McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par A

Over the past decades, corruption in China's courts has become a salient issue. A recent report published in the Chinese mainstream media demonstrates that judicial corruption has infiltrated all levels of courts and tainted court adjudications in all types of litigations. As a result of deep-seated grievances brought by judicial corruption, scholars have analyzed the genesis of corruption from different angles and, in particular, they have examined the political interference on the judiciary and a lack of professionalism and accountability of judges in China's courts. The role of other legal actors, who frequently interact with judges and facilitate corrupt practices, …  Read more

The pharmacokinetics of verapamil were evaluated in the young and elderly after steady state administration of a sustained release formulation. The objective was to determine whether the interindividual metabolic variability of verapamil and its main metabolites could be correlated with the enzymatic activity of CYP3A4 by using dextromethorphan (DM) as an in vivo probe of CYP3A4 activity. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed a significant age related increase in the clearance of verapamil. Verapamil interindividual variability could not be correlated with formation of 3-methoxy-morphinan. Our results suggest that verapamil metabolism may be significantly mediated by other cytochromes.  Read more

Les neurones possèdent de nombreux mécanismes pour réguler la transcription, le transport et la traduction des ARNm qui sont importants pour le développement neurologique et la plasticité synaptique liée à l'apprentissage.Lorsque ces mécanismes de régulation échouent, des ARNm aberrants et des protéines dérégulées peuvent s'accumuler, perturbant l'homéostasie et conduisant à un mauvais câblage du système nerveux et à une déficience intellectuelle.Un exemple est un type sévère de trouble du spectre autistique, appelé syndrome du X fragile, dans lequel les patients n'ont pas la protéine de retard mental X fragile (FMRP) qui fait le transport de l’ARN et qui régule la …  Read more

People in the street, policymakers, and academics seem convinced that drug liberalization spells the end of the so-called war on drugs – some even think that it already has. If the freedom to use drugs freedom was destroyed by war, the idea is that giving public health the reins will repair the damage. This intuition is dangerous and fallacious. Fallacious, because liberal public health regimes were active in the war on drugs. Dangerous, because drug liberalization and the war on drugs are both based on a historic, practical, and ideological liberal political commitment to autonomy. Through a genealogical critique of …  Read more

Résumé Il ya dix ans notre groupe avait indiqué que ostéotomie guérison a été souvent retardée chez les enfants modérée à sévère d'ostéogenèse imparfaite (OI) qui ont été traités avec des perfusions de pamidronate par voie intraveineuse. Nous avons ensuite maintenu un intervalle libre de perfusion-bisphosphonate de quatre mois après ostéotomie et changé l'approche chirurgicale (utilisation d'une ostéotomie au lieu d'une scie électrique). En outre, l'acide zolédronique est devenu la norme bisphosphonate intraveineux pour le traitement des infections opportunistes dans notre établissement. Dans la présente étude, nous avons comparé ostéotomie guérison avant et après ces changements ont été institués. Nous …  Read more

Folliculogenesis encompasses the process of oocyte development, allowing for the growth and maturation of a competent oocyte. Communication between the oocyte and the somatic granulosa cells surrounding it is crucial for the success of this process. Throughout growth, a thick extra-cellular layer termed the zona pellucida is present between the granulosa cells and the oocyte. In order to maintain communication between the two, granulosa cells establish physical contact with the oocyte via actin-containing filopodia-like structures known as transzonal projections (TZPs). These projections allow the direct transfer of nutrients and regulatory signals from the granulosa cells to the oocyte. Given that …  Read more

Chaque année, un tiers de la nourriture produite, d'une valeur de 1 000 milliards de dollars, est gâté pendant les opérations post-récolte. La population mondiale devrait atteindre 9,1 milliards d'habitants d'ici à la fin de 2050. Il faut environ 70% de production supplémentaire pour maintenir la sécurité alimentaire. La majeure partie de cette augmentation de population devrait se produire dans les pays en développement, qui sont déjà confrontés à un problème de faim et d'insécurité alimentaires. Une partie de la récolte récoltée est stockée en tant que réserve alimentaire et l'autre partie est stockée pour l'ensemencement de l'année suivante. Le …  Read more

We show that a twistor construction of Hitchin and Ward can be adapted to study unitons (harmonic spheres in a unitary group). Specifically, we show that unitons are equivalent to holomorphic bundles with extra structure over a rational ruled surface. This equivalence allows us to confirm the conjecture of Wood that unitons are rational. These bundles are in turn representable by monads. By interpreting the uniton construction of Ward in this setting, we are able to give an expression for unitons of 'simplest type' in terms of the monad data (three matrices) using only matrix operations. This expression yields a …  Read more

After a brief introduction, we consider three main results in the existence theory of harmonic maps between manifolds. The first is the heat-equation proof of Eells and Sampson, which says that minimal harmonic maps of compact manifolds into compact manifolds with nonpositive curvature always exist. The next two results show they exist among maps of compact Riemann surfaces into compact manifolds, N, with $ pi sb2$(N) = 0. One proof uses the induced $ pi sb1$-action of Schoen and Yau; the other a perturbation of the action due to Sacks and Uhlenbeck. As required, we also develop some of the …  Read more

From an analysis of the flow over and around the Himalayas during the high summers of 1958 and 1959, it is deduced that the large-scale upper air patterns have significant effects on the surface circulation. The effect of the plateau (due to surface heating) is to induce a surface cyclonic circulation which is however often subdued by dynamic effeets. This result contradicts previous studies, in which it has always been maintained that anticyclonic circulation should result. [...]  Read more

Cette thèse présente l'analyse de les propriétés et le temps d'exécution de l'algorithme Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (\textsc{rrt}). C'est montrer que la temps pour le \textsc{rrt} avec largeur de pas $\epsilon$ à devenir proche à toutes les pointes dans le cube unité de dimension $d$ est bondée en haut et dessus par un constant multiple de un sur epsilon à la d multiplié par le log de l'inverse de epsilon.. Aussi, le temps ça prends à arriver a un région de probabilité positive est moins qu'un constant multiple de epsilon à la moins 3/2. Finalement, un relation avec l'Arbre des plus …  Read more

Wetlands and floodplains play an important role in a myriad of environmental services including flood and drought protection, water provision for humans and agriculture, sustainment of fisheries, water quality regulation, carbon storage, and habitat provision for a multitude of species. As a result of these important services, changes to inundated areas can have major socioeconomic and environmental consequences. In addition to continued anthropogenic degradation, global climate change is expected to pose an increasingly large threat to wetlands and floodplains in the coming century. Despite their importance, the fate of wetlands and floodplains under climate change is poorly understood at large …  Read more

Finzi, Andrés (Supervisor1)  Read more

The Tumour-Node-Metastasis (TNM) classification system of tumour stage does not always reflect the actual tumour mass present at diagnosis. Recent reports propose that volumetric analysis may allow improved stratification of disease recurrence and survival in head and neck squamous cell cancer (SCC). This study aims to assess the prognostic value of tumour volume on the outcome of patients with oral cavity and oropharyngeal SCC. A retrospective review of 73 patients was completed. Tumours were outlined semi-automatically in digitized computed tomography scans, and volumes computed based on surface triangulations of three-dimensional reconstructions with novel software developed at McGill. Results illustrate significant …  Read more

The importance of study of super-critical flow in open channels is recognized by present day hydraulic engineers. The subject is so vast and the mechanics of such flow is so complex that in spite of considerable work having been done in this field during the past twenty years, the final word has still to be said, especially regarding the beat remedial measures available. The writer found an article "Model Study Aids Designers of Spillway for Lyman Run Dam" in September 1951 issue of "Civil Engineering".  Read more

Dans l'embryon de la souris, les divisions asymétriques au stade 8 génèrent deux types de cellules; des cellules polaires et apolaires. Ces cellules sont attribuées à des positions extérieure et intérieure, respectivement. Cette configuration interne/externe est le premier signal de la formation des deux premières lignes de cellules; « trophectoderme » (TE) et de la « inner cell mass » (ICM), respectivement. Les cellules polaires extérieures deviennent « TE » et donnent lieu au placenta. Par contre, les cellules intérieures apolaires deviennent « ICM » et donnent lieu à l’embryon et le sac « vitellin ». Ici, nous avons analysé …  Read more

Dealy, J. M. (Supervisor)  Read more

Heat transfer characteristics under a single turbulent confined slot jet were determined experimentally. New enhancement techniques for the impingement heat transfer rate are proposed and tested experimentally. The results from each enhancement technique are compared with those for a smooth slot nozzle configuration with the same apparatus. The impingement heat transfer rate was observed to increase due to internal finning of the slot nozzles. Both rectangular and triangular fins were tested. The fins acted as roughness elements. Experimental results with the "rough" nozzle show that the stagnation and average heat transfer rates can be enhanced by up to 15% and …  Read more

Le développement du système nerveux nécessite un contrôle précis de l'expression génique des effecteurs qui dirigent divers processus neuronaux tels que la prolifération, la différenciation, la propriété des cellules souches et la migration. La dérégulation des programmes neurodéveloppementaux tels que les voies Sonic hedgehog (SHH) et WNT donne lieu à un large éventail de troubles neurodéveloppementaux, y compris des tumeurs cérébrales solides telles que le médulloblastome. Une voie critique de surveillance de l'ARNm impliquée dans le maintien de l'intégrité globale de l'expression génique est la dégradation des ARNm non-sens (NMD). La NMD a deux rôles importants : elle dégrade les …  Read more

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a pathogen of crops grown in the muck soil regions of Quebec. Soil baiting tests indicated that the sclerotia of S. sclerotiorum are attacked and destroyed by the larvae of Bradysia coprophila and mycoparasites. Sclerotia with rinds partially damaged by the larvae were found to be more susceptible to mycoparasitism by Trichoderma viride. Increasing the organic matter content and porosity of soils resulted in increased damage to sclerotia when larvae were present. Studies conducted to determine if larvae could be reared on diets of various fungi and plant tissue showed that mycelia and sclerotia of S. sclerotiorum …  Read more

Mutations in the MMACHC gene cause cblC, the most common inborn error of cobalamin metabolism, with approximately 400 known cases. It results in the inability to convert vitamin B12 (cobalamin) into its two active coenzyme forms, methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin, required by methionine synthase and methylmalonyl-CoA mutase respectively. It can be characterized according to age of onset, with early onset patients presenting within the first year of life with a number of pathologies and later onset patients presenting after the age of four with predominantly neurological symptoms. Individuals with the c.394C>T (p.R132X) as well as a number of missense mutations generally …  Read more

The work presented in this thesis represents, in part, an effort to ascertain some of the biochemical changes that occur in the aorta during the development of otherosclerosis. My interest was first stimulated during the course in pathology in the early part of medical training. [...]  Read more

Radioautographic studies indicated that the synthesis of sulfated mucopolysaccharides (MPS) in cartilage, skin, aorta and liver was decreased in rats treated with relatively large doses of cortisone. Chemical analyses showed that the hexosamine and hexuronic acid content of aorta and skin was decreased as was also the glucosamine content of liver in the treated animals. The activity of fructose-6-p-D-glutamine amidotransferase was decreased in supernatants from the liver homogenates of rats treated with cortisone for three days or longer. Similarly, the amidotransferase activity was decreased on addition of the soluble hydrocortisone succinate to normal liver supernatants, although the two effects may …  Read more

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the main cause of dementia worldwide and the 7th leading cause ofdeath in Canada. The absence of cure or treatment foreshadows a major public health crisis forour rapidly aging society and has led researchers to turn towards preventive strategies instead.Indeed, up to 30% of dementia cases may be attributable to potentially modifiable lifestyle-relatedrisk factors. In particular, midlife obesity and its associated conditions, such as physicalinactivity, are known to increase risk for dementia. Previous work has also found thathigh-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity causes neuroanatomical changes and cognitive impairmentin a mouse model of AD.In this project, I assessed …  Read more

Kirk, H. (Supervisor)  Read more

The method of Elson and Morgan for the determination of hexosamine is based on acetylation in alkaline solution to form a product that gives a colour with p-dimethylamino-benzaldehyde in acid solution. The thesis describes a modification of this method applicable to acid hydrolyzates of tissues.  Read more

Lighter-than-air indoor electric airships are an emerging technology with potential for vast diversity in their configuration, shape, and mission objectives. As airship manufacturing is delicate and requires rare expertise, a dynamic simulator that could be used to develop and test proposed airship designs would be an asset. For this project, a simulator modelling the dynamics of indoor electric airships was developed. The simulator models the flight dynamics of an airship using the aerodynamic characteristics of the envelope shape. Aerodynamic profiles of given airships were generated using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations to calculate the drag forces and moments as well …  Read more

Colmegna, Inés (Supervisor1)  Read more

Theoretical equations were developed for calculating the apparent elastic modulus and the strength of corn cob under quasi-static radial compression and simple bending. An empirical equation was derived for calculating its modulus of toughness. Experimental justification was provided for the application of the Hertz linear elastic contact theory in determining cob mechanical properties in radial compression, since the cob is a composite of three inelastic materials. In simple bending, the basic flexure formula was modified to account for the composite and tapered structure of the cob. The relative contributions of the macro-structural components of the corn cob to its mechanical …  Read more

In this thesis, we study ε-well supported Nash equilibria (ε-WSNE) in two player normal-form games. In an ε-WSNE, every pure strategy that is played with positive probability must have an expected payoff within ε of the best response payoff. These can be viewed as combinatorial relaxations of exact Nash equilibria, and this thesis examines the structure of ε-WSNE via the use of a graphical representation of win-lose games. Our main result states that to obtain ε-WSNE with an approximation guarantee better than ⅔ the players must use mixed strategies whose supports have polylogarithmic cardinality. In addition, we show that, to …  Read more

Not only usual goods are carried: some of a particular nature need particular regulations. The transportation of dangerous goods regulated by specific international rules is a good illustration while the example of artworks carried to be exposed in temporary exhibitions is less famous. Their material protection is insured by museum professionals and specialized carriers. Their legal protection is insured on two levels: on one side, detailed customs procedures are set up to regulate their movement; moreover, specific contractual rules have been created by professionals, but they do apply international conventions relative to international carriers liability. On the other side, one …  Read more

The decades of human activity in outer space have a cost: so-called 'space debris'. Simply put, this is the littering of outer space with leftover vehicles, satellites, rockets and such like, once their useful life has come to an end. The increasing quantity of space debris within the usable orbits around planet Earth is no longer a merely hypothetical problem consigned to academic discussion. Today, space debris within the orbital space around Earth poses a constant threat to current and future missions, as well as to the highly valuable space assets, such as the International Space Station and satellites, upon …  Read more

In the electrophysiological evaluation of neuromuscular disorders, the number of active motor units in a muscle is considered one of the most important indicators of the physiological state of peripheral nerve/muscle systems. Electrophysiological techniques have been designed to estimate this number but, despite considerable effort, they only provide an approximation of the exact number. To assist further development in this field, the specific problem of the classification of stimulus-evoked potentials was investigated. Over 1300 series of signals were recorded from four subjects over a five-week period. From these data sets, those having clearly separable unique responses were selected and unsupervised …  Read more

Current brachytherapy dosimetry protocols assume that a physical source may be approximated by a point source. A new brachytherapy dosimetry protocol, recently proposed by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group 43, has the advantage of using functions derived solely from measurements performed in the medium and uses a more realistic source geometry than the point source approximation. The aim of this work is to obtain the dosimetric functions required by this new protocol for both a low and a high dose-rate Iridium-192 brachytherapy source through dose measurements in a water-equivalent phantom. Dose measurements have been performed using …  Read more

The importance of hypertension as a risk factor for the development of AF is well recognized. Despite this leading importance, the role of essential hypertension in providing a substrate for AF is incompletely understood. The present study was undertaken to investigate the possibility of having rats as an adequate animal model for the relationship between hypertension and AF in man and to elucidate the role of hypertension as a risk factor for AF. The results of this study show that structural remodeling especially in the form of increased amount of interstitial fibrosis seems to be the major contributing factor to …  Read more

Ferri, Lorenzo Edwin (Internal/Cosupervisor2)  Read more

It is generally accepted that spirituality can play an important role in the end stage of the life of a person. Spirituality can provide a source of comfort and guidance and in so doing be a coping strategy. Social workers should take into account this spiritual component of their work particularly with clients who use spirituality as a form of social support. This thesis provides a theoretical understanding of spiritual based practice. It identifies the principles and competencies central to this practice, including the need for worker self awareness. It then illustrates how certain social work students have applied these …  Read more

Chaque jour, plusieurs centaines d'explosions de lumière radio de durée milliseconde, connues sous le nom de sursauts radio rapides (FRBs), arrivent sur Terre depuis des galaxies lointaines. En seulement une milliseconde, un FRB typique libère autant d'énergie en longueurs d'onde radio que le Soleil en trois jours. À ce jour, leur origine exacte demeure un mystère, bien que des indices observationnels pointent vers les magnétars comme coupables probables: de jeunes étoiles à neutrons qui possèdent un énorme réservoir d’énergie dans leurs champs magnétiques puissants. Une façon prometteuse de différencier les scénarios d'origine est d'étudier les galaxies d'où proviennent les FRBs. …  Read more

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are bright radio transients of micro-to-millisecond duration and unknown extragalactic origin. Central to the mystery of FRBs are their extremely high characteristic energies, which surpass the typical energies of other radio transients of similar duration, like Galactic pulsar and magnetar bursts, by orders of magnitude. Calibrating FRB-detecting telescopes for burst flux and fluence determination is crucial for FRB science, as these measurements enable studies of the FRB energy and brightness distribution in comparison to progenitor theories.The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) is a radio interferometer located near Penticton, B.C., that has detected an unprecedented number …  Read more

The search for extraterrestrial life begins with understanding how life developed and evolved on our own planet. Earth's polar regions provide a unique setting conducive to developing the methodologies and techniques that will be needed to find new life forms either as living organisms or as some biological signal in a sedimentary record. The highest latitude perennial spring system in a region of thick, continuous permafrost resides in the Arctic archipelago of northern Canada. At Expedition Fiord on Axel Heiberg Island there are two sets of springs that provide useful analogs to liquid water habitats that may have existed on …  Read more

Sexual orientation, especially between males, has historically been met with harsh criminal sanctions. Only in this century has the issue been one of fundamental freedom and private choices. This study analyses the legal history of the concept of choice in sexual orientation in the European Commission of Human Rights (the Commission) and the European Court of Human Right (the Court), and documents the evolution of sexual orientation rights from the 1950s until today specifically focusing on why the human rights protection has changed. Until 1975 the Commission did not consider absolute criminalisation contrary to the right to respect for privacy …  Read more

Cette thèse aborde les rôles caméos dans les films et la télévision en explorant la culture de la célébrité pendant le siècle dernier. Le rôle de caméo, qui se définie par sa courte durée et la reconnaissance d'un acteur par l'auditoire permet de simuler l'expérience de rencontrer une célébrité qui est à la fois étrangère et connue. Les rôles de caméo se retrouvent fréquemment importants dans la commercialisation d'un film, car ils peuvent attirer un auditoire diverse avec leur présentation des grandes vedettes du cinéma dans un environnement où leur histoire de vie dépassent l'histoire du film. Un rôle de …  Read more

Machelle Wilchesky (Internal/Supervisor)  Read more

The paper presents and discusses the carrier's stowage duties under the Hague and Hague/Visby Rules and contrasts them with similar duties created in the Hamburg Rules. Particular attention is paid to stowage responsibilities in relation to the carriage of dangerous goods. A subsidiary examination considers the extent to which international stowage regulations adopted to protect safety and the environment may affect what constitutes proper stowage under the contract of carriage.  Read more

The hippocampus is a structure critical to the formation of allocentric spatial representations of an environment. While its role in spatial memory has long been established, evidence points to further implications in various neurological and psychiatric conditions, most notably Alzheimer's Disease. Some symptoms typical of Alzheimer's Disease include loss of spatial orientation as well as difficulty forming temporal and spatial relationships. These symptoms affect the quality of life of those affected by the disease and those caring for them. Accompanying these symptoms is a marked decrease in hippocampal volume, which may explain the associated symptomatological specificity. Previous studies have provided …  Read more