same communication style and pursue similar propagandistic purposes in their public communication. Both figures function in the framework of public relations, employing mass communication for the sake of publicizing their political messages to broad audiences. In the process of their public communication, the author and the hero of the novel merge literature and journalism, fictional and factual discourse, subvert a critical analysis of their respective messages and encourage an unconditional, if unwarranted, acceptance of their communication. Relying on the theoretical findings …  Read more

Airfoils with structural nonlinearities subject to two-dimensional subsonic flow may undergo aeroelastic instabilities even below the linear flutter boundary. This thesis studies the aeroelastic behaviour of airfoils accounting for structural nonlinearities. The feasibility and potential of a modern nonlinear dynamics approach to the understanding of the underlying dynamics is investigated. Extensive numerical simulations were performed for a two-degree-of-freedom air-foil with a freeplay nonlinearity in the structural pitch moment and subject to two-dimensional incompressible inviscid flow. Different types of attractors were identified well below the linear flutter speed via numerical simulations of the system, and the existence of chaotic attractors was …  Read more

This thesis investigates social media platform compliance with transparency requirements under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Canada’s Privacy and AI Act. It explores the challenges posed by automated decision-making and data-driven algorithms, particularly regarding user privacy, consent, and transparency obligations. Using Instagram as a case study, the research evaluates its privacy policies, consent mechanisms, and data collection practices. The analysis highlights gaps in Instagram’s approach to transparency, focusing on algorithmic profiling, personalized advertising, and content recommendations. It expands the analysis to other social media platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, underscoring broader compliance issues in the …  Read more

Mallory, J. R. (Supervisor)  Read more

Identifier des instances difficiles de problèmes calculatoire, tels que la 3-colorabilité des graphes, revêt un intérêt théorique et pratique important. La sécurité de nombreux protocoles cryptographiques repose sur la complexité inhérente de certaines instances spécifiques. Dans le chapitre 2, nous examinons le graphe resultant de la reduction de la valeur de sortie de la fonction de hachage cryptographique Keccak pour un texte en clair donné. En raison de la taille immense du graphe résultant, le chapitre 3 explore une approche heuristique fondée sur des attributs structurels spécifiques des graphes. Il est particulièrement notable que des instances exceptionnellement difficiles de 3-colorabilité …  Read more

The potential of granular zeolites as a heating medium for drying corn was evaluated in a batch type experimental dryer. At temperatures from 150-250$ sp circ$C and residence times of 3-8 minutes, synthetic zeolites (4A and 13X) removed 9-18 percentage points from the initial moisture of corn. These values were about double those of sand, the most commonly used particulate medium. Using an adiabatic dryer, the kinetics of moisture sorption in corn-zeolite mixtures was investigated. The heating medium in this part of the study was a natural zeolite (chabazite) and the corn was yellow dent type. Diffusivity values for corn …  Read more

La littérature scientifique a fait l'objet d'un examen critique et a été utilisée pour déterminer les estimations des charges et des voies de pénétration des plastiques dans différents compartiments de l'environnement. Les facteurs clés contrôlant l'agrégation, le dépôt et le cotransport des contaminants des microplastiques (MPs) dans l'environnement aquatique, ainsi que les lacunes importantes dans les connaissances ont été identifiés et analysés de manière critique. La synthèse critique des données a montré que le polymère caoutchouteux, le polyéthylène, a généralement une plus grande capacité de sorption des contaminants que les autres types de plastique synthétique.La partie suivante de cette thèse …  Read more

Dans ce mémoire, j'explique les déficits démocratiques du Groupe d'Action Financière (‘GAFI') pour les raisons suivantes : (1) les délibérations dans le GAFI ne sont pas protégées par les règles procédurales nécessaires pour la justice; (2) le GAFI ne respecte pas le fondement de la réciprocité; et (3) les organismes à but non lucratif ne peuvent pas fournir de contrôle démocratique général sur le GAFI. Pour défendre mon argument, j'adopte la théorie de la démocratie délibératif – une approche essentielle à la démocratie – telle est mon analyse conceptuelle pour analyser le GAFI comme une unité politique transnationale. En tant …  Read more

Patrick Dion (Supervisor2)  Read more

In this study a technique--that almost completely eliminates shrinkage microporosity--has been developed which uses small additions of strontium together with risers and chills to produce porosity-free AZ91C (Mg/Al/Zn) magnesium casting alloy castings. With the optimum level of Sr addition (0.01% to 0.02% Sr), shrinkage microporosity was removed from the casting and concentrated in the riser. The castings were already grain-refined by carbon inoculation. The effect of strontium is explained by a further reduction in the grain size of the castings from 250$ mu$m to 120$ mu$m. This effect produces a much denser casting due to increased mass feeding. In addition, …  Read more

In DC-cast 1xxx-series aluminum alloy ingots, the presence of Fe and Si, and cooling rates increasing from < 1°C/s in the ingot center to ~20°C/s near the surface cause the formation of metastable intermetallic Al6 Fe and AlmFe compounds in addition to the stable Al 3Fe. The highly contrasting etching/anodizing response of the Al 6Fe and AlmFe particles forming in the adjoining central and peripheral regions, respectively, creates the fir-tree zone (FTZ) defect in DC-cast ingots. This, in turn, causes streaking in Al sheets. The need was great for a good fundamental understanding of the mechanism of metastable Al-A1mFe eutectic …  Read more

Noise in critical care units, in particular, from patient monitor alarms, is harmful for the clinicians and patients alike. This has motivated research aimed at shifting the delivery of physiological vital sign information and announcement of alarm events from visual and auditory devices to haptic transducers. We compare performance in perceiving and identifying the specific type and level of a vital sign that has entered a high or low state, i.e., an alarm event, using several designs of a vibrotactile display, against that of the traditional audio alarm in conjunction with a graphical patient monitor. Multiple vibrotactile rendering conditions were …  Read more

In recent decades, there has been immense progress in DNA sequencing technologies. One domain where these techniques are undoubtedly transformative is medicine. Understanding the underlying genomic and genetic factors in diseases is important in diagnosis, treatment, and identification of at-risk family members. In this regard, cancer genome analysis provides a better understanding of the underlying tumorigenic mechanisms and gives hope of finding genetic events that contribute to metastasis, recurrence, and therapeutic resistance, which are the most common causes of cancer fatality. In the first part of this thesis, we focus on uncovering the genetic predisposition factors in familial pancreatic cancer. …  Read more

Sulphur is contained in certain substances of considerable physiological importance. Some of these compounds are methionine, bile salts, heparin, vitamins such as thiamine and protein hormones such as insulin and anterior pituitary hormones.  Read more

The study to be reported here is part of a larger program of research on the preservation of blood. The larger investigation was begun in December, 1939, at the beginning of the second World War, under the sponsorship of the National Research Council of Canada. [...]  Read more

Denstedt, O. (Supervisor)  Read more

Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC) is used as a functional ingredient in many food products. To increase the applicability of WPC as well as other food proteins, it is often necessary to enhance the functional properties of the protein. Various protein modification techniques can be used for this purpose; this includes chemical, physical and enzymatic modification. In present study acid hydrolysis, a chemical modification, was investigated as a means to improve functionality of WPC, emulsifying, foaming and gelatin. Most of the previous work on WPC has been directed at enzymatic hydrolysis. Dispersions of WPC (8%) in organic acids (0.5 N, 1 …  Read more

ABSTRACTBackground & Objectives: Evidence from previous studies has consistently shown an association between pregnancy, delivery, and infancy complications (PDICs) and attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that children with ADHD exposed to chronic complications (with and without acute complication) show more severe symptoms compared to either unexposed children or children exposed to only acute complications and to investigate the impact of individual PDICs on symptom severity in children with ADHD.Methods: A total of 545 children, aged 6 to 12 years, who met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for ADHD, participated in a double blind, …  Read more

Angeles, Jorge (Supervisor1)  Read more

Effective management of coupled human-water systems demands resilient-robust policy design, which can help ensure adaptable and flexible policies in highly dynamic, complex, and uncertain contexts. Local and regional human-water systems are bound by variables resulting from the regional context, which are in turn influenced by internal and local constraints connected with particular socio-economic and climatic conditions. However, without a well-defined quantitative framework, developing sustainable policies may be difficult due to the numerous sources of uncertainty and their potential consequences and implications.To address the complex, multiscale, and uncertain nature of coupled human-water systems, this research develops a novel framework that provides …  Read more

Une surveillance régulière du niveau d'éléments nutritifs est cruciale pour les systèmes hydroponiques de production végétale. Les déséquilibres dans la solution nutritive peuvent entraîner une diminution des rendements, des pertes d'éléments nutritifs, des émissions environnementales et des coûts financiers. Bien que les analyses de laboratoire traditionnelles des ions individuels soient précises, elles prennent souvent beaucoup de temps et sont coûteuses. Cette étude étudie deux méthodes de mesure alternatives : les électrodes sélectives d'ions (ESIs) et les kits de test d'aquarium. Ces méthodes ont été évaluées pour leur précision et leur répétabilité de mesure pour les ions NO3-, NO2-, NH4+, Ca2+, …  Read more

Poultry and liquid swine manure are major sources of bioactive levels of natural steroidal sex hormones, including 17β-estradiol, estrone, testosterone and progesterone. Although several detailed studies have investigated the environmental pathways and ecotoxicology of high-toxicity-at-low-concentrations of sex hormones in soil and water media, there is a lack of knowledge with respect to the fate and transport of steroid hormones in the soil matrix and aquatic media. Three separate studies were performed with the objective of developing effective on-field remediation techniques in order to reduce the environmental and biological hormonal pollution from agricultural sources. In the first study, the sorption retention …  Read more

Amyloidosis is a chronic degenerative disease that is characterized by the deposition of fibrous $ beta$-pleated amyloid proteins in various soft tissues and organs (Glenner 1980, Kisilevsky 1983 & 1987). Sporadic form of Alzheimer's disease is one of the most common forms of systemic amyloidosis, with the current prevalence of approximately 4 million cases in the United States and 6 to 8 million cases worldwide (Kisilevsky 1987, Coleman 1990). Amyloidosis can be experimentally induced in animals. In the inflammation-associated mouse model of amyloidosis, the preamyloid phase, which usually lasts for a number of weeks, is shortened to 24 to 48 …  Read more

Internet applications have recently witnessed tremendous growth in terms of both size and complexity. Cloud computing is one of the several distributed technologies that have emerged to help meeting the objectives of these applications in terms of achieving high availability, performance and scalability.Platform as a Service (PaaS) is one kind of services provided by cloud solutions. These systems often follow a multi-tier architecture consisting mainly of a presentation tier, an application tier and a database tier. The volumes of data exchanged between the application tier and the database tier become huge, especially for enterprise level applications. As a result, the …  Read more

Introduction. Total hip arthroplasty (THA) has been well documented to enhance patient function, but patient outcome is dependent on preoperative status. The exact timing of surgery to optimize patient outcome after THA remains unknown. This study determines the ideal timing for surgery to obtain the best possible functional outcome. Methods. Prospective, multicenter, cohort studies of 175 hybrid THAs. General health (SF-36) and disease specific (WOMAC and Harris Hip Score (HHS)) questionnaires were used to determine preoperative and 2 year final outcomes. Student's t-test, 95% confidence intervals, receiver operator characteristic curves, simple regression analysis and probability were measured. Results. All functional …  Read more

Le gène Smpec est exprimé uniquement dans les chondrocytes de la plaque de croissance à l'exception de la zone hypertrophiée. La protéine SMPEC est une protéoglycane contenant de la chondroïtine sulfate (CS PG) et composée de 121 acides aminés. Une analyse in silico indique qu'il s'agit d'une protéine transmembranaire. Le but de cette étude était de caractériser le phénotype d'un modèle de souris dont le gène Smpec a été inactivé (KO), en particulier l'effet sur la formation du squelette. Pour confirmer la topologie proposée pour SMPEC, elle a été localisée par immunofluorescence (IF) sur des fémurs au jour 4 postnatal …  Read more

Gilardino, Miroslav Sergio (Supervisor2)  Read more

Brain death is considered a major stress on the body that is associated with a massive inflammatory response or what is known as the "cytokine storm", which is characterized by the exaggerated release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This heightened inflammatory response in brain dead organ donors leads to major disturbances in glucose homeostasis resulting in insulin resistance and systemic hyperglycemia. Acute hyperglycemia is intimately related to the inflammatory response and marks an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Severe inflammation in brain dead donors can also lead to increased graft immunogenicity before transplantation and increased risk of graft dysfunction following transplantation. …  Read more

Les catalyseurs mésoporeux ordonnés sont parmi les catalyseurs les plus prometteurs actuellement en raison de leurs propriétés uniques comme la large surface, le volume des pores et la structure amorphe. Les puissantes interactions entre l'oxyde métallique et le support mènent à une dispersion des métaux élevés. Ceci se traduit ultimement par une meilleure activité catalytique et stabilité à haute température. Une série de catalyseurs de nickel mésoporeux ordonnés ont été synthétisé par la méthode "evaporation induced self-assembly" (EISA). La variation des paramètres comme le type d'acide, la quantité de nickel, la température de calcination ainsi que la méthode de synthèse …  Read more

Driscoll, Mark (Supervisor1)  Read more

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a highly aggressive cancer that lacks efficient targeted therapeutics. Cancer-associated inflammation has been implicated among drivers of aggressive cancer progression to metastasis. However, molecular mechanisms by which inflammation process contributes to metastasis signaling in IBC remain partially understood. In this study, a comprehensive survey of publically available breast cancer genomic databases identified a predominant association between genes involved in inflammatory signaling (e.g. TRAFs, NF-κB, TNF-α) and breast cancer aggressiveness. As well, concomitant up-regulation of multiple genes involved in focal adhesion signaling (e.g. FAK, Paxillin) was seen in advanced stages. To further investigate these associations at …  Read more

Souza, Raphael de (Supervisor2)  Read more

Kubow, Stan (Supervisor1)  Read more

Le diabète pré-gestationnel et le diabète de gestation (DG) augmentent le risque dedéveloppement d'une future résistance à l'insuline et de diabète de type 2 autant pourla mère que pour l'enfant. Le stress oxydatif est un facteur potentiel impliqué dans ledéséquilibre du glucose sanguin associé au diabète de type 2 et au syndromemétabolique. La présente thèse est une étude sectionnelle croisée, ayant pour but demesurer des marqueurs du stress oxidatif, notamment la concentration des oxystérolsgénérés par les radicaux libres dans le sérum d'adolescentes, nées de mères ayantprésenté ou non un diabète de gestation. Nos résultats montrent des concentrationsd'oxystérols (7P-hydroxycholesterol) plus élevées …  Read more

In this thesis, a laboratory scale-pilot twin roll casting plant at CANMET-MTL is considered for modelling for control synthesis. Three important parts of the plant are considered for modelling: feeding system, solidification process and deformation process. The TRC machine is multi-input multi-output (MIMO) and nonlinear in nature. A simplified 2 X 2 feedback linear dynamical model is developed based on first principles and engineering intuition due to the lack of experimental data from the TRC machine. The proposed manipulated variables are the melt inflow rate and rollers angular velocity whereas the corresponding controlled variables are the head-box melt level and …  Read more

Villers-Sidani, Etienne De (Internal/Cosupervisor2)  Read more

The artificial pancreas is a closed-loop system that helps improve glycemic control in individuals with type 1 diabetes. Having the potential to revolutionize diabetes care and improve patients’ quality of life, the artificial pancreas is widely considered as the most promising therapy for type 1 diabetes. In-silico testing using simulator environment has the potential to accelerate the pace of development for the artificial pancreas, optimize clinical trials, and save resources. In the present work, we report an extension to current simulation environments used to test and develop the artificial pancreas pre-clinically. Particularly, we propose a model that is able to …  Read more

Peter J Roughley (Supervisor3)  Read more

Briedis, Dalius J. (Supervisor)  Read more

Levitan, Joseph (Internal/Supervisor)  Read more

Komarova, Svetlana (Internal/Supervisor)  Read more

Computer graphics deals with the creation and consumption of both realistic and artistically exaggerated 3D digital media. Rendering, or image synthesis, is a sub-field of computer graphics that considers the accurate simulation of light transport in real scenes. These simulations include models of various physical reflection behaviors, geometric optics, and the complex light transport effects arising from challenging real-world scenes. Kajiya’s seminal work introducing the rendering equation paved the path for modern physically-based mathematical formulations of light transport currently used for image synthesis.Path space is a high-dimensional representation of all light-carrying paths in a scene; rendering reduces to solving an …  Read more

Ceramic fibers are one of the most important categories of reinforcements for composite materials. This study deals with a novel melt extraction system which has been developed to produce fine oxide ceramic fibers. Four oxide compounds were selected for the production of fibers and characterization of the extraction system. These compounds were CaO-$ rm Al sb2O sb3$ (CA), ZrO$ sb2$-$ rm Al sb2O sb3$ (ZA), ZrO$ sb2$-$ rm Al sb2O sb3$-SiO$ sb2$ (ZAS), and ZrO$ sb2$-$ rm Al sb2O sb3$-TiO$ sb2$ (ZAT). Using a 150 W CO$ sb2$ laser, these materials were melted to obtain a small molten drop, and …  Read more

Intermissions are a short period of time in the middle of competition where coaches have the opportunity to interact with their assistant coaches, adjust their game plan, and address their team as a whole. According to expert coaches, proper use of this critical time in competition is a learning process that improves with experience and relies on multiple contextual factors (Bloom, 1996). While research has demonstrated significant planning and thought behind the behaviors of coaches in competition (Bloom, Durand-Bush, & Salmela, 1997; Debanne & Fontayne, 2009; Smith & Cushion, 2006), coach knowledge and routines during intermissions have yet to be …  Read more

An investigation of copper matte vacuum purification was undertaken. A mathematical model using monatomic, diatomic sulphide and diatomic oxide vapours of the impurities was developed to explain the vacuum refining process. The model was used to predict the overall refining rates for variables such as temperature, matte grade, oxygen activity and chamber pressure of the melt. A series of experiments was undertaken to characterize the dust produced during vacuum refining of copper matte. An attempt to selectively condense the vapours produced during the vacuum refining experiments was carried out. The "Lift-Spray" vacuum refining process was used to refine 15 to …  Read more

RARbeta2 is a tumour suppressor activated by retinoic acid (RA). It controls gene expression by heterodimerizing with RXRs on RA response elements. We hypothesised that Erk1/2 inhibits RARbeta2 transcriptional activity in RARbeta2-expressing and RA-resistant cell lines by phosphorylating RXRalpha. Treatment of RA-resistant, RARbeta2-expressing cell lines (A549 and Hs578t) and a RA sensitive cell line (H157) with PD98059 synergized with RA in inhibiting growth. Cloning an active mutant of MEK1 (MEK1DD) into H157 made these cells around 40% less sensitive to ATRA. EGF-mediated Erk1/2 activation inhibited the ATRA-induced transcription of both a synthetic reporter and an endogenous (RARbeta) gene. In both …  Read more

Endocytosis and vesicle trafficking are essential for cellular division, differentiation and survival. Following endocytosis, cargo is delivered to the sorting endosome, where it is selected for degradation or recycled back to the cell surface. The various trafficking steps within the endosomal system are regulated by Rabs, small GTPases, which toggle between an inactive GDP-loaded conformation and an active GTP-loaded conformation. Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) allows cargo internalization and coupling to the endosomal system via formation of clathrin-coated vesicles (CCVs). Connecdenn was identified as a component of clathrin-coated vesicles (CCVs) isolated from developing rat brain. The C-terminus of connecdenn is predicted to …  Read more