McGill University Theses and dissertations by author name (F)

The gamma ketonic ester, methyl[alpha]-phenyl-[beta]-p chlorbenzoyl propionate, has been prepared and condensed with benzaldehyde to form an unsaturated lactone. This ester has also been condensed with piperonal to form an analogous product. Methyl[alpha]-phenyl-[beta]-p-brombenzoyl propionate and methyl[alpha]-phenyl-[beta]-anisoyl propionate, when condensed with benzaldehyde and piperonal in a similar manner, formed unsaturated lactones of the same type. These unsaturated lactones have a tertiary hydroxyl group, and are therefore lactols. [...]  Read more

Nous démontrons un variante p-adique d'un résultat classique de Shimura sur l'algébricité des valeurs des formes modulaires et de certaines de leurs dérives non-holomorphes aux points CM. Plus précisément, nous définissons un analogue rigide analytique de l'opérateur différentiel de Shimura-Maass pour les formes modulaires rigide analytiques sur le demi-plan p-adique de Cerednik-Drinfeld. Cette définition nous conduit a définir l'espace des formes modulaires presque rigide analytiques, qui correspond dans notre analogie a l'espace des formes modulaires presque holomorphes. Notre résultat principal est un énoncé d'algébricité des valeurs des formes modulaires presque rigide analytiques en des points CM dansle demi-plan p-adique de …  Read more

Digital technology has generated a whole new dynamic of convergence of the techniques and the media. In this respect, broadcasting on the Internet is a perfect example. Through the latter rises the question of the ability of the Canadian and French intellectual property systems to embrace the current technological changes. More fundamentally, a comparative analysis of the two legal regimes surrounding broadcasting allows one to assess the cybernetic autonomy of the systems studied. It is argued that any adaptation of the law should be implemented with a general approach and that the belief in the adaptability of the law should …  Read more

While considerable information exists regarding the independent effects of caffeine and psychological stress on cardiovascular activity, there is relatively little information on their combined effects. Since caffeine may enhance cardiovascular responsivity to psychological stress, research on hemodynamic responses to caffeine-stress combinations may help elucidate mechanisms of hypertension development. In a series of studies, regular consumers of caffeine were exposed to laboratory and naturalistic stressors with and without prior caffeine intake. Among the findings were (1) caffeine and stress produced additive increases in blood pressure, (2) caffeine appears to potentiate beta-adrenergic responsivity to active coping, but not passive coping, stressors, (3) …  Read more

Mu is a temperate, transposable coliphage with an unusual mode of replication and maturation. Mu is encapsidated linked to host sequences flanking the dispersed, integrated phage genomes. For encapsidation to occur, phage genomes must be recognized and removed from the chromosome. A putative enzyme recognizes the specific pac sequence within Mu left end. The objective of my research is to characterize the influence of selected E. coli sequences on Mu transduction. In transduction the virion prohead is filled up with an important percentage, if not in totality, of host DNA. Cryptic pac sequences are defined as E.coli K12 genomic sequences …  Read more

Nous dérivons de nouvelles solutions de compactification de flux avec des membranes D7 sur une variété conique résolu en Théorie des Cordes de type IIB et é endons ultérieurement cette solution afin de permettre des températures non-nulles. A température nulle, nous trouvons que l'ajout de membranes D7, suivant l'incorporation de Ouyang, contribue à la rupture de la supersymétrie par des flux auto-duaux imaginaires (1,2), sans générer de constante cosmologique. Nous constatons en outre que d'avoir à la fois des membranes D7 et une variété conique résolu donne lieu à un terme D non-trivial sur les membranes D7. Ce terme de …  Read more

Des greffes de PTFE et de Dacron sont implantées aujourd'hui pour la réparation de gros vaisseaux humains comme l'aorte. Ils ont été conçus à l'origine il y a plus d'un demi-siècle. Bien qu'ils soient biocompatibles, ils modifient la mécanique et la physiologie des artères naturelles. Les chercheurs proposent aujourd'hui une nouvelle génération de greffons mécaniquement compatibles. L'aorte humaine est une structure stratifiée complexe avec des propriétés matérielles hyperélastiques et viscoélastiques. Cette étude vise à caractériser les propriétés statiques et viscoélastiques non linéaires des aortes thoraciques descendantes humaines ex vivo. La caractérisation est obtenue à la fois sur des bandelettes soumises …  Read more

Any thermal circuit that uses a liquid as an energy transport system is subjected to fluid-structure iteration between the coolant and the heat exchanger. In power plants for energy production, such as nuclear reactors, this iteration can generate unwanted vibrations of significant amplitude that must be investigated for safety and life prediction. Nuclear fuel assemblies of Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) must be able to withstand external excitations ranging from large amplitude seismic motions of the reactor to flow-induced vibrations from the surrounding coolant water. The present study is an experimental work that investigates the nonlinear vibrations of nuclear fuel rods …  Read more

Le carcinome canalaire in situ (CCIS), représentant 20% de tous les diagnostics de cancer du sein, est une prolifération néoplasique de cellules épithéliales confinées dans le compartiment luminal des canaux mammaires qui précède la formation du carcinome canalaire invasif (CCI). Environ 20 à 50% des CCIS se transformeront en CCI; cependant, il n’existe aucune méthode sûre pour déterminer lesquels sont les plus susceptibles de devenir invasifs. Ceci a pour conséquence le traitement trop agressif de nombreuses patientes, les exposant ainsi à de potentiels effets secondaires indésirables. De récentes études indiquent que le microenvironnement immunitaire joue un rôle crucial dans la …  Read more

Introduction: Stroke is associated with a high prevalence of dysphagia in the elderly population. Hence, dysphagia evaluation and management are key issues in stroke rehabilitation. The McGill Ingestive Skills Assessment (MISA) is a recently developed mealtime observational tool aimed at evaluating the functional aspects of the oral phase of ingestion. Objective: To determine the discriminative validity of the MISA by assessing known/extreme groups of elderly individuals presenting with stroke, who have been admitted to an acute-care-hospital or a rehabilitation center. Participants were allocated to one of two groups: 1) individuals with stroke and no dysphagia, who are on a regular …  Read more

Variations in maternal care permanently alter the expression of behavioral and endocrine responses to stress. Thus, in the rat, increased levels of maternal licking and grooming over the first week of life are associated with decreased hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and behavioural responses to stress in the offspring in adulthood. Interestingly, such variations in maternal care are associated with individual differences in the neurochemistry and fearfulness of the dams themselves. Adult female rats which are more fearful exhibit less licking and grooming of their pups than do less fearful mothers. These more fearful females also possess greater levels of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) receptors …  Read more

This thesis proposes a morphological complexity index for use in classifying orebodies. Formulated and tailored for application on underground steep clipping narrow base metal orebodies from Inco Limited's Manitoba Division, the complexity index was proved transferable to the base metal deposits of Inco Limited's Ontario Division. Thus it appears that the index could be applied to various styles of mineralization and orebody morphology. The complexity classification was designed to aid in geologic control and subsequently improve mining method performance. Motivated by an industry wide move from selective mining to bulk mining, to increase productivity and improve safety. It is intended …  Read more

A cross sectional study of separated and divorced families used self-report measures to explore the relationship between the psychological adjustment of mothers (n = 20) and their adolescents (n = 20), aged 13 to 18 years. The mothers' psychological adjustment was assessed in terms of reliable and valid measures of depression, sense of competence, self-esteem, and personal control. The adolescents' psychological adjustment was based on reliable and valid measures of sense of competence and self-esteem, and a measure of personal control. The mothers' perceived social competence was found to be significantly and positively related to the adolescents' perceived self-esteem (r …  Read more

This thesis is a morphological study of the megagametophyte of Cleome spinosa Jacq. from the archesporium to the mature embryo sac. The characteristic structures of the ovule of various genera of the tribe Cleomoideae, of which C. spinosa is typical, are compared with those of genera of the tribe Capparidoideae found in the literature. [...]  Read more

Three essays in the study recursive utility are presented. The first is an exposition of the extant recursive utility literature. A correspondence is drawn between the discrete time axioms for recursive utility in Koopmans (1960) and the continuous time framework in Epstein (1987b). The second essay investigates the method for endogenizing the rate of time preference given in Uzawa (1968). It is shown that when applied to non-autonomous systems, the Uzawa transformation generates errors in first order conditions. We provide a simple method for extending the Uzawa transformation to non-autonomous systems. These results are applied to two stochastic optimal control …  Read more

Since the discovery of the anti-epileptic action of diphenylhydantoin, it has been repeatedly observed that some patients undergoing treatment develop gingival changes. These changes appear superficially like a low grade inflammatory reaction, showing irregularity of the gingival surface, but progressing slowly to a firm, painless overgrowth of the gums. [...]  Read more

The object of this thesis is to describe tissue classification software that was developed specifically for the identification of cerebral white matter lesions found in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Multiple sclerosis is a debilitating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) which results in a pathology observable macroscopically by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Lesion volumes are used as a surrogate of disease progression in clinical trials for MS treatment. The availability of accurate, reliable and reproducible measurements is invaluable in the advancement of patient care and research into this disease. This thesis documents a comprehensive approach to achieve such …  Read more

The history of Canadian poetry also must have much to do with “untamed nature and the countryside” and cities will come into it, too, but late. The proportions, however, of rural to urban concerns, are different for the literary and the social historian. The social historian may properly begin with the French regime in the early seventeenth century, proceed to the British Conquest in 1763, and on to the effects of the American Revolution in 1775, and through to Confederation in 1867 and to the establishment of “The Railway” and the opening up of the Canadian West, all this time …  Read more

The following study develops a structured focused comparison of two South American territorial crises: the Beagle Channel Crisis between Argentina and Chile (1977--1978) and the Cenepa Crisis between Ecuador and Peru (1994--1995). From a conventional perspective, the Beagle Channel Crisis should have escalated to war because it was a fully militarized inter-state crisis carried out by a military dyad. In contrast, the Cenepa Crisis should not have ended in war because it was a democratic dyad and the dissatisfied state was the weaker power. Yet the opposite happened in both cases: in the Beagle Channel Crisis the escalation process was …  Read more

Deforestation can increase sunlight penetration and sediment runoff into freshwaters, leading to elevated water temperatures, reduced aquatic oxygen concentration, and increased turbidity. Increased light penetration can also cause sudden and exaggerated diel temperature fluctuations, relative to forested freshwaters. Changes in temperature extremes (particularly upper peaks) are important for fishes, as their body temperature and rate of oxygen consumption vary with environmental temperature. To better understand the effects of deforestation, the first chapter of my thesis compares the effects of diel-fluctuating versus stable water temperature regimes on the behaviour and upper thermal tolerance (measured as Critical Thermal Maximum, CTmax) of the …  Read more

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of epistemic beliefs and knowledge representations in cognitive and metacognitive processing and conceptual change when learning about physics concepts through text. Specifically, I manipulated the representation of physics concepts in texts about Newtonian mechanics and explored how these texts interacted with individuals' epistemic beliefs to facilitate or constrain learning. In accordance with definitions from Royce's (1983) framework of psychological epistemology, texts were developed to present Newtonian concepts in either a rational or a metaphorical format. Seventy-five undergraduate students completed questionnaires designed to measure their epistemic beliefs and their misconceptions about …  Read more

This thesis approaches the work of Frederick Viesler as an attempt to resolve many of the issues resulting from the technological circumstances of the late twentieth century. It concerns the problematic caused by the gap existing between the senses and imagination, which causes a break between perceiving the world and the human act of creation. This fact reflects the way that nowadays reality has been "instrumentalized", locating man in a realm in which the human body does not interact according to its inherent capacities. Kiesler, through his theory of "Correalism", searched for underlying continuity, and proposed that man inhabit his …  Read more

A mouse model of resistance and susceptibility to a pulmonary infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), was used to study the inflammatory profile early following infection. This study allowed the identification of the mechanisms responsible for the resistant phenotype. We have first determined the pivotal role of the neutrophil recruitment in the alveolar space in the host defense against PA. This influx occurred earlier in the resistant BALB/c mice than in susceptible DBA/2 mice and occurred concommitantly with the beginning of the bacterial clearance. Furthermore, levels of TNFalpha were found to be higher in BALB/c mice than in DBA/2 mice. TNFalpha …  Read more

This thesis offers a detailed socio-historical exploration of the practice of molecular modelling in chemistry and allied disciplines. This exploration leads to observations and conclusions that are of relevance to the sociology of science in general and to the issue of representation in scientific practice, in particular. After a general introduction in chapter one, chapter two offers a review of the science studies' literature relevant to the topic, namely the literature on representation and on experimental practices in the sciences. The lack of sources dealing with the issue of physical modelling is highlighted. Chapter three, through specific cases studies, presents …  Read more

The neuregulins (GGF/ARIA/NDF/Heregulin) are pleiotrophic growth factors that are involved in the development of the nervous system. The neuregulin receptors, erbB2, erbB3, erbB4, are members of the erbB/epidermal growth factor receptor family of receptor tyrosine kinases. Immunoblot analysis with antisera to peptides derived from the carboxy terminus of erbB2, erbB3, erbB4 demonstrate that the three receptors have unique spatial distribution in the brain and have expression patterns which are differentially regulated during development. At a cellular level, erbB2 and erbB4 are expressed by glia and neurons while expression of erbB3 is restricted to glia. We have also found that the …  Read more

The outbreak of the second world war greatly stimulated investigations on the preservation and use of blood. Numerous groups of workers attacked this problem and rapidly improved methods of preservation and methods for following the survival of red blood cells after transfusion. [...]  Read more

The outbreak of the second world war greatly stimulated investigations on the preservation and use of stored blood. Numerous groups of workers attacked this problem and rapidly improved methods of preservation and methods for following the survival of red blood cells after transfusion. By the end of the war these studies had advanced to a point where it was evident that further progress in this field could only be achieved through detailed studies of the enzyme systems, especially those of the formed elements, and of the associated chemical and physical chemical changes taking place during preservation of the blood.  Read more

During the past 40 years, the use of stored blood for transfusion into human patients has increased tremendously. The introduction of various refinements in the methods of collecting, handling, and storing blood under aseptic conditions, as well as advances in our understanding of blood groups and the coagulation phenomenon, have led to important improvements in techniques. But, even with the best of care, the useful period of preservation of the red blood cell still is only about three weeks.  Read more

The possibility of considering the ethical domain as cognitive is a principal concern of contemporary moral philosophy. Following an analysis of Hilary Putnam's internal realism, I discuss how our usual conceptions of truth and factuality should be modified in order to render philosophical discourse free of the fact/value distinction. I then present a response to Gilbert Harman's argument for non-cognitivism in ethics and argue that, within an internal realism that incorporates such modified conceptions, the non-cognitive argument no longer carriers any weight.  Read more

Over the course of the last decade, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have made a remarkable entry in the field of cell-based immunotherapy. In vitro, MSC were shown to modulate the immune response, either by acting as an immunosuppressant on several immune cells, or upon IFN-γ stimulation, as an antigen presenting cell (APC) for the priming of CD4+ T cells. Although a vast array of in vivo experiments in animals and humans has undeniably proven the immunological properties of MSC, the exact mechanisms by which MSC mediate their effects remain unclear. In Chapter 1, I presented a succinct review of the …  Read more

Boudreau, Spencer (Supervisor1)  Read more

Climate change is and will continue being the largest problem affecting humanity if our reliance on fossil fuel combustion is not significantly curbed by 2050. Currently, our global energy framework still depends greatly on finite resources such as coal, natural gas and oil throughout the transport, residential and industrial sectors. Nevertheless, fossil fuel combustion is the primary contributor of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide (CO2) largely responsible for the unsustainable warming of our planet. Therefore, the primary goal is to invest in greener fuels capable of meeting global energy demand and to investigate green solutions feasible with …  Read more

Profound changes marked music in Spain towards the end of the nineteenth century. Casting aside Italian influences, which had governed many aspects of music in Spain up until then, Hispanic composers sought to redefine and regenerate the nation's musical identity. Taking as their model the so-called "Generation of '98," a literary movement that explored new ways of defining a "genuine" Spanishness, Spanish composers—chief among them Enrique Granados—took inspiration from pre-nineteenth-century musical figures, including, perhaps paradoxically, composers who came from outside the Iberian peninsula. This thesis demonstrates how the eighteenth-century Italian keyboardist-composer Domenico Scarlatti became an important symbol of "authentic" Spanish …  Read more

The biological significance of certain pyridinium betaines, such as diphosphopyridine nucleotide and triphosphopyridine nucleotide, has been fully recognized. The vital importance of these substances in the life of organisms provided an impetus for extensive research in this field, with the result that our knowledge concerning the oxidation-reduction processes in living organisms has been greatly enriched. There were, however, additional factors which stimulated this research.  Read more

In the course of a series of investigations in these laboratories on the chemistry of vanillin, attempts were made to improve the synthesis from it of the opium alkaloid papaverine. This alkaloid finds use in medicine as one of a group of spasmolytic drugs with a paralyzing action on the smooth muscles of the intestines and blood vessels. Unlike some of the other opium alkaloids, papaverine is neither narcotic nor habit-forming.  Read more

This thesis will investigate the significance of the Eastern Orthodox perspective of theosis, for the bioethical principle of autonomy, specifically with regard to its respect for the elderly. Theosis is a central doctrine of the Orthodox Church which pertains to the salvation of human persons and their free and cooperative response to God's grace, and as such, has an intimate relationship with the Eastern Orthodox understanding of personhood. On the one hand there are a number of areas of mutual concern or overlap between the concept of respect for autonomy and the Orthodox understanding of personhood and the goal of …  Read more

When Einstein first introduced the notion of the geodesic of a particle in the General Theory of Relativity (1), he did so through the principle of equivalence, postulating that the motion of a particle under the influence of a gravitational field must be indistinguishable locally from inertial motion. The geodesic equations contain the Christoffel symbols of the second kind, field variables which effectively take the place of the force of classical theory. The question arises, whether these equations can properly be called equations of motion, if the Christoffel symbols are singular at the location of the particle; for this is …  Read more

Bhushan Nagar (Supervisor2)  Read more

This work is concerned with a study of the action of veratrine sulphate on the electrical responses of skeletal muscle. All the experiments performed in this study involve the use of frog’s skeletal muscle. However, because of the similarity of the actions of this alkaloid on nerve and muscle, much of the discussion and many of the references given will concern studies performed on nerve fiber preparations. About 10 years ago, an excellent review on the pharmacology of the veratrum alkaloids appeared (Krayer and Aches on, 1946).  Read more

A series of studies was undertaken with the aim of specifying the mechanisms responsible for age-related improvement in auditory short-term memory. Developmental trends were sought in both the post-linguistic and precategorical storage systems for children from grades three, five, and seven. The techniques of temporal grouping and running memory span were employed to evaluate the sensitivity of rehearsal strategies to changes with age. The stimulus suffix paradigm was used to uncover developmental changes in the precategorical storage system. The results suggest that spontaneous rehearsal strategies undergo significant developmental changes. Evidence for age-related changes in the precategorical storage system is not …  Read more

No living tissue can escape the ageing process. It may express itself by alterations in structure, function, or a combination of both. The structural alterations may be visible to the naked eye, such as greying, baldness and wrinkling of the skin. Others are more subtle and may only be seen with the microscope, such as neuronal degeneration in the cerebral cortex; and still ethers cannot be seen when examined by present methods. Examples of functional alterations that may occur with age are presbyopia, presbycusis and a fall in the lung diffusing capacity (17).  Read more

Dawson, C. (Supervisors)  Read more

Mannor, Shie (Supervisor2)  Read more

Learning agents often find themselves in environments in which rare significant events occur independently of their current choice of action. Traditional reinforcement learning algorithms sample events according to their natural probability of occurring, and therefore tend to exhibit slow convergence and high variance in such environments. In this thesis, we assume that learning is done in a simulated environment in which the probability of these rare events can be artificially altered. We present novel algorithms for both policy evaluation and control, using both tabular and function approximation representations of the value function. These algorithms automatically tune the rare event probabilities …  Read more