McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par S

Ce sage conseil de Sainte-Beuve inspirera notre travail d'apprenti-critique. Considérons notre homme comme un prisme taillé par la vie, les évenements qui, au cours des années, ont façonné son esprit et sa personnalité. A travers les facettes erre la pensée secrète, le génie intime de l'individu. Notre cristal sera Voltaire ciselé par les événements d'une année de sa vie. En tournant et en retournant ces 365 jours, et en examinant de près le spectre lumineux, nous espérons trouver au bout de l'arc-en-ciel la flamme qui est l'essence de l'homme.  Read more

Theoretical and experimental work on electron beams which are produced by a magnetically shielded electron gun and are maintained by an axially symmetric magnetic field is described. Such electron beams are commonly termed to be "magnetically focused". Three additions to the earlier theories are presented. Thermal velocity considerations have led to a formula which gives a lower limit to the flux density for maintenance of a magnetically focused beam within a specified radius. The effect of a misalignment between the beam and magnetic field on the required flux density has also been considered.  Read more

Na+/H+ exchangers (NHE) are transmembrane proteins that mediate the electroneutral exchange of Na+ and proton across the plasma membrane. There are seven mammalian isoforms of the gene family identified to date. The recently cloned isoform NHE5 seems to be the most highly cell type-specific being probably expressed only in neurons. The objective of my research was to describe the basic biochemical and some of the regulatory characteristics of NHE5 in an effort to understand its in vivo function. To this end, the full-length cDNA of NHE5 was reconstructed and transfected into the NHE-deficient Chinese hamster ovary cell line AP1. Pharmacological …  Read more

Until now, historians have devoted relatively little attention to the rich field of patients' struggles with chronic progressive disease. This study proposes to begin to fill this lacuna by examining in detail the meaning and implications of one central principle of nineteenth-century clinical medicine: incurability. Though the judgement of incurability is the product of a medical encounter, its significance extended well beyond the clinic. For being incurable in nineteenth-century France was a social event in the broadest sense, putting the individual at the centre of a complex web of people with different expectations and duties. Patients and their farnilies sought …  Read more

Pertubations in serotonergic (5-HT) and noradrenergic (NA) function are implicated in the pathophysiology of anxiety and affective disorders. This is strengthened by all antidepressants regardless of targeting these monoamines produce specific alterations in one or both of these systems after a prolonged administration. These alterations are congruent to their delayed onset of action in anxiety and affective disorders and may be of relevance. Using in vivo electrophysiological paradigms in the rat, the present research endeavor was undertaken to investigate whether antidepressant drugs inhibiting one monoaminergic reuptake transporter can induce an alteration in the other system. More specifically, impact of 5-HT …  Read more

Alicyclic spiranes, like spiro [5.5] undecane, and azaspiranes, like 3-azaspiro [5.5] undecane, the alternate name “piperidine-4-spirocyclohexane”; formula and 1-azaspiro [5.5] undecane, the alternate name "piperidine-2-spirocycohexane"; formula are representatives of an unusual combination of ring structures and they involve several important sterochemical – configurational and conformational-problems. It is not true, as is often stated, that the two alicyclic six-membered rings in these spiranes lie in planes perpendicular to each other.  Read more

This study deals with the reconstruction of the administration of justice in Hesse during the Allied military occupation of Germany. (1945-1949). The argument is analysed through two main elements: the restoration of judicial institutions and the denazification of judicial personnel. It is argued that the significance of the institutional element took precedence over the personnel element, since the denazification programme in the U.S. occupation zone was abandoned when it proved impractical. The evidence presented in this work is based on archival research, government documents, eyewitness accounts, and secondary sources.  Read more

This study deals with Allied policy for postwar Germany during the Second World War (1941-1945) and the Allied occupation (1945-1949). It is shown that the ideological division and the conflicting objectives of the occupation powers led to a disintegration of cooperation between the occupation powers, and resulted in the division of Germany as an alternative settlement to the "German Problem". The evidence is based on the available government documents, eye-witness accounts, and secondary sources.  Read more

Reversible phosphorylation is a major mechanism for regulating the activity, localization and stability of proteins required for vital cellular processes such as glucose metabolism, gene expression, establishment of polarity, mitosis and cytokinesis. Phospho-regulation is driven by the activities of kinases and phosphatases. Together, these enzymes account for ~3% of eukaryotic genomes and it is estimated that 30% of the eukaryotic proteome is composed of phospho-proteins. Protein kinases (PKs) have been studied extensively, however relatively little is known regarding the signaling networks of protein phosphatases (PPases). The identification of PPase functional networks has been slow due to the redundant nature of …  Read more

Bacteriophage D108 is a temperate, transposable, mutator phage similar to phage Mu. These heteroimmune phages have 37 kb linear, double-stranded DNA genomes which are over 90% homologous. We have isolated four independent insertions of an entire thermoinducible D108 c ts10 phage genome in the low-copy plasmid pSC101. We also characterized a previously isolated Mu c ts62 insertion in the same plasmid replicon. Fine-structure analysis of these insertions showed that lytically transposing Mu and D108 genomes caused 5 bp duplications of the target site. In addition, we cloned and sequenced the terminal 800 bp of the right end of D108, a …  Read more

This thesis comprises three essays in empirical asset pricing. My first essay entitled ”Are stock and corporate bond markets integrated? A Big Data Approach” I document the existence a growing Factor Zoo of discovered characteristics and factors that predict the cross-section of corporate bond returns and generate a significant high minus low portfolio alpha. I determine a higher statistical benchmark, by accounting for those characteristics and factors that have been discovered in published and working papers and find that in cross-sectional regressions and portfolio sorts of over a hundred characteristics and factors, on average 2.4% predict the cross-section of corporate …  Read more

Human T-cell Leukemia Virus type 1 (HTLV-1) was the first human retrovirus discovered in 1980. It is the causal agent of two well characterized human diseases, Adult T-cell Leukemia (ATL) and HTLV-1-Associated Myelopathy/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis (HAM/TSP). Few treatment options have been developed for ATL and HAM/TSP; the median survival times for ATL remains under a year, and treatment options of HAM/TSP remain palliative in nature. Thankfully the incidence of disease in HTLV-1 infected patients is relatively low, with only approximately 5% of individuals developing ATL and 2% HAM/TSP. One major obstacle in the development of effective therapies is a lack …  Read more

The experiments included in this work were carried out for the purpose of studying some of the properties of blood and plasma and their effects on the preservation of left ventricular contractility during hypothermic coronary perfusion of the isolated heart. When blood is used to support the heart, both its viscosity and diffusible calcium concentration play an important role in determining the level of left ventricular function. The existence of a linear relationship between the viscosity of blood and left ventricular pressure has been demonstrated. Various compounds capable of raising the viscosity of plasma have been evaluated. Hydroxyethyl starch (HES) …  Read more

Although the first steps in somatic gene therapy have already taken place, research on human germ-line gene therapy still remains taboo. However, the first protocol aiming to cure defective genes of mitochondria in germ cells has been published recently. Germ-line gene therapy is an entirely new method. Its effects and impact on future generations differ considerably from those of somatic gene therapy. A systematic and critical analysis of the arguments for and against germline gene interventions, such as "playing God" and moving on the slippery slope to enhancement will be elaborated. Special attention will be focused on the irreversible changes …  Read more

Saideman, Stephen (Internal/Supervisor)  Read more

The erosion of copper electrodes in a concentric cylinder geometry with magnetically driven arcs was studied at steady state for currents up to 250 A in a variety of gases and gas mixtures, magnetic field strengths and gas flow rates. The effects of arc velocity, gas composition, current density and heat transfer to the cathode on erosion rates were examined. The arc velocity varied with the magnetic field strength and arc current accordingly to a newly developed equation, V $ alpha$ B$ sp{0.60}$ I$ sp{0.56}$, when the cathode surface was slightly contaminated with C, Cl, O or N. The composition …  Read more

There has been a great deal written about monetary policy, and about concepts which are, or seem to be, associated with monetary policy. The literature is broad and the opinions and views expressed are almost as large a variety as there are writers and scholars dealing with the subject. [...]  Read more

Deep learning has achieved state-of-the-art results on medical imaging tasks such as segmenting lesions in MRI, diagnosing diseases, and estimating prognosis. However, in order to reliably deploy deep learning models in real-world clinical practices, the models’ outputs must be calibrated to a standard scale that clinicians can follow. While there are methods to calibrate a model for an entire population, it does not guarantee calibration accuracy for some subpopulations, which would put clinicians at risk of unwittingly making poor decisions for patients in those subpopulations. Ensuring that a model be calibrated for all subpopulations requires mitigating calibration bias without knowing …  Read more

The skin of teleost fish is a natural material that exhibits a range of properties that are considered desirable for the biomimetic design of flexible and protective materials and systems. Teleost integument functions to enhance the resistance of the skin to sharp penetration and also to promote the efficient swimming of the fish. Using the common teleost striped bass (Morone saxatilis), the puncture mechanics of individual fish scales were first explored and specialized mechanisms of the scale contributing to the penetration resistance of the skin were revealed. The puncture resistance of the intact scaled skin was then investigated, and additional …  Read more

Neurotensin (NT) is a putative neurotransmitter, the central actions of which appear to be mediated by specific high affinity binding sites. Radioautographic studies using emulsion-coated sections have selectively localized a major proportion of NT binding sites over nerve cell bodies in the rat midbrain tegmentum and basal forebrain. In the present studies, it was shown that the vast majority of $ sp{125}$I-NT-labeled neurons in the rat midbrain tegmentum were dopaminergic, while those in the magnocellular basal forebrain of both rats and humans were predominantly cholinergic using adjacent-section light microscopic $ sp{125}$I-NT radioautography combined with either tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunohistochemistry or …  Read more

The experiments reported in the present dissertation investigated the contribution of the mammillary region to several classes of learning and memory: spatial memory, nonspatial memory, and conditioned aversion learning. It was demonstrated that such lesions impair performance on tasks that require memory for spatial information but that the deficit depends on both the amount of damage within the region as well as the degree of difficulty of the task. A dissociation in the effect of such lesions on performance of comparable spatial and nonspatial memory tasks was shown. In contrast to the severe deficits observed on spatial memory tasks, the …  Read more

This thesis includes the test of a modified Jacob L-6MB 7-cylinder radial engine. In its original form the engine was not suitable for bench test measurements (the reason for this is explained in Chapter 5). Therefore, six cylinders out of the seven were disconnected and all of the tests and investigations were executed on the single-cylinder engine. The emphasis of this investigation was placed on the various relationships among the operational variables, viz, speed, torque, power, fuel consumption, specific fuel consumption, charge of fuel, charge of air, mixture strength, gas temperature, etc.  Read more

This thesis describes the development and applications of a new, high-speed, non-invasive, radiographic method by which the orientational and configurational characteristics of an internal human organ can be determined. The application of the method requires the organ to possess a radiologically recognizable contour seen simultaneously by two X-ray sources. The method does not rely on the existence of anatomical landmarks or implanted artifacts, neither is any prior information about the general orientation of the contour necessary, nor does the operator need to have stereoscopic acuity. In the presentation, first the developed algorithm is analyzed then the method is described in …  Read more

The present study deals with the development of a single-stage implosion-driven hypervelocity launcher. A thin-walled tube filled with helium surrounded by explosives acts as a driver for the launcher. Implosion of the tube drives a strong shock that reflects back and forth between the projectile and the implosion pinch, generating very high temperatures and pressures. Simple analytic models were used to approximate the performance of the pump tube and its use as a driver for a launcher. Experiments to evaluate the implosion dynamics and performance of the pump tube were carried out, and implosion-driven launcher experiments demonstrated muzzle velocities above …  Read more

This study seeks to confront the ontological crises of the subject. Through an examination of twentieth century texts (including fiction, autobiography and Freudian case studies), I demonstrate the effects of subjective compliance with disembodied discourses. Using psychoanalytic theory, I ask: What are the ethical limits of interpretation within the psychoanalysis and literary criticism? And what alternative strategies of intersubjective exchange could we employ that would aspire to avoid instances of such hermeneutic tyranny? Further, what evidence is there that the subject, in the face of overwhelming discursive compliance, continues attempting to realize its ontological status? My hypothesis is that while …  Read more

This report presents simplified theoretical models, based on Newtonian flow concepts, for the prediction of the injectant path, and hence the penetration distance for both gaseous (compressible) and liquid (incompressible secondary injection into a supersonic stream. [...]  Read more

The texts of H.D.’s Madrigal Cycle—comprised of Paint It To-Day (1921), Asphodel (1921-22), Bid Me to Live (1939-50), and the prequel HERmione (1926-30)—are often construed as autobiographical examples of the Künstlerroman, a narrative form of the Bildungsroman that focuses on the maturation of an artist figure. Existing scholarship on the Madrigal Cycle has considered the ways in which H.D. grapples with the genre’s gendered and narratorial inadequacies—particularly the oft-marginalized position of women and the linear expectations of growth—with respect to describing her own artistic development. This thesis extends an ecocritical analysis to this work by considering how H.D. locates in …  Read more

This study has optimized techniques for the detection and identification of mutations in the genes encoding type I collagen. Two novel polymorphisms were identified which may serve as useful markers in the linkage analysis of inherited disorders resulting from mutations in these genes. The methods were also used to characterize the gene mutations in four patients with osteogenesis imperfecta, a disease associated with bone fragility of heterogeneous severity. The point mutations demonstrated in these patients resulted in four novel glycine substitutions within the triple helical domains of the type I collagen polypeptide chains, and allowed an evaluation of the relationship …  Read more

A fractional iterative channel estimation and data detection algorithm is proposed for frequency selective, quasi-static MIMO channels. It is shown that due to the correlation of the noise samples after pulse matched filtering and sampling, the complexity of the derived receiver, based on the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm with fractional sampling, is the same as that of the ML receiver, which requires an exhaustive search. It is shown that by using a noise whitening filter to whiten the noise samples, the algorithm can be efficiently implemented using the Viterbi algorithm instead of using an exhaustive search technique. Due to spectral zeros …  Read more

The purpose of this thesis will be to substantiate the claim that Roald Dahl, the author of humorous writings for children, is simultaneously an avid creator of grotesque fiction. My argument is based on the premise that unless one views Dahl's texts in terms of their grotesque influence, critical evaluation of his work inevitably becomes reduced to a question of taste. A diachronic overview of the term "grotesque" is presented beginning with its delineation of an artistic mode in early Rome to its Rabelaisian extensions during the sixteenth century. The origins of the word are established, and its changing meaning …  Read more

Thalassemia is a blood disorder requiring lifelong transfusions for survival. Erythrocytes accumulate toxic iron at their membranes, triggering an oxidative cascade that leads to their premature destruction. We hypothesized that removing this proximate iron compartment as a primary treatment using novel iron chelators, could prevent hastened red cell removal and clinically alleviate the need for transfusion. Novel, highly cell permeable iron chelators, pyridoxal isonicotinoyl hydrazone (PIH) and pyridoxal ortho-chlorobenzoyl hydrazone (o-108) were compared to the present mainstay, desferrioxamine (DFO) and deferiprone (L1), in vitro and in vivo . Treatment of human model beta-thalassemic erythrocytes with chelators resulted in significant depletion …  Read more

Context: Chronic pain (CP) negatively impacts everyday functioning resulting in significant physical and psychosocial stress and is a prevalent global issue. CP is mainly studied among adults; however, CP impinges on paediatric populations as well. Adolescence is a pivotal developmental period during which adolescents establish their personal and social identity; however, CP often interferes with this process. The majority of research studies conducted on CP patients are quantitative and explore CP through a primarily biomedical framework. However, research focusing on the barriers and facilitators contributing to the subjective CP experience is now shifting away from a predominately biomedical perspective over …  Read more

The adenoviral Early Region 4 open reading frame 4 (E4orf4) protein has been shown to induce p53-independent apoptosis in transformed human cell lines. In rodent cells, E4orf4 has been shown to mediate apoptosis in the presence of a caspase inhibitor. These early results suggested that E4orf4 triggers a novel, non-classical form of apoptosis that may be independent of the core death machinery. A series of experiments were performed to analyze the activation of apoptotic machinery in response to the expression of E4orf4 in human cell lines. The analysis of E4orf4-induced cell death focused on a detailed examination of molecular mechanisms …  Read more

Signe annonciateur d'une maladie létale et difficile à traiter, le cancer du sein au stade précoce est un sujet d'étude qui malgré son importance, est souvent négligé. Le cancer du sein au stade précoce est difficile à détecter et à classifier. Les méthodes histopathologiques utilisées pour détecter ces cancers sont subjectives, et résultent souvent en des diagnostics variables dépendant du professionnel responsable du. L'utilisation de méthodes informatiques quantitatives peut atténuer ces problèmes, mais les solutions existantes ne prennent pas en compte l'hétérogénéité intratumorale. Le fonctionnement souvent obscur de ces méthodes constitue également un obstacle à leur utilisation par des professionnels …  Read more

Nicolas Cermakian (Supervisor1)  Read more