McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par T

Le rituel ancien des Juifs qui s'appelle tefiline (ou "phylactères") est le fait de porter la Bible. Il s'agit de petits morceaux de parchemin, sur lesquels sont inscrits certains versets bibliques, qui sont enfermés dans des petites boîtes en cuir. Ces boîtes sont attachées sur la tête et les mains avec des sangles en cuir. Dans la présente étude, nous examinerons la culture matérielle du tefiline, de la littérature biblique aux découvertes archéologiques du désert de Judée. Ensuite, nous procéderons à la littérature tannaïtique et amoraïque, et aux responsa gaoniques, et nous finirons par l'Europe médiévale. Puis, nous étudierons la …  Read more

Detailed measurements have been made of the interactions between applied microwave phonons and the paramagnetic spin system in electron-irradiated quartz as a function of phonon power, monitor power, magnetic field angle, phononmonitor frequency separation and propagation direction. Static electric fields up to 10 kV/cm have been applied to irradiated quartz and the effect on the electron spin system studied for various conditions. Detailed cross-relaxation measurements revealed a new type of energy transfer between resonance lines of particular sites. A dielectric loss mechanism with Q = 13.40K was observed when measurements of the dielectric loss were extended from 16°K down to …  Read more

An average temperature coefficient of the work function of 167 UV/°K has been found for evaporated films of barium between 80°C and 280°C in vacua of less than 10-9 millimeters of mercury. The results show small but definite curvatures in the work function relationship. Experimental measurements were found to be reproducible, free from drift and free from temperature dependent contamination effects. The design and performance of apparatus employing the retarding field characteristics of a diode to measure changes in the work function has been evaluated. This apparatus, while not suited to measuring the absolute work function, has the advantage of …  Read more

La douleur trigeminale neuropathique est une forme unique de douleur qui résulte d'un dommage aux afférents primaires du nerf trijumeau innervant la région de la tête et du coup. Cette douleur constante qui se manifeste en l'absence d'un dommage aux tissus périphériques représente un fardeau social et économique important. Une compréhension rigoureuse des mécanismes qui mènent à cette condition sera nécessaire pour mieux la traiter et préférablement la guérir.La peau de la lèvre inferieure est innervée par des afférents primaires appartenant à différentes classes, incluant les fibres myélinisées Aβ, les fibres légèrement myélinisées Aδ, ainsi que les fibres C non …  Read more

Scarth, G. (Supervisors)  Read more

Necessary and sufficient conditions for a Hausdorff Lindelof space to be embeddable in a Hausdorff K-space are given; thus, an example of a K-analytic space which is not K-Sous1in in any space can be constructed. Conditions under which a 1-1 continuous map preserves K-Borelian sets are given. A general method of construction of a 1-1 continuous map that does not preserve a particular K-Borelian subset is discussed. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given in order that a strongly "tamisable" completely regular space be topologically complete.  Read more

This thesis analyses selected paintings and aspects of life of the Italian Renaissance in terms of the aesthetic properties of sadistic and masochistic symptomatologies and creative production, as these have been explored by philosophers such as Michel Foucault, Roland Barthes, Marcel Henaff, and Gilles Deleuze. One question which arises from this analysis, and is considered in this thesis, is of the relation between sexual perversion and history, and in particular between experiences of violence, (dis)pleasure and desire, and historically specific forms of discourse and power, such as legislation on rape; myths and practices concerning marriage alliance; the depiction of such …  Read more

Two different approaches to the problem of allocating highway costs between users and nonusers are examined. The first (the "benefit approach") requires that nonusers contribute towards the costs of all highway systems, since all systems confer nonuser benefits. [...]  Read more

Cells are constantly challenged by acute and chronic stresses that must be counteracted by upregulation of protective pathways. The premise of this thesis is that motor neurons have an impaired ability to trigger these protective mechanisms, which may contribute to their preferential vulnerability in the neurodegenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The first objective was to study the involvement of metallochaperones in motor neuronal stress response, including their potential for rescuing motor neurons from toxicity conferred by a mutant Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1G93A ) that causes a form of familial ALS. Motor neurons in dissociated spinal cord cultures failed to induce …  Read more

Volunteers are an integral part of the community organizing movement. This thesis explores the issue of popular involvement in community organizations by examining the reasons why people get involved and what barriers limited participation in the Social Justice Committee of Montreal (SJC). This thesis is based on an exploratory case study. The data is mainly derived from one-on-one interviews with SJC volunteers. The main finding is that factors such as being invited to join by a friend and participating in popular education presentations had a positive impact on volunteer involvement. The thesis argues that community organizers can build trust amongst …  Read more

An association between body mass index (BMI) and caesarean section has been documented in the literature in developed countries. The causal factors leading to this association are not known, therefore it is unknown whether this association could be extended to developing countries. This study will examine BMI as a risk factor for caesarean section in women in a developing country. This study included a cohort of 290,124 births in Uruguay, from the years 1992 to 2001, and a cohort from Pelotas, Brazil with 8,475 births, from 1982 and 1993. Three statistical methods were used to deal with missing data in …  Read more

The nucleotide sequence of cnjB, a conjugation specific gene of Tetrahymena thermophila, has been determined. The gene encodes a putative polypeptide (CnjB) of 1748 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 200 kilodaltons and a pI of 7.9. Four transcription start sites were mapped. The gene has only one genomic copy and is not conserved in yeast (as determined by cross-hybridization experiments with yeast DNA). Analysis of the 13 introns in cnjB, accompanied by 15 other T. thermophila intron sequences, shows that they resemble the nuclear pre-mRNA introns of other eukaryotes. The carboxy-terminal third of CnjB has three regions …  Read more

In the summer of 1949 a field party of the Geological Survey of Canada made a reconnaissance survey of the Labrador coastal region. In the course of the summer a section of the coast and the coastal islands between Domino Run and Hamilton Inlet were studied. Here the Labrador coast, which is relatively unexplored, was found to consist mainly of a grey granite gneiss which had been intruded by basic rocks of at least two ages. The older of the intrusive rocks are garnet-bearing and have since been found to contain well-developed reaction rims. Parts of the garnetiferous gabbro-diabase, which …  Read more

The present study is concerned with the description and petrogenesis of a group of basic and ultrabasic intrusive rocks in the District of Cochrane, Ontario. It includes descriptions of localities where exposures are good or considered to be petrogenetically significant and petrographic descriptions of the intrusive rocks. Comparisons are made with other basic and ultrabasic rock occurrences.  Read more

Tests were conducted to investigate the change in the turbine performance characteristics of a single stage, axial flow gas turbine resulting from changes in the thermodynamic properties of the working fluid. These properties are determined by the values of Cp and y and the method of varying these values was to inject water into the turbine inlet gas stream.  Read more

The purpose of the present thesis was to examine the differential and longitudinal relations between academic motivation types, achievement, and persistence in high school and junior college samples. Academic motivation was defined as a multidimensional construct consisting of intrinsic, extrinsic and amotivated types, according to Self-Determination Theory. Study 1 consisted of a meta-analysis supporting the positive relations of intrinsic motivation and identified regulation and the negative relations of amotivation to school achievement and persistence. It also showed weak and inconsistent effects of introjected and external regulation on school outcomes, and revealed several moderators. Building on these findings, Study 2 used …  Read more

Through experience acquired as a sometime student and later as a teacher in some of the Chinese Schools in Canada the writer has been enabled to perceive the workings of these institutions at close hand and to evaluate their contributions, social and cultural, to the Chinese communities in which they have been founded. To remove any misconception whiohmight exist in the minds of some we should state at the outset that the schools with which we propose to deal are those organized, maintained, and controlled by the Chinese resi dent in canada for the education of their own children in …  Read more

Cette thèse examine l'évolution de la réglementation canadienne de la radiodiffusion depuis l'adoption de la Loi sur la radiodiffusion (fédérale) en 1991 en se concentrant plus particulièrement sur la transition à la télévision numérique. Pour le Canada, ce changement de cap est révélateur des grandes modifications que les politiques publiques ont connues dans les deux dernières décennies : une foi dans les mécanismes de marché, une réglementation en pointillé, des approches axées sur la coréglementation et la puissante influence des nouvelles technologies. La question centrale étudiée dans ce mémoire est la suivante : la politique sous-jacente à la transition à …  Read more

The economic revolution which transformed England from a grower and exporter of raw wool, to a producer and purveyor of manufactured cloth, began and was in a large part accomplished during the fourteenth century. [...]  Read more

Convalescence, derived from the verb to convalescence, which means to grow strong, is the subject of this study. Although the principle of convalescence has been practiced for hundreds of years, its definition has taken time to evolve. Dr. Woodruff^1 has formulated the following: "According to the Oxford dictionary the word convalescence, in its present medical meaning, did not come into use until the 19th century. Before that a person was ‘sick’ or he was ‘well.’ Now, convalescence is recognized as a state of gradual recovery from illness. In other words, the term convalescence is applied to the transitory condition when …  Read more

In this thesis, we develop a novel ab-initio technique to study transport in atomic scale devices based on a self-consistent solution of the Kohn-Sham equations for open systems in and out of equilibrium. Starting from the central motivating theorems of density functional theory, we introduce the basis of the ab-initio technique as currently practiced in condensed matter physics. The Kohn-Sham Hamiltonian is solved numerically by employing a Fireball atomic orbital basis set to transform the problem into matrix form. In order to study open systems, a natural screening approximation is introduced and it is demonstrated that, for the systems studied …  Read more

One who is involved in inter-religious understanding and communication cannot avoid the charge of presumptuousness. The charge may be levelled against him by men of his own or of another tradition. The charge should also come spontaneously from his own humility and realism. The observer can only with effort sense the motives and emotions of the participant.  Read more

The eighth/fourteenth and ninth/fifteenth centuries in Iran are surveyed in order to see reactions to the lack of social and political cohesion in that period. Despite a dearth of writings of political analysis or administrative advice, it is apparent that men are deeply concerned to build a more just and a more charitable society. Both the rulers and the ruled must make their contribution. A satirical poet, 'Ubayd-i Zakani is observed denouncing moral decline. A Sunnï, Süfï leader, 'Alï-i Hamadanï, is seen giving a traditional legal prescription for communal morality. Shï'ï, Süfï leaders and others are seen to offer a …  Read more

Probabilistic bisimulation is a widely studied equivalence relation for stochastic systems. However, it requires the behavior of the states to match on actions with matching labels. This does not allow bisimulation to capture symmetries in the system. In this thesis we define lax probabilistic bisimulation, in which actions are only required to match within given action equivalence classes. We provide a logical characterization and an algorithm for computing this equivalence relation for finite systems. We also specify a metric on states which assigns distance 0 to lax-bisimilar states. We end by examining the use of lax bisimulation for analyzing Markov …  Read more

Adler, Robert (Supervisor)  Read more

Perhaps the most important single problem confronting investigators in the field of wood chemistry today is that of the constitution of lignin. Regarding the constitution of cellulose, the other main constituent of wood, a good deal is known. The celluloae molecule is known to be built up from glucose by the aplitting out of the elements of water from the hydroxyl groups of the 1 and 4 carbon atoms, since 2-3-6- trimethyl glucose is obtained on hydrolysis of methylated cellulose. [...]  Read more

An analysis of the impact of incomplete species distribution information on our capacity to identify minimum size protected area networks was performed. Using bird distribution data for southern Quebec it was found that efficient protected area networks could be established using incomplete distribution information, as little as 30%. The results also revealed that reserve networks encompassing the majority of the biodiversity could be established using as little as 10% of the information. The key to producing efficient networks is the ability of the selection algorithm to identify complementary sets of sites in terms of species composition. The results reveal that …  Read more

In an attempt to establish brain dysfunction as a factor underlying backwardness of reading, an electroencephalogram and several psychological tests were administered to a group of poor readers and normal controls. Although there were no significant differences in the EEG patterns between the two groups, there was a developmental trend suggesting that the poor readers had more posterior slow wave activity at a later age than did the normal controls. For both groups a relationship was also found between IQ ratings and the aide of the brain showing the most posterior slow waves. Two types of poor readers were identified.  Read more

Measurements on the swelling pressure of oriented samples of Na-montmorillonite at dialysate concentrations of 10^-4 and 10^-2 M NaCl were made at temperatures ranging from 0°C to 25°0 in a specially designed temperature - swelling apparatus. The results indicate that at a dialysate concentration of 10^-4 M NaCl, the swelling pressure predicted from the combined Poisson-Boltzmann equation agreed closely with the measured pressures at the temperatures considered – swelling pressure decreased with decreasing temperature as predicted from the equation. Measured pressures were in all cases slightly smaller than the predicted pressures.  Read more

Lamarre, Thomas (Supervisor1)  Read more

In all of the folk-lore that has been preserved, diseases were said to be due to supernatural causes, the displeasures of the gods, or to the entrance into the body of some malign spirit or demon. Acrid and aromatic substances were used as a means of driving away the evil spirits. It is quite likely, however, that primitive man in many instances was successful in combating the spread of infectious diseases, since some of the substances he selected were good disinfectants. It seems strange, however, that present day practices of disinfection appear to have been founded upon early religious rites …  Read more

Le roman historique est, comme l'indique le nom, un genre hybride qui tient à la fois de l'histoire et de la littérature. Non seulement c'est un melange de réalité et de fiction, mais cette réalité ou cette fiction peuvent prendre plusieurs formes -- celle du roman d'aventure, du roman de moeurs, ou du roman d'amour. De toute façon, il y a un cadre historique à maintenir, des moeurs à observer, une couleur locale à donner, et des personnages historiques à représenter. Il n'est pas rare, non plus, de trouver un roman regional ou politique qui, au moment de la composition, …  Read more

A series of six studies investigated whether an amodal or modality-specific model of perception best accounted for auditory and visual processing of temporal patterns. Intramodal and intermodal pattern pairs were presented to subjects in a same-different paradigm. The first two studies found that performance on all modality pairs changed in parallel with age and complexity or delay. These data were consistent with the amodal model of perceptual processing: the modality of the patterns did not affect performance. The last four studies found that when considerably more difficult comparisons were combined with blocking on intramodal and intermodal trials a difference emerged …  Read more

The prevalence of obesity in the paediatric population is on the increase and there is speculation that suboptimal breastfeeding patterns may be contributing to the present obesity epidemic. We described the prevalence and trends in underweight and overweight among 3 052 school aged children over a ten year period, and patterns of exclusive and any infant breastfeeding among 671 mothers over a 6 year period on Montserrat a small British colony which forms part of the chain of Caribbean islands, and experienced the eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano in July 1995. The results revealed for 11 year old children …  Read more

À la fin du dix-huitième siècle en Grande-Bretagne, la taille et la diversité du public de lecteurs augmentent rapidement. On observe une croissance impressionnante dans la production des livres, périodiques et journaux, et le développement d'un réseau plus ouvert, accessible, et sophistiqué pour la circulation de tels matériaux. De plus en plus de gens lisent, et lisent plus que jamais auparavant. Pour des raisons morales et esthétiques cette prolifération de lecteurs cause une anxiété largement répandue parmi les auteurs et penseurs de la période. Certains critiques s'inquiètent d'une détérioration potentielle de la culture littéraire qui serait polluée par un nombre …  Read more

In order to accommodate the needs and abilities of all students, many high schools have designed programs for those students who are unable to cope within regular high school streams. These alternative programs have included vocational education, work experience education, various forms of tracking, and within Quebec, the Individualized Paths for Learning Program (IPL). Individualized Paths for Learning was developed to allow "at risk" students to work towards their high school diploma at a more individualised pace, and to ease their transition into the work force through job skills training and work site experience. As this case study of an …  Read more

This thesis examines the current technological and legal issues concerning orbital debris (space debris). The unique physical characteristics of the space environment are identified and explained. The thesis then explores the causes of orbital debris and examines the risk posed by debris to the most frequently used orbital areas. Significant environmental, legal, political, and economic consequences of orbital debris are described. The current technical and legal controls on the creation of debris are discussed and evaluated. Finally, proposed solutions are considered and critiqued. The thesis concludes with a non-binding treaty-based proposal for a new legal debris control regime that can …  Read more

In Quebec, between 1914 and 1939, women were portrayed as keepers of the hearth, roles established since the mid-19th century, and further reinforced in the early 20th century when the Western World was threatened with drops in population, high infant mortality and the general ill-health of society. French Canadian physicians were one of the self-proclaimed leaders and experts who maintained they possessed all the knowledge to cure society's ills. Their attention fell principally on the elimination of infant mortality on the one hand, and the promotion of multiple births on the other. To succeed, physicians maintained that while they held …  Read more

The present study is concerned with the relation between recall and achievement in a medical school setting. It is part of a general investigation which aims to identify and evaluate factors affecting medical school performance with the ultimate goal of predicting academic standing in medical school applicants. In reviewing the major contributions in this field, Gottheil and Michael (1957) report that premedical grades, and, to a lesser extent, intelligence and aptitude, are associated with medical school achievement. Schwartzman, Hunter, and Prince (1961) have shown, however, that first year medical students who differed significantly in academic rank were similar in intelligence …  Read more

This is a study of educational change that was carried out at the School of Education (SOE) of the University of Cape Town's (UCT) in July 1998. It is about institutional and human transformation in South African higher education in 1998. The context of this inquiry is situated in South African society and polity from the start of the Apartheid era in the late nineteenth century colonization by the Britain, through the 1948 period of minority Afrikaner nationalist government, and to the time of the historic democratic election in 1994. It deals with postapartheid policies aimed at eliminating apartheid in …  Read more