McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par B

Chronic pain, affecting over 20% of the population, places a substantial burden on both individual patients and society as a whole. Unfortunately, current pharmacological treatments have limited efficacy and are often riddled with side effects. However, it is important to acknowledge that pain is a subjective experience that arises from the brain and not necessarily from the body. It is therefore crucial to understand how brain activity may relate to pain and pain-related behavior in the absence of sensory input. Across three laboratory studies, this doctoral thesis will explore two key aspects of the intricate connection between pain and brain …  Read more

This dissertation is a study of the first three plays that Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote for the operatic stage: Iphis and La Decouverte du nouveau monde, both examples of the genre tragedie lyrique, and Les Muses galantes, an opera-ballet. Semiotic and poetic analyses bring to light striking resemblances between the dramatic situations depicted in the operas and the personal drama of the young Rousseau in love. As a whole, the operas reveal two distinct portraits of the self in love. The first, painted in colours of passion, reveals a self implicated in triangular relationships that are resolved through the abnegation of …  Read more

The unusual ability of absolute pitch (AP) affords us the opportunity to study a circumscribed behaviour which can be clearly operationalized and requires complex cognitive function in its execution. It serves as a model for a number of perceptual and mnemonic functions as well as developmental interactions between biological predispositions and specific training. This dissertation focuses mainly on the elucidation of its neural substrates. The work is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 reviews and criticises what is known about the developmental, behavioural, anatomical and functional characteristics of AP. Chapter 2 describes the design and implementation of a computerized test …  Read more

Studies of sexual dimorphism in the corpus callosum (CC) have employed a variety of methodologies for measurement and normalization but have yielded disparate results. The present work demonstrates how in some cases different manipulations of the same raw data, corresponding to different commonly used methodologies, produce discordant results. Midsagittal CC area was measured from magnetic resonance images (MRIs) of 137 young normal volunteers. Three strategies intended to normalize for average differences in brain size between the sexes, as well as five different normalization variables, were contrasted and evaluated. The stereotaxic method normalizes for inter-subject differences in overall brain size by …  Read more

Healy, Luke (Supervisor2)  Read more

Synaptic connections that underlie memory in the brain must balance between long-term stability and plasticity. Maintenance of stable long-term memories is an active process that requires the persistent activity of the protein kinase C isoform, PKMzeta. However, memories can become temporarily unstable and plastic. After recall, memory destabilization renders memories labile for a few hours before they re-stabilize through the process of reconsolidation. What happens to maintenance processes, and PKMzeta in particular, during this period of lability and how they are restored during reconsolidation is not known. In Chapter 2, we studied whether memory destabilization leads to a loss of …  Read more

Le secteur en croissance constante des technologies de l'information et des communications (TIC) répond aux exigences de plus en plus élevées du trafic et de la vitesse de l’Internet. Cela a entraîné une croissance accélérée des interconnexions optiques qui évoluent constamment pour répondre aux demandes de dispositifs plus rapides, moins chers, plus économes en énergie et plus durables. La technologie de la photonique sur silicium (SiP) peut répondre à ces demandes. Elle exploite le flux de processus de fabrication de métal-oxyde-semi-conducteur complémentaire (CMOS) mature pour produire des solutions rentables. Récemment, de nouvelles techniques ont été intégrées dans la conception de …  Read more

Sustainable production of cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) in Quebec fields requires the adoption of best management practices. A promising approach is the application of biochar combined with beneficial microbes as soil amendment, leading to a faster establishment of cranberry fields and reduced use of agrichemicals. This study was undertaken in order to determine whether the application of maple bark biochar amended with selected plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) would stimulate vegetative growth of “Stevens” cranberry cuttings under controlled growth bed conditions and also to evaluate biochar effect on microbial populations present in the potting mix. Biochar was added at 1% (w/w) …  Read more

Nous sommes (en tant qu'adultes anglophones ou francophones) sensibles à l'organisation des séquences sonores (contraintes phonotactiques) de notre langue, de telle sorte que « dappe » nous semble être un meilleur mot potentiel en français que « dah » (avec le son H prononcé pleinement à la fin du mot). Les 3 manuscrits présentés dans cette thèse explorent la façon dont les contraintes phonotactiques sont représentées – spécifiquement, en explorant si les contraintes phonotactiques peuvent être représentées relativement à la syllabe (le son P peut terminer la syllabe, mais H non) et/ou aux co-occurrences sonores (les sons A et P …  Read more

Opposition parties usually maintain that provincial control of public finance is inefficient and undemocratic. The accession to power of the Liberals in 1960 seemed to be an appropriate occasion to examine whether or not this assertion was valid. To confirm or to invalidate assertions, by research, written evidence, and figures, is one of the many calls of Political Science. [...]  Read more

Background. Worldwide, the incidence of Crohn's Disease (CD) has been rising in the last thirty years. It has no known causal factor, and remains incurable today. Using a hospital registry of French Canadian CD patients, a case-control study was undertaken in 1989 to assess potential risk factors for CD. Methods. 49 CD cases and 48 controls (healthy family members) answered a food frequency questionnaire that referred to dietary exposure at the time of CD diagnosis. Results. CD patients were younger than family controls: 35 years vs. 41 years (p = 0.001). They also had more years of schooling (8.0 years …  Read more

The process of combustion may be regarded as an exothermic chemical reaction which tends to accelerate and is accompanied by flame. The rate at which it proceeds depends on several factors, the most significant probably being the temperature, for a combustible mixture will not usually burn unless the temperature is raised to a critical value (other factors constant). Closely associated with “spontaneous ignition temperature”, as it is called, is the phenomenon of ignition delay, which represents the time interval between the attainment of conditions suitable for combustion and the onset of ignition.  Read more

This investigation deals with the possibility of local failure in 4" aluminum I beams due to insufficient bearing area at end reactions and includes an investigation of the column theory of such failure. A comparison is made between the failure of two types of aluminum alloy, 17-ST and 65-ST. The application and determination of design formulae to determine the width of bearing necessary is explained and demonstrated for the 4” I beam.  Read more

The need for selective and inexpensive detectors in liquid chromatography is of considerable interest in the determination of sulfur compounds. Of the available-selective sulfur methodologies, flame photometric detector coupled to gas chromatography is the most widely used. It has proven to be a sensitive and selective method for detection of heat stable and volatile sulfur compounds. Fundamentally, this technique is not applicable to high boiling and/or thermolabile sulfur compounds. More recently, hyphenated flame photometric detector has been utilized, with limited success, to monitor sulfur species in liquid chromatography. However, existing HPLC-FPD methodologies have never been applied to real samples, due …  Read more

Une production plus élevée d'espèces réactives de l'oxygène (ROS) augment la durée de vie de C. elegans. Cependant, tous les mutants qui ont une production accrue de ROS n'ont pas une augmentation de leur durée de vie. Pour mon project de doctorat, je me suis intéressée à l'utilisation de dépistages génétiques en utilisant la méthode d'interférence par l'ARN (RNAi pour étudier les processus et les voies de signalisations qui détermine les effets des ROS sur la durée de vie de C. elegans. Pour ce faire, plusieurs approches ont été adoptées. L'une a consisté à utiliser des données préalables de 'gene …  Read more

In Norway, 65% of agricultural soils are under grassland that receives high N inputs from manure and mineral fertilizers each year and are expected to be an important source of N₂O from denitrification. The objectives of this thesis were to quantify the N₂O emissions, denitrification potential and N₂O:(N₂+N₂O) ratio of grassland soils from Western Norway and to relate these measures of N₂O production to soil physico-chemical properties and climate. During a two-year field experiment, there was relatively little N₂O emitted (fluxes did not exceed 200 μg N₂O-N m-2 h-1) from grassland receiving manure and mineral fertilizers. The N₂O fluxes were …  Read more

La synthèse du DNA dans les noyaux isolés de cellules Hela, préalablement synchronisées par la technique du détachement sélectif des cellules en mitoses, est étudiée. Il est trouvé que seuls les noyaux obtenus de cellules en phase S sont capables de synthétiser du DNA lorsqu'ils sont incubés à 37°C en présence de leur cytoplasme, de Déoxiribonucléos ide triphosphate. D'adénosine-triphosphate (ATP) et de chlorure de Magnésium. La synthèse de DNA observée dans les noyaux de cellules en phase S n'est pas dûe à un mécanisme de réparation mais est la conséquence d'une réplication. Cette synthèse de DNA dépend uniquement du cytoplasme …  Read more

This study of migration of workers from Quebec to Northeastern Ontario, based on a survey of 362 migrants in the Hearst area, analyzes how the autonomy of the social actor is intertwined with the constraints of structural factors. To accomplish this, two methods of analysis have been linked: the model of microeconomic equilibrium with the historical-structural perspective. A perceived opportunity for economic improvement can be identified as the primary cause provoked by development differentials on a regional scale. Quebec's economic history--distinguished by the dual development of industry and agriculture, as well as relative overpopulation, sustained by a religious ideology pertaining …  Read more

Dans le domaine de l'optomécanique, les forces de rayonnement sont utilisées pour créer et contrôler de nouveaux types de systèmes mécaniques à très haute sensibilité, allant des atomes et nanoparticules en lévitation aux observatoires d'ondes gravitationnelles de kilomètres de long en passant par des porte-à-faux à l'échelle du micron. L'interaction entre la pression de rayonnement et le mouvement mécanique donne également accès à divers régimes, notamment le refroidissement à l'état fondamental, la lévitation optique, la génération d'états non classiques de lumière et de matière et le transfert d'informations quantiques entre des photons d'énergies très différentes. Dans ce domaine, notre groupe …  Read more

Plusieurs poursuites dans le domaine de l'optomécanique reposent sur un objet qui est à la fois mécaniquement docile et hautement réfléchissant afin qu'il puisse être fortement influencé par la pression de radiation exercée par la lumière. Ces exigences vont typiquement l'une à l'encontre de l'autre, mais en principe il est possible de les satisfaire conjointement en fabriquant une membrane percée par un cristal photonique. En définissant une maille de trous de l'ordre de la longueur d'onde dans une membrane de nitrure de silicium dont l'épaisseur est de 100 nm, nous pouvons simultanément réduire sa masse, accroître sa flexibilité, et réaliser …  Read more

The objective of the thesis was to investigate the effects of nonionic surfactants on the dissolution and biodegradation of polycyclic aromatics hydrocarbons (PAHs) from a multicomponent non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs). The extent of solubilization of the PAHs in the surfactant micelles increased linearly with the PAH mole fraction in the NAPL. The micelle-water equilibrium partition coefficient of both PAHs was found to increase with the size of the polar shell region of the micelle rather than the hydrophobic core of the micelle and the presence of PAHs in the shell region of the micelles was confirmed by 1H-NMR analysis. Competitive …  Read more

This thesis undertakes a critical assessment of a very topical and highly debated question in the development of EU competition law: does the European Merger Control Regulation apply to concentrations that result in collective (or joint respectively oligopolistic) dominance? And, if so, under what conditions? The study suggests that the Merger Control Regulation does, indeed, cover cases of collective dominance. It recommends, however, that a proposed transaction should only be blocked on grounds of collective dominance if it raises substantive doubts that the transaction will create an anti-competitive market structure (like, for example, the Gencor/Lonrho case). Should the doubts not …  Read more

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is among the most common chronic seizure disorders, accounting for approximately one-fourth of all cases of epilepsy. Although hippocampal sclerosis is the most common pattern of damage in TLE, there is electrophysiological and neuropathological evidence in both humans and animal models of this condition for the involvement of the parahippocampal region. In clinical practice, the investigation and treatment of patients with epilepsy has been revolutionized by the advent of MRI, which has been demonstrated to be a reliable and accurate indicator of pathologic findings underlying epilepsy. Advances in image acquisition and processing techniques combined with detailed …  Read more

La transcriptase inverse (RT) du virus de l'immunodéficience humaine-1 (VIH-1) possède une activité de polymérase dépendante d’ADN et d’ARN, ainsi qu’une activité de RNase H. L’enzyme demeure une cible importante dans la création de médicaments antirétroviraux; par contre, l’émergence de clones viraux résistant aux inhibiteurs approuvés de la RT complique la gestion thérapeutique de la maladie. Ceci a poussé la communauté scientifique à poursuivre le développement de nouveaux inhibiteurs qui ne sont pas affectés par les mutations de résistance classiques. Dans cette thèse, trois différents types structurels d’inhibiteurs de l’activité polymérase de la RT, chacun possédant un méchanisme d’action différent, …  Read more

Concern exists that individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have increased susceptibility to cancer compared with the general population. My thesis contains five chapters, each presenting a different perspective on the issue of cancer in SLE. Although past literature has suggested an increased risk of cancer in SLE, conclusions from earlier studies were not uniform. I review this earlier data in the first chapter of my thesis. The absence of adequate data regarding malignancy risk in SLE meant that a large, multicentre effort was needed. We have recently completed this multi-centre cohort study, comparing cancer risk in SLE relative to …  Read more

Objectives. (1) To estimate cancer incidence in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) as compared to the general population. (2) To estimate the sensitivity and specificity of methods of cancer ascertainment. (3) To determine the prevalence of malignancy risk factors in SLE. Methods. (1) We determined the incidence of malignancy in the Montreal General Hospital (MGH) lupus cohort, through linkage with the Quebec tumor registry. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRS) were generated, using Quebec population rates. In addition, a meta-analysis was performed by pooling data from eight cohort studies of malignancy in SLE. (2) We administered a postal survey to cohort members to …  Read more

Effective dynamic virtual-machine optimization depends on quickly finding and optimizing frequently-executed code regions. Such regions are naturally represented with a trace-cache, a collection of long, frequently-executed sequences of instructions. An ideal trace-cache is small and captures the majority of the program's execution stream, yet consists of traces large enough to allow for useful inter-bytecode optimizations and improve instruction-fetch performance. This thesis describes an efficient dynamic technique for finding and constructing such traces. Our trace caching algorithm relies on three innovative techniques: profiling data is managed with the Branch Implication Graph(BI-Graph) data structure, decomposing the program into small, independent, tree-like components …  Read more

We review several properties of string theory and introduce the Brandenberger-Vafa mechanism. This mechanism uses the intrinsic properties of strings to explain why only three of the nine spatial dimensions (ten in the context of M-theory) predicted by string theory are observable. We develop two methods used to verify the BV mechanism and later employ these methods to corroborate previous findings.  Read more

This thesis comprises several manuscripts, each exploring aspects of the dynamics of the early Universe. The foundations of the work presented lies in the realm of cosmology, but draws heavily on string theory as a source of guidance. The thesis commences with a motivation for the research and provides an introduction to the contemporary views of Cosmology: following a historical perspective of cosmology, we motivate the inflationary paradigm of Big Bang Cosmology, and introduce several world-views promoted by string theory. The string-motivated models will address shortcomings of cosmologies based on General Relativity and the Standard Model, and will provide a …  Read more

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other gender and sexual minority (LGBTQ+ or collectively referred to as queer for this thesis) communities have historically resisted systemic oppression through social and community support. Such support has been shown to buffer against LGBTQ+ health disparities such as depression, anxiety, and suicidality. Although queer populations generally report higher rates of substance use than heterosexual and cisgender individuals, the relationship between social and community support and queer substance use remains poorly understood. This dissertation addresses this gap by exploring how queer individuals define, access, and experience social and community support in relation to substance …  Read more

Neda Ladbon-Bernasconi (Supervisor2)  Read more

Bell, Graham (Supervisor)  Read more

An essential and critical component of the orders German front-line formations received in the ideological war against the Soviet Union was the Commissar Order of 6 June 1941. This order, issued by the High Command of the Armed Forces prior to the German invasion of the Soviet Union, required that front-line military formations, as well as SS and police units attached to the Army, immediately execute Soviet political commissars among prisoners of war. Soviet political commissars were attached to the Red Army at virtually every operational level, and were viewed by both Hitler and the High Command as the foremost …  Read more

A critical culture requires that the site of appearance, the temporal coincidence of the subject, the object and the site, be acknowledged as a ground for meaning. Through a built investigation and a theoretical address this thesis examines the site of appearance for contemporary creative practice; the extent to which it continues to be defined by and contained within the conceptual frame of the Enlightenment aesthetic as the privileged discourse of the object. In a detailed analysis of the architecture of the exhibition, the 18th century Academy Salon and the Parisian bourgeois hotel are juxtaposed with examples from the late …  Read more

This thesis examines the value attributed to the active life in the third canticle of Dante’s Comedy. In both the Christian and the secular context, the active life is often seen as inferior and subordinate to the contemplative life, with an emphasis on its ephemerality, humanness, and earthliness. The reading of the Paradise developed here highlights the relationship between divine and human affairs, between heaven and earth, and between the contemplative and active life. Events in time are not so much undermined by eternity as they are legitimized by it: this is one of the central pillars of the education …  Read more

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) recruits two molecules of the liver-specific microRNA-122 (miR-122) to two adjacent sites (S1 and S2) located at the 5′ end of the viral RNA genome. This interaction promotes viral RNA accumulation, but the precise mechanism(s) remain incompletely understood. Previous studies suggest that miR-122 is able to protect the HCV genome from 5′ exonucleases (Xrn1/2), but this protection is not sufficient to account for the effect of miR-122 on HCV RNA accumulation. Results also suggest that sequences in the 3′ tail of miR-122 may mediate important interactions that are involved in HCV RNA accumulation, but are not …  Read more

Les pathologies lombaires, y compris la lombalgie, sont des troubles musculo-squelettiques très répandus qui représentent un fardeau important pour les individus, les industries et les gouvernements. Une grande partie de la population souffre de limitations dans ses activités quotidiennes en raison de douleurs lombaires, et les problèmes mécaniques tels que l’instabilité de la colonne vertébrale sont largement reconnus comme un facteur contributif majeur.Les travaux de recherche récents se concentrent sur le développement d’exosquelettes permettant de faciliter les tâches de levage. Cependant, ces technologies sont souvent encombrantes, complexes à utiliser et peu abordables pour grand public. De plus, leur efficacité à …  Read more

The ever-increasing demand for bandwidth places a more stringent demand on the interconnections within electronic systems. Free space optical interconnection (FSOI) is a technology that satisfies the bandwidth requirements of newer systems. The development of the Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL), which provides high yields and low cost makes FSOI possible. However, the packaging and alignment of opto-electronic components still dominate the manufacturing costs. A solution to the problem of alignment is to use spatial redundancy. One way to accomplish this is by increasing the number of possible optical links and using only a subset of those links to …  Read more

This thesis is concerned with the poetics of impoverishment as found in the works of Saint-Denys Garneau and Samuel Beckett. It seeks to shed light on the reactivation of a Christian ascetic heritage within modern writing forms (poetic and narrative) and also, more specifically, to develop a novel analysis of these works from the perspective of their points of overlap. This thesis presents analysis of the relationships between voice and body (part I), of the doppelganger and self-generation figures (part II), of prayer, desert and image motifs (part III) throughout the totality of both corpuses. The comparative reading of the …  Read more

The mass flow event resulting from the 1996 flood in the Saguenay region buried the mercury-contaminated indigenous sediments at the head of the Saguenay Fjord under up to 50 cm of postglacial deltaic sediments. This study investigated whether this deposit served as an efficient geochemical barrier to the remobilization of mercury and its availability to the benthic organisms. The vertical distributions of total mercury and methyl mercury (MeHg) in the sediments and pore waters were measured in box cores recovered at three stations along the main axis of the Saguenay Fjord and in the Baie des Ha!Ha!, in successive years …  Read more

This essay focuses on the moral aspect of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's political thought. It constitutes an extensive review and analysis of his work in the field of literature as well as social and political criticism. The first part deals with Solzhenitsyn's critique of Marxism, which remained for many years the main target of his attacks. The second part looks at Solzhenitsyn's historical analysis of the Soviet Communist experience. Subsequently, the essay examines the critique of the West expressed by the Russian writer during his exile in Europe and America. The last part deals with Solzhenitsyn's perception of post-Communism Russia and some …  Read more

Venturia inaequalis, the causal agent of apple scab, overwinters in apple leaves on the orchard floor. To develop a control strategy based on the prevention of the maturation of overwintering pseudothecia, a sampling of fungi colonizing dead apple leaves was conducted from different orchard floors in Quebec during the spring and fall of 1993. A total of 345 different isolates were obtained, from which fifteen genera have never been previously recorded as colonizers of apple leaves in North America. Small differences were detected in genera richness among orchards but the fungal composition of each orchard was fairly unique. Different tests …  Read more