McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par B

This thesis presents the formulation of a general finite element program for the computation of the bone adaptation process after total joint arthroplasty. This program is applied to study this phenomenon in the distal femur resurfaced with a prosthetic component whose fixation is achieved by bone ingrowth. The motivation for this formulation and application stems from the fact that evidence of adverse bone adaptation after total joint arthroplasty is being increasingly reported in the literature. The stability of the bone adaptation model is investigated in terms of the exponents of some of its constitutive equations. These exponents are determined based …  Read more

Telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes from chromosome degradation, DNA damage recognition and chromosome fusion. The enzyme telomerase maintains their length by adding de novo telomeric-repeats during genomic replication. While not expressed in somatic cells, 85% of cancer cells express telomerase, giving them unlimited proliferative capacities. Therefore, it is a potential target for cancer therapy. Dyskeratosis Congenita (DC) is a rare premature aging disease that can be caused by mutations in DKC1, the gene encoding the evolutionary conserved protein dyskerin. This protein is essential for telomerase RNA stability and hence telomerase activity. DC phenotypes include premature telomere shortening and depletion …  Read more

By the end of the eighteenth century, as imagination makes its appearance behind representation, man enters the field of knowledge and literature emerges in the world of fiction. L'Architecture of Claude-Nicolas Ledoux is too complex a work to make its mapping possible in such a short study. I therefore tried to unfold the work through the question that seemed to me to be the most revelatory of this time. The notion of caratere derived from the specific codes of a culture where representation was the foundation of a possible order. In L'Architecture, between the fictional character and his caractere is …  Read more

Grant, Audrey (Supervisor2)  Read more

Cette thèse étudie la géographie métabolique de huit populations d'écureuils roux tout au long d'un gradient latitudinal de 3000 km dans l'ouest canadien. En particulier, les variations géographiques du taux métabolique, de la taille corporelle et de la densité de population seront examinées. La masse corporelle avait tendance à augmenter tout au long du gradient, en accordance avec le principe de Bergmann. La densité de la population augmentait avec la température moyenne annuelle, et toutes choses étant égales par ailleurs, les écureuils des populations denses étaient plus gros que les écureuils des populations moins denses. Le taux métabolique au repos …  Read more

This thesis discusses the role of the "false Messiah" in modern Yiddish Literature. The figure of the Messiah in Jewish religious imagination signifies the prophetic yearning for redemption at the end of days, but it also provoked hopes in a strong leader who will bring about social and political redemption. Based on historical models, literature from the twelfth to the twentieth century addressed these "false Messiahs" and in the modern period used them to define and illustrate contemporary catastrophe. Shlomo Molcho by American Yiddish poet Aaron Glanz-Leyeles and Prince Reuveni by Soviet Yiddish author David Bergelson are two twentieth century …  Read more

The juvenile correctional field has been searching for inno­vative directions and treatment programs for many years. This research study examines two treatment-relevant typologies, the I level and the Conceptual Level theories, which have been considered to be innovative approaches to juvenile delinquency. The study focuses on the implementation of these two classifi­cation systems in a small residential center for young offenders. It attempts to explore the degree to which the treatment instruments are implemented as prescribed by the theoretical models. It is emphasized that the effectiveness of a given treatment-relevant typology cannot be determined before it is evident that the …  Read more

Clarke, Ann (Supervisor1)  Read more

This thesis examines the interaction of action video game experience, navigation and their structural and functional neural correlates. It is intended to elucidate how action video game playing, an increasingly popular activity, influences physiological and cognitive processes. Specific Aims: Our first objective was to determine whether differences in spontaneous navigation strategy between action videogame players (actionVGPs) and non- players (nonVGPs) are associated with differences in hippocampal grey matter. We then sought to determine whether there are differences in resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the hippocampus and rest of the brain between actionVGPs and nonVGPs players that interact with spontaneous …  Read more

Les comportements de mensonge émergent durant les années préscolaires. Bien que les recherches antérieures aient principalement examiné le rôle de la cognition dans le mensonge chez les enfants, telles que le fonctionnement exécutif et la théorie de l'esprit (par exemple, Ding et al., 2015; Talwar & Lee, 2008; Williams et al., 2016), moins d'études ont exploré comment le mensonge se manifeste dans des profils comportementaux plus larges chez les enfants d'âge préscolaire. La plupart des recherches sur les profils de mensonge se sont concentrées sur les enfants plus âgés et les adultes (par exemple, Lavoie et al., 2017), ce qui …  Read more

This dissertation addresses the problem of information gathering with a visual system. We formalize a probabilistic framework for information gathering by defining three components: geometric models, sensor observation models and models for prior information. Geometric models consist mainly of the object model, which describes the structure of the rigid body in a certain fixed coordinate system. Sensor models mathematically describe the mapping between the rigid body coordinates and the statistically corrupted sensor observations. Prior information is encoded in a structured environment assumption, as geometric and dynamic models are assumed known. Within this framework and using an optimization criterion that relates …  Read more

Interictal spikes are spontaneous neuronal discharges that occur between epileptic seizures, and that constitute a specific marker of epilepsy. The topic of our doctoral research is to localize in a noninvasive manner the regions of the brain responsible for generating the spikes. Such information is of great interest in the presurgical evaluation for pharmacoresistant epilepsy. In this context, we have studied the possibility of using a combination of two techniques, namely electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Specifically, we have investigated three tracks for the combination of EEG and MRI. First, anatomical information from MRI can be used for …  Read more

Nowadays, the discourse tn Maeterlinck's dramas seems to be a web of faults concerning the story levels as well as the meanings. L'Organisation du recit dans Pelleas et Melisande de Maeterlinck analyses the text regarding these aspects which confer to the play a dreamlike character. The dream atmosphere is mainly suggested by a narrative background interfering into the plot: the symbolic message. Our survey of the play tends to examine the paradoxal and incomplete nature of the events in their accounts. The reports also contain potential new facts and stories' material to be developped. It is the laborious introduction, the …  Read more

Not a rock, mineral or soil does not contain at least some iodine. Nevertheless, it is one of the scarcest of non-metallic elements on earths as to its abundance, it falls in the group of precious metals like silver, gold and platinum. It is present as inorganic salts (iodide or iodate) and to a lesser extent as complex biochemical groupings. [...]  Read more

Le role des contributions epigenetiques lors du developpement d'un zygote en un organisme adulte a ete etudie a travers la caracterisation genetique et moleculaire de deux genes a effet maternel, mau-2 et clk-2, chez le nematode C. elegans. Des mutations dans ces deux genes produisent des patrons d'heritabilite differents, ainsi que des phenotypes distincts. Les mutants mau-2 sont secourus partiellement par un effet maternel, mais sont normaux quand un allele de type sauvage est exprime chez le zygote. Le gene mau-2 participe au guidage de nombreuses migrations de cellules et axones lors du developpement. Ce gene code pour une proteine …  Read more

This thesis is a comparative study of three spiritual female models recognized in the Islamic tradition: Maryam, the mother of `Isa, Khadija, the Prophet Muh&dotbelow;ammad's first wife, and Fat&dotbelow;ima, the Prophet's daughter. Although comparisons between these three women occur frequently in the Islamic literature of different periods, this research focuses on two works of the famous exegete and historian Abu Ja`far al-T&dotbelow;abari (d. 310/923), i.e., Jami` al-Bayan `an Ta'wil al-Qur'an and Ta'rikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk . In the light of textual analysis of al-T&dotbelow;abari's depiction of these three women, it appears that their images contribute towards the formation of an …  Read more

Adult articular cartilage of many species including humans has a limited capacity for repair following injury. The hypothesis that this might be related to a lack of responsiveness to growth factors involved in growth was investigated. Cartilage explants from 4 child and 5 adult human donors were cultured in the presence of various growth factors. Incorporation of $ sp{35}$SO$ sb4$ into proteoglycans and $ sp3$H-thymidine into deoxyribonucleic acid used as measures of the biosynthetic response of cartilage. Young cartilage showed the ability to behave in an autocrine or paracrine manner to stimulate its basal biosynthetic rate. Immature chondrocytes respond well …  Read more

The bursa of Fabricius is essential for normal development of chicken B lymphocytes. To analyze early (pre-bursal) stages of B cell development, day 14e-15e chick embryo bone marrow cells were transformed with the avian REV-T(CSV) retrovirus and cloned. Some clones contained rearranged and expressed immunoglobulin genes, demonstrating that the bursal microenviornment is not required for immunoglobulin gene rearrangement and expression. In order to examine the sequence of immunoglobulin gene rearrangements during chicken B cell development, day 12e embryo bursal cells were transformed using REV-T(CSV). Clones containing either rearranged immunoglobulin light chain or rearranged immunoglobulin heavy chain genes demonstrated that chicken …  Read more

L'ère post-pandémie a renforcé la prise de conscience face à la crise du logement en Amérique du Nord, la hausse des loyers et les expulsions devenant des questions sociales pressantes. Cette thèse étudie l'efficacité des lois de protection des locataires dans la réduction du taux d'expulsion et la sauvegarde des droits des locataires tout en tenant compte des intérêts des propriétaires. Fondée sur la littérature en sciences politiques et en sociologie, la recherche comble une lacune cruciale dans les études sur la politique du logement, en particulier en ce qui concerne la dynamique des expulsions. À travers des études de …  Read more

Le premier chapitre de cette thèse intitulé "Les Caractéristiques tonales dans Trois Chorals Modaux de Bach Analysés par Lori Burns" explore la relation entre la modalité et la tonalité à travers l'analyse de trois chorals modaux de Bach. Le livre de Burns intitulé Bach's Modal Chorales présente la relation harmonique entre la tonique et la dominante, ainsi que l'orientation implicite du V vers le I en tant que caractéristique fondamentale du concept de tonalité. De même, l'absence de cette relation et de cette orientation dans la musique modale, où le cinquième degré n'est pas mis en évidence en tant que …  Read more

The generation of bioactive proteins is key to the cell's homeostasis. Proprotein convertases (PCs) are the enzymes responsible for this spatio-temporal regulated processing of inactive protein precursors into their active form. Until recently, PCs had been implicated in tumorigenesis in vitro and in animal models but not in human colorectal cancer. Our group showed that the expression of PC1/3, PC2 and 7B2 are aberrant in colorectal liver carcinoma. In this study, we have shown that the expression of PC5 but not NARC-1 was aberrant in colorectal cancer and their metastases. NARC-1's expression was not altered in either primary colorectal cancer …  Read more

The introduction of a single inhaler comprising a beta2-agonist and ipratropiurn (CombiventRTM) in the treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) should enhance compliance, improve patient outcomes and result in lower medication costs. Using the Saskatchewan Health databases, a cohort of subjects initiating treatment with CombiventRTM was identified and followed up to one year. A reference cohort was formed from all subjects who were dispensed, for the first time, two canisters, one of ipratropium and one of inhaled beta 2-agonist, on the same day. CombiventRTM users presented lower costs associated with inhaled bronchodilators (RR = 0.83; 95% Cl: 0.76 -- …  Read more

Valles, Henri (Supervisor2)  Read more

With the world thrown into a pandemic, there has been major concerns with hospital capacity. Point of care testing (PoCT) devices aim to reduce infection rates by permitting earlier diagnosis and self-isolation which may in turn reduce hospitalization cases in the long run. This thesis discusses research towards the realisation of such a PoCT device, a PCR thermocycler that uses plasmonic heating.This work describes the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and shows its current applications in research and various industries. We introduce the different components required to perform PCR and give an overview of the biology, chemistry and physics behind the …  Read more

Objectif. L’objectif de la présente étude fut d’identifier les facteurs influents le transfert efficace de meilleures pratiques nutritionnelle aux parents. D’un intérêt particulier fut d’examiner les relations interpersonnelles entre les professionnelles de la santé (PS) et les parents.Méthodes. Les données furent collectées dans six établissements de santé dans deux des quatre districts choisis dans Lambayeque. Nous avons complété cinq entrevues approfondies avec les PS, et 34 entrevues de sortie avec des parents, desquels 7 ont participé dans des entrevues approfondies et dont 5 ont permis des observations de leur maison. De plus, 29 observations directes des visites au programme de …  Read more

[...] I wish to state here that I am only interested in the purely pancreatic factors, if any, in alloxan diabetes. It has been said bfrequently that the endocrine pancreas, besides producing insulin, may produce another hormone which, in turn, might produce hyjerglycaemia, or a fat-metabolizing hormone or anti-ketogenie hormone. Most of those who have worked on this subject have a tendency to consider that the alpha cell of the islet of Langerhans is, in the morphological field, the seat of this function. With the introduction of alloxan, which is a simple method of inducing selective necrosis of the beta …  Read more

Nuclear Erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2) est un facteur de transcription qui joue un rôle primordial dans la défense cellulaire contre les stress oxydatif et électrophile. Il régule la transcription en se fixant sur les éléments de réponse antioxidative (ARE) impliqués dans la résistance et le métabolisme des médicaments. En outre, plusieurs études montrent des intercactions directes ou indirectes de Nrf2 avec la voie de signalisation Pi3K/AKT/mTOREn se basant sur le rôle de Nrf2 dans le métabolisme du cancer et son interaction avec la voie de signalisation mTOR, nous avons formulé l'hypothèse selon laquelle Nrf2 régulerait les niveaux de mTOR. Tout …  Read more

INTRODUCTION: Les personnes de constitution frêle sont plus vulnérables quant aux facteurs de stress physiologiques et sont donc plus sensibles aux effets indésirables et aux complications médicales. Les cas de saignement sont des complications graves associée à la mortalité et aux effets indésirables dont les risques sont accrus chez les personnes âgées. OBJECTIFS: Les objectifs de cette thèse sont: 1) de mieux comprendre la relation entre fragilité et les complications de saignement, et 2) d'explorer la valeur pronostique de la fragilité afin que l'on puisse prévoir les complications hémorragiques a) post-opératoires et b) les incidents hémorragiques causer par l'anticoagulation pour …  Read more

Contexte : Les facteurs relatifs au genre renvoient à des caractéristiques psychosocioculturelles et sont liés à des résultats cliniques indésirables en cas d’infarctus aigu du myocarde (IAM), quel que soit le sexe. Il existe une grande hétérogénéité dans la durée de séjour à l’hôpital parmi les patients admis pour un infarctus du myocarde sans sus-décalage du segment ST (IDM non ST+). On ne sait toujours pas si les facteurs liés au sexe et au genre influencent la durée du séjour chez les patients présentant un IDM non ST+.Méthodes : Pour étudier la corrélation entre le sexe, les facteurs liés au …  Read more

ABSTRACTArgentina's film industry and feminist movement both emerged at the turn of the twentieth century and evolved side by side. However, from the 1900s to the 1970s, the number of women in front of the camera in Argentina far exceeded the mere three directing behind it: two female directors during the silent era (1901-1928), none throughout the Golden Age of Argentine cinema (1930-1950) and one in the 1960s. Not until the 1970s do feminism and film finally intersect in the figure of Argentine film director María Luisa Bemberg. A unique female perspective grounded in her feminist ideals distinguishes Bemberg from …  Read more

Traditionally, epidemiologists have used methods that categorize or assume a linear or log-linear form to model dose-response associations between continuous independent variables and binary or continuous outcomes. Recent advances in both statistical methodology and computing resources have made it possible to model relationships of greater complexity. Generalized additive models (GAMs) are a flexible nonparametric modelling tool that allows the user to model a variety of non-linear dose-response curves without imposing a priori assumptions about the functional form of the relationship. In GAMs, the extent of smoothing is controlled by the user-defined degrees of freedom (df). GAMs are generally used to: …  Read more

The goal of this study was to examine theory of mind and deliberate rule use in children with Down syndrome as compared to children of normal intelligence. Theory of mind was defined as the ability to understand that other people have thoughts, beliefs and desires. Deliberate rule use was considered to be the extent to which children were able to learn and subsequently switch between a set of ad hoc rules unrelated to mental states. Participants included 10 individuals with Down syndrome and 10 individuals of normal intelligence matched for mental age. The primary finding of this study was that …  Read more

From time immemorial population movements represented an important phenomenon in the life of man. Beginning with the instinctive movements of the primitive man and ending with the rational and purposeful migration of modern times, they held an important place in the development and history of mankind. Though the aim of this work is neither the study of the vast problem of population movements as such, nor the tracing of its historical development, it is necessary - in order to understand the legal implications of the movement of workers in the modern world - to give, at least a brief, survey …  Read more