McGill University Theses and dissertations by author name (I)

À la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, les relations entre les populations anglophones et francophones du Québec étaient dans un triste état. Ceci était largement à cause de leur opposition sur le sujet de la conscription dans les deux Guerres mondiales, ce qui à empiré la tension pré-existente entre les deux groupes, qui étaient séparés par des inégalités économiques et politiques. Dans le contexte de cet éloignement des groupes linguistiques du Québec, deux écrivains anglophones de Montréal ont produit des dépictions littéraires de communautés canadiennes-françaises: Hugh Maclennan a publié Two Solitudes en 1945, tandis à ce que A.M. Klein …  Read more

Cell surface T antigen, detected by a radioimmune assay using ('125)I-labeled S. aureus protein A and antibodies against either authentic T antigen or D2 T antigen, was found in SV40-transformed and -infected cells and in Ad2('+)D2-infected cells. To determine how the target antigen of this assay is related to SV40 large T antigen and D2 T antigen and whether or not it is an integral membrane protein, plasma membranes from cell lines infected with SV40 or Ad2('+)D2 were purified. Protein blotting with polyclonal and monoclonal antibody overlay was used to identify a specific protein of 90 kd in membranes from …  Read more

Growth factors and their receptors make significant contributions to the process of tumorigenesis. This is in part due to their ability to stimulate passage through G1 to S phase of the cell cycle, however they have other pro-tumorigenic actions, including the ability to confer resistance to apoptotic stimuli, and to increase cellular invasion and metastasis. In our initial experiments we sought to compare the effects of autocrine secretion of two growth factors, progranulin and fibroblast growth factors (FGFs). We at first used SW-13 adrenocortical carcinoma as the experimental model. These cells are not tumorigenic in nude mice and do not …  Read more

The reaction of ((eta)-Arene)Cr(CO)(,2)(CX) (X = S, Se) complexes with excess (RO)(,3)P (R = Me, Et, n-Bu, Ph) yields Cr(CO)(,2)(CX) (RO)(,3)P (,3), predominantly as the mer I isomer, in which a phosphite ligand is trans to CX. Arene displacement from ((eta)-C(,6)H(,6))Cr(CO)(,2)(CX) by tridentate phosphine ligands L-L-L L-L-L = (Me)C(CH(,2)P(Ph)(,2))(,3), (Ph(,2)PCH(,2)CH(,2))(,2)PhP gives fac-(L-L-L)Cr(CO)(,2)(CX) products. The molecular structures of Cr(CO)(,2)(CX) (MeO)(,3)P (,3) have been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Intramolecular isomerization of these complexes as well as their tricarbonyl analogue has been demonstrated and activation parameters have been calculated for the rearrangement processes. Two-dimensional ('31)P NMR spectroscopy has provided evidence that …  Read more

The main objective of this study is to analyze three major Indonesian Muslim responses to the Pancasila, the state ideology of Indonesia. The first Muslim response occurred when the Secular Nationalists proposed, shortly before Indonesia's independence in 1945 and again later in the Constituent Assembly debates (1956-1959), that the Pancasila be the basis of state. The second Muslim response to the Pancasila took place in 1978 when the New Order government proposed that the P4 (Guidelines for Understanding and Practicing the Pancasila) be legalized. The Muslims at first objected to both the proposal of the Pancasila as the foundation of …  Read more

The seasonal variation patterns of sorbitol and the related carbohydrates namely, fructose, glucose, sucrose and starch were compared in the leaves of Standard McIntosh, Spur McIntosh cultivar ‘Morspur' and Spur Red Delicious cultivar 'Bisbee' and in the fruit during development and storage at ± 1 Oc. of both Standard and Spur McIntosh. Analyses of the sorbitol and sugars by gas chromatography showed a gradual accumulation of sorbitol in leaves of the three cultivars during the active growth period (July). In general, sorbitol was the major carbohydrate constituent of the leaves throughout the period from active growth in June to dormancy …  Read more

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiopoietin 1 (Ang-1) are critical regulators of angiogenesis. Additionally, both have been found to participate in inflammatory processes: VEGF as a pro-inflammatory and Ang-1 as an anti-inflammatory mediator. Nur77 is a member of a family of orphan receptors (NR4A) that includes Nurr1 and Nor1 and plays a role in regulating vascular inflammation; however, this has yet to be fully understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether Nur77 expression in endothelial cells (ECs) serves as a negative feedback mechanism designed to inhibit NFkappaB induction, dampen VEGF-induced E-selectin and VCAM1 expression and enhanced …  Read more

In 1948, the title Ceylon: Island Without Problems was thought to be a suitable one for a proposed documentary film of the Island. At present the title would be a misnomer as the whole country is divided by communalism. The problem of communal disunity needs urgent consideration. [...]  Read more

Eosinophilia is such a prominent characteristic of many parasitic infections that it is often used for a presumptive diagnosis. Trichinosis is one of the parasitic diseases in which the eosinophil response may attain considerable magnitude. [...]  Read more

The injury-induced alterations in sulfated proteoglycans (PG) were studied, in neointima, developed in response to a selective deendothelialization of the aorta, of normocholesterolemic rabbits. Light microscopic radioautography and size exclusion chromatography revealed differences in PG between neointima not covered by regenerated endothelium, and reendothelialized neointima or normal aorta. These differences included radioautographic reaction, concentration, size distribution and composition. Further studies were conducted to examine the putative role of the altered PG in lipoprotein (LP) sequestration and lipid accumulation during atherogenesis. LP-PG complexes were isolated by anti apo-B affinity column, from intima-medial tissues from normal and injured aortas. These complexes contained …  Read more

Pseudomonas fragi CRDA 037 was used as source of intracellular esterase, which remained attached to the cell membrane, and characterized. Several mechanical methods of disruption were used including glass beads (MSK), sonication, French press and combinations of these methods. The cellular debris were also treated with detergents such as CHAPS and Triton X-100 in the presence of chelating agent ethylenediaminetetra acetic acid (EDTA). The esterase activity remained in the cellular debris which was therefore use as a source of enzyme for kinetic studies. In the case of glass beads homogenization, the activity was found to decrease as a function of …  Read more

Nck is as an adaptor protein previously implicated in actin cytoskeleton reorganization and by our laboratory, in translation and cell response to stress. Our primary objective was to determine the expression levels of Nck isotypes (Nck-1 and Nck-2) during cancer progression. We have performed western blot analysis of the Nck isotypes expression levels profile in various human cancer cell lines, at different stages of progression. Our data show significantly higher expression levels of Nck-2 protein in metastatic melanomas compared to non-metastatic melanomas and normal melanocytes. Using semi-quantitative RT-PCR, we demonstrated that this increase in Nck-2 expression can be also seen …  Read more

This study examines ideological discourse in contemporary Egypt. It investigates a number of discourses in terms of the meanings they generate and the role or function they play in the maintenance or transformation of relations of power in society. The analysis is guided by a semiotic view of ideology, that is, ideology understood as a system of representation which operates through language and other signifying practices. Central to our understanding of the effects of discourse on power relations is the conception of representation as an autonomous level of 'reality' in relation to other levels. The implication of such a conception …  Read more

Lorsqu'ils sont stimulés par des signaux pathogènes ou inflammatoires, tels que le lipopolysaccharide bactérien (LPS), les macrophages produisent de la 1,25-dihyroxyvitamine D (1,25D) biologiquement active à partir de la 25-hydroxyvitamine D circulante. Entre autres signaux, la signalisation de la 1,25D dans les macrophages induit une forte expression de chimioattractants neutrophiles, tels que l'IL-8/CXCL8. En outre, notre récente ré-analyse de 94 profils d'expression génique humains et murins a suggéré que la 1,25D pourrait réguler la formation de granules et la chimiotaxie dans les cellules de leucémie promyélocytaire humaine HL-60 indifférenciées. Nous avons donc voulu déterminer les effets de la 1,25D seule …  Read more

The conversion of soybeans to tempe is achieved through fermentation by Rhizopus. This fermentation process leads to hydrolysis of both proteins and lipids. The present work investigated certain biochemical changes which accompany the conversion of soybeans to tempe. The contents of non-protein nitrogen and free $ alpha$-amino nitrogen increased from 2.34 to 15.14%, and 2.03 to 5.22%, respectively after 48 h fermentation. SDS electrophoresis showed that a substantial quantity of the proteins in raw soybeans were hydrolysed by the Rhizopus to low molecular species (molecular weight $<$13,000 Daltons). Trypsin inhibitor activity found in tempe was lower than that of soybean …  Read more

Protein-protein and ligand-protein interactions as well as the effect of temperature and applied pressure on protein conformation were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy with the use of Fourier self-deconvolution, Fourier derivative, and two-dimensional correlation techniques. The effect of the binding of biotin to avidin on the conformation of the protein was examined. At a biotin concentration of 0.05% (w/v), avidin was stabilized against thermal and pressure-induced denaturation. The IR spectra of avidin recorded as a function of increasing hydrostatic pressure in the presence and the absence of biotin indicated that, in the presence of biotin, avidin adopts a …  Read more

Previous studies (Lyster & Saito, 2012; Saito, 2013) have revealed that explicit instruction (EI) of pronunciation and corrective feedback (CF) on phonological errors are effective teaching techniques for pronunciation. However, research on pronunciation instruction is still relatively new, and a great deal more investigation is required. For instance, it is still not fully understood how pronunciation instruction can be integrated into the language classroom, how pronunciation instruction can affect both the linguistic and affective development of low-proficiency learners, or when CF on mispronunciation should be provided. Thus, this research aims to examine the effects of form-focused instruction (FFI) on the …  Read more

The interplay of inhibition and excitation shapes neural activity within brain circuits and regulates behavioral expression and control. Previous studies of inhibitory function in forebrain circuitry propose that inhibition regulates the production of song as well as the fine acoustic structure of song. However, few studies have assessed how manipulations of inhibition in vocal premotor circuitry affect vocal production and control in songbirds. We attenuate and augmented inhibition in the vocal premotor nucleus HVC (used as proper name) using muscimol and bicuculline (BMI), respectively, in the Bengalese finch. Enhancement of inhibition in HVC dose-dependently reduced the amount of song produced. …  Read more

The Montreal of 1928 presents a striking contrast to the Ville Marie as founded by Maisonneuve. From its particular geographic location it was destined to occupy a position of dominance in the growth of Canada. The peculiar physiographic features of the St. Lawrence River on the South and Mount Royal on the North have given the direction fo the city growth its own particular form. The phenomenon of th4e two nationalities, diverse in language, traditions, religion and culture, living side by side and paying allegiance to a common sovereign has marked the city with an atmosphere that adds to its …  Read more

Despite the recommendation to use both expert and learner feedback during formative evaluation, little research has compared the differences in data produced by these two sources. The presents study examines the differences in feedback produced by experts and learners. Six sessions with experts and six sessions with learners were conducted to obtain feedback about a six page instructional unit. The think-aloud method was used to gather data from experts and the talk-aloud method was used with learners. Comments from experts and learners were transcribed, segmented, and coded according to two coding system which addressed both the amount and type of …  Read more

We examine the possibility of leveraging haptic feedback for communication in two areas of haptic perception: passively, through the body, and actively, through externally controlled haptic devices. In the first section of this work, we carry out a perceptual experiment to understand discrimination thresholds of vibrotactile stimuli presented along the forearm. Improving research surrounding tactile acuity at this site of the body could allow designers to deliver information encoded using vibrations more usefully. We report on the minimum detectable differences in vibrational frequency, and findings indicate that subjects exhibit greater sensitivity at locations proximally close to the wrist, suggesting that …  Read more

Catabolic glucocorticoids (the end-product of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis) can contribute to the occurrence of hippocampal neuronal loss. The issue addressed in this thesis is whether increased HPA activity is associated with cognitive impairments in aged rats. Using the Morris Swim Maze, fifty-eight male rats (22-27 months old) were screened to assess their spatial memory ability. Only 28% showed clearly impaired performance, while 34% were unimpaired. Among age-impaired (AI) rats, plasma concentrations of corticosterone and basal adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) levels were significantly elevated over those in either age-unimpaired (AU) or control animals. There was a significant decrease in type II corticosteroid …  Read more

Collier, Brian (Supervisor)  Read more

This study investigates the efficacy of plasma-activated water (PAW) as a sustainable and effective disinfectant in the food industry, focusing on the application of PAW in treating salmon fillets to enhance product safety and maintain its sensory characteristics. The research examines the impact of PAW generated using a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) on the color, texture, and protein functional groups of salmon, as well as its effectiveness in microbial decontamination. Additionally, the study explores the potential of increasing hydrogen peroxide concentrations in PAW to further enhance its antimicrobial properties. The results show that generating PAW using the dielectric barrier discharge …  Read more

In light of the antibiotic resistance crisis, a push for the discovery and development of new antibiotics is more important than ever, and the natural world provides a treasure trove of potential treatments. Lanthipeptides represent a class of ribosomally synthesized post-translationally modified peptide natural products (RiPPs) that typically display antimicrobial activity. Their popularity has been on the rise in recent years due to their manipulability and unique modes of action that make it difficult for bacteria to develop resistance. They are characterized by the presence of thioether rings (termed lanthionine rings) that are formed by the intramolecular nucleophilic attack of …  Read more

The use of high N fertilizer in sweet corn (Zea mays L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivium L.) production often results in leaching losses and contamination of ground water. Cover crops planted after harvest of sweet corn and wheat may reduce residual soil NO$ sp- sb3$-N levels by crop N uptake and subsequently minimize NO$ sp- sb3$-N content in gravitational water. Field experiments were conducted on a Ste. Rosalie heavy clay (Humic Gleysol) and a St. Bernard sandy clay loam (Melanic Brunisol) to determine the contribution of the six cover crops to nutrient uptake, subsequent N release, leaching losses, denitrification rates …  Read more

Almost from the beginning of the use of reinforced concrete as a structural material, attempts were made to improve the quality and strength of the material by applying prestressing forces. In a patent applied for in 1886 entitled "Constructions of Artificial Stone and Concrete Pavements", P. H. Jackson of San Francisco described several methods of applying prestress forces by stretching ties by turnbuckles, screws and nuts and wedges. Later in 1888 C. F. W. Doehring in Germany, and in 1896 J. Mandl in Austria secured patents for applications of steel and concrete that may quite properly be described as prestressed …  Read more

Russia's ambivalent geo-political and socio-cultural position, as a self-avowed intermediary between the East and the West, shaped its double identity and played an important role in the creation of Russia's own Oriental Other. This dissertation examines the political and cultural resonance of nineteenth-century Russian art songs with oriental or Asian subjects, both within and outside of Edward Said's theoretical construct of "Orientalism." It also addresses how Russian art song composers adapted, transformed and assimilated music drawn from ethnographic sources published during the century. By contextualizing nineteenth-century Russian Orientalism through an analysis of folksong collections, ethnographies, and art songs this study …  Read more

In this research, the seismic response of an existing bridge bent built in the 1960's in the Montreal area is studied in order to determine its seismic deficiencies. Bridges built in the 1960's were designed with outdated codes which had inadequate seismic design detailing provisions and therefore, are expected to behave poorly during an earthquake. The existing bridge bent examined has three major design deficiencies such as large spacing of ties in the column, total lack of shear reinforcement in the beam, and lack of shear reinforcement in the beam-column joint. A one-half scale model of the existing bridge bent …  Read more

Miriam, Velly, Ana (Internal/Cosupervisor2)  Read more

Cap-dependent translation is initiated by the recruitment of the eukaryotic initiation factor 4F (eIF4F) complex to the N-7 methylguanosine cap of mRNAs. This complex is composed of the cap-binding protein eIF4E, the RNA helicase eIF4A, as well as a larger eIF4G scaffolding protein. A screen of natural compounds conducted in our lab led to the identification of several eIF4F inhibitors, the most potent targeting its eIF4A subunit. This is thought to specifically inhibit the translation of mRNAs with long and structured 5’ untranslated regions (UTRs). Renewed effort is now put towards the identification of additional inhibitors with increased potency and/or …  Read more

Reznikov, Natalie (Supervisor1)  Read more

Previous research on speech and word segmentation has debated the utility of different linguistic and acoustic information proposed as potential cues to word boundaries. Mattys et al. (2005, 2007) argue that semantic or syntactic context is more helpful than phonetic prosody cues like F0 contour or vowel length. However, Tremblay et al. in 2012, 2016, and 2017 have showed that listeners do use prosodic cues and that their interpretation varies based on the listener's own experience with them in their native language. The present thesis aimed to contribute to this debate by researching how listeners' experience with F0 and vowel …  Read more

Background: Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease wherein lipids, fibrous cells, and platelets accumulate on the inner lining of blood vessels, resulting in the formation of a plaque. The inflammatory milieu of the plaque triggers both the migration and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells that play both stabilizing and weakening roles through the synthesis of collagen and the fibrous cap, and by contributing to inflammation, respectively. The mRNAs that form the inflammatory milieu of the plaque have a long and complex 5’UTR that can form secondary sequences. Known to initiate translation of these mRNAs is the eukaryotic translation initiation …  Read more

L'interprétation d'expressions référentielles représente un aspect central du traitement du discours. Les pronoms représentent un type d'expression référentielle qui procure relativement peu d'information sur l'identité de leurs référents. La résolution de pronom repose donc sur d'autres sources d'information. Les expériences présentées ici examinent l'impact qu'ont les biais lexicaux et l'information prosodique dans l'interprétation des pronoms. Dans des phrases telles que John amazed/envied Bill because he… (John étonnait/enviait Bill parce qu'il…), le pronom de la deuxième proposition est ambigu, et son interprétation est influencée par la probabilité d'attribution de l'information référentielle, aussi nommé biais de causalité implicite (Garvey & Caramazza, 1974). …  Read more

Legault, Laurent (Supervisor2)  Read more

La maladie pulmonaire obstructive chronique (MPOC) est une maladie respiratoire chronique et répandue et est causée principalement par l'inhalation de fumée de cigarette à long terme. Une caractéristique importante de la MPOC est un niveau élevé d'apoptose des cellules pulmonaires structurelles, notamment de fibroblastes. RelB, un membre de la famille NF-kB, peut supprimer l'apoptose en réponse à la fumée de cigarette mais toutefois, sa fonction dans la survie des cellules pulmonaires n'est pas encore connue. RelB peut agir comme un facteur pro-survie en contrôlant l'expression d'antioxydants tels que la superoxyde dismutase 2 (Sod2). Sod2 est également contrôlée par le récepteur …  Read more

Understanding the lives of Italian women who migrated to Canada and Australia in the post-war period is the goal of this thesis. Although governments assigned women secondary roles as dependants and 'followers' in the migration process, I argue that Italian women were central, not marginal, to the migration and settlement experiences of Italian immigrants. By placing Italian women front and centre of this study, I contribute to a small but growing body of work that challenges the male-centred perspective of most literature on Italian-Canadian and Italian-Australian migration and ethnicity. This thesis is structured within a feminist framework and uses interdisciplinary …  Read more

This thesis is broadly concerned with how an ethnic group defines itself through the medium of the press. It contends that newspapers do more than simply 'reflect' the experience of ethnic groups, they in fact help to 'construct' ethnic identity. The specific focus of this study is the Italian language press and its attempts to shape the ideals of italianita of Italian migrants in Canada and Australia in the immediate post-war period. This work is based on two newspapers, Montreal's Il Cittadino Canadese and La Fiamma published in Sydney, New South Wales. All available editions from the decade 1947 to …  Read more

The recent failure of major Alzheimer’s disease (AD) clinical trials would indicate that, at the moment of diagnosis, the damage to the brain is likely irreversible. There is also a growing recognition that the pathological changes that lead to AD develop many years before cognitive decline. This pre-clinical stage deserves further attention, as it should offer a critical opportunity for successful treatment. Unfortunately, the investigation of this stage is complicated by the fact that current diagnostic methods cannot unequivocally identify asymptomatic individuals bound to develop dementia. In that sense, transgenic animal models offer an attractive alternative. Even better, Down’s syndrome …  Read more

This thesis concentrates on advanced dynamic capacity allocation (DCA) schemes that allow an efficient and fair sharing of the BSA return channel capacity among many user terminals (UTs), by dynamically adapting each UT's capacity assignment to the input traffic variations, while satisfying QoS requirements. DCA performance is evaluated with respect to satellite bandwidth utility (utilization) and QoS performance experienced by user traffic (expressed in terms of packet delay and loss). DCA performance is affected by various elements/parameters, some internal to the DCA scheme and others, external. Relying on simulation, the thesis considers the effects of these elements/parameters on performance, focusing …  Read more

Coulombe, Sylvain (Supervisor2)  Read more

Over the past two decades, the focus of industrial research into hydrate inhibition has shifted from hydrate prevention to hydrate management, with emphasis on the development of environmentally-friendly, low-dosage kinetic inhibitors. The purpose of this work was to measure the effects of four naturally occurring polysaccharides on structure I methane gas hydrate nucleation and growth kinetics and to assess their application to industrial-type systems. These compounds were selected based on the xylomannan sugar found in the Alaskan beetle Upis Ceramboides that afforded 3.7°C of thermal hysteresis (Walters et al., 2009). Experiments conducted at 275.15K and pressures of 4645 and 5645 …  Read more

La famille de récepteurs de Trk tyrosine kinase et le récepteur p75NTR sont des récepteurs de neurotrophines. Le facteur de croissance nerveuse (NGF) intéragit avec le récepteur TrkA, le facteur neurotrophique dérivé du cerveau (BDNF) intéragit avec le récepteur TrkB et la neurotrophine-3 (NT-3) intéragit avec TrkC. Le domaine extracellulaire du récepteur Trk contient cinq sous-domaines: un motif riche en leucine (D2), deux motifs riches en cysteine (D1, D3) et des sous-domaines de type immunoglobuline Ig-C1(D4) et Ig-C2(D5). Le sous-domaine Trk D4 régule l'activation indépendante de ligand. Les sous-domaines TrkA-D5 et TrkB-D5 régulent la liaison de ligands endogènes ainsi que …  Read more