McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par B

Gallium arsenide, a compound semiconductor commonly used in optoelectronic devices, is often subjected to wet etching techniques during microelectronic device manufacture. In this work, the wet chemical etching of gallium arsenide in $ rm H sb2O sb2$-$ rm NH sb4OH$-H$ sb2$O solutions was studied using a batch stirred-tank reactor. A kinetic control regime was established and the influence of each component's concentration on the intrinsic etch rate was determined. The reaction rate was found, in the presence of excess NH$ sb4$OH, to fit a rate equation, r = k (H$ rm sb2O sb2 rbrack sp{0.75}$ at 15, 25, and 40$ …  Read more

The kinetics of copper etching were studied using a ferric chloride-hydrochloric acid etchant in a stirred-tank reactor. At a constant acid molarity of about 0.84 and FeCl$ sb3$ concentrations varying from 0 to 3 M, the etch rate was found to reach a maximum at about 2 M FeCl$ sb3$. The use of a ferric nitrate-nitric acid solution yielded similar results but substantially reduced etch rates. Since the nitrate ion is essentially non-complexing with the ferric ion, the presence of chloro complexes of the ferric ion in FeCl$ sb3$-HCl etchant solutions was investigated. The FeCl$ sb2 sp+$ and FeCl$ sb3 …  Read more

It is very desirable to find good methods of utilizing the vast amount of bark which is produced as a by-product in the pulp and paper and lumbering industries. Up to the present, the attempts at making use of bark have been centered for the most part around burning it or using its fibrous fraction as such. [...]  Read more

This thesis analyses the making of the landscape and community of Westmount, Quebec from 1871 to 1929, when it grew from a quiet rural area into Montreal's foremost anglophone elite inner-city residential suburb. A cultural materialist approach to landscapes is adopted, viewing them analytically as a means to organize and assign existential meaning to human action towards the environment at a given time and place. The making of Westmount is placed within the context of Montreal's society in the 19th century, when rapid industrialization created massive wealth for the city's English-speaking business elite, but threatened its political domination. Westmount became …  Read more

Investigation of the effect of an electrical field on a chemical reaction involves the study of a system acting under the influence of an external perturbing force. It is of interest, therefore, to consider, in brief outline, the nature of this force, and the energy associated with it. Treatises on this subject are available in standard references (1, 2). The intensity of an electrical field is a measure of the force exerted on a unit charge when at rest in the field. The field intensity at any distance from a point charge is given by Coulomb's Law, and in practical …  Read more

A series of experiments initiated by Mishkin and Forgays (7) has established that a response may be more easily elicited by stimulating one area of the retina rather than another. These investigators exposed English words tachistoscopically in either the left or the right visual field. Although the words appeared in areas of comparable visual acuity, they were more easily recognized when they were in the right field.  Read more

Psychological theory and experimentation have generally been concerned with the relation between simple stimulus events and responses. Typically, however, a response to a stimulus is not an isolated bit of behavior, but one incident in a long series of responses. In behavior such as speech or piano playing, for example, the important factor is not the single response, but the response in its temporal relation to others. [...]  Read more

The Icelandic government continues to campaign for regulated commercial whaling in its territorial water, and advocates the maintenance of this practice as part of what it terms the "rational management of the ocean ecosystem," despite international pressure for a termination of whale hunting. Support in Iceland for a pro-whaling policy is extremely high, and the debate about whaling has over the last twelve years become increasingly nationalistic in focus. This dissertation examines the whaling issue in the context of Icelandic nationalism and the rise of the Icelandic nation-state during the 19th century. It argues that the national self is constructed …  Read more

Au début du 20e siècle, le démographe Charles Booth, les ministres des églises, chapelles et missions de Londres, les milliers de paroissiennes charitables et les ouvriers de Londres ont tous un trait en commun : une immense insécurité. Les carnets inédits de Charles Booth sur les influences religieuses, qui forment la troisième partie de son enquête magistrale intitulée Life and Labour of the People in London (1889-1903), nous apprennent qu'en réponse à cette insécurité, tous se raccrochent à une certaine idéologie morale et religieuse. La présente dissertation réfère pour la première fois à l'ensemble des archives. Booth se sert de …  Read more

From the families of dockside London to the cautious cabinets of the Edwardian 'new liberals,' the search was on, after 1889, for a class of men Charles Booth characterized as so low in moral character as to require elimination from society-at-large. Responding as best they could, the poorest third of England's workers attempted desperately, yet usually failed, to avoid the stigma of the 'loafer' as they weathered economic downturn, increased policing, the fallout of deskilling, and the hatred and hysteria of a society, particularly in the wake of the Boer War, that refused them the status even of 'men'. In …  Read more

Low power methods employing dynamically controlled clock rates offer potentially powerful energy saving capabilities. Dynamic clock management is a system level technique that benefits from the relationship between operating frequency and power consumption through the variation of clock speeds based on demand. This thesis provides robust and scalable clock management circuits for dynamic clock control. A complete Programmable Clock Manager (PCM) has been designed, implemented, integrated into a Systems-on-a-Chip and tested. The PCM incorporates two novel circuits who enable dynamic clock management, the Range Shifting Phase-Locked Loop (RSPLL) and the Dynamic Programmable Clock Divider (DPCD). The self-calibrating RSPLL extends operating …  Read more

Three reaction time experiments were conducted to determine when and how memory for the normal left-right orientation of letters is mediated by the developing brain. In each experiment, participants identified forward and backward letters presented unilaterally to each visual field and thus to each hemisphere (VF-H). The main findings were as follows: (1) For the five-year-olds, no VF-H differences were found in the speed of identifying either forward or backward letters or in the difference in speed between forward and backward letters. (2) The seven-year-olds identified forward letters faster than backward letters in the right visual field-left hemisphere (RVF-LH) with …  Read more

The ability to tailor specific properties, such as stiffness, hardness and thermal expansion has led to the use of metal matrix composites (MMCs) in a wide variety of engineering applications. Squeeze casting can be used to produce MMCs and involves the infiltration of a ceramic preform by liquid metal under pressure exerted by a punch. This work deals with the fabrication and evaluation of an aluminum casting alloy (A356) reinforced with short Al$ sb2$O$ sb3$ fibre (mean fibre length $ sim$265 $ mu$m) using the squeeze casting technique. Discontinuous Al$ sb2$O$ sb3$ fibre preforms of different volume fractions (5-15%), were …  Read more

Nationalism, which we will attempt to define later, has been the stimulating force of European power-politics for the last century and a half; it is now in the process of sweeping the vast Asiatic continent, it has an exceedingly solid hold on the Latin republics in South and Central America, it has taken firm roots in the United States, it is being consciously and purposely developed and indoctrinated in Canada, it is not being forgotten in the Soviet Union - in short, it is still a dominant force throughout the world. Nationalism has played an important role in almost every …  Read more

This dissertation seeks to explain the viewpoint of Islamic international law {siyar) with respect to the various aspects of treaties {mu'abadat) with non-Muslims. The siyar deals with (the notion) of mutual relations between Muslims and non-Muslims during times of war and peace, and thus has become an intrinsic branch of the Shari'a. The varying nature of siyar and its changing interpretation throughout Islamic history captured the attention of a number of jurists and historians from both the classical and modem times, whose works have been frequently consulted throughout this study. In the course of classical and pre-modem Islamic history, treaty-making …  Read more

IntroductionL’infection par le SRAS-CoV-2 provoque des dommages à l’épithélium intestinal, permettant le passage de produits bactériens (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) et fongiques (bêta-glucane, BDG) dans la circulation, contribuant ainsi à l’inflammation. Des niveaux élevés de BDG circulant sont associés à l’activation immunitaire et à la gravité de la maladie, soulignant le rôle crucial de la perméabilité intestinale dans la progression de la maladie COVID-19. Actuellement, l’influence de la translocation microbienne sur le fonctionnement du système immunitaire lors de la COVID-19 reste inconnue. Nous émettons l'hypothèse que les marqueurs des lésions muqueuses, de la translocation microbienne et de l'inflammation augmenteront pendant la forme …  Read more

With the increasing availability of internet access and internet-enabled devices, internet pornography has become easily accessible and widely available. As a growing number of youths consume pornography, research has steadily increased to examine the effects of consumption in recent years. Extant studies have primarily focused on the harmful effects of pornography consumption using quantitative measures. Young men’s experiences with pornography consumption and their internal processes as consumers remain poorly understood. This study aimed to develop insights into how young men select, interpret, and make use of pornography. This study employed a feminist social constructionism and media practice model as its …  Read more

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces parallel challenges of rapid urbanization and climate change, with wide-ranging implications for population health and health equity. Urbanization has often outpaced infrastructural and industrial development, leading to concentrated urban poverty and compounding structural deficits. Climate change will disproportionately affect the urban and peri-urban poor, exacerbating these challenges. However, data sparsity and inefficient governance have hindered improvements in environmental conditions and health in SSA. Planning for healthy and equitable urban development requires new evidence about environmental risks and health outcomes.Characteristics of the neighbourhood environment are increasingly recognized as important determinants of health and health equity. Yet prior …  Read more

There are currently no ideal treatments or acceptable vaccines for cutaneous leishmaniasis, a worldwide health problem caused by infection with a number of species of the dimorphic protozoa Leishmania. Therefore, there is an urgent need to search for simple, safe, effective, and affordable treatments. Imiquimod is an immune-response modifying agent. Recently, 5% imiquimod cream (Aldara(TM)) received approval by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States and is currently available for the treatment of external genital and perianal warts caused by human papillomavirus infection. The antiviral activity of this drug is mediated through stimulation of cytokine release from many …  Read more

Shrier, A. (Supervisor)  Read more

Birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) is one of our leguminous forage crops. It has gained some importance in North America since 1934, when Professor Johnstone-Wallace of Cornell University found a type adapted to New York State. It appears to be especially suited to long term pasture seedings and to have a very definite place in modern grassland farming and soil conservation practices. [...]  Read more

Attempts were made to synthesize cleanly and efficiently a 3,6-branchpoint mannose monomer via three synthetic routes. This monomer was then to be used in a solution-phase synthesis of a high mannose-type nonasaccharide using a PEG soluble polymer support developed in our laboratory. The monomer was to meet the requirements of (1) stable protecting groups on positions 2 and 4; (2) easily cleavable groups on positions 3 and 6; (3) a group which is stable and a good donor on position 1. The key step in the synthesis of the first monomer, containing allyl groups on positions 3 and 6, involved …  Read more

Cette thèse examine un nouveau concept du mécanisme de commande spontanément contractile et étanche qui offre les caractéristiques de fonctionnement mécanique semblables aux celles des organismes vivants et convenables pour les robots hautement versatiles, mobiles, interactifs et autonomes, destines aux taches requérant actuellement, pour une large part, la main-d’oeuvre manuelle. Les données de fonctionnement de ce mécanisme ont été déterminées d'après les propriétés physiques des muscles stries en vue de combiner la puissance, bonne réaction aux contrôles exigeant une dynamique complexe, rendement mécanique et limitations du poids, dans les proportions applicables au corps humain. La construction d’un tel mécanisme aux …  Read more

An original way to define, analyze and design mechanical systems with inherently lifelike dynamic properties is presented. The construction of robotic manipulators which embody a complete set of technologically relevant biological principles is outlined. The ultimate objective is to develop a new class of mobile, autonomous, and interactive machines which dynamically emulate live musculoskeletal systems. This study introduces the mathematical models and algorithms to transform and synthesize the results of research in musculoskeletal physiology into explicit engineering design specifications. The application of a new contractile muscle-like viscoelastic motor, as a servomechanical drive for articulated rigid link mechanisms as well as …  Read more

Methane (CH$ sb4$) fluxes were measured in a range of peatland sites by a static chamber method in two regions of northern Canada, the Clay Belt of boreal Ontario and the Labrador Trough of subarctic Quebec. In both regions, seasonal mean water table position was the best predictor of mean CH$ sb4$ flux when microtopography was included in the analysis (r$ sp2$ = 0.73; p $<$ 0.01). The regression coefficients (slopes) were similar in both regions, suggesting a similar functional relationship between water table position and CH$ sb4$ flux; but the constants (intercepts) were different, implying a regional difference in …  Read more

In this thesis the writer outlines one form that an evolutionary-developmental paradigm of humankind might take. Beginning with the idealist position than an epistemology must precede an ontology, the author proceeds to describe the view that emerges when the respected authorities of empirical evidence and logic are joined by the eye that gives us a "scientia intuitiva," or a view "sub specie aeternitatis." From such an expanded view, a Wave Model of Consciousness-Being is formulated. The writer examines the implications of this model for values education theory as well as several other related topics.  Read more

Le leadership a été évoqué comme un élément essentiel contribuant au succès, à la satisfaction personnelle et au bien-être des athlètes (Chelladurai & Riemer, 1998; Dupuis, Bloom, & Loughead, 2006). Les entraîneurs croient que le leadership de l'athlète est un élément fondamental au succès de l'équipe, par contre, la majorité des recherches sur les athlètes leaders ont été réalisées du point de vue des athlètes. Donc, le but de cette étude était d'identifier les facteurs qui influençaient le développement du leadership des athlètes selon la perception des entraîneurs de hockey sur glace. Des entrevues ont été menées avec six entraîneurs …  Read more

Schwarz, Bernhard (Supervisor2)  Read more

Objectif: L'objectif de cette étude était de (1) déterminer la proportion d’enfants et d’adolescents présentant des troubles oculomoteurs ou de fonction vestibulaire au cours de la première semaine suivant un traumatisme craniocérébral léger et (2) explorer leur relation avec la mobilité fonctionnelle et l'équilibre. Devis de l'étude: Cette étude transversale s’intéressa à 29 enfants et adolescents âgés de 8 à 17 ans, ayant subi un TCCL au cours des 7 à 10 jours précédents. Milieu: Les participants furent recrutés au sein de la clinique de commotion cérébrale de l'Hôpital de Montréal pour enfants du Centre universitaire de santé McGill. Méthodes: …  Read more

Belanger, P. R. (Supervisor)  Read more

The problem of determining optimum parameter values for a proportional plus Integral plus derivative controller is considered. [...]  Read more

To the agricultural economist the problem of land settlement on a national scale is question-begging. The economist observes that farm labour is being inefficiently employed on many Canadian farms, and points out the necessity for migration of labour from the farms to other industries where the productivity of labour is greater and can command a higher award. Thus it is quite rational to ask why further growth of the Canadian farm population should be encouraged by an extensive government sponsored scheme for veteran settlement? [...]  Read more

Worldwide, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death. Gene mutations accumulate as a natural part of ageing but can also be acquired by other means of DNA damage. Aberrant activation of the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK (MAPK) signalling cascade is found in 75% of lung adenocarcinomas, the most common subtype of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Oncogene Induced Senescence (OIS) is a protective mechanism where cells are unable to re-enter the cell cycle, protecting the organism from further damage and uncontrolled proliferation. Interestingly, MAPK pathway mutations in upstream activators RAS and RAF were found to stimulate induction of OIS, and by …  Read more

A method of minimizing the total active disc area, required for the removal of soluble biochemical oxygen demand (SBOD), by a multi-stage rotating biological contactor (RBC) operating steady-state is proposed. Both deterministic and stochastic inputs are considered. Total active disc area and the number of RBC stages are optimized for the deterministic case, and are then incorporated into a risk-based method of assigning per-stage active disc areas. The risk of the final stage SBOD exceeding a fixed effluent standard is evaluated by taking into account the variable nature of the influent flowrate and SBOD concentration. Bivariate normal, lognormal and shifted …  Read more

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) catalyzes the polymerization of aromatic compounds. These polymers precipitate from solution and may be removed by filtration or sedimentation. The useful lifetime of the enzyme is limited by inactivation which occurs during the removal process; however, the rate of enzyme inactivation is significantly lower in the presence of high molecular mass polyethylene glycol (PEG). An empirical model has been developed to relate phenol concentration after complete batch reaction to the initial concentrations of phenol and HRP, both in the presence and the absence of PEG. A kinetic model has been developed for the removal process. Enzyme inactivation …  Read more

Due to the fact that American nursery men discovered that fruit stocks could be bought in France and imported into America for less than they themselves could grow them, importations of foreign nursery stock increased from year to year. The importation of nursery stock into Canada and the United States was the means of introducing and distributing new and dangerous insect pests and fungous diseases which today constitute a serious economic problem and a menace to prosperity. [...]  Read more

A system was developed to study membrane transport in isolated human fibroblast plasma membrane vesicles, avoiding potential complications of intracellular binding and metabolism in the intact cell. Ten-fold enrichment of plasma membranes after subcellular fractionation was confirmed with appropriate markers. Transport competence was established by the following criteria: osmotic sensitivity, stereospecificity, temperature dependence, sodium gradient stimulation, response to ions and ionophores, saturability, and exchange properties. Methotrexate uptake was osmotically sensitive, temperature sensitive, saturable, and inhibited by folinic acid and phosphate. Measurement of lysine uptake was complicated by binding and lack of sodium dependence, but was stimulated by an interior-negative membrane …  Read more

Nikki Lobczowski (Supervisor2)  Read more

"Internal globalization" has become a common phenomenon which, among other things, has increased the number of mixed-national couples due to the greater mobility of people and the globalization of trade and commerce. Unanticipated difficulties can follow from the breakdown of such relationships for both children and parents if the custodial parent leaves the family's former habitual residence with the child. This is especially true for the left-behind parent. The starting point for this study was the discussion among experts as to whether an Additional Protocol to the 1980 Child Abduction Convention might resolve the inherent weak protection of access rights. …  Read more

Lower members of the glyme family CH3-(-O-CH2-CH2-)n O-CH3 are refractory to the usual biological and physicochemical treatments, do not get retained on biofilters and are hardly sorbed to activated sludge or carbon. An alternate form of elimination is hence to be devised. TiO 2 particles have been utilized in the photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds often found in contaminated waste streams. When they are exposed to UV light, an electron is excited from the TiO2 valence band into the conduction band. The photogenerated electron vacancy ("hole") can initiate the oxidation of the organic, while the photogenerated electron must be removed …  Read more

L'écrivain n'est pas seulement un être fait de chair et d'os; il est également, depuis le romantisme, un personnage public qui arrive avec ses fictions, ses costumes, ses poses et ses tics, un « look », une « posture » (Alain Viala, Jérôme Meizoz). Ce mémoire de maîtrise, qui porte sur Gaston Miron, voudrait en faire la démonstration en s'attachant au personnage singulier que forgèrent le poète et la critique entre 1953 (année du lancement de Deux Sangs aux éditions de l'Hexagone) et 2008 (année de la parution de l'album musical Douze hommes rapaillés chantent Gaston Miron). C'est à comprendre …  Read more

The near-zone field distribution of an infinite slit and of an elliptical hole was investigated experimentally when these apertures were irradiated at normal incidence by a plane monochromatic electromagnetic wave. The field possesses a structure which is a function of the shape and the dimensions of the aperture. The approximate theories of Bekefi and Neugebauer predict the general structure of the field, but fail to describe it exacty. A modification of the theory which effectively reduces the width of the slit by one-quarter wavelength, results in a much better agreement with experiment.  Read more

Most experiments concerned with visual perception deficits have looked at the effects of damage to the traditional parts of the classical projection pathways: the lateral geniculate bodies, superior colliculi, and the visual cortex. Relatively little attention has been paid to another area receiving visual projections: the cortex of the cerebellum. That such an optically active area exists has been known for more than twenty years (Gerard, Marshall, & Saul, 1936; Snider & Stowell, 1942) and the distribution (Snider & associates, 1942-1958), form (Koella, 1959), and sensitivity to drugs (Berry et al., 1959; Haft et al., 1961; Koella, 1959) of visually …  Read more