McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par B

Misic, Bratislav (Supervisor2)  Read more

Entre 1860 et 1869, Edmond et Jules de Goncourt publient six romans : Charles Demailly (1860), Soeur Philomène (1861), Renée Mauperin (1864), Germinie Lacerteux (1865), Manette Salomon (1867), Madame Gervaisais (1869). C'est la totalité de la production romanesque des deux frères.Ces volumes forment un ensemble bien groupé dans le temps, où se retrouve une évidente unité d'intention, de ton, d'écriture. Les historiens de la littérature sont aujourd'hui d'accord pour classer ces oeuvres sous la rubrique "Romans réalistes". Mais ils diffèrent dans leur analyse et leur appréciation du "réalisme" de ces ouvrages. A quoi tient réellement ce "réalisme" ? Telle est, …  Read more

This thesis is an inquiry into Muḥammad al-Ghazali's (1917-1996) model of da'wah. It uses Ghazali works as well those of his critics to build up a coherent model of da'wah for contemporary societies. The research first delves into Ghazali's life, learning, and career. It examines his association with the Muslim Brotherhood as well as his intellectual and professional contributions to da'wah and society. This examination provides us with a better understanding of the socio-cultural and intellectual background of Ghazali. The research also explores Ghazali's personality in order to find out the reasons underlying his harsh language or simply the stylistic …  Read more

The purpose of this study is to develop a general algorithm to solve in a robust, flexible and fast way the short-term scheduling problems of two different multi-reservoir hydroelectric power systems. The first system consists of four reservoirs in series, the second corresponds to that of the Ste Maurice river. The solution method is based on the discrete maximum principle. Gradient method is used for the solution of the two-point boundary value problem. Two algorithms are suggested for dealing with difficulties posed by the state variable constraints. The first uses the augmented lagrangian method, the second is iterative. Both algorithms …  Read more

This Ph.D. thesis focuses on micromachined ultrasonic transducers (MUTs) for sensing and actuation, emphasizing capacitive micromachined-based devices. The research encompasses developing and characterizing innovative MEMS-based solutions, addressing various challenges in the field.One significant contribution of this work is the development of a micro-viscometer that uses a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) and a low-power transceiver ASIC. The system can monitor engine oil viscosity, detect technical defects early on, and provide insights into the engine's condition, leading to optimally timed oil change intervals. MUTs in this application offer a low-cost and small-size solution for engine oil monitoring.Another significant contribution is the …  Read more

Rentschler, Carrie (Supervisor1)  Read more

Kaartinen, Mari Tuulia (Internal/Supervisor)  Read more

Yau, M. K. (Supervisor)  Read more

Le syndrome des ovaires polykystiques (PCOS) est l'endocrinopathie la plus fréquente chez les femmes en âge de procréer et est associé à un risque accru d'hypertension. Des réponses élevées de la pression artérielle pendant l’exercise précèdent le développement de l'hypertension, mais n'ont pas encore été examinées dans les populations atteints du PCOS. L'objectif de cette étude était donc de comparer la pression artérielle et les réponses vasculaires périphériques pendant un exercice isométrique de préhension entre des femmes avec (n=10) et des femmes sans PCOS (CTRL ; n=7). Des jeunes (18-40 ans) femmes ont effectué en double le protocole d'exercice suivant …  Read more

Laurent Azoulay (Internal/Cosupervisor2)  Read more

This thesis discusses the historical development of the Japanese comic performance genre of manzai, and its contemporary manifestations. The first chapter examines manzai's ritual origins in the Heian court and its subsequent expansion throughout Japan as an established performance style. The chapter also describes the genre of 'classical manzai' and discusses its present status. The second chapter examines how 'stage manzai' emerged in Osaka from a panoply of popular entertainment forms, and particularly from niwaka stage comedy. The third chapter describes the emergence of the genre of 'modern manzai,' details its adaptation to radio and discusses the impact of the …  Read more

Liver metastases (LM) represent a major cause of cancer-related death and remain a clinical challenge. Up to 70% of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients develop LM, and CRC incidence is increasing in the younger population. LM and the female sex were identified as prediction factors of a poorer response to immunotherapy (IT), but the reasons remain unclear. We previously reported on a sexual dimorphism in the control of the tumor microenvironment (TME) of CRC liver metastases and identified estrogen as a key regulator of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in the liver. Here we aimed to assess the effect of estrogen deprivation …  Read more

Une étude analytique a été menée dans laquelle les résultats des tests de cisaillement rapportés dans la littérature ont été comparés aux résultats de trois méthodes de prédiction pour des échantillons de 82 I-poutrelles. Les trois méthodes de prévision utilisées étaient la méthode sectionnelle, la création de modèles dans le programme Response 2000 et les analyses non linéaires par éléments finis. L'objectif principal était d'étudier l'influence des brides des poutres en I en béton sur la résistance ultime au cisaillement des éprouvettes et la capacité de chaque méthode de prévision à capturer cette influence. Il a été conclu que les …  Read more

The presence of sulphide mineralization in the Bathurst-Newcastle area of New Brunswick has been known since early in the nineteenth century. Lindeman (1917) discussed the iron ore deposits in the area and mentioned that pyrite was found along the footwall of one iron deposit. In later years sporadic work was carried out, but it was concerned mainly with the iron ore and regional mapping (Alcock 1941).  Read more

Martens, William (Internal/Supervisor)  Read more

King, Richard (Supervisor2)  Read more

This study explores the hitherto unexamined phenomenon of queer-care in higher education from the teacher educators' perspectives. While care in education has been the subject of scholarly interest for many years and demonstrating caring for the wellbeing of students is an important component of teaching, the lack of attention to queer-care is a significant oversight in the body of care research and teacher education. Pertinent to this study is the investigation of how well Noddings' enactments of care (modeling, dialogue, practice, and confirmation) address the care needs of queer students. Four teacher educators shared stories of their efforts to care …  Read more

A defining element of Yves Theriault's work, sexuality has frequently been perceived by various critics as a motif which serves to reinforce other, often extraliterary readings. It is my intention on the other hand to study this phenomenon from the viewpoint of its fundamental importance as the primary theme in order to delimit its significance on the structural level. I mean to accentuate not only the principal parameters of the sexual identity of Theriault's characters but also the environment which oversees and influences the origins and the development of their sexuality. It follows from this that nature in his novels …  Read more

L'usage clinique de rayons de photon de méga-tension formés dans le traitement de cancer est devenu un composant essentiel de traitement contemporain avec une confiance jamais-qui augmente sur les projets qui incluent l'ordinateur moulage contrôlé, temporel et spatial de l'ouverture de rayon. Une telle technique dynamique implique l'usage du Enhanced Dynamic Wedge (EDW), qui module la dose de rayonnement à travers un axe d'un champ rectangulaire via le mouvement d'une mâchoire de collimator sous le contrôle informatique. La majorité d'applications cliniques de cette technique emploie un champ qui est ou symétrique et centré sur l'axe central du rayon ou implique …  Read more

Associations are a very common concept in software modelling, in particular when using class diagrams for expressing domain models or structural design models. Concern-Oriented Reuse (CORE) proposes a new way of structuring model-driven software development where models of the system are modularized by domains of abstraction within units of reuse called concerns. This thesis illustrates how many of the variations of associations and association implementations have been captured within a concern called Association, together with behavioural models that ensure uniqueness, minimum/maximum size constraints and referential integrity. Furthermore, the provided Association concern documents the impact of using a specific association variation …  Read more

Feedback is used to decrease the sensitivity of a system to plant uncertainty or to disturbances. This thesis is focused on the reduction of sensitivity to additive disturbances applied at the output. Systems are represented by linear multivariable frequency responses whose inputs and outputs belong to (DIAGRAM, TABLE OR GRAPHIC OMITTED...PLEASE SEE DAI) Rigorous conditions under which feedback can reduce sensitivity are derived. It is shown that given a minimum phase single input-single output plant, there exists a feedback compensator which reduces sensitivity below any arbitrarily positive value on any finite frequency interval while not exceeding a specified upper bound …  Read more

In the next coming years global satellite navigation systems (GNSS) will make part of our daily life, as the world is becoming "GNSS-dependant in the same way that it has become Internet-dependant". Indeed, more than ten years folowing the opening up to civilians of satellite-based navigation systems initially designed for military purposes, civil satellite navigation applications are becoming more and more numerous. The potential benefits have proven enormous in terms of transport safety and efficiency as well as for non-transport-related industries.  Read more

Hermo, Louis (Supervisor)  Read more

Specific immunotherapy (SIT) treatment of allergies is the controlled administration of a specific allergen to an allergic patient towards the alleviation or remediation of the disease. Successful immunotherapy is associated with a shift in the immune response from type 2 to type 1 phenotype away from IgE production. But the main obstacles in SIT include the need for a standardized source for the allergen and for an adjuvant/delivery system that would promote type 1 immunity to allergens. This work focuses on the recombinant expression of European birch (Betula verrucosa) pollen's main allergen Betv1a with covalent modifications with hydrophobic structures whose …  Read more

This study investigates the coping methods, styles and strategies of 35 homosexual men who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) but remain asymptomatic. Subjects were recruited from a Montreal AIDS clinic and support groups for men with HIV. The effectiveness of the coping mechanisms were evaluated by correlating these to measures of depression, state and trait anxiety, psychosomatic symptomatology, perceived social support and global health. Data analyses revealed that men with HIV infection were generally well-adjusted and employed a variety of coping techniques. Cognitive attempts at coping were the most frequently used and were related to elevated levels …  Read more

NcPherson, Dr. John C.  Read more

Nugus, Peter (Supervisor2)  Read more

La pénurie croissante d'enseignants est préoccupante dans tous les systèmes éducatifs à travers le monde, et l'un des principaux facteurs contribuant à ce problème est le taux élevé d'attrition chez les enseignants débutants. Les premières années d'enseignement sont souvent considérées comme difficiles, car les enseignants débutants manquent de soutien structuré, sont confrontés à un choc pratique et souffrent d'épuisement professionnel. Ces expériences conduisent parfois au départ de professionnels compétents et précieux dans le domaine de l'enseignement. Pour remédier à ce problème, le développement professionnel est largement reconnu comme un outil efficace. Peu de recherches ont été menées sur les expériences …  Read more

This dissertation asserts a strong connection between democratic culture and the novel form in the period 1832--1867. As England debated constitutional reform and the extension of the franchise, novelists Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, and George Eliot endeavoured to define human communities on democratic terms. Drawing on work of contemporary political philosopher John Rawls to develop a methodology that considers constitutions and novelistic representations as analogous contexts for reasoning about shared political values and citizenship, this study provides readings of Bleak House, North and South, and Felix Holt that emphasize each novel's contribution to the period's ongoing deliberations about pluralism, justice, …  Read more

Introductory statement - Prospecting for ore minerals is often carried on by examining the bedrock at or very near the earth’s surface. The bedrock, however, over large areas of the earth, is covered by layers of material called overburden. It has been demonstrated that under certain conditions the bedrock can be examined indirectly by chemical analyses of the soils or plants covering it. Canada, particularly in the north, has large areas covered by deposits in the form of peat bogs or muskegs. The examination of bedrock under peat bogs or muskegs by chemical analyses has not been practised in Canada, …  Read more

Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation among 244 American shad (Alosa sapidissima) from 14 rivers spanning the (Florida-Quebec) range of the species revealed several unusual features of shad mtDNA polymorphism. Two types of heteroplasmy, one involving a length polymorphism and the other a restriction site are common in shad. The length polymorphism involves a novel tandem triplication of a 1.5-kb sequence in the D-loop region. Both forms of heteroplasmy stem from multiple mutational events. The mtDNA data indicate that shad populations are reproductively discrete, and suggest that differences in the reproductive traits of northern and southern shad populations have …  Read more

Fukada, Professor M.  Read more

This research seeks to explore and understand how planners in smaller Canadian municipalities inform their decision making relative to those in larger urban areas. The research applies behavioural psychology to understand how contextual cues affect heuristics rather than rely on the rational choice paradigm. I investigate what sources of information are most important to practitioners, how planning education programs prepare planners for professional practice, and what needs and constraints practitioners contend with. This research also provides a picture of what job duties planners hold and how these duties vary across the country. Most Canadian planning research and education focuses on …  Read more

En 1831, Henry Colburn et Richard Bentley ont publié une nouvelle édition révisée de Frankenstein de Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley comprenant une nouvelle introduction de l’auteure et l’image frontispice de Theodor von Holst. L’illustration de Holst constitue la première représentation visuelle publiée de Frankenstein et de sa Créature. Elle évoque de nombreux éléments découlant de l’histoire du roman quant à sa publication, au public et à la science. Cette thèse détermine comment l’illustration de Holst représente une époque particulière par l’examen des publications de Frankenstein, de son auteure, de son public, de ses précédents théâtraux et des notions de mélancolie romantique …  Read more

Two different modeling approaches to simulate pesticide fate and transport in soil were investigated in this study. First, a process-based mathematical model, DRAINMOD-P, was developed by combining the attractive features of DRAINMOD and PESTFADE. While DRAINMOD formed the main component to perform hydrological predictions, PESTFADE's pesticide sub-model was used to simulate pesticide fate. The new model was validated against three years of independently collected field data from southern Ontario. Several statistical parameters were calculated to evaluate model performance. Second, an implicit model, Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines, MARS, which is also a novel data mining tool, was used to assess pesticide …  Read more

Fazil' Iskander's Sandro iz Chegema, an eclectic compilation, reflects the diversity of its literary age. It compiles on the thematic, stylistic, and narrative levels, combining a surface conventionality with a potentially innovative disregard for the niceties of form. The first chapter retraces the piecemeal emergence of Sandro and the often contradictory critical response. The second focuses on the period's proclaimed goal of expanding into larger and ultimately epic forms. A compilative impulse based on recurrence and a quasi-oral tone is shown in the third to run throughout Iskander's work. Chapters Four and Five compare parallel cycles with Sandro to demonstrate …  Read more

Ce travail est une étude du mélange de scalaires passifs en écoulements turbulents. (Un scalaire est dit passif s'il n'exerce pas d'influence sur le champ de vitesse qui le transporte). Par exemple, nous considérons de faibles différences de température mélangées sont considérées au sein d'un écoulement turbulent d'air comme le scalaire passif. Nous sommes particulièrement intéressés par i) le nombre de Prandtl turbulent et ii) le rapport d'échelle des temps dynamique et thermique deux quantités utilisées pour la modélisation de scalaires passifs en écoulements turbulents. Ces deux quantités sont généralement considérées comme des constantes et déterminées à partir de résultats …  Read more

Objective. In order to prevent the last stages of chronic venous insufficiency of the lower limbs, a case-control study was performed to identify and quantify demographic and clinical risk factors for venous ulcer disease. A particular attention was given to history of superficial as well as deep vein thrombosis. Patients and method. Patients presenting to a participating vascular surgery department between January and December 1997 with a first open venous ulcer served as cases. Controls were sampled among patients with sub-acute conditions such as back pain, cold, headache/migraine, sore throat and mild ear infections and were matched on referral, age …  Read more

Understanding the biophysics of DNA and RNA at the single-molecule level is critical to advancing the fields of molecular biology, diagnostics, and pharmaceuticals, and developing new treatments for genetic disorders. Single-molecule microscopy techniques have generated new knowledge of the interactions between nucleic acids and proteins, drugs, and other nucleic acid molecules. However, these techniques have either limited observation times, are limited to low concentrations, or require molecular tethering. Recently, Convex Lens-induced Confinement (CLiC) has emerged to address these challenges. In CLiC, molecules are introduced between two glass surfaces that are gradually pressed together to confine molecules in a nanoscale gap …  Read more

Un autre essai sur la sempiternelle question de l'unite canadienne, deplorez-vous presentement. Pis encore, ajoutez-vous, on y aborde une fois de plus l'ennuyeuse et l'ennuyante problematique constitutionnelle. Et pourquoi l'auteur a-t-il choisi un tel sujet? Parce qu'il fait partie de la race des fatigants mais infatigables maniaques de cet incessant debat qu'est celui des Deux Solitudes? Possible. Surement meme. Mais il y a plus: le Renvoi relatif a la secession du Quebec ne represente pas qu'un simple episode de la saga constitutionnelle canadienne. Vraisemblablement, ces implications pratiques pourraient un jour sceller l'issue du debat. Certes, le mouvement separatiste quebecois, loin …  Read more