McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 1983

Eight experiments tested priming in short-term memory as a model for latent inhibition and habituation. The model postulates that the two phenomena result from reduced processing when a representation of the target stimulus is already active (primed) in short-term memory at the time of its presentation. Priming is assumed to depend on the integrity of an association formed between the contextual stimuli and the conditional stimulus (CS) during exposure. Using a procedure that should have overshadowed the context, Experiment 1 found that latent inhibition and habituation were nevertheless maintained when a second CS of either equal or shorter duration overlapped …  Lire la suite

To complete a category is to embed it into a larger one which is closed under a given type of limits (or colimits). A fairly classical construction scheme, in which the objects of the new category are defined as "formal limits" of diagrams of the given one, is carried out in two specific examples. In the case of the exact completion (')C of a finitely complete category C, we look at "formal coequalizers" of equivalence spans of C, which end up being the quotients (in (')C) of the corresponding equivalence relation. The objects of (')C are hence objects of C …  Lire la suite

La Cartographie Dynamique est définie, revue et examinée du point de vue de son défaut de répondre aux changements technologiques qui influencent la plus grande partie de la cartographie générale. Une paradigme du mouvement cartographique qui décrive tous les mouvements sur une carte à l'égard de la direction, du volume et de l'étalage s'est créé. Le modèle du mouvement cartographique est développé pour donner les mouvements sur une carte en dimensions quantitatives. La technique de créer la cartographie dynamique est appliquée aux éléments du mouvement du sol et aux éléments du vent pour éprouver l'utilité et la sécurité de telles …  Lire la suite

Anaerobes belonging to the genera Propionibacterium, Bacteroides, Peptococcus, Peptostreptococcus, Eubacterium, Streptococcus and Lactobacillus, which are commonly isolated from the human urogenital flora, were tested for their ability to inhibit the in vitro growth of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains. The antigonococcal effect of the anaerobic bacterial strains tested was found not to be due to nutrient depletion and pH change of the media which had supported their growth. This inhibition was not an all-or-none phenomenon since an inhibitory strain did not necessarily interfere with all the gonococcal strains tested. All the 23 lactobacilli strains tested were found to inhibit the in vitro …  Lire la suite

The goal of the present study is the description and analysis of the material found on the E. H. II site (Area A) situated near Lake Vouliagméni on the Perakhora peninsula. The study includes a description of the stratigraphy and architecture of the site and of the material (ceramics, lithics) found in the building. For the analysis of the material, statistics were widely used to give more precision to the descriptions. The objects were also compared to contemporaneous material. The conclusion consist of a functional analysis of each of the rooms of the building.  Lire la suite

The principal objective of the present thesis has been to develop a methodology for the simulation and optimization of electric power generation by solar ponds. A mathematical model for the analysis of the economic performance of a solar pond electric power system using a heat engine is developed. A salient feature of this model is a simple method for the analysis of a Rankine cycle. Other features include a mathematical model of the solar pond, of the energy exchange properties of the heat exchangers, as well as of the power required by the circulating pumps. The net electric power is …  Lire la suite

Gehr, Ronald  Lire la suite

The propagation of acoustic plate-mode waves in composite membranes is studied. A computer program has been developed and used to calculate the wave velocity and electromechanical coupling factor in these structures which may consist of any combination of piezoelectric layers with arbitrary orientation and surface metallization. In particular, shear modes (SH) in zinc-oxide and selenium membranes, as well as stiffened-Lamb modes in ZnO membranes and ZnO/Si, ZnO/GaAs composite membranes are studied. The surface-acoustic-wave propagation in selenium and in selenium layers on tellurium has been extensively studied using an improved computer program. The study shows that surface-wave coupling factors in the …  Lire la suite

A major problem in robotics vision is the segmentation of images of natural scenes in order to understand their content. This thesis presents a new solution to the image segmentation problem that is based on the design of a rule-based expert system. General knowledge about low level properties of an image is formulated into production rules. A number of processes employ the rules to segment the image into uniform regions and connected lines. In addition to the knowledge rules, a set of control rules are also employed. These include meta-rules that embody inferences about the order in which the knowledge …  Lire la suite

The conduct of commercial activities in outer space is governed both by international and national law. This broad legal regime represents directly applicable general principles, and laws and regulations of mostly indirect application. This is to be expected in view of the emergent nature of commercial space endeavours. In examining applicable national law, consideration must first be given to the effect of international treaties in place. Whether treaty provisions prescribe rules of law by their own terms is particularly important in this regard. The issue of liability for the conduct of space related activities is of prime importance for participants. …  Lire la suite

In this study the dramatic and novelistic aspects of Galaico-Portuguese poetry are analysed. We point out the dramatic tendency of the cantigas showing that the troubadours and jougleurs grouped together a certain number of cantigas with a dramatic purpose. This is demonstrated by the 12 cantigas with which Lopo L(')ias has created a satirical play, which we have entitled Os Zevroes, and which will be studied in the last chapter of this study. Secondly, the narrative and thematic structures of some 1.150 love songs are analysed. In this case, the cantigas de amigo and the cantigas de amor are seen …  Lire la suite

A new vapor-liquid equilibrium apparatus was constructed to measure temperature, pressure, and phase compositions up to 8 MPa. Systems of CO(,2) with 2-methyl-1-pentene, 1-hexene, 1-heptene and m-xylene were studied at 303.15 K, 323.15 K, and 343.15 K. A general method was proposed for equation of state construction. Two equations of State were constructed. Using critical temperature, critical pressure, critical compressibility factor and acentric factor, these equations can predict saturation properties of normal fluids. The equations were extended to mixtures using van der Waals' one fluid theory, Lee-Kesler corresponding state approach and a virial-like approach. They had limited predictive abilities compared …  Lire la suite

In the extrusion blow molding process the shape and thickness distribution of the finished container depend on the dimensions of the parison at the time of inflation. In particular, the processes of swell and sag act to cause a variation of parison dimensions between the time the melt emerges from the die and the moment of inflation. In the present study the effects of die geometry, extrusion velocity and the rheological properties of the resin on parison behavior were studied. Four annular dies (a straight, a diverging and two converging dies) and three high density polyethylene resins were used. To …  Lire la suite

In this thesis a microdynamics theory of structured solids is formulated on the basis of probabilistic functional analysis. The theory which is developed on the principles of probabilistic micromechanics, introduces from the onset spatial and temporal scales relevant in the dynamic analysis. A general formulation of the microdynamics of a three-dimensional solid is given in terms of an abstract dynamical system; the analysis is then specialized to the kinematic subspace of the general state space, whereby the former is found to possess the topological structure of a Hilbertian-Sobolev space. The abstract dynamical system in the microdynamics theory is developed explicitly …  Lire la suite

We present storage organization schemes and a tuple density model of a relation, for the efficient processing of information in a relational database. The underlying concept used in the design of the storage schemes and the density model is that of a multidimensional array. These organizational schemes are: Multidimensional Paging, Dynamic Multipaging, and two dynamic multidimensional hashing schemes, DMHL and DMHE. The DMHL and DMHE schemes are the respective extensions of linear hashing and extendible hashing for multidimensional data organization. Storage mapping functions for extendible arrays are developed as the page addressing functions in the dynamic multidimensional structures. Performance of …  Lire la suite

The level structures of ('94)Ru, ('90)Mo, ('88)Zr, ('89)Mo and ('89)Nb have been studied via the decay of two isomers of ('94)Rh, two of ('90)Tc, two of ('88)Nb, one of ('89)Tc and one of ('89)Mo, respectively. These nuclides were produced via the proton bombardment of isotopically-enriched ('96)Ru and ('92)Mo as well as naturally-occurring Zr. Using gamma and beta spectroscopy techniques, detailed level schemes have been produced. High-spin states in ('89)Nb, ('88)Zr and ('88)Nb have been studied with in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy techniques. These nuclides were produced with alpha particle-induced reactions on ('89)Y. A neutron-multiplicity experiment was used to identify the nucleus to …  Lire la suite

In this study a model of collective bargaining is proposed in which collective bargaining is considered as an ongoing process with component activities recurring periodically. The eight component activities identified are: (1) influential variables, (2) perception and evaluation of the influential variables, (3) bargaining power, (4) prediction, (5) negotiation, (6) mechanism of dispute settlement, (7) feedback loops, and (8) the collective agreement. In addition to the model, an evolution of collective bargaining by teachers in the CEGEP sector of Quebec is presented. This is achieved by descriptive case studies of the first four rounds (1967-1980) of collective bargaining in this …  Lire la suite

In the present work, we characterized T-cell populations induced by thymic microenvironmental fractions. We show that three populations of Thy-1 positive cells belonging to two different T cell lineages can be distinguished. In the first lineage, E-Thy-l cells {population I) are induced by ITF from bone marrow Thy-1 negative precursors. These E-Thy-l cells, in turn, after incubation with STF become F-Thy-1 cells (population II). In the second lineage, E-Thy-l cells {population III) are also derived from the bone marrow but they are induced by STF and cannot be further differentiated as in the case of population II. In the GvH …  Lire la suite