McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par B

Cette thèse étudie les propriétés d'une interconnexion hiérarchique composée d'anneaux unidirectionnels. La topologie d'anneaux hiérarchique possède plusieurs caractéristiques souhaitables pour être utilisée comme interconnexion pour réseau-sur-puce (NoC). En premier lieu, la structure unidirectionnelle des anneaux sert à réduire la complexité de routage, ce qui implique une diminution de l'importance des mémoires tampon requises et économise l'énergie consommée par l'interconnexion. En second lieu, les faibles temps de latences et d'horloge système élevé résultent de la simplicité logique de chaque routeur. Finalement, la structure de l'interconnexion facilite une partition où chaque anneau appartient à son propre domaine contrôlé par une horloge individuelle, …  Read more

After promoting in the 1970s a more egalitarian international trade system, developing countries abandoned the prospects of finding an alternative route to their development and have massively participated in the Uruguay Round. Results have been disappointing, and developing countries, particularly in the Latin American-Caribbean (LAC) region, are now also pursuing economic integration at the regional level. The 1990s have in fact been characterised by the general revival of regionalism, a trend considered by many legal scholars and economists as dangerous for multilateralism. The debate is ongoing, and the WTO is currently attempting to better monitor the impacts of regionalism. In …  Read more

Following on recent interests in social sciences for the development of aquaculture and the alternative management of fisheries, this study shows how the analysis of social and knowledge relations among State-managers, fisheries scientists and local producers helps to better understand the issues at stake in the development and management of coastal resources, and therefore to better identify if a specific cultural setting is suited or not, under its current conditions, for the implementation of a shared management of resources between the State and local organizations. An examination of the recent evolution of the Mexican fisheries sector indicates that the political …  Read more

The nature of the gold-sulfur bonds in organosulfur compounds chemisorbed on gold surfaces have been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The organosulfur compounds form self assembled monolayers (SAMs) on planar gold and gold nanoparticles. Although these SAMs have been widely studied, the details of the goldsulfur bonding are still obscure. XPS demonstrates that Au(O) can be distinguished from Au(I) and that the surface gold bonded to SAM cannot be distinguished from bulk gold because of surface physics and resolution issues. 2D and 3D SAMs exhibit the same XPS spectra and the sulfur in these SAMs is shown to have …  Read more

RésuméContexte. L'implication des patients dans les soins de santé peut leur permettre de jouer un rôle actif dans leur traitement, d'améliorer leur compréhension des décisions médicales et de favoriser une meilleure communication avec les prestataires de soins de santé, ce qui améliore en fin de compte l'adhésion au traitement, les résultats et la satisfaction. Afin de renforcer l'engagement des patients dans le cadre du programme péri-opératoire (PPO), nous avons élaboré (avec les patients) un document invitant les patients à décrire leurs objectifs préopératoires et leur importance. Nous avons exploré les questions de recherche suivantes: (1) Quels sont les objectifs des …  Read more

In this thesis, we addressed different issues related to drug exposure as it may bear on the estimates of risk in the context of hypertension treatment. A cohort of 19,501 subjects initiating therapy for uncomplicated hypertension was identified from Saskatchewan Health databases. In a first study aimed at documenting the equivalence of the angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, we found that medical visits and hospitalizations following treatment initiation were lower among patients initially dispensed enalapril and lisinopril relative to captopril. Baseline characteristics could not be ruled out as possible explanations but variability in the outcomes suggest that ACE inhibitors may not be …  Read more

Circulation and mixing processes in the St. Lawrence Estuary are examined using both newly acquired and historical observations, as well as numerical modeling. In the Summer of 1997 a field experiment was undertaken to verify the prediction of a three-dimensional numerical model on the occurrences of shear instabilities within the upper estuary. The instabilities were found as predicted and documented from acoustic imaging, current profiler and density measurements. The instabilities, as in the case of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, first develop in the form of wavelike disturbances before they break. The unstable waves have wavelength of around 140--150 m and a vertical …  Read more

Contexte : Environ un milliard de personnes vivent dans les régions arides et semi-arides, et 40% d’entre eux vivent avec moins d’un dollar par jour. Les cultures de légumineuses sont une part importante de l’agriculture durable, mais ces cultures sont souvent produites dans des conditions de sécheresse intermittente ou terminale. Améliorer la tolérance des légumineuses à la sécheresse peut donc augmenter la sécurité alimentaire et la durabilité des systèmes agricoles. Objectif : Cette étude compare la réponse de deux légumineuses, le haricot commun (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) et le haricot doré (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek), lors de conditions de stress hydrique …  Read more

Tremblay, Bruno (Supervisor1)  Read more

In the past 20 years, boron has been identified as an essential trace element for animals and humans but also as an increasingly important industrial pollutant. We examined first whether boron influenced survival of the gastrointestinal nematode Heligmosomoides bakeri. Female Balb/c mice were fed deficient (0.1 mug B/g), marginal (2.0 mug B/g) or control (12.0 mug B/g) diets, and infected with third-stage larvae. Although liver boron concentrations did not differ among diet groups, dietary boron deficiency impaired survival of the parasite and modulated a broad range of cytokines and chemokines. On the other hand, infection history altered liver mineral concentrations. …  Read more

Objectives. Explore and describe the impact of premature life-threatening illness, stigma, multiple loss of significant others, decreased vocational choice and mobility and decreased financial security among young gay men living with AIDS. It was hypothesized that young gay men with AIDS and the elderly experience similar physical, social, and psychological changes, but the cognitive adaptation to these changes are hindered by the non-normative timing of these events. Methods. Thirty-two self-identified gay men with AIDS between the ages of 22 to 44 years were recruited from an out-patient clinic in Montreal. These participants were asked to complete a comprehensive questionnaire, which …  Read more

The works of Lewis Carroll show an abiding interest on the part of the author in the relationship between education, language and authority. In particular, the Alices are the story of a young girl who must learn to deal with a variety of characters in dream-worlds where the power of language reigns. It is therefore necessary for Alice to learn how language is used for authoritarian purposes and to discover ways of defending herself against it. It is the purpose of this thesis to investigate, in many cases for the first time, the ways in which Alice is able to …  Read more

This thesis examines the unforeseen, sudden, and lengthy success of Monique Leyracʼs musical theatre production Monique Leyrac chante Nelligan. Premiered in December 1974 at a time of heightened nationalist sentiment amongst Québecʼs francophone population, the show quickly sold out throughout its initial run, leading to subsequent runs, tours and revivals. This thesis searches for the presence of nationalist content in both the show and the work and identity of its central focus, 19th-century francophone Québec poet Émile Nelligan, and questions whether this nationalist content may have contributed to the pronounced success of Monique Leyrac chante Nelligan. This thesis argues as …  Read more

La grossesse augmente le risque de développer des troubles respiratoires du sommeil (TRS) chez la femme. Les comorbidités et les changements hormonaux/physiologiques associés à la grossesse, notamment la prise de poids, sont soupçonnés d'être responsables du développement des troubles respiratoires du sommeil pendant la grossesse. Ces TRS ont été associés à l'apparition de troubles hypertensifs de la grossesse (THG), tels que la prééclampsie (PrE), qui peuvent avoir des effets graves sur la mère et le fœtus. De nombreux efforts ont été déployés pour developer des outils de dépistage efficacies et capables de prédire l'apparition de ces troubles. Une méthode potentielle …  Read more

Three adult ESL students in a private setting participated in this case study, which investigated the effects of teaching students through strategy instruction, to adopt learning strategies that matched their individual learning style. I designed the training to draw attention to 16 learning strategies, that learners could chose from, according to their VARK (visual, aural, read and write, kinesthetic) profile. Instruction was provided in the context of an intermediate level 1 class, for a weekly three hour class. The focus of the study was to gain knowledge of cognition, metacognition and apply that knowledge to the use of personalised learning …  Read more

L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) remains the most effective treatment for Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, chronic administration of L-DOPA leads to the emergence of motor complications such as dyskinesia in the vast majority of patients. Serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor blockade is a validated approach to alleviate dyskinesia, but its effectiveness appears to be of limited magnitude. Recently, we have demonstrated that activation of metabotropic glutamate 2 (mGlu2) receptors reduce dyskinesia in the 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned rat. Based on the fact that 5-HT2A and mGlu2 receptors form a functional hetero-complex, we hypothesised that combining EMD-281,014, the most selective 5-HT2A antagonist commercially available with LY-354,740, a …  Read more

Le thème de la nature n'est pas né au XVIIIe siècle. De tout temps l'homme a ete plus ou moins sensible à l'univers qui l'entoure. Plus il est cultivé. Plus il y voit de mystère, de poésie et de religion. On a vu confirmer cette théorie dans la vie quotidienne. Le sauvage ne s' attache pas aux détails de la nature. au murmure du ruisseau, au bruissement des feuilles, mais tout primitif qu'il soit, il ne demeurera pas insensible devant l'océan en furie. Son âme se soulèvera et voudra se déchaîner comme les elements. [...]  Read more

The Lame polynomials naturally arise when separating variables in Laplace's equation in elliptic-spherical coordinates. The products of these polynomials form a class of spherical harmonics, which are the joint eigenfunctions of a quantum completely integrable system of commuting, second-order differential operators P0 = DSN , P2,..., PN -1 acting on Cinfinity( SN ). These operators depend on parameters and thus constitute an ensemble. In the main result presented in this thesis, we compute the limiting mean level spacings distribution for the zeroes of Lame polynomials in various thermodynamic, asymptotic regimes. We give results both in the mean and pointwise, for …  Read more

Microencapsulation of the enzyme phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) was developed for in vivo depletion of systemic phenylalanine (PHE) in Phenylketonuric (PKU) rats. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase was successfully microencapsulated within artificial cells. The immobilized enzyme had an assayed activity of 20% $ pm$ 4% (Mean $ pm$ S.D.) of the free enzyme in solution. The immobilized enzyme maintained a higher enzyme activity at very low pH compared to the free enzyme in solution. The pH optimum of the free and immobilized enzyme was 8.5. This pH optimum corresponds to the average pH range of the small intestine. PKU induced rats had a 10 …  Read more

Cette thèse explore les perceptions de la vie privée numérique comme un phénomène multidimensionnel et collectif dans des contextes organisationnels à travers trois études interconnectées. Elle aborde des lacunes critiques dans la littérature en examinant comment les perceptions collectives de la vie privée numérique (CPDP) émergent, leurs dynamiques structurelles et leur influence sur les comportements individuels en milieu organisationnel. Le premier article introduit le concept de CPDP comme une construction au niveau de l'unité, ancrée dans les perceptions individuelles mais façonnée par des facteurs sociaux et contextuels. En utilisant la théorie de la comparaison sociale, il explique comment le CPDP …  Read more

The aim of this thesis is to view the convention on the marking of plastic explosives for the purpose of detection as a preventive means against aerial sabotage. After having identified the terrorist phenomenon (Preliminary chapter), we have to know if the studied convention can fight against these well-organized groups who have already showed their violence with deadly success. A preventive and deterrent action seems to be the best legal way to improve the detection of the explosives these groups use (First chapter). The institution of an international criminal law can be envisaged as a means of intimidation but I.C.A.O. …  Read more

Rivard, Yvon (Supervisor)  Read more

Chez les mammifères, la physiologie et les comportements sont régules par l’oscillateur circadien principal du cerveau. Celui-ci est aligné sur le cycle solaire et oscille avec une période proche de 24 heures. Dans cette thèse, nous étudions un oscillateur indépendant de l’oscillateur circadien et qui repose sur le système dopaminergique pour générer des rythmes d’activité locomotrice. Nous apportons les premières preuves moléculaires d’un processus oscillatoire situé dans les neurones de l’aire tegmentale ventrale et indépendant des cycles circadiens grâce à l’enregistrement par photométrie en fibre des fluctuations de calcium au sein des terminaisons de la voie mésolimbique de la dopamine. …  Read more

Ivermectin (IVM) is the only safe drug for mass-treatment of onchocerciasis. IVM-resistance has been reported in gastrointestinal nematode parasites of animals. A reduction in response to IVM in Onchocerca volvulus could have significant consequences for the onchocerciasis control programs. Over the last few years, studies have reported genetic selection or reduced responses to IVM in some O. volvulus populations. The risk of a recrudescence of the disease was recently reported with the emergence of resistant adult parasite population in Ghana. It is important to understand the effects of IVM on O. volvulus populations to be able to identify genetic markers …  Read more

The single-parent family is an established household form in North American and Western European societies, yet today's homes are often built and marketed for the two-earner household. Inadequate and unaffordable housing is a source of daily stress in the lives of single parents. This thesis investigates the problems and concerns of the female single parents described in the literature, and reviews selected examples of single-parent housing projects developed in North America and Europe. A comparison is made with a particular group of female single parents living in the Point St. Charles neighborhood of Montreal. A review of the difficulties faced …  Read more

In southern Quebec, uncertain rainfall and weather patterns can be detrimental to crop growth even though fresh water is an abundant resource. It is therefore desirable to have a good understanding of the water fluxes that occur in the soil profile of a drained agricultural field. Performing a soil water balance is a way to determine the water uses and losses within the soil profile. A seasonal study conducted in 2010 on a 4.2 ha agricultural field in Saint Emmanuel, Quebec aimed to quantify the water fluxes due to both lateral and vertical seepage in conventional (FD) and controlled drainage/subirrigation …  Read more

A method of introducing harmonie distortion into an audio amplifier, by means of a non-linear device, of such nature as to compensate for the harmonie distortion, intrinsic to certain types of power output tubes, is described. Details of the design of a model, which was constructed to enable experimental testing of the theory and the results of this testing are also given.  Read more

Stehle, R. (Supervisors)  Read more

The foundation for this thesis was extrapolated from a case study of a male with Dissociative Identity Disorder. This study explores one man's journey of survival and the recurring issues that have deterred his complete healing. Sexual abuse is examined in its social and political context as well as issues related to male victimization. The myths and stereotypes surrounding males who have been sexually abused are addressed. The notion that only women are sexually abused and that men abuse, is challenged. This case is analyzed by focusing on the trauma, the immediate effects, the immediate adaptation and the long term …  Read more

Activated Morden Bentonite has been investigated as a vapour-phase catalyst for the decomposition of three butanediols and butanediol-2,3 diacetate. Butanediol-2,3 at low temperatures gave 85 per cent yields of butanone-2, with isobutyraldehyde and the isobutyral of butanediol-2,3 as by-products. At high temperatures, gaseous decomposition occurred producing small yields of butadiene increasing to 14.9 per cent in the presence or water vapour. Butanedlol-2,3 diacetate gave chiefly acetic acid, butanone-2, and butadiene. Highest yields (57.5 per cent) of the diene were obtained at low temperatures and at fast feed-rates. Butanediol-1,4 at low temperatures gave practically theoretical yields of tetrahydrofuran. At high temperatures, …  Read more

The Coriolis force has a subtle, but significant impact on the dynamics of geophysical and astrophysical flows. The Rossby number, Ro, is the nondimensional parameter measuring the relative strength of the Coriolis term to the nonlinear advection terms in the equations of motion. When the rotation is strong, Ro goes to zero and three-dimensional flows are observed to two-dimensionalize. The broad aim of this work is to examine the effect of the strength of rotation on the nonlinear dynamics of turbulent homogeneous flows. Our approach is to decompose the rotating turbulent flow modes into two classes: the zero-frequency 2-dimensional (2D) …  Read more

Bouchard, Hugo (Internal/Supervisor)  Read more

Renaud, Leo P. (Supervisor)  Read more

We examined the effect of a functional oil (FctO), with potential weight-controlling and blood lipid-lowering attributes, vs beef tallow as control (C), on the cardiovascular risk profile of overweight women. The FctO comprised energy expenditure-enhancing medium chain triacylglycerols, cholesterol-lowering phytosterols and triacylglycerol-suppressing n-3 fatty acids. In a randomized, single-blind, crossover design, inpatient trial, 17 women consumed each oil as part of a controlled, supervised, energy-adjusted diet for 27 days. Body weight decreased similarly during both dietary periods. Plasma total and LDL cholesterol levels decreased by 4.8% and 10.4% following FctO, and were lower by 9.0% and 16.4% respectively, after FctO …  Read more

During the past ten years, radiosurgery has moved from an obscure radiation treatment modality practiced in only a few specialized centers in the world, to a mainstream radiotherapeutic technique practiced in most major radiotherapy centers. Currently, the main thrust of development in radiosurgery is aimed at conformal dose delivery to irregular intracranial targets. This thesis deals with theoretical and practical aspects of the use of static, non-coplanar, conformal fields in radiosurgery. For a typical radiosurgical case involving an irregular target, a comparison was made between treatment plans using the dynamic technique with one and two isocenters and a treatment plan …  Read more

A highly glossy plane with small, smooth deformations viewed at an oblique angle with a light source near the horizon can produce specular reflections. The resulting specular reflections appear as long columns, oriented toward the viewer. Under the right conditions the specularities appear as illusory vertical columns below the surface, rather than as highlights on the surface. This illusion can generally be seen by observing the moon over water at night, or car headlights on a wet street. If there are several light sources the illusion of columns can be strengthened. We hypothesized that the illusion is due to the …  Read more

This thesis presents an approach to the automated construction of visual maps, in the form of walk-throughs, of an unknown environment. Our approach is based on the selection of informative viewpoints within the environment. These viewpoints are locations in the environment which correspond to views containing maximal visual interest. This approach to environment representation is analogous to image compression. Our goal is to obtain a set of selections resembling those made by a human observer given the same task. Our computational procedure is inspired by models of human visual attention outlined in the literature on human psychophysics. We make use …  Read more

In this thesis, we present an approach to finding a procedural representation of a texture to replicate a given texture image which we call image-based procedural texture matching. Procedural representations are frequently used for many aspects of computer generated imagery, however, the ability to use procedural textures is limited by the difficulty inherent in finding a suitable procedural representation to match a desired texture. More importantly, the process of determining an appropriate set of parameters necessary to approximate the sample texture is a difficult task for a graphic artist. The textural characteristics of many real world objects change over time, …  Read more

Background: Migration is known as a risk factor for schizophrenia and related disorders, but the magnitude of the risk in second-generation migrants is unclear. This study aims at determining the risk of psychosis in first- and second-generation migrants and exploring sources of variation. Methods: A systematic review of population-based incidence studies of psychosis among first- and second-generation migrants was conducted. Descriptive and meta-analytic syntheses of identified studies were performed and sources of heterogeneity were examined. Results: Nearly all migrant groups were at increased risk for psychotic disorders. The magnitude of the risk was similar in first- and second-generation migrants, but …  Read more

In this thesis, the implication of chiral symmetry implementation for the pion-induced dissociation of the J/psi is examined. A brief introduction of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) and relativistic heavy ion collisions is first presented followed by a discussion on charmonium modification in nuclear matter. For the latter, a particular emphasis is put on describing the various models used to evaluate the J/psi-dissociation by a meson gas. The consequence of chiral symmetry on the dissociation cross-section by a pion is then explicated. In particular, it is shown that the low-energy dynamics of pions is constrained by the symmetry and that this …  Read more

We first present a brief overview of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) and its possible production in a heavy ion collision. Equilibrium quantum field theory is then outlined as a tool to study QGP. With this, we investigate the consequence of a finite charge density plasma through the breaking of Furry's theorem. In particular, we calculate the dilepton differential production rate for one of the simplest medium-induced processes: 2g → ll¯. We show that this effect is sub-dominant to the leading tree-level qq¯ → ll¯.  Read more

Therriault, Daniel (Internal/Cosupervisor2)  Read more

The first section of this thesis analyses the second person narrative in Édouard Levé's story, Suicide. Built upon studies in narratology on the problems of second person narrative, the analysis shows the voice in Suicide is part of an oscillation, which is also employed in the tense of the narrative, resulting in a neutral text in the sense defined by both Roland Barthes and Maurice Blanchot. The second section of the thesis presents a creative text; more specifically four short stories narrated by the same narrator-protagonist-narratee and linked by the same central theme of identity and representation. Through confession or …  Read more

Turbidity is one of the typical characteristics of surface water sources, and may be caused by inorganic and organic matter in coarse, fine and colloidal suspensions. While it may not be dangerous to health, turbidity is objected to from the standpoint of appearance. The coarser matter is kept in suspension by flow velocity of surface waters, and this type of turbidity is easily removed by reducing the flow velocities and thus removing the particles by gravity subsidence. Colloidal particles, however, cannot be conveniently removed in this manner, and represent the true cause of the milky and opaque appearance of raw …  Read more