McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par R

Le problème de la planification de l’opération des unités de production d’électricité comprenant des spécifications des niveaux de régulation secondaire et tertiaire (celles-ci agissant sur un horizon de temps compris entre deux et trente minutes) a été amplement étudié. Le problème de planification de la production comprenant les aspects relatifs à la régulation primaire, agissant en fonction des variations de fréquence du réseau dans un horizon de temps de quelques secondes, n’a cependant reçu que peu d’attention jusqu’à maintenant. Dans ce mémoire, nous développons et solutionnons le problème de la planification de la production d’électricité en incluant la notion de …  Read more

Patricia Silveira (Supervisor2)  Read more

The persistent use of child soldiers in war continues to be a serious problem for many countries locked in conflicts around the world, yet surprisingly little attention has been given to those actors who are recruiting children in the greatest numbers: namely, non-state armed groups (NSAs). In recent years, several NSAs have entered into formal commitments with UNICEF to end their child recruitment practices; what is more interesting, they have done so during periods of active conflict. Why have these armed groups signed such agreements? Are there observable patterns among these NSAs that could better help us predict the likelihood …  Read more

Mutated in 5-10 % of cutaneous melanoma, RAC1 P29S is a fast-cycling GTPase that increases cellular migration in vitro while mediating metastasis in vivo. Still, how RAC1 P29S drives this behaviour remains unclear. Recent studies have suggested that enhanced actin polymerization and a unique phenotype of extended lamellipodia mediate a proliferative advantage associated with RAC1 P29S. Our lab has identified IQGAP1—a scaffold protein and actin remodeling regulator—as highly enriched in association with RAC1 P29S. On the basis of its involvement in cytoskeletal remodeling and proliferative signaling, we suspected that IQGAP1 may serve a pivotal role in the enhanced migratory phenotypes …  Read more

Cette thèse sur le conciliariste et philosophe-théologien français Jacques Almain (c. 1480-1515) démontre que sa théologie politique, dont l’ecclésiologie est une branche ou sous-discipline, est fortement influencée par les idées de la via moderna, principes auxquels il adhère tout au long de son œuvre. En grande partie pour cette raison, il ne souscrit pas, comme l’affirment certains chercheurs, à l’opinion répandue selon laquelle l’Église ou d’autres organes politiques (par exemple, l’État), et leurs rassemblements représentatifs (par exemple, les conciles œcuméniques), devraient être compris comme étant légalement ou formellement distincts de leurs membres. Au contraire, en raison de son antiréalisme et …  Read more

This thesis deals with issues of gender, power, and history in Koriak women's lives in northern Kamchatka. The Koriak represent one of the indigenous populations of Russia's north. They migrate with the reindeer over vast, rugged tundra territory, and live by the products the animals and the land yield. This cultural order has increasingly been threatened by encroachments of first the Soviet, and now the Russian, state. Today, the Koriak are marginalized within the powerful model of the nation state, and their lives are marked by dissolution and despair. I conducted my research in two villages, Tymlat and Ossora, situated …  Read more

Modern fantasy must be analyzed as a modernist literature that posits a critical gesture of refusal of the conditions of modernity. As a form of irrealism, a category that includes Gothic and magic realism, fantasy claims to represent a deeper realism even if it uses non-realist techniques to do so. The combined and uneven capitalist world-system inscribes itself in the urban fantasy of Charles de Lint, which as a peripheral modernism combines residual forms and folkloric, non-modern content within the realist novel. This symbolic act allegorizes 'the synchronicity of the non-synchronous,' a principal condition of modernity. In de Lint's novel …  Read more

Tanner, Charles E.  Read more

The CoHousing movement was formed in Denmark in the late 1960's, and has since become established in Scandinavia, central Europe, Australia, and North America. Through collective development and management of pedestrian-oriented housing with shared facilities that supplement individual dwellings, CoHousing fosters the sense of community lacking in other housing options. This increased contact and interaction with neighbors is seen to be particularly beneficial to two of the fastest growing household types--single parents and the elderly. CoHousing units are typically not affordable to a large proportion of these and other groups, however, and thus have tended to be an option primarily …  Read more

This study is concerned with the situation in which a passenger holding a valid airline ticket and a confirmed reservation is nevertheless refused carriage. The categories of travellers which are examined are "bumpees" i.e. victims of the airlines' overbooking practices; the handicapped, with special emphasis placed on the situation of pregnant women; the elderly and children; smokers and drunks; racial minorities; and those passengers whose characteristics fit the so-called hijacker profile. Of these, the handicapped, including expectant mothers, emerged as the passengers most often subjected to detrimental discrimination; the treatment of unaccompanied children was also unnecessarily restrictive, whilst overbooking and …  Read more

Soil respiration measurement is an important tool in environmental studies and, less often, in agricultural applications. There exists various methods of measuring and quantifying this release of CO2 from the soil surface. Currently, the three main working principles in point source measurement chamber designs are: closed dynamic chambers (or non-steady-state flow-through chambers); closed static chambers (or non-steady-state non-flow-through chambers); and open chambers (or steady-state flow-through chambers). These methods can be expensive and time consuming. The Rapid Soil CO2 Analyzer (RSCA) developed in this project was built around a low-cost Non Dispersive Infrared (NDIR) sensor and aimed at providing a faster …  Read more

The mixing mechanism of South African cumulus congestus clouds is investigated using a combined observational and modeling approach. The experimental data consists of aircraft measurements collected in developing cloud towers near Nelspruit on three case study days. The observations are analyzed to determine the source regions of the entrained air. The mixing processes are simulated using both axially and slab symmetric cumulus models with very high spatial and temporal resolutions. The simulated clouds have a structured organization with small scale features such as in-cloud downdrafts. The mixing processes are examined by analyzing the time variation of dynamic and thermodynamic quantities …  Read more

At the end of the last century, a promising mode of economy emerged. Resting on developments in information and communication technologies, it became known as the New Economy. It offered a liberating ethos of work, claiming to value such traits as autonomy, flexibility, inventiveness and entrepreneurial spirit. Replacing the aloofness of mechanist Taylorism and the alienation of Fordist mass production, it succeeded in recruiting a young, educated and enthusiastic workforce that was willing to work long days in pursuit of success. This study investigates the commitment of the white-collar workforce to the New Economy. It examines the persuasive practices these …  Read more

Atmospheric sulfate has impacts ranging from health concerns to climate change. Traditional photolytic oxidant production channels are not sufficient to account for the observed atmospheric sulfate load. It has been suggested that sulfur oxidation is oxidant dependent, especially in urban areas and during the wintertime. The ozonolysis of alkenes, a dark reaction, could potentially produce additional oxidants (HO• and H₂O₂). This study used MOCCA (Model of Chemistry Considering Aerosols), a zeroth dimension chemical box model to study the potential impact of the ozonolysis of alkenes on the aqueous phase chemistry of sulfur. The study was conducted at mid-latitudes using both …  Read more

This thesis presents a brief review of the cbildhood, early manhood and character of Pierre Loti before visiting Turkey. The five visits of Loti to Turkey are discussed, particularly in their relationship to the influence they have on the character and mental outlook of the man. Loti's impressions of Turkey, its people, their social customs and their religion are compared with those of contemporary writers on Turkey. Finally, the description of the Turkish women and her life in the harem as depicted in "Les Desenchantees", is considered, and the question discussed as to whether it is truly representative of the …  Read more

To understand the educational situation in any community, then, it w1ll be necessary, among other considerations, to know what sort of teachers they have, what training they require of them and what tests of character and scholarship they impose. And to fully appreciate the meaning of information on these subjects, it will be of real value to know something of the historical development that is back of the present requirements. In the Province of Quebec, where so much of the situation in regard to education presents quite unique features, a historical study of the development of teacher training will make …  Read more

Galiana, H. L. (Supervisor)  Read more

La reconnaissance des visages est une compétence sociale fondamentale qui se développe tout au long de l’enfance et de l’adolescence. Bien que des recherches antérieures aient démontré l’émergence précoce des stratégies de traitement holistique et des traits faciaux, la trajectoire développementale de ces stratégies—ainsi que les mécanismes attentionnels sous-jacents—demeure peu claire. La présente étude a utilisé un dispositif de suivi oculaire (eye-tracking) afin d’examiner comment des individus appartenant à trois groupes d’âge (enfants de 6 à 9 ans, adolescents de 12 à 18 ans, et adultes de 19 ans et plus) discriminent l’identité faciale dans des conditions de vision qui …  Read more

Huang, Jiefang (Supervisor)  Read more

Practice Guidelines are systematically, and rigorously developed recommendations designed to inform professionals and service users about the most effective interventions available under specific circumstances (Fernandez et al., 2015; Institute of Medicine 2011).. Guideline development methods in social care share many of the steps that have been previously described in health Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) handbooks. Some notable differences between handbooks in each field, however, pertain to the manner in which data is evaluated and synthesized. In an effort to address these particular needs, a guideline development method specific to this field was developed (Beauchamp et al., 2015; Beauchamp et al., …  Read more

Impulsivity is considered a major contributor to various antisocial behaviours (Nofziger, 2010) and is present in many mental and personality disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Given that clear sex differences have been observed in such behaviours and disorders (Nofziger, 2010; Struber, et al., 2008), it is of interest to explore whether similar sex differences are observed in impulsivity. This thesis explores sex differences in impulsivity and its sub factors, as well as the potential role of impulsivity in explaining sex differences in antisocial behaviours and affective disorders. Using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, 11a version (BIS-11a; Barratt, 1994), a self report …  Read more

Chaves, Jaime (Supervisor2)  Read more

Trace elements added to the soil by human activities could contaminate it and occasionally cause a threat to environmental and human health. The toxicity and mobility of a trace element are affected by the element's solubility, which in turn is influenced by the soil properties. When mobile, trace elements can be leached out of the soil. If leaching occurs at a faster rate than atmospheric deposition, element concentrations in the soil will decrease by natural attenuation. We analyzed soil properties in 40 soils and their soil solutions to obtain a set of equations with the most significant predictors of As, …  Read more

Des études expérimentales antérieures sur le fractionnement du soufre entre les fluides aqueux et les silicates fondus (Ds fl/m) ont été réalisées pour mieux comprendre le dégazage du magma et son influence sur la pétrogénèse ignée, les éruptions volcaniques, et la formation des gisements. Le soufre est un élément abondant dans les systèmes magmatiques mafiques, cependant son comportement dans le magma est encore mal compris à cause de problèmes sur les méthodes expérimentales. Une série d'expériences a été réalisées avec un échantillon de MORB naturel (avec ~800 ppm S) équilibré avec une phase fluide de H2O pour déterminer le coefficient …  Read more

Cette thèse porte sur les changements socio-environnementaux dans le Mexique rural contemporain, tel qu’il est vécu dans un village zapotèque de la Sierra Norte de l’État d’Oaxaca, situé dans le sud du Mexique. En se concentrant sur le cas spécifique de Yalálag, cette étude explore deux processus en synergie dans les communautés rurales du Mexique qui se sont accélérés au début du 21e siècle: une augmentation drastique de l’émigration urbaine nationale et de l’émigration internationale, et une forte diminution de l’agriculture à petite échelle. Malgré des projets de développement changeants, mes conclusions indiquent que les politiques socio-économiques modernes du gouvernement …  Read more

Lorenzino, Lisa Marie (Supervisor1)  Read more

The lung is the primary target of many lethal respiratory viruses, causing significant global mortality. Lung organoid models are potentially helpful for studying emerging or re-emerging viral infections and fostering the development of novel in-vitro therapeutic strategies. But existing models have so far failed to accurately mimic the heterogeneity, cellular diversity and intricate tubular and branching structures of native lungs. Most current models include only cells markers from one single lung region, often primary cells harvested from invasive deep lung tissue biopsies. The present study was aimed at the creation of a heterogeneous lung organoid model from more readily accessible …  Read more

Mongeau, Luc (Internal/Supervisor)  Read more

The problem of integrability of scalar partial differential equations in two independent variables is investigated from a geometric viewpoint. The structure of "equations describing pseudo-spherical surfaces" introduced by S. S. Chern and Keti Tenenblat is taken as the starting point, and the fact that every equation which describes pseudo-spherical surfaces is the integrability condition of a sl(2, R)--linear problem is exploited throughout. A classification of evolution equations of the form ut = F(x, t, u, ..., uxm) which describe one-parameter families of pseudo-spherical surfaces ("kinematic integrability") is performed, under a natural a priori assumption on the form of the associated …  Read more

This study compared the effect of two contrasting nutrient environments on the growth rates of 12 Carex species from the Mont St. Hilaire Biosphere Reserve, Quebec. All species demonstrated higher growth rates under conditions of high nutrient availability. There was no correlation found between maximum relative growth rate (RGRmax), leaf production, and biomass. High nutrient availability produced a reduction in root/shoot ratio, while leaf production was the trait that showed the greatest response to contrasts in nutrient availability The Carex species were found to be relatively slow growing plants, with growth potential ranging from stress tolerant to competitive. The species …  Read more

Cette thèse examine comment la stimulation transcrânienne à courant continu (TDCS) peut améliorer l'acquisition des habiletés motrices pendant la formation chirurgicale. En délivrant un courant électrique de faible amplitude au cuir chevelu, la stimulation transcrânienne à courant continu (TDCS) modifie l'excitabilité neuronale sans nuire au patient. En dépolarisant ou en hyperpolarisant les potentiels de membrane au repos des neurones, la technique peut influencer l'excitabilité corticale et faciliter ou empêcher la production de potentiels d'action, respectivement. La recherche du passé a étudié comment le TDCS pourrait améliorer la coordination et la performance des tâches motrices fines.Dans cette thèse, nous avons effectué …  Read more

The rotational total skin electron irradiation technique at the McGill University Health Centre has undergone several developments over the past few years. Replacement of the formerly used linear accelerator has prompted many modifications to the previously reported technique. With the current technique, the patient is treated while standing on a rotating platform, with a single large field at a source to surface distance of 378 cm. The electron field is produced by a Varian 21EX linear accelerator using the commercially developed 6 MeV high dose rate total skin electron mode, along with a custom-built flattening filter. Ionization chambers, radiochromic film, …  Read more

Chouinard, Luc E. (Internal/Cosupervisor2)  Read more

Naveen Eluru (Supervisor)  Read more

Since the beginning of the sixties, coastal trapped waves have been one of the most popular subjects in physical oceanography. Initially, we discuss their characteristics in the Southeast Hudson Bay, using the Brink and Chapman model. Then we compare the normal modes obtained with the observations made in Kuujjuarapik (Hudson Bay) in 1986 using the technique of Freeland et al (1986). This area is difficult to model because of rapid changes of stratification in the water column during the ice break-up period. The best fit was found for two topographic waves both having a period of three days with phase …  Read more

New high resolution density fields for the northwestern Atlantic Ocean are calculated from objectively analyzed temperature and salinity fields obtained from archived data. The original data set is the Marine Environment Data Service (MEDS) archived data and is supplemented by a subset of the National Oceanographic Data Centre (NODC) data from J. Reid and by the 1980s additional data of Fukumori and Wunsch (1991). The objective analysis scheme is a modification of that used by Levitus (1982) and uses 37 vertical levels. The scheme is used to calculate the climatological mean (1910-1989) temperature and salinity fields for the summer and …  Read more

Montgomery, David  Read more

In embryonic neurons, the intracellular chloride concentration is elevated, making GABA and glycine depolarizing. Later in development, coincident with neuronal maturation, the extruding potassium-chloride co-transporter KCC2 is expressed. It reverses the chloride gradient, rendering it hyperpolarizing. Early depolarization is assumed to play trophic roles during nervous system development. I thus decided to investigate the effects of the depolarizing chloride gradient on development in vivo in the zebrafish embryo. I first determined the temporal pattern of KCC2 expression in zebrafish and found it was absent in the embryo. I then over-expressed wild-type, gain-of-function and loss-of-function variants of human KCC2, using GFP-tagged …  Read more

Background. The goal of the present study was to examine the relative roles of cultural identity, parents, and peers on alcohol and cigarette use among youth in two Indigenous communities in northern Quebec. Strong Indigenous cultural identity, parent-child communication about substance use, and peers who do not use nor approve of use were all expected to lead to increased negative (decreased positive) expectancies about the effects of drinking and smoking. In turn, these expectancies were hypothesized to lead to reduced risk for alcohol and cigarette use. Method. One hundred and seventeen Indigenous youths (N=117; grades 6-11) from two communities in …  Read more

The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken steps to define and develop its prosecution policies. Review of these policies reveals that the OTP prefers to act on referrals of situations by states and the Security Council, rather than to employ its proprio motu investigatory powers. While the OTP has effectively defined the threshold for the gravity of the crimes that it will prosecute, a number of other discretionary criteria that inform the OTP's exercise of jurisdiction remain undefined. Additionally, the OTP's acceptance of state 'waivers of complementarity' moves in the direction of establishing …  Read more

Plusieurs problèmes d'ingénierie nécessitent une conception pour des températures environnemental extrêmes et des gradients thermiques sévères où les composants subissent une contrainte et une déformation élevés. L'air de refroidissement est souvent introduit par des trous pour refroidir la structure et permettre un plus grand gradient thermique. Malheureusement, ces trous de refroidissement présentent des concentrations de stress indésirables. Cette thèse étudie des structures planaires à basse porosité subissant un refroidissement du film pour améliorer l'efficacité du refroidissement, la durée de vie et la fiabilité dans des conditions de température extrêmes. Une famille de formes de voûte planaire est générée à l'aide …  Read more

In this thesis, women's involvement in medicine in the medieval and early modern periods will be read through the lens of "experience" and "experiment" as sources of validation. "Experience" was a contested term and concept in this period, and my thesis is devoted in large part to studying the changing nature of experience. "Experience" connoted both something thought or known, and something done or performed. This perspective is important because during these periods, the value and definitions of experience and experiment changed among intellectual and professional elites, effectively reframing the traditional identification of women with experimental knowledge. Rather than viewing …  Read more

On 1 October 1879 the German Imperial Court, the Reichsgericht, was formally opened in a ceremony in Leipzig. Decades of division among the German states, particularly in the years between the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 and the creation of the German Reich in 1871, led to constant demands for national unification on political, economic, social and legal levels. Throughout those years proposals for Rechtseinheit, or legal unity, called for numerous substantive reforms as well as procedural or institutional reforms. Such proposals ultimately led to several important legal reforms, including the adoption of the Imperial Justice Laws …  Read more

For almost sixty years the Reichstag fire of 27 February 1933 and the events that followed have been the subjects of historical inquiry. The criminal trial against those accused of starting the fire was held before the German Supreme Court, the Reichsgericht. This thesis examines the conduct of the Reichsgericht during the Reichstagsbrandprozess of September to December 1933. It shows that the trial was conducted by an independent but conservative Supreme Court which managed the proceedings according to its own historical antecedents and precedents. The evidence is based on published government documents and other primary and secondary sources.  Read more

L'adolescence est une période dynamique de la vie marquée par de grands changements, tant au niveau du physique que des taux d'hormones et du comportement. Cette période correspond à la transition vers l'indépendance. C'est aussi une période où les expériences de vie pourraient modifier le cours du développement du cerveau et mener à la manifestation d'une maladie psychiatrique. En particulier, si la consommation de drogues, même de façon récréative, débute pendant l'adolescence, le risque de développer une toxicomanie à l'âge adulte augmente. L'adolescence est également une période où le cortex préfrontal, une région du cerveau impliquée dans les circuits de …  Read more

For many years casein was believed to be a homogenous protein. However, early work with fractional precipitation methods showed that casein was not a single protein, and later, electrophoretic studies proved conclusively that casein is composed or at least three tractions. The tractions were designated as alpha-, beta- and gamma-casein. The physical properties and the composition or the three tractions have been investigated in some detail, but there has been much controversy as to the presence or carbohydrate in casein.  Read more