McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 1989

Field trials were conducted to evaluate the effect of quizalofop-ethyl on quackgrass plants in a potato cropping sequence. Fall and summer applications were compared for their quackgrass control potential. Season-long quackgrass control was obtained with quizalofop-ethyl at 96 g/ha following summer application. An increase in the rate of quizalofop-ethyl did not further improve control. Yields with quizalofop-ethyl at 96 g/ha were similar to standard treatments sethoxydim and fluazifop-butyl at recommended rates. Quackgrass control following a summer application was not maintained through to the following season. Fall applications did not result in adequate control of quackgrass the following season at any …  Lire la suite

The role of plasmin and plasminogen activators (PA) in bovine lactation and porcine ovulation has been examined. There is no difference in the activation pattern of plasminogen to plasmin throughout the whole range of somatic cell counts (SCC) and from third to ninth month in lactation. The ratio of (plasminogen + plasmin)/plasmin, which serves as an index of the activation process, was 7.27 during early (first and second month) and 4.23 during late lactation (tenth month) and both values are different (p $<$ 0.01) from all the other ratios throughout the whole range of SCC and from third to ninth …  Lire la suite

Using fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran filled inside-out vesicles derived from 4$ sp prime$,4-diisothiocyano-2$ sp prime$,2-disulfonic stilbene treated human red blood cells, we investigated the mechanistic basis for the decrease in the Na:Rb(K) stoichiometry of the Na,K-ATPase observed when the cytoplasmic sodium concentration is decreased below 0.4 mM (Blostein, R., 1983, J. Biol. Chem. 258: 12228-12232). First, we considered the possibility of H$ sp{+}$ replacing Na$ sp{+}$ and/or K$ sp{+}$. It was found that in the absence of Na$ sp{+}$, a decrease in pH from 7.4 to 6.0 effected an increase in ATPase activity $( upsilon)$, an increase in phosphoenzyme intermediate (EP) and …  Lire la suite

This thesis looks at the problems arising out of the unauthorized publication of the likeness of an individual resulting in the infringement of the individual's privacy or misrepresentation or exploitation of his or her personality. We have studied how the law of Quebec, France and the United Kingdom have dealt with each of these situations. We have also described the role of press councils in Quebec and the United Kingdom and examined the solutions proposed by these councils. The first part of the thesis deals with the basis in law for the protection of the human likeness, while the second …  Lire la suite

The study examined the patterns and effectiveness of counterpart training by Canadian cooperants involved in development projects. The traditional one-on-one apprenticeship model of counterpart training was used. Success of the training was analysed by comparing results against the principles of effective training in industry. A group of 40 Canadian cooperants returned from postings in Africa participated in the study. All of the cooperants were participants in a major study on cross cultural effectiveness sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency. Results of the study indicate that the counterpart training system is not very effective as a means of transferring knowledge …  Lire la suite

It was shown, previously that N. crassa contains an endo-exonuclease which exist in two forms, an active form and an inactive form activated by trypsin treatment in vitro. Both of these forms were found in the cytosol and in mitochondria, but only the active form is present in the vacuoles. In the present work, it has been shown that both forms are also present in the nuclei bound to the chromatin. Active endo-exonuclease was previously implicated in DNA repair and in this study additional evidence was obtained in further support of such a role: (i) the mutagen sensitive uvs-3 mutant …  Lire la suite

In light of the recent claims that semiotics has failed because of the inapplicability of scientific methods to the “human sciences”, the semiotic theory of Umberto Eco is examined from the perspective of the “sophisticated methodological falsificationist” philosophy of science or Lakatos Eco’s A theory of Semiotics and Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language are found to suffer from a faulty criterion for scientificality, misuse of symbolisms and calculi. […]  Lire la suite

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 …  Lire la suite

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, HEM13 codes for coproporphyrinogen oxidase which catalyses the sixth enzymatic step in the heme biosynthetic pathway. Coproporphyrinogen oxidase synthesis has been shown to be regulated negatively by heme and oxygen at the transcriptional level. We are interested in defining the HEM13 cis-acting upstream sequences that mediate regulation by heme. HEM13-lacZ and HEM13-CYC1-lacZ hybrid fusions were made and expression of the resulting $ beta$-galactosidase activity was determined in vivo, under conditions of varying levels of heme. Deletion analysis of the HEM13 promoter revealed the existence of 3 upstream regulatory elements designated as UAS1, UAS2, and URS …  Lire la suite

Three proteins of stripped rough microsomes (SRM) from dog pancreas or rat liver, with apparent molecular weights of 35, 56 and 90 kDa (pgp35, pp56, pp90), were phosphorylated in vitro by both ($ tau$-32P) GTP and ($ tau$-32P) ATP. Another SRM protein of 15 kDa (pp15) was phosphorylated in vitro only by ($ tau$-32P) GTP. Comparison of the in vitro phosphorylation profile of SRM to those of other well defined subcellular fractions, i.e., plasma membranes, Golgi apparatus, lysosomes, endosomes, mitochondria and smooth microsomes, showed the four major GTP phosphorylated proteins were restricted to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Further characterization of …  Lire la suite

This thesis provides an overview of the complex problems related to the extraterritoriality of export controls. In the last decades when trade became increasingly international, the tendency of governments to use trade embargoes as a political tool grew considerably. Since the effect of trade controls largely depends on the importance of the affected trade, the regulating State commonly interprets its jurisdiction in broad terms. Thus, the number of conflicts between countries concerning the extent of their jurisdiction increased. This thesis focuses on some pivotal cases and analyzes the different principles suggested to solve the problems. Based on a territorial concept …  Lire la suite

The objective of this study was to collect data on how much time the department chairs in Quebec public colleges spend on different administrative roles, identify the time they would like to spend on these administrative roles, clarify their perception of their role of department chair, and establish the conflicts and ambiguities inherent in the position of department chair. Department chairs spend 22 hours each week performing their different administrative roles but would like to increase the time to 25,4 hours per week in order to do a better job. Women chairs spend 23 hours and would like to spend …  Lire la suite

The orientation and survival of neonate snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) were studied in 1986 and 1987. Orientation mechanisms were tested in an outdoor parabolic arena. These experiments suggested that positive geotaxis was a dominant cue directing neonate snapping turtles to water. Hatchling survival and movement from nest to water were studied in Calumet, Quebec using isotope tagging. A highly significant number of hatchlings (95%) released on sloped nest sites were positively geotactic. Hatchlings released on level ground moved in random directions. Eighty-two percent of hatchlings from nests within 18 m of the shoreline were successful in reaching water. Incidence of …  Lire la suite

Enclosed spaces dominate Anne Hebert's imaginary world. The house is usually depicted as a prison and a tomb, and only sometimes as a shelter. Products of a stagnant society whose laws they wish to perpetuate, parents give their children a loveless upbringing, in a house from which nature and the external world are rigorously excluded. A few of these captives think that happiness is to be found in marriage, but the conjugal home and that in which adultery occurs prove scarcely more welcoming. Some houses can even be dangerous. The house almost always appears as a forerunner of the tomb, …  Lire la suite

A method for PLA test pattern generation based on a branch and bound algorithm that exploits function monotonicity is presented. The algorithm makes irrevocable input assignments first, resulting in the efficient generation of compact test sets. In most cases there is no backtracking. An intelligent branching heuristic is presented. The algorithm handles extended fault models including crosspoint and delay faults. Heuristics which speed up test set generation and improve test set compaction are discussed. Results of tests on a wide range of benchmark PLAs are included.  Lire la suite

The increasing impact of technology on health care has raised some important questions. This study is undertaken to examine how the predominance of a scientific approach to medicine and health care undermines other crucial aspects of the relationship between patients and care givers. The role and function of language and its relationship to the ascription of human agency in the clinical setting is discussed. A patient's understanding and interpretation of the meaning of illness or disease requires a dialogue between patient and care giver such that the patient's agential horizons are incorporated into the decision-making process. A review is called …  Lire la suite

The kinetics of spinodal decomposition has been studied by Monte Carlo renormalization group method. Using a standard block-spin transformation, we numerically renormalize the evolving configurations during the phase separation of a kinetic Ising model with spin-exchange dynamics. We find that in the scaling regime, the average domain size $R$($t$) grows in time as $R$ $ sim$ $t sp{n}$, with $n$ = 0.338 $ pm$ 0.008 consistent with the classical $n$ = 1/3 result of Lifshitz and Slyozov. A scaling form for the structure factor is obtained, which is invariant under the renormalization group transformation. The fluctuations around the average domain …  Lire la suite

This study explores the political impact of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms on the Supreme Court of Canada. This influence is contrasted with the judiciary's historic reluctance to recognize civil liberties, commencing with the position taken by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and the cautious reaction of the Supreme Court to the Diefenbaker Bill of Rights. The treatment of civil liberties under the Charter is considered through a survey of some of the Charter cases addressed by the Supreme Court of Canada. The political consequences of the Court's decisions are examined. Alternative possibilities for the Court's …  Lire la suite

This thesis presents an analysis of the phonological processes that affect contiguous nasal and obstruent segments. These phonological processes include voice, manner and place assimilation as well as deletion and coalescence. The goal of this thesis is to account for these seemingly disparate processes by introducing universal constraints on the representation of segments in non-linear phonology. Deriving these processes from the principles of a theory of representation is beneficial because such an analysis is not possible in a theory that appeals only to rules. The result is a theory of phonology with greater explanatory adequacy than a theory that relies …  Lire la suite

This thesis comprises a review of studies on the diffusion of recommended guidelines on preventive practices and three papers evaluating the preventive practice patterns of general practitioners in Torino, Italy. The first paper presents estimates of preventive practices and perceived effectiveness of preventive interventions. Patterns of practice were found to be consistently similar to those in other studies. The second and third papers explore an array of determinants for ten primary and secondary preventive interventions. An analysis of determinants indicates that complex patterns of behaviours are rather condition-specific, while the application of techniques is influenced to a varying extent by …  Lire la suite

This thesis investigates variations in solar irradiance incident upon sloping surfaces under deciduous forest in winter. A model is presented for prediction of solar irradiance at the surface which accounts for slope inclination and orientation, surrounding topography, isotropic absorption of solar radiation by the crown space, and shadows cast by the stem space. Field data from two sites of different slope and aspect attest to the validity of the model; errors, based on 20-minute averages of instantaneous values, are 15.5% (RMSE) and $-$1.9% (MBE). Error is partially due to reliance upon global radiation measurements above canopy at a different site …  Lire la suite

This thesis endeavors to render anarchist thought more appropriate to contemporary political life. It attempts to show that what is needed is not an overarching theoretical system, but rather explorations of new organisational forms. I will try to demonstrate that supported by anarchistic trends in social theory, anarchical organisational forms are taking place to some extent in practice. These transformations, it is maintained, are a desirable political response to contemporary technological change.  Lire la suite

All eukaryotic cellular mRNAs (except for organelle mRNAs) are blocked at their 5$ sp prime$ end by the cap structure m$ sp7$GpppX (where X = any nucleotide). The cap structure plays a multifunctional role in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Two polypeptides of molecular mass of 20 and 115 kDa in HeLa nuclear extracts were shown to recognize and be crosslinked to the cap structure of eukaryotic mRNAs in a cap-dependent fashion. Their cap binding properties have been characterized, although their function in the nucleus is unknown. Previous studies have shown that cap function in the cytoplasm is mediated …  Lire la suite

This thesis investigated melodic memory and perception in patients with unilateral left (LT) or right (RT) temporal-lobe lesions and in normal control (NC) subjects. Experiment I examined learning and 24-hour retention of unfamiliar tunes and nonsense words. Both temporal-lobe groups were impaired in learning the tunes and the words. Long-term retention of these stimuli showed that subjects with a RT lobectomy were more impaired in recognizing the tunes than the words, while subjects with a LT lobectomy were more impaired in recognizing the words than the tunes. This study demonstrated the differenting roles of the right and the left temporal …  Lire la suite

This study has focussed on the formation and survival of acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clusters at neuromuscular synapses formed in culture between myotomal muscle cells and spinal cord neurons derived from embryos of Xenopus laevis. AChRs were labelled with tetramethylrhodamine-conjugated $ alpha$-bungarotoxin so that the neurite associated receptor patches (NARPs) on the muscle cells could be viewed by fluorescence microscopy. Reduced fluorescence excitation was used in combination with a low light level TV camera and a computer based image calculator to make daily observations on all NARPs. Observations suggest the following conclusions. Neurons retain the capacity to trigger NARP formation as …  Lire la suite

This study explores and describes the processes of formative evaluation as carried out by content experts and instructional designers. It assumes that formative evaluation is an ill-defined, complex, problem solving task. Six experts (three Content Experts and three Instructional Designers), participated in this descriptive study. Subjects reviewed and revised a unit from a draft version of a self-instructional module on microbiology, while thinking aloud. Two coding schemes were developed and applied to the think-aloud protocols. Overall inter-coder reliability exceeded 89%. Qualitative data were used to describe the processes of formative evaluation, convergence patterns, and the degree of specificity of comments …  Lire la suite

The main topic of this thesis is the study of the fundamental solution of the heat equation for the symmetric spaces of positive definite matrices, Pos(n,R). Our first step is to develop a "False Abel Inverse Transform" ${ cal G}$ which transforms functions of compact support on an euclidean space into integrable functions on the symmetric space. The transform ${ cal G}$ is shown to satisfy the relation $ Delta{ cal G}(f; cdot) = { cal G}( Gamma( Delta)f; cdot)$ $( Gamma( Delta)$ is the usual Laplacian with a constant drift). Using this transform, we find explicit formulas for the …  Lire la suite

Sex-specific growth analyses were conducted for 32 nestling ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) in a migratory population in Nova Scotia, Canada and for 31 nestling ospreys in a sedentary population in Sonora, Mexico. Eight variables including weight, body components and plumage characteristics were measured to document the influence of sex on growth performance. Within populations, males differed significantly from females in having lower weight and body component asymptotes but did not differ in plumage characteristics or growth rates. There was no difference in growth performance between individuals in broods of various sizes or within broods as a result of hatching order asynchrony. …  Lire la suite

The capability of radar measured rainfall to enhance the simulation of storm hydrographs was assessed. Six rainfall events which occurred in 1986 and 1987 over an 8.13 km$ sp2$ agricultural watershed in south-western Quebec were used in model simulations. Radar measured rainfall rates were calibrated using measurements from a single tipping-bucket raingauge located at the study site. A deterministic, event-based model, HYMO, was used to simulate streamflow using radar and gauge measured rainfall. The model utilized two rainfall abstraction techniques, i.e. the SCS Curve Number method and the Green-Ampt infiltration equation. Simulated streamflow hydrographs were compared with observed storm flows. …  Lire la suite

Research on the musical language as well as the technical realisation of the tape part to a kindred spirit, for ensemble and tape, was realised at the Electronic Music Studio of McGill University from September, 1984 to September, 1986. The following excerpt from the programme note in the score summarizes the 'spirit' of the composition. "The computer generated sounds on tape form a large body in which instrumental sounds float and from which they appear, like weeds oscillating on a sometimes calm and often turbulent sea of sound. 'You're afraid, in the mirror, of the sea, in front of, you're …  Lire la suite