McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par R

L'ostéogenèse imparfaite (OI) est une maladie rare qui provoque une fragilité du squelette, une taille réduite et des fractures. Deux mutations dans le gène BRIL sont connues pour provoquer des types distincts d'OI. Une mutation hétérozygote récurrente dans le 5' UTR (c.-14C>T) est la seule cause d'OI de type V. Cette mutation crée un nouveau site d’initiation de la traduction et entraîne une extension de 5 acides aminés (MALEP) à l'extrémité n-terminale de BRIL (MALEP-BRIL). La deuxième est une mutation ponctuelle dans l'exon 1 de BRIL (c.119C>T) qui change une sérine en leucine en position 40 (S40L). Cette mutation cause …  Read more

Maroun, Ted (Supervisor)  Read more

Rates of carbon and peat accumulation were studied in a series of peat landforms within discontinuously frozen peatlands near Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories. An extended distribution of the White River volcanic ash layer was used as a chronostratigraphic horizon to ensure a consistent time span of peat deposition among peat cores and to allow a large core sample size without the expense of radiocarbon dating. Apparent recent carbon accumulation rates measured over the past 1200 years were not significantly different among rich fen, peat plateau, and collapse fen (means 13--14 g C M-2 yr-1). Poor fen and bog mean accumulation …  Read more

[...]In as much as the purpose of this thesis is a description of an area on the mountain, it seems unprofitable to devote much space to a consideration of the relatively scientifically sterile problem of nomenclature. Rock descriptions are, therefore, generallized and a minimum of emphasis is placed on the names. [...]  Read more

Flavrian Lake Map Area includes about 12 square miles in Duprat and Beauchastel townships. This area was studied and mapped in detail for the Quebec Bureau of Mines during the summer of 1939. All available outcrops of rock were mapped by plane table and alidade surveys and examined. A large collection of specimens was made and during the following winter microscopic studies of rock specimens were carried out in the laboratories of McGill University. During the summer of 1940 the writer continued mapping for the Quebec Bureau of Mines on an adjoining area to the southwest of the Flavrian Lake …  Read more

The fact that maple syrup is a highly appreciated product principally because of its delicate flavor, and also becuase of its small annual production, has caused many adulterated maple syrups and substitutes to be placed upon the market. [...] If it were possible to find some method of isolating and identifying the compound responsible for maple flavor, or even to find some color reaction that would be based upon the actual flavoring principle contained in maple products, it would materially increase the ease of detecting adulteration. [...] There have been numerous attempts to determine the composition and structure of the …  Read more

Ruttan, R. (Supervisors)  Read more

A simple box model of a a high-latitude two-layer ocean, first developed by Martinson et al., 1981, is applied to four Arctic regions connected together: the Greenland Sea, the Norwegian Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Greenland Gyre. The latter, in fact, is a small convective region embedded in the northwest corner of the Norwegian Sea region. The model for each region consists of a thermodynamic ice layer that covers two layers of salty water which can, under specific conditions, become statically unstable and hence create a state of active overturning. The system is forced by monthly mean atmospheric temperatures …  Read more

The stage is a place where symbolic space and real space, symbolic time and real time are superimposed. The critical part of our thought process entitled La figure du chansonnier: resurgence du sujet, tries to examine the way singers (Gilles Vigneault as it happens) create a symbolic place where the risk of fusion between reality and symbolism is much lesser than in other art forms: therefore it is possible not to dissociate the singer as shown to the public and the I that both mark out and cover his work. We think this is a very soft way to work …  Read more

L’optimisation de la dose en curiethérapie présente certaines limites lorsqu’il s’agit de conformer la distribution de cette dose à la forme de la tumeur tout en protégeant les organes à risque (OARs). Ces limitations sont principalement dues à la distribution quasi-isotrope des sources de curiethérapie conventionnelles. La curiethérapie à modulation d’intensité (IMBT) permet de surmonter ces limitations grâce à l’utilisation de boucliers servant de collimateurs pour ces sources. L’IMBT module ainsi la dose via la fenêtre d’émission du bouclier, en conjonction avec la modulation du temps d’irradiation.Cette thèse a premièrement pour but de comparer la curiethérapie à haut débit de …  Read more

The influence of starvation ketosis and ketone body infusions on renal ammoniogenesis was studied in man and dog. The stimulated ammonia production observed in fasting humans contrasted with the depressed ammoniogenesis reported in starving dogs. This discrepancy could not be ascribed to differences in hepatic ketogenesis between the two species but can perhaps be related to a better utilization of ketones by canine peripheral tissues. Owing to the complex metabolic adaptations that occur during starvation, the influence of ketones on renal ammoniogenesis could not be determined. However, the rate of ammonia excretion was depressed in both men and dogs infused …  Read more

Le traitement du cancer du rectum implique soit une colostomie permanente (CP), soit une proctectomie réparatrice (PR). Ces deux interventions ont un impact négatif sur la qualité de vie liée à la santé (QVLS) pour leur propres raisons. Les patients ayant subi une CP souffrent des conséquences de la vie avec une stomie et les patients ayant subi une PR peuvent présenter des degrés divers de dysfonctionnement intestinal. Les études actuelles évaluant la QVLS et prédisant le dysfonctionnement intestinal manquent de pertinence pour les patients et les prestataires.1) identifier les patients présentant le risque le plus élevé de dysfonctionnement intestinal …  Read more

The objectives of this research are to assess the impact of prenatal courses on the birthweight of newborns, and on two intermediate variables: cigarette consumption and maternal weight gain during pregnancy. Ninety-eight per cent (98%) of primiparous women giving birth in one of four Montreal hospitals during the nine-month study period, completed a questionnaire during their postpartum stay in hospital. Medical data on mothers and newborns were extracted from the medical records. Women who participated in prenatal courses were of higher socioeconomic status than nonparticipants. An analysis of covariance showed that prenatal courses did not affect: the mean birthweight of …  Read more

Protein stability in solution is often a limiting factor in certain biochemical and structural biology studies. Proteins from the thermotolerant vertebrate Dipsosaurus dorsalis, the desert iguana, have been studied as a possible means to provide stable homologues of mammalian proteins of interest, notably the first nucleotide-binding domain (NBD1) of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an often fatal human disease, which is caused by the malfunction of CFTR. The vast majority of CF patients have a common mutation: a deleted phenylalanine residue (F508) located in the NBD1 domain. The genes coding for the desert iguana …  Read more

Nous démontrons l'inégalité isopérimétrique linéaire pour les diagrammes combinatoriques de genus 0. Ainsi, nous généralisons l'inégalité isopérimétrique pour les diagrammes de disques et les diagrammes annulaires  Read more

Brown, Karen (Supervisor2)  Read more

Multiple-point simulation (MPS) methods have been developed over the past decade as a mean to generate stochastic simulations while reproducing complex geological patterns, such as high-grade depositional veins, groups of high-grade lentil shaped orebodies, or the spatial geometries and patterns of diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes. This thesis compares two MPS methods by modelling the geology of a diamond pipe located at the Ekati mine, NWT, Canada. The single normal equation simulation algorithm SNESIM, which captures different patterns from a training image (TI), and the filter simulation algorithm FILTERSIM, which classifies the patterns founded on the TI, are considered in this study. …  Read more

This quantitative study was conducted using a population of Child Protection Social Workers (CPSWs) and other staff at a relatively small Child Welfare agency in Eastern Ontario (Northumberland County). The participants (n = 29) completed four questionnaires aimed at gathering data regarding demographics, Ongoing Stressors, Critical Incidents, and Horowitz's Impact of Events Scale (IES). The goal of the research was to add to the scant empirical data regarding stress and post-traumatic stress in CPSWs and Child Welfare organizations as a whole. The results indicated that 9 out of 11 front-line CPSWs were considered to be experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder based …  Read more

Although deflectors are commonly used in fish habitat rehabilitation projects to create and/or maintain pools, there is a lack of understanding of the complex flow field and scour patterns around these structures. The objective of this research is to quantify the 3D flow dynamics and the bed morphology around various designs of flow deflectors in a laboratory flume over a plain and mobile bed. 3D velocity measurements were taken with an acoustic Doppler velocimeter. After comparing different methods of bed shear stress estimates, it was determined that the turbulent kinetic energy approach was best at capturing the shear stress amplification …  Read more

A data structure editor is presented for use in an integrated, fragment-based programming environment. This editor employs high resolution computer graphics to present the user with an iconic representation of the internal storage of a running program. The editor allows the creation, modification, and deletion of data structures. These abilities allow the user to quickly sketch data structures with which to test incomplete program fragments, alleviating the need for driver routines. To keep the user cognizant of events inside his program, a technique for automated display management is presented allowing the user to keep the most important objects in the …  Read more

Tufenkji, Nathalie (Internal/Cosupervisor2)  Read more

Among Canadian women, breast cancer is the second most prevalent and second most lethal cancer. Frequently implicated in this type of cancer are hormone-related pathways, including estrogen-stimulated pathways. The effects of estrogens are mediated mainly through two nuclear receptors. One receptor, called estrogen receptor ⍺ (ER⍺), has been implicated in breast cancer and is expressed in about 70% of cases. These ER+ breast cancers are often treated with endocrine therapy; however, many patients relapse on this therapy. A possible mechanism driving this resistance is missense mutation of ER⍺ in its ligand-binding domain (LBD). Within the LBD, the most commonly mutated …  Read more

Dopamine modulatory role in cognitive functions from attention and novelty detection to learning and memory pointed to suspect its deregulation to take part in the physiopathology of Schizophrenia (SCZ). At the synaptic level, long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD) are believed to underlie learning and memory formation in the hippocampus (HP). Brain dopamine levels and dopamine receptors modulate LTP/LTD and HP-dependent cognitive processes but mechanisms ruling these modulations are unclear. Hyperactivity of the dopamine system in limbic areas is believed to precipitate psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia. It is alleviated by antipsychotic drugs (APD) that all share the pharmacological property of …  Read more

Artemisia Gentileschi's self-portrait, Allegory of Painting, painted in 1630, has activated a complex discussion of female artistic identity in which performance is tied to concerns with status. This thesis addresses an earlier history of development in allegorical self-portraiture in the work of the sixteenth-century Bolognese artist, Lavinia Fontana, and her seventeenth-century successor, Elisabetta Sirani. I argue that the female artist's negotiation for status was played out in the transformation from a more official mode of self presentation, such as Fontana's Self-Portrait at the Keyboard , to a deliberate performative shift of embodied personification in her self-portrait as Judith with the …  Read more

Le cancer de la prostate (CP) est une maladie à haute prévalence. Cependant, les thérapies curatives ne s’appliquent qu’au cancer localisé. Ainsi lorsque les cellules tumorales ont dépassé la capsule prostatique ou formé des métastases, il est difficile, et c’est même un défi, de traiter le CP. La meilleure option thérapeutique est alors la privation d’androgènes (ADT) mais invariablement, certaines cellules tumorales s’échappent et la maladie progresse. Le CP devenu résistant à la castration (CR) ne peut être guéri. La compréhension des mécanismes sous-jacents est fondamentale pour avoir un impact réel sur sa forme létale. L’intérêt du laboratoire-hôte pour les …  Read more

feigned translucency of wavering bodies is an original composition scored for five instruments with the duration of 10 minutes. Volume I of this thesis consists of an analytical paper which presents a theoretical background for the network of conceptual references in the piece followed by the methods and tools explored during the composition process. The musical score is presented in Volume 2. The piece is composed having as structural foundation a system of kinetic morphemes based upon the idea of motion and growth in Denis Smalley's Spectromorphology. The piece's sound-world explores spectra of noise and resulting sonic by-products of unstable …  Read more

Le dioxyde de carbone est l'un des principaux gaz à effet de serre, et contribue au réchauffement climatique. L'une des sources anthropiques majeures de CO2 est la combustion des carburants fossiles, d'où l'importance de l'application de techniques de mitigation sur les processus de combustion, afin de capturer le CO2 et réduire les émissions dans l'atmosphère. Les photo-bioréacteurs avec des micro-algues ont démontré un potentiel pour la fixation de CO2. Toutefois, ils présentent plusieurs désavantages donc la formation de sous-produits ou des particules aériennes (aérosols). Ceux-ci peuvent avoir un impact négatif sur le climat et la santé humaine s'ils sont relâchés …  Read more

Sarkar, Mekhala (Supervisor1)  Read more

We review the article 'A variational principle for symplectic connections' of F. Bourgeois and M. Cahen. The aim is to select a set of preferred symplectic connections on two-dimensional symplectic manifolds by introducing a variational principle. We chose for a Lagrangian a polynomial in the curvature tensor of degree at most two. For compact surfaces we show that all solutions of the field equations must be locally symmetric. We then develop an equivalence between symmetric symplectic surfaces and symplectic symmetric triples and determine the list of isomorphism classes of two dimensional symplectic symmetric triples.  Read more

Torchin, Mark (Supervisor2)  Read more

Marquis, Grace (Supervisor2)  Read more

Aguaruna Indigenous People live along the Rio Cenepa in the Peruvian Amazon. This thesis describes the Aguaruna traditional food system (TFS) and defines its nutritional importance. Nutritional status of women and young children were assessed using anthropometry. Dietary intakes and dietary diversity were recorded using repeat 24 hour recalls. Subsequently, the relative nutrient contributions of local foods were analyzed. A market survey was conducted to compare the nutrient value and relative cost of seasonal local foods with imported products. Anthropometry suggested a healthy population, although the Agauruna had short stature. They purchased <1 % of their food, and group dietary …  Read more

A review is presented of the various theories of blood coagulation from the time of A.Schmidt to the present day. The various factors of the coagulation process are discussed in detail. A section has been devoted to a review of anticoagulants, and haemorrhagic diathesis from various causes is discussed in the light of recent findings. In the preservation of blood, fibrin makes its appearance in the samples despite the presence of an anticoagulant. The experimental work, has been conducted on samples from the Blood Bank of the Biochemistry Department. It has been of an exploratory nature to determine the cause …  Read more

La présente étude analyse le rôle et la composition du conseil d'administration dans deux contextes : 1) pendant les différentes phases de la vie d'une organisation, en incluant la phase d'émergence, de maturité et celle du déclin/disparition ; et 2) après la promulgation des réformes de 2002. Un cadre théorique a été élaboré qui traite non seulement du rôle du conseil d'administration dans l'établissement des procédures de contrôle des cadres supérieurs chargés de la gestion de l'entreprise, mais aussi du rôle du conseil dans le choix des stratégies de l'entreprise et la recherche des ressources nécessaires. Dans ce contexte, il …  Read more

This thesis is an exercise in the retrieval of a critique of the moral language of rights. Grounded in her account of moral agency and her analysis of force, Simone Weil's critique of rights language goes beyond, although it contains, the Marxist view of rights language as ideological, as masking power relations. Weil argued not only that humans are unable to extract themselves from social and economic relations in order to appear equal on the political level, but also they are unable to extract themselves from the consequences of force. The thesis clarifies the Weilian appeal to examine in detail …  Read more

Rapid progress has been made in the understanding of the pathways of homeostatic responses. It is now known that any disturbance in the steady state of the body's internal environment, be it abrupt or tedious, exogenous or endogenous to the organism, will evoke in it rapid and complex responses, mediated through its endocrine and nervous systems and tending to counteract the effects of the disturbing stimulus.  Read more

Six trophic hormones have been extracted from the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland. The secretion and storage of these hormones takes place only in the acidophilic and basophilic cells of the anterior lobe; the chromophobe cells are believed to be inactive in these respects. It has been established that somatotrophin (STH- growth hormone) and prolactin (lactogenic hormone) are secreted by the acidophils (1-11), while thyrotropin (TSH- thyroid stimulating hormone) and the two gonadotropins (FSH- follicle stimulating hormone and LH- luteinizing hormone) are secreted by the basophils (13-22).  Read more

The worldwide generic classification of Piophilidae (Diptera) is tested using a morphological and molecular phylogenetic analysis, and the Nearctic species of the family are revised. The taxonomic revision includes geographic distributions, capture notes, species descriptions and an identification key to the 43 Nearctic species. Based on the phylogenetic analysis, 20 genera are recognized in the family. Five genera are synonymized: Neopiophila McAlpine, Boreopiophila Frey and Parapiophila McAlpine with Arctopiophila Duda; Neottiophilum Frauenfeld with Mycetaulus Loew; and Stearibia Lioy with Prochyliza Walker. One new Holarctic genus, Borealicola, is described, and a second new genus, not described in this thesis, is recognized …  Read more

The preparation and characterization of new materials to make ion-selective membranes are described. The usefulness of zinc orthophosphate and zinc mercuric thiocyanate to make a carbon-support electrode responsive to zinc was investigated. Better results were obtained with zinc orthophosphate. However, the electrode response was lowered by the formation of acidic oxides on the surface of the electrode, and interferences from copper(II), lead(II), and cadmium(II) were observed. An indirect potentiometric method based on the selective monitoring of chlorozincate(II) or cyanozincate(II) anions with a coated-wire ion-selective electrode was proposed as an alternative for monitoring zinc ion. The application of quaternary ammonium, phosphonium, …  Read more

Cette étude a eu pour but d'examiner l'effet modérateur que le sens d'appartenance à sa culture a sur les comportements. L'étude regarde aussi si ce même sens d'appartenance a une influence positive sur le succès scolaire. Un groupe de 30 élèves des Premières Nations dans une école située dans une petite communauté située au nord de Montréal, a répondu à des questionnaires portant sur leurs comportements et leurs affiliations à leur culture. L'analyse des corrélations entre les variables précédemment mentionnées a produit un résultat significatif entre l'année scolaire et le comportement, mais une analyse de régression n'a pas eu de …  Read more

This dissertation is an exploration of law teaching in Canada. Through an empirical study, it aims to describe the teaching and evaluation methods used in Canadian law faculties, and to explain the pedagogical choices of law professors. The findings suggest that the dominant method of teaching in Canadian law faculties is lecturing, although this is often used with other, more interactive methods such as discussion, question-answer or some form of Socratic method. The findings also suggest that law professors' pedagogical choices are influenced by their conception of teaching, as well as other factors such as institutional requirements, culture, and students. …  Read more