McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par A

Malaria affects more than a quarter of this planet's population with 214 million infections and 438,000 deaths annually. In the absence of an effective malaria vaccine, the rise and spread of drug resistant strains coupled with the slow development of new antimalarials is a potential human tragedy. Research to date has led to the identification of several proteins that can mediate parasite resistance to most antimalarials. Two of the latter proteins (e.g., PfMDR1 and PfMRP1) are members of a large and evolutionary conserved family of ATP-dependent membrane transporters (e.g., ABC transporters). The P. falciparum genome encodes 16 different ABC transporters, …  Read more

High-Content Screening (HCS) is a technology based on the automation of fluorescence microscopy, to screen and analyze the spatial and morphological properties of individual cells. This automation has made it possible to acquire, process, and archive tens of millions of cell images, and hundreds of compounds at a time, facilitating drug discovery. Although the large number of test compounds and cells has advantages, it removes the possibility of human inspection and so relies on quantitative analytical approaches. Much of current practice, however, does not take full advantage of the information-rich content of HCS screens and instead relies on measurement and …  Read more

La recherche est menée sur la dynamique de répartition économique des unités de production d'énergie dans un islanded micro-grille. Dans le contexte actuel de changement climatique et de l'urgente nécessité de réduire l'utilisation de combustibles fossiles, cette recherche est importante pour aider à augmenter la quantité d'énergies renouvelables dans la grille afin de réduire les émissions de CO2, tout en maintenant de faibles coûts de production et de satisfaction client élevé. Cette thèse aborde ce problème en utilisant Multi-Objective-Model-Predictive Optimisation (MO-MPO). La micro-grille est supposé être un mix de production d'alimentation composé d'un générateur diesel, les éoliennes, panneaux photovoltaïques, de …  Read more

The Lagrangian Block Method (LBM) developed in this thesis is a simulation method. Flow properties are transported in the direction of the velocity following a Lagrangian procedure. The computational elements of the LBM are systems of blocks. These blocks are utilized in the method as containers for the storage of the flow properties (masses). During the computation, the masses in the blocks remain positive, and the total mass in the system is conserved. The resolution of the method is accurate to within one to two computational blocks. The LBM is also unconditionally stable. Accurate results can be obtained with the …  Read more

Fung, Benjamin (Supervisor1)  Read more

The European Community, today European Union, has been considered as a model to measure the success or failure of other Regional Integration Arrangements (RIAs). Harmonization can be understood as the promotion of convergence within different legal systems. Particularly in this case, harmonization of Member States' legislation has been a central legislative tool in establishing the internal market. However, harmonization, in areas such as technical standards and professional services, is not pursued as a main goal by all RIAs. This is because not all RIAs pursue the same degree of economic integration. However, due to the fact that differences in national …  Read more

Contexte: le tractus gastro-intestinal humain héberge près d'un trillion de microorganismes, organisés dans un écosystème complexe appelé microbiote intestinal. Notre diversité génétique bactérienne détermine la digestion des glucides alimentaires complexes (glycanes). En effet, le génome humain code peu de Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes (CAZymes) capables de catalyser le métabolisme des sucres complexes présents dans les légumes, les plantes et les céréales. En conséquence, la plupart de ces glycanes atteignent le gros intestin intact, où ils sont digérés par le microbiote intestinal, qui code un répertoire beaucoup plus large de CAZymes. Dans des maladies telles que l'obésité et la colite ulcéreuse, l'équilibre entre …  Read more

Les Juifs de Turquie ont demandé la restitution de la citoyenneté espagnole et portugaise, via des processus formalisés en 2015. À l'aide de vingt-neuf entretiens, j'analyse les motivations des candidats et constate que les liens culturels jouent un rôle mineur dans leurs décisions de demander la restitution. Contrairement aux Juifs séfarades dans d'autres contextes, le processus de demande de citoyenneté n'a pas provoqué une période de réflexion identitaire. Les motivants plus importants sont les craintes des Juifs concernant l'avenir de la Turquie, l'avantage pratique de voyager facilement avec un passeport de l'UE et le désir de mobilité mondiale qui permet …  Read more

In this thesis, we provide a system level design methodology aimed for the design of embedded systems. Our methodology is geared towards the concurrent design of hardware components and software agents. Our choice of tool/language pair is CoWare N2C design tool and SystemC specification language. Our design flow is completed with a high performance hardware synthesis methodology relying behavioral synthesis. A case study, the design of an ATM switch, is carried out to illustrate the proposed ideas.  Read more

Le but de l'œuvre à accomplir est de répondre philosophiquement et de manière critique la question de la manière dont l'éducation à la citoyenneté est actuellement en Arabie incohérente, car elle cherche à favoriser la loyauté civique à deux doctrines distinctes et concurrentes, tout en reconnaissant ne pas ou traitant de la tension elle-même. Le conflit en question est entre la loyauté à la nation saoudienne, d'une part, et la communauté islamique plus large (ou Oumma), de l'autre. La question à laquelle cette étude tente de répondre est de savoir comment la manipulation de l'Arabie saoudite de l'enseignement de la …  Read more

Purpose: Prostate cancer (PCa) is among leading causes of cancer deaths in North America. To date, androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) is the gold standard treatment for patients with biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy. However, ADT invariably fails and is followed by castration resistance (CRPC) and further progression of the disease. The host lab study on signaling through the Fer tyrosine kinase in PCa has led to the identification of the androgen receptor (AR) as a Fer substrate, activated by phosphorylation on the tyrosine (Y) 223 residue, a step followed by the accumulation of Fer and activated AR …  Read more

La lèpre (maladie de Hansen) est une maladie infectieuse des humains qui peut être traitée avec succès par une antibiothérapie d'une durée de 6-12 mois. En 2008, environ 250 000 nouveaux cas ont été rapportés à l'Organisation Mondiale de la Santé. L'agent étiologique, Mycobacterium leprae, fut identifié par G.H.A. Hansen au XIXe siècle. Suite à l'exposition, des études épidémiologiques continuent de souligner l'importance de la génétique de l'hôte dans la susceptibilité à la lèpre. Une analyse génomique de liaison accomplie préalablement à partir de familles Vietnamiennes à cas multiples a détecté une liaison entre la région chromosomique 6p21 (lod = …  Read more

Two decades into the epidemic caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and this virus has infected nearly 1% of the world's population. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has transformed the epidemic from a death sentence into a chronic infection. However restricted access, complicated regimens, drug resistance, and long-term toxicities are all impediments to life long therapy for all those infected. These factors stress the need for vaccines and immunotherapeutic strategies that may be used in conjunction with antiretroviral drugs for the optimization of patient care. It is clear that cytotoxic T lymphocytes are potent suppressors of viral replication throughout …  Read more

Introduction:Les conditions de croissance au début du vie sont impliquées dans la maladie pulmonaire obstructive chronique (MPOC). Nous avons étudié si un indice validé d’adversité de croissance en début de vie est associé au phénotype et au pronostic de la MPOC en âge adulte.Méthodes:Chez les adultes dans l’étude SPIROMICS atteints de MPOC confirmée par spirométrie et ayant fumé plus de 20 paquets-années, un indice quantitatif des conditions de croissance en début de vie a été calculé, appelé « height-GaP », correspondant à la différence entre la taille adulte mesurée et la taille adulte prédite selon le génotype. Des modèles de …  Read more

Il Sacro Bosco in Bomarzo is an experience in Lessons on Love. The statues are a constant repetition of the paradox of Eros. The exoteric meaning of the statues will be given through the- narratives that influenced them. Then, the esoteric meaning behind the narratives and the statues will be given with the help of Ficino's Commentary on Plato's Symposium on Love. Because the garden exists in the space of desire, it is able to speak to us today. This thesis is a walk through the garden. It is only through the experience of the garden that architectural meaning is …  Read more

Neurons of the brain communicate at specialized cellular junctions termed synapses, where release of neurotransmitter pre-synaptically and binding to neurotransmitter receptors post-synaptically is a highly regulated, yet plastic process. Among the best studied forms of synaptic plasticity are Hebbian plasticity mechanisms which are induced by (de-)correlations in neuronal activity, and whose induction and expression is relatively rapid (seconds to minutes). Other than Hebbian mechanisms, various other synaptic plasticity phenomena have been demonstrated, among which is homeostatic synaptic plasticity (HSP) which is thought to regulate synaptic strength by negative feedback (in opposite sign to Hebbian plasticity), and is expressed on a …  Read more

Paradis, Gilles (Supervisor2)  Read more

Agarwal, Vinod K. (Supervisor)  Read more

The most common and generally best performing replacement algorithm in modern caches is LRU. Despite LRU's superiority, it is still possible that other feasible and implementable replacement policies could yield better performance. (34) found that an optimal replacement policy (OPT) would often have a miss rate 70% that of LRU. If better replacement policies exist, they may not be obvious. One way to find better policies is to study a large number of address traces for common patterns. Such an undertaking involves such a large amount of data, that some automated method of generating and evaluating policies is required. Genetic …  Read more

Davenport, Paul  Read more

Davenport, Paul  Read more

The microscopic structure of the small intestine of the rat follows the structural plan of that in other mammals. It has four main layers: serosa, muscular layer, submucosa and mucosa. The main components of the mucosa are the crypts of Lieberkuhn embedded in lamina propria and the finger-like projections, the villi with a lamina propria core and with a single covering layer of epithelial cells. The cells of the crypts of Lieberkuhn ('crypt epithelium') and the cells covering the villi ('villus epithelium') are of common embryological origin and of similar morphological characteristics, thus together they are called the intestinal epithelium …  Read more

MacIntosh, F. (Supervisor)  Read more

This is a study of the play and recreation of a number of families in which at least one person from each family is a member of the University Settlement of Montreal. Through this study an attempt will be made to determine whether the University Settlement can be of greater benefit to the family by providing a play and recreational program for them.  Read more

Oocyte loss and meiotic prophase progression was studied in XY sex-reversed and XO female mice, two mouse models that lack pairing between their sex chromosomes. An arrest at the pachytene stage of meiosis was not observed, nor was a significant loss of oocytes at this stage compared to normal XX control mice. Thus, it was concluded that a pairing checkpoint either does not exist in oocytes or is not as stringent as the one observed in males. The effect of mutating the pro-apoptotic Bax molecule was studied at three distinct ages corresponding to the time when female germ cells are …  Read more

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) comprise the largest group of cell surface receptors, translating environmental signals into cellular responses via cognate G protein partners. Contrary to our initial understanding, most GPCRs do not function in living cells as monomers, but most likely dimers, or even larger arrays of receptors. Standard drug design approaches rely on the notion that drugs binding the two receptors in a given dimer likely function independently of one another. However, this view has been challenged by recent work showing that ligand binding at both receptors can modulate dimeric receptors via allosteric communication. While one receptor may actually …  Read more

Whyte, Lyle (Supervisor1)  Read more

Pure metals and many common alloys are made up of grains, similar in composition and crystal structure but not in shape. Each grain is a single crystal representing a phase and these materials are known as single-phase metals. The term "microstructure" in this case means simply a description of the sizes and shapes of the grains; there is nothing else that is accessible to visual or microscopic observation. The microstructure of a two-phase alloy is more complicated since the grains of the two phases differ in composition, structure and shape. In addition, the second phase may be present as a …  Read more

La biocatalyse de la lipoxygénase purifiée, obtenus à partir de la graine de soja (LOX-1B: EC 1.13.11.12), a été étudiée en milieux micellaire ternaire et en monophasique organique, en utilisant l'acide linoléique comme substrat modèle. Le solvant organique, utilisé dans cette étude, a été utilisé à différentes concentrations dans le système micellaire ternaire, composé d'une solution tampon Tris-HCl (0,1 M, pH 9,0) et 10 µM d'un surfactant, le Tween-40. Les résultats obtenus ont démontré qu'il y a une augmentation de 1,4 et 1,7 fois de l'activité enzymatique de la LOX en utilisant, respectivement, soit du l'iso-octane à 2% ou soit …  Read more

Mayo, Nancy (Internal/Supervisor)  Read more

Oil-bearing plants are important sources of edible oil and proteins; they have attracted attention recently because of their antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. The objective of this work was to investigate the nature of phenolic compounds in oil-bearing plants and the effects of phenolic compounds on protein isolates from soybean and flaxseed. Proteins were isolated from full-fat and defatted soybean and flaxseed using sodium hydroxide extraction and isoelectric precipitation. Free phenolic compounds were extracted from the oil-bearing plants and protein isolates using methanol; for bound phenolic compounds the oil-bearing plants and proteins were subjected to basic and acidic hydrolysis followed …  Read more

Protein co-precipitates were prepared from whey powder and soybean flour using various extraction and co-precipitation techniques. The effect of extraction and co-precipitation on co-precipitate yield was investigated. Native and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (Native-PAGE, SDS-PAGE) and light compound microscopy (LCM) were used to study the structure of the co-precipitates. The rheological and gelation properties of the co-precipitates were determined. Highest yield (45%) for NaOH/Isoelectric Point IEP-Heating-Cooling, co-precipitate was obtained using the following conditions of extraction; extraction temperature, 40°C; temperature of precipitation 95°C, and pH of precipitation was 4.5. The yield of co-precipitates was affected by chelating agents and …  Read more

Les lagunages constituent une partie importante de l'infrastructure de traitement des eaux usées au Canada et ils sont courants dans les petites collectivités éloignées, en particulier dans les collectivités des Premières Nations (PN). En fait, plus de 50% des systèmes de traitement des eaux usées dans les communautés des PN sont basés sur des lagunes facultatives et aérobies. Bien que simples et peu coûteux, ces systèmes de traitement passifs dépendent presque entièrement du pouvoir de biodégradation naturelle des micro-organismes qui s’y développent, qui sont influencés par les conditions climatiques environnantes. Par conséquent, dans les régions sujettes à de grandes variations …  Read more

L'évaluation des projets agricoles financés par le gouvernement devrait examiner les coûts et les revenus par rapport à la société dans son ensemble. Cette thèse s'est développée dans un contexte où le gouvernement équatorien a mis en effet un projet dans lequel les agriculteurs pauvres de la province de Manabi sont devenus fournisseurs de Jatropha curcas, une plante endémique qui produit des graines huileuses utilisées comme matière première de biocarburants. Le gouvernement a supposé que cette initiative permettrait d'améliorer le revenu des agriculteurs concernés, mais cette hypothèse n'a pas été mesurée en termes quantitatifs. Une étude publiée pour soutenir le …  Read more

Bornstein, Lisa (Supervisor1)  Read more

Cancer and chronic pain are two common pathologies affecting millions of patients worldwide. Much like most other disease states, they can be determined genetically, environmentally, or both. Unlike the static genome, the epigenome is responsible for interpreting environmental interactions and is often altered in disease states. A subset of epigenetic modifications, known as DNA methylation, is capable of mediating gene silencing. In this thesis, two cases will be explored probing the nature of DNA methylation in cancer and in peripheral neuropathy. Aberrant DNA methylation is a common hallmark of cancer often resulting in the methylation of tumor suppressors and the …  Read more

Ramaswamy, Hosahalli (Supervisor1)  Read more

Background: Upon retrieval, a consolidated memory destabilizes and becomes labile once more. During this time it can be manipulated prior to re-stabilizing to long-term memory storage. This process called reconsolidation, allows for the updating, strengthening or weakening of memories. Previous research suggests that reconsolidation blockade using propranolol can be used as a treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However the use of open label designs or of a single treatment session per study participant limits the interpretation and generalizability of the results. The present Master’s thesis reports on a study that sought to overcome these limitations. Objectives: The primary objective …  Read more

Raghavan, G. S. Vijaya (Supervisor1)  Read more

Soundless Chemical Demolition Agents (SCDAs) are powdery cementitious materials which when mixed with water produce expansive pressure as they cure and harden in a borehole. This feature is explored as a method for rock fragmentation by injecting the SCDA into blind boreholes in a free rock face where the state of stress is biaxial. Borehole expansion would result in expansive pressure that would in turn create fractures around each borehole. This research is part of an ongoing research program that aims to develop a methodology for rock fragmentation with SCDA in underground mine developments, where the confining in-situ stress is …  Read more

Leask, Richard L. (Supervisor1)  Read more

A relativistic equation, known as the Kemmer-Duffin-Petiau (KDP) equation, for spin-0 particles is used to study low energy pion-nucleus scattering. This equation is linear and the optical potential is completely local in contrast to the quadratic Klein-Gordon equation which contains gradient terms in the p-wave part of the potential when applied to pion-nucleus scattering. Specifically, if we use an almost minimal coupling scheme (scalar and vector potentials), then this equation is equivalent to the Klein-Gordon equation with a Kisslinger potential and an effective Ericson-Ericson-Lorentz-Lorenz parameter $ lambda$ = 3. Experimentally, the $ lambda$ parameter is subject to uncertainty and no …  Read more

Interaction with MgO-minerals is one mechanism suspected to reduce selectivity in flotation of pentlandite from ultramafic ore. Understanding the surface chemistry of the minerals involved will lead to improved flotation conditions that maximize flotation selectivity. The first part of the thesis compares isoelectric point (i.e.p.) and point of zero charge (p.z.c.) determined using Mular-Roberts [M-R] titration technique of MgO-minerals chlorite, serpentine and talc. The M-R technique was unsuccessful with talc, attributed to Mg2+ acting as potential determining ion. For serpentine and chlorite, respectively, p.z.c. was pH 4.3 and 4.6 and i.e.p. pH 3.2 and <3. Dispersion index (DI) for chlorite …  Read more

This thesis is aimed at challenging the conventional wisdom regarding trade and competition under the World Trade Organization, namely, that the WTO does not deal with competition matters. This thesis shows that this wisdom cannot be upheld when viewed in conjunction with Karl Wittgenstein's theories of language and with the panel and Appellate Body's decisions in United States-Anti-Dumping Act of 1916. These decisions confirm the application of such theories to the WTO and indicate, first, that the WTO limits concerning trade and competition are not as clearly defined as followers of the conventional wisdom suggest, and, second, that the Appellate …  Read more

Initiation of DNA replication is a cellular process whose regulation is not well understood yet. It certainly depends on cis-acting elements, or origins of DNA replication sequences, and trans-acting factors, or initiator proteins. Here, we have characterized the Cruciform Binding Protein (CBP) as an origin binding protein and its role in initiation of DNA replication. CBP was previously shown to contain the β, ɣ, ε, and ζ isoforms of the 14-3-3 family, which is composed of seven mammalian isoforms (β, ɣ, ε, η, σ, τ, and ζ) that can form homo- and heterodimers, and plays a variety of roles in …  Read more

Fritz, Jörg (Supervisor2)  Read more

Riches, Caroline Joan (Supervisor1)  Read more

Recent studies have demonstrated that applied hydrostatic pressure can affect the functional properties of whey protein isolate (WPI). In this work, the effects of applied hydrostatic pressure on the tertiary and secondary structure of whey proteins were investigated by spectroscopic and rheological techniques to elucidate the molecular basis of such pressure-induced changes in protein functionality. The individual protein components of WPI and various samples of WPI obtained from different sources were subjected to different single-cycle pressure treatments of up to 400 MPa in 100 MPa increments with 30-min holding time as well as to pressures ranging from 450 to 650 …  Read more