McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par B

McKergow, C. (Supervisors)  Read more

This dissertation seeks to contribute to the understanding of democratic "quality"---with particular reference to "Third Wave" democracies---by suggesting an evaluative and methodological tool: an examination of "stakeholder" institutions, which are understood to be institutionalized mechanisms for meaningful political participation. Beginning with the notion that political institutions make a difference in how politics is conducted, the thesis argues that "second tier" stakeholdership institutions---that is, institutions beyond voting and political party rules, such as public hearings, the formal inclusion of encompassing organizations in government decision-making, or public interest law---are extremely important in the deepening of democracy and the attainment of high-quality democracy. …  Read more

Proteins are indispensable in living matter. If compared with all other known substances of living organisms, the proteins occupy the largest space and mass, have the widest distribution and most complicated structure, and show the greatest variability in function. They are the main constituants of every cell. The cell sap and more solid structures, as the cell, nuclear and mitochondrial membranes, are mainly ccmposed of proteins and, to a large extent, they impose their physico-chemical properties on these structures. [...]  Read more

This study investigated trait and state aspects of the reduction of the P300 event-related potential component in schizophrenia in a prospective longitudinal design. Twelve patients and 12 healthy subjects underwent auditory and visual P300 tests on consecutive sessions at two month intervals. Patients had also PANSS symptom quantifications. The comparison between patients and healthy subjects revealed that the P300 reduction in patients is stable across sessions in the auditory modality thus representing a trait marker. The analysis of the relationships between symptoms and P300 showed that the frontal auditory P300 is negatively related to negative symptoms, whereas the posterior visual …  Read more

The fundamental properties of dust flame propagation have been studied experimentally and theoretically. Experiments were carried out in a Pyrex tube having a 5 cm inside diameter and a length of 1.2 meters. The dust dispersion system in the present experiment has been demonstrated to produce a laminar flow with uniform dust concentration. It is observed that the propagating flame exhibits a truly laminar character of propagation. Propagation and quenching of dust-air flames were measured for aluminum dust for a relatively wide range of dust concentration. It was observed that the process of the dust flame propagation in the tube …  Read more

This thesis bas for its subject the Anglo-French Military and Naval Staff Conversations. These "Conversations" consisted of direct verbal and written communications between the British and French War Offices and Admiralties, for the purpose of elaborating joint plans for possible armed co-operation both on land and on the seas, against an eventual German aggression. These Anglo-French Staff Conversations began in January, 1906, and continued right up to July, 1914. They were conducted under a veil of secrecy, and were formally revealed to the public only one day before Britain went to war.  Read more

This study examines two important influences that shape John Donne's "Holy Sonnets": The Ignatian meditative tradition and the devotional tradition of the psalm genre. It argues that their confluence in his sonnets gives rise to unique rhetorical structures and strategies that reflect the doctrinal uncertainties of his age.  Read more

Williams, David (Supervisor)  Read more

Hypoxia, a common feature of solid tumors, is typical of aggressive cancers and leads to poorer outcomes in radiation therapy and some types of chemotherapy. Imaging tumour hypoxia would, therefore, provide medical teams with important insights to tailor treatment approaches and improve outcomes. Magnetic ressonance imaging (MRI)-based oximetry with endogenous contrast relies on the sensitivity of the $R_2^*$ relaxation rate to changes in blood oxygenation and of the $R_1$ relaxation rate to changes in tissue oxygen.To this end, our group has proposed the use of the Fat DESPOT technique, a multiparametric model that simultaneously fits R2*, the R1 of fat, …  Read more

Le contrôle de la synthèse protéique ou traduction chez les eucaryotes est d'une importance capitale dans le maintien de l'homéostasie cellulaire et dans l'adaptation aux stimuli et stress environnementaux. La production de protéines fonctionnelles à partir d'ARN messagers est soumise à un fin contrôle et consiste en une succession d'étapes intégrées. C'est au cours de la première étape de la traduction, l'initiation, que la machinerie traductionnelle est recrutée au niveau de l'ARN messager. L'initiation est l'étape limitante du processus de synthèse. Au coeur du processus de régulation de l'initiation de la traduction se trouve les facteurs liant eIF4E, les 4E-BP. …  Read more

Sievers, Jonathan Le Roy (Supervisor)  Read more

Les aciers à haute résistance (HSS) sont des matériaux structuraux importants dans diverses applications industrielles. Malgré leur solidité exceptionnelle, ils sont hautement vulnérables à l'embrittlement par l'hydrogène (HE), un phénomène où l'hydrogène atomique diffuse dans le matériau, réduisant ductilité et résistance.La précipitation de carbures dans les HSS joue un rôle clé en renforçant le matériau et en réduisant la vulnérabilité à l'HE. Parmi les propriétés de ces carbures, les types et morphologies des carbures précipités influencent la résistance à l'HE. Notre étude des carbures se concentre sur deux points. D'abord, nous avons exploré certains types de carbures avec excellentes propriétés …  Read more

Testicular cancer (TC) is the most common cancer affecting men of reproductive age; however treatment with bleomycin, etoposide, and cis-platin (BEP) results in extremely high cure rates. The post-treatment quality of life of TC patients is therefore a major concern. The goal of this study was to determine the effects of BEP on sperm count, motility, and morphology in an animal model. Male Sprague Dawley rats were treated with BEP for 9 weeks. Rats were killed, and the numbers, motility, and morphology of the spermatozoa from the epididymides were analyzed. After BEP treatment, sperm counts decreased by almost 10-fold when …  Read more

Stream current, electro-osmotic flow, conductance, and permeability measurements were carried out on a cylindrical pads composed of different fibrous materials over a range of solid concentrations. The Z-potentials calculated from stream current and electro-osmotic measurements on the same pad were shown to be identical. Some deficiencies of the bubble flowmeter used to meaure the electro-osmotic flow were investigated and explained theoretically; a new type of flowmeter, free from these defects, was proposed.  Read more

In this thesis critical reflection is exposed to the epistemological critique directed by Michel Foucault against the human sciences in order to determine what grounds remain for a notion of the subject in communications theory. The Western heretical tradition of gnosis known asthe Hermetic tradition is discussed on the basis of the etymological relation of Hermes to hermeneutics. This relationship is examined in the context of a reflection on the political significance of heresy. The structure of the hermetic sign is discussed from the point of view of Neoplatonism which is taken to form part of the hermetic tradition. […]  Read more

Weichenthal, Scott Andrew (Supervisor2)  Read more

Exile is a recurring theme in the writing of Antoine de Saint-Exupery; this master's thesis examines three forms--physical, psychological, symbolic--this leitmotif takes. The first chapter includes a review of Exuperian criticism and a discussion of the concept of exile; it also outlines the three critical approaches which frame our study of exile in the second chapter. Our analysis of "physical" exile borrows from the sociohistorical approach of "exile literature" to examine the portrayal of aviation as a world apart in Terre des hommes and Vol de nuit. We turn to feminist rereadings of Lacanian psychoanalysis to assist us in addressing …  Read more

Terminal regions of chromosomes are frequently involved in structural chromosomal abnormalities and are prone to rearrangements. They are also gene rich, and have been shown to be associated with a number of clinical conditions. This study focuses on telomere-specific fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) probes. It addresses the technical aspects of their preparation and application, and examines whether FISH using these probes is a valuable tool for detection of aberrations in the terminal regions of chromosomes. A set of telomere specific probes was generated from half yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) and cosmid clones by DNA preparation via Alu-PCR, alkaline lysis, …  Read more

It has previously been demonstrated that a large percentage of in vitro generated human embryos are chromosomally mosaic. The current thesis investigated this mosaicism in greater detail. It characterized the mosaicism present at each stage of preimplantation development in vitro. It examined the relevance of the different forms of the observed mosaicism to preimplantation embryo wastage, implantation failure, and fetal and placental mosaicism. Finally, it addressed the identification of the chromosomally mosaic embryos during preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). For each of the studies presented within the thesis, blastomeres from "spare" in vitro generated embryos were assessed for chromosomal content using …  Read more

Ischemic stroke is a leading killer worldwide and the primary cause of disability in Canada caused by vessel occlusion from clots. Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) thrombolysis remains the only available effective treatment option and is limited by a short half-life of 4.5 minutes. With a therapeutic time window post-stroke of only 3 hours and its several contraindications, rtPA is limited to a select subpopulation of stroke patients. We investigated a novel nanocarrier fabricated from platelet membranes which were reassembled into monodisperse biomimetic nanoparticles (called cellsomes) loaded with rtPA as a potential treatment alternative. Leveraging the inherent interaction between platelet …  Read more

Hurtubise, Jacques (Supervisor)  Read more

De nos jours, les circuits deviennent de plus en plus complexes et le temps pour les tester continu d'augmenter. De ce fait, il devient de plus en plus primordial d'utiliser un mécanisme d’autotest qui sera intégré dans les circuits, afin que ceux-ci soient capables de s’assurer que leur fonctionnement est conforme à leurs fiches de données. Cette thèse introduit un instrument de probabilité qui utilise la technologie IBM CMOS 130 nm. Cet équipement permet une évaluation probabiliste en utilisant la fréquence d’erreurs binaires de l’appareil qui est sous test et ce, rapidement et facilement. L'instrument proposé ci-dessus peut être utilisée …  Read more

Herdt, L. (Supervisors)  Read more

Les jonctions communicantes consistent d'un hexamère de protéines nommées connexin qui sont impliquées dans la communication intercellulaire. Parmi les membres de la famille des connexins, Connexin 43 (Cx43) est celle dont l'expression cellulaire est la plus abondante. Tant au niveau de l'ARN qu'au niveau protéique, l'expression de Connexin 43 est déréglée dans la grande majorité des cancers. Les pseudo gènes sont des séquences dans le génome qui sont homologues à d'autres gènes. Ces pseudo gènes sont souvent considérés inactifs du à l'accumulation de mutations de changements de phases et/ou délétions. Le cadre ouvert de la lecture du pseudo gène de …  Read more

Image registration is widely used in the processing and analysis of clinical and research medical imaging tasks. However, validating and verifying nonlinear image registrations remains a challenging problem and limits its use in clinical settings. The field of registration error and confidence estimation provides a means to verify the result of image registration on a per-case basis. This field was objectively reviewed following PRISMA guidelines. Out of 570 potential records, twenty studies met our inclusion criteria. A taxonomy was developed to structure the field and enable comparison among its diverse algorithms. Trends, suggestions for best practices and opportunities for future …  Read more

Pehr, Kevin L (Supervisor2)  Read more

This thesis examines how the discipline of global health has understood colonialism and explores why it has led to inadequate understandings of what decolonization entails in global health. The current discourse on decolonizing global health relies on a conceptualization of colonialism that is too narrow. This thesis argues for an account of colonialism as a structural injustice, using Iris Marion Young’s framework. There are two consequences that adopting the structural account of colonialism could have for the decolonization movement in global health. Understanding colonialism as structural injustice would mean challenging the conceptualization of colonialism that is presented in the discourse, …  Read more

La barrière hémato-encéphalique (BHE) est une structure spécialisée qui restreint le passage des cellules sanguines et des molécules vers le parenchyme cérébral. L'accumulation péri vasculaire de leucocytes au sein du système nerveux central (SNC) et le dysfonctionnement de la BHE sont deux phénomènes caractéristiques qui accompagnent la formation des lésions observées chez les patients atteints de sclérose en plaques (SEP). Dans le but d'examiner les mécanismes que régulent la migration des cellules immunitaires dans le SNC, j'ai utilisé un modèle in vitro recréant plusieurs des caractéristiques de la BHE. Il s'agit de chambres de Boyden dans lesquelles des cellules endothéliales …  Read more

There is convincing behavioral evidence (see Glickman, 1961) that the formation of memory continues long after learning is complete. Some continuing process, which can be disrupted in many ways, serves as a precursor to more stable changes involved in memory storage. The nature of this continuing process has been controversial. Some investigators (Hebb, 1949) consider it to comprise reverberatory activity in closed neural circuits, while others believe it representa a transitory biochemical change. [...]  Read more

Recent electrophysiological studies of visual mechanisms in frogs have demonstrated that a high degree of selection of specific information occurs right at the retinal level (Barlow, 1953a and 1953b; Lettvin et al., 1959; Maturans et al., 1960). This research has important theoretical implications for the behavioral sciences, but there have been few systematic laboratory studies of the effects of specific visual stimuli on amphibian behavior. It has long been assumed that the retina transduces visual information into nerve impulse patterns, and that a faithful replica of the visual world is transmitted to the brain, where all information processing is believed …  Read more

Lanthanide-doped upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) can absorb and convert low energy photons into higher energy photons in a process known as upconversion. UCNPs have unique physico-chemical properties that are ideal for biomedical and theranostics applications. When irradiated with near-infrared light, our UCNPs emit in the UV and visible part of the spectrum. To date, the use of UCNPs in living cells has been limited because of the poor understanding of their bio-nano interactions. To begin to fill this knowledge gap, our research focuses on the effects of LiYF4 nanoparticles doped with the lanthanides thulium and ytterbium on nuclear homeostasis.Cell toxicity, stress …  Read more

Siddiqi, Kaleem (Internal/Supervisor)  Read more

Les neurones dopaminergiques du mésencéphale (DAm) ont été impliqués dans des désordres neurologiques et la maladie de Parkinson (MP), cette dernière étant caractérisée par la dégénérescence progressive de sous-populations particulières de neurones DAm. Par exemple, les neurones DAm de la partie ventrale de la substance noire (vSNc) et une faible proportion de ceux de l’aire tegmentée (VTA) montrent une tendance élevée pour la dégénérescence dans les patients typiques de la MP et certains modèles animaux, tandis que les sous-populations de neurones DAm dans la partie dorsale de la SNc (dSNc) et celles du VTA sont généralement plus résistantes. La base …  Read more

La poésie de Christina Rossetti est pleine d’images d’oiseaux, notamment dans son œuvre célèbre, Goblin Market (1862), un poème soulignant le pouvoir de l’amour entre soeurs. La nature salvatrice de la sororité exposée dans ce poème apparaît ailleurs dans l’œuvre de Rossetti; je soutiens que Rossetti transmet sa conception de la sororité à travers le mythe classique de Procné et Philomèle, deux sœurs qui se transforment en oiseaux lorsqu’elles s’échappent vers la liberté.Mon premier chapitre explore les nombreux facteurs influençant le vocabulaire de Rossetti sur les oiseaux en tant que figures fraternelles, en s’appuyant sur des comptines d’enfance et sur …  Read more

In the first part, we study amalgams of relatively hyperbolic groups and also therelatively quasiconvex subgroups of such amalgams. We prove relative hyperbolicityfor a group that splits as a finite graph of relatively hyperbolic groups with parabolicedge groups; this generalizes a result proved independently by Dahmani, Osin andAlibegovic. More generally, we prove a combination theorem for a group that splitsas a finite graph of relatively hyperbolic groups with total, almost malnormal andrelative quasiconvex edge groups. Moreover, we provide a criterion for detectingquasiconvexity of subgroups in relatively hyperbolic groups that split as above. As anapplication, we show local relative quasiconvexity of …  Read more

This is a study in comparative animal morphology. The method used is entirely descriptive, and most of the conclusions cannot be tested experimentally. The validity of these conclusions for any particular reader must, therefore, depend upon the degree to which the evidence and reasoning impress him as adequate and logical. To assist the reader in thus assessing the conclusions and suggestions that are presented, l will attempt to outline, as briefly as possible, the point of view from which the study was carried out.  Read more

This thesis is about a problem of interest to reading theorists, psychological anthropologists and cultural studies researchers alike: why we find some narratives, plots, and images compelling and what this phenomenon can tell us about the cultural bases of human motivation. Gesturing to the interdependence of emotion, cognition, and motivation, the notion of the '(dis)positioned self' is proposed as a conceptual tool by which to address how motivation is both acquired and expressed in the way the self as 'feeling-mind' reads, that is, negotiates an interpretation of the signifying systems of a text to render it personally meaningful. (Dis)position allows …  Read more

The most ordinary man or woman has means of knowledge concerning his own feelings and circumstances that immeasurably surpass those that anyone else can have.-John Stuart Mill, On Liberty One feature that varies within competing conceptions of medical shared decision-making is how a patient's values are to be engaged by a physician. One detail that can be overlooked under "shared" decision-making is whether or not a physician ought (or be allowed) to attempt to persuade the patient to adopt particular health-related values. Some argue that it is incumbent on a physician to share her privileged understanding of medicine so as …  Read more

Le fer est impliqué dans des processus cellulaires vitaux comme la production d'énergie et la synthèse de l'ADN. Malgré son importance, l'excès de fer a également des propriétés toxiques car il peut catalyser la production d'espèces réactives de l'oxygène à l'origine de lésions et de maladies tissulaires. Ainsi, tant la carence que la surcharge en fer sont préjudiciables à la cellule, d'où l'importance d'une régulation rigoureuse. L'hémojuveline (Hjv) est un corécepteur de la protéine morphogénétique osseuse (BMP) qui renforce l'expression de l'hepcidine par la cascade de signalisation BMP/SMAD. L'inactivation génétique de Hjv ou de l'hepcidine entraîne une surcharge en fer …  Read more

Philippe Archambault (Internal/Supervisor)  Read more

Glomerular epithelial cells (GECs) are intrinsic components of the kidney glomerulus and are in contact with extracellular matrix (ECM). Under normal conditions, there is little turnover of GECs, but in glomerular injury, apoptosis and proliferation of GECs, and expansion of ECM may lead to sclerosis and impaired glomerular function and/or permselectivity. In order to better understand how adhesion to ECM modulates GEC survival and proliferation, we monitored the activation of the intracellular signaling pathways activated by adhesion to ECM (collagen), along with their coordinate modulation of the growth factor signaling pathways. Adhesion to collagen resulted in the activation of a …  Read more

Brawley, Mark R. (Supervisor)  Read more

The first part of the thesis discusses about the fatty acid composition of bovine milk fat. One morning milk sample was collected from each of 3185 dairy cows between February and June 2010 from 52 commercial herds enrolled in the Quebec Dairy Production Centre of Expertise, Valacta. Individual fatty acid percentages (g/100g of total fatty acids) were determined for each sample by gas chromatography. After necessary editing, final data included 2573 cows representing 46 herds. The objectives of the first study were to study the effects of parity, age at calving and stage of lactation on fatty acid composition of …  Read more