McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 1993

Copy and recall drawings of the Rey Complex Figure obtained during the standard clinical testing of patients with well-localized epileptic foci before and after left frontal-, left temporal-, right temporal-lobe resection were re-scored blind as to lesion site using standard protocol (18 elements scored 0, 1/2, 1, or 2 based on whether they are drawn and placed correctly for a total out of 36). They were also scored for which, and how many, elements were missing, distorted, displaced, and/or repeated. Contrary to previous findings, no main effects of side or lobe or side-by-lobe interactions were found on copy and recall …  Lire la suite

Haskel, Barbara (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

There are basically three areas which can be explored to improve an HMM based recognizer, namely, parameter extraction, training methods and vocabulary representation. The goal of parameter extraction is not only to find a compact and robust parametric representation of the speech signal, but also to find one which allows the HMMs to obtain the best possible recognition performance. Historically, improvements at this level have usually been obtained on a trial and error basis, using as much knowledge as possible about both the speech production and speech perception mechanisms. That is, the acoustic parameter extraction module has always been viewed …  Lire la suite

This dissertation is an investigation into the architectural meaning of Kasimir Malevich's suprematist works and, more specifically, into the meaning of his Architectons of horizontal and vertical constructions. A critical "rewinding" of the diverse and seemingly contradictory suprematist periods--starting with the artist's chef d'oeuvre, his Funeral-Performance and moving backwards to the figurative works, the Architectons and then, to the 1913 Black Square, in its beginnings in futurist Zaum poetry--makes patent the fragmentary nature of the meaning of those periods and introduces Suprematism-as-Architecture as the meaning of Suprematism in its entirety. Malevich's extensive written work is the guiding thread we follow …  Lire la suite

One of the most challenging issues for students of international relations is the interstate dimension of ethnic conflict in both its secessionist and irredentist forms. This thesis contributes to an understanding of the interstate dimension of ethnic conflict in three ways. First, the thesis provides a more precise delineation of the causal relationship between ethnic and interstate conflict. Second, the thesis develops a model to identify the conditions under which ethnic conflict is most likely to lead to interstate conflict. Third, and finally this thesis provides insight into a theory and policy for management and resolution of ethnic conflict. The …  Lire la suite

Sequential kinetic resolutions proceed via two or more enantioselective steps. An optimum sequential kinetic resolution has, first, equal specificity for both substrates: starting material and intermediate product. Hence, in the porcine liver esterase (PLE)-catalyzed hydrolysis of trans-1,2-diacetoxycyclohexane rac-1, a significant increase in the enantiomeric purity of the final product was observed when the rates of hydrolysis of 1-diacetate and 1-monoacetate were equalized by using a biphasic system buffer-organic solvent where the fast reacting diacetate was partially extracted to the organic phase. The resulting enantiomeric purity was increased from 58 in buffer to 94% ee in two-phase conditions where both steps …  Lire la suite

The goal of this study was to examine the cognitive development of children raised in a home with a psychiatrically ill mother. In addition, the role of maternal social support on children's cognitive development was investigated and the patterns of maternal social support were observed. Participants included two groups of mothers (n=60), those with and without psychiatric disorders, having children ages 3 to 36 months. The findings suggest that children who have mothers with psychiatric disorders have lower developmental indexes than normal controls. In addition, at-risk children in low socially supportive environments experienced greater developmental lags than children in the …  Lire la suite

The effects of a newly mapped DNA repair-defective mutant, uvsI, on mutagen sensitivities and mutation were investigated. Results showed that uvsI differs for most of the investigated properties from other uvs mutants of A. nidulans which are known to belong to three different epistatic groups, "UvsF", "UvsC", and "UvsB". Most of these mutants are sterile and many of them alter mitotic recombination frequencies, while uvsI exhibits normal levels of meiotic and mitotic recombination. In addition, uvsI strains are not more sensitive than wild type to MMS (methyl methanesulfonate) to which all other uvs strains are sensitive. However, the uvsI mutant …  Lire la suite

The purpose of this thesis is to examine techniques of efficiently modelling the Long-Term Predictor (LTP) or the pitch filter in low rate speech coders. The emphasis in this thesis is on a class of coders which are referred to as Linear Prediction (LP) based analysis-by-synthesis coders, and more specifically on the Code-Excited Linear Prediction (CELP) coder which is currently the most commonly used in low rate transmission. The experiments are performed on a CELP based coder developed by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Bell Labs, with an output bit rate of 4.8 kbits/s. A multi-tap LTP outperforms …  Lire la suite

The rate of recombination and parasite load of species of anuran from Peruvian Amazonia were examined to test the idea that recombination functions to diversify progeny in order to resist the continual counter-adaptation of parasites. The anurans were found to be hosts to over 32 species of macroparasite, as well as a wide variety of protistan and moneran parasites. It was found that a combination of three variables (diet, habitat, abundance), together with host body size accounted for a substantial proportion of the variation in mean parasite richness and parasite species distribution among host species. The relationship between parasites and …  Lire la suite

This thesis presents an analysis of the expected complexity of range searching and nearest neighbor searching in random 2-d trees. We show that range searching in a random rectangle $ Delta sb{x} times Delta sb{y}$ can be done in $O lbrack Delta sb{x} Delta sb{y} n+( Delta sb{x}+ Delta sb{y}) n sp alpha +{ rm ln} n rbrack$ expected time. A matching lower bound is also obtained. We also show that nearest neighbor searching in random 2-d trees by any algorithm must take time bounded by $ Omega lbrack n sp{ alpha-1/2}/({ rm ln} n) sp alpha rbrack$ where $ …  Lire la suite

In the last five years, textiles and apparel have represented the largest source of growth of U.S. imports from countries covered by the Caribbean Basin Initiative. The economic importance of this sector to the Caribbean countries gave rise to this study which discusses the international regulation of textile and apparel trade and the possible effects of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations and the North American Free Trade Agreement on the Caribbean textile and apparel industry. This analysis takes into account not only the legal mechanisms developed to control trade in this sector, but also the underlining powers that …  Lire la suite

Weber, M. E. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

The design of a high performance tactile stimulator with six degrees of freedom for psychometric investigations is the subject of this thesis. In order to design this device, a new mechanism is put forward, which is fully parallel and string driven. It achieves kinematic and dynamic isotropy. From the kinematic and dynamic analysis, the conditions for obtaining the best performance results are derived. These form the basis for the design and lead to a high performance device, which has wide bandwidth, low friction and which is free from backlash. The input and output is fully decoupled, which lead to simple …  Lire la suite

Coulton, James W. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been employed for over 2 decades in pain management, however, definitive analgesic parameters have yet to be determined. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of 10, 30 and 60 min of TENS on the time course and magnitude of modulation on flexion reflex (FR) and on subjective pain estimates (visual analogue scale, VAS), as well as determining the relationship between FR responses and VAS scores following TENS of different durations. Ten (10) normal subjects received electrical stimuli of maximal tolerable intensity to the sole of their foot. Our results indicated …  Lire la suite

Piérard, Jean (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Fluoride concentrations in the Montreal Urban Community's untreated wastewater were analyzed in an attempt to evaluate their levels and seasonal variations. Continual hourly monitoring of the raw sewage, between June 1992 and May 1993. yielded average monthly fluoride concentrations between 0.072 mg/L and 1.984 mg/L, with an annual mean of 0.45 mg/L. Daily variations and frequency distributions showed a wider range of fluoride levels, with the maximum values possibly reaching as high as 4-fold the mean and well over 2 orders of magnitude higher than the minimum values. This suggests that significant massive point discharges occur in the sewer network. …  Lire la suite

The Cooking Lake Formation in east-central Alberta is a widespread sheet-like carbonate unit that is up to 100 m thick. The lithofacies of the Cooking Lake Formation platform are assigned to eight depositional environments: (1) deep subtidal argillaceous calcimudstones, (2) deep to shallow subtidal nodular wackestones, (3) intermediate subtidal skeletal lime wackestones, (4) intertidal stromatoporoid/coral floatstones to rudstones, (5) shallow subtidal to lagoonal Amphipora floatstones, (6) shallow-shoal grainstones, (7) semi-restricted shallow subtidal peloidal wackestones/packstones, and (8) upper intertidal to supratidal laminated grainstones to algal-laminated limestones. Near-surface diagenesis is characterized by rim, syntaxial, equant and blocky calcite cements. During shallow-burial diagenesis, …  Lire la suite

Amyloid enhancing factor (AEF), which has recently been shown to have identity with ubiquitin (Ub), is believed to play a causative role in experimentally induced AA amyloidosis in mice. Here, the profile of Ub is examined in activated leukocytes and splenic reticulo-endothelial (RE) cells and its relationship with serum amyloid A protein (SAA) and AA amyloid (AA) deposits in an alveolar hydatid cyst (AHC)-infected mouse model of AA amyloidosis. In response to AHC infection, the diffuse Ub immunoreactivity in normal mouse leukocytes and RE cells promptly changed to a discrete granular pattern suggesting an increase in the intracellular concentration of …  Lire la suite

The transition from deflagration to detonation is studied by focusing on the actual final process, i.e. the onset of detonation itself. The high speed deflagration prior to transition is obtained by suppressing the oscillatory structure of a detonation first. A theoretical model is developed to analyze the resulting deflagration complex which shows that it propagates close to half the CJ detonation velocity with the deflagration slowly separating from the leading shock. These high speed deflagrations thus obtained just prior to transition to detonation as well as the highly turbulent fast deflagrations that have been observed prior to transition in earlier …  Lire la suite

The subject of this work is nickel extraction from dilute, acidic sulphate solutions through the use of organophosphorous acid reagents. The focus is primarily on OPAP, a mixed extractant consisting of mono- and di-octyl phenyl phosphoric acids, as well as on di-(2-ethyl hexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA). The effects of certain parameters on the extraction of nickel, both quantitative and qualitative, have been studied. The parameters include: modifier presence, concentration and type; OPAP concentration; phase ratio; aqueous environment; age of organic solution; and mono-/di-OPAP ratio. The ability to strip nickel from the organic solution as well as selectivity and kinetic tests …  Lire la suite

This thesis traces the history and development of Ms. magazine, in its three incarnations, between 1972 and 1992. Since its inception as a distinctly feminist monthly, Ms. has drifted between two categories of popular cultural artifacts (mainstream consumer culture and feminist counterculture) while distingishing itself as the only national feminist monthly in the United States, a key economic and symbolic feminist institution. The author compares the economic bases, ideological orientations and readerships of Ms. three incarnations in order to examine and the ways in which an ideological vehicle negotiates a consumer setting like the women's magazine industry. While serving to …  Lire la suite

Since glucose is the principal substrate used during exercise and is also the main metabolic fuel for the developing embryo and fetus, exercising during pregnancy could induce a competition for fuel between fetus and exercising muscles, perturbing glucose homeostasis. To determine if exercise during pregnancy would predispose the fetus to increased risk, pregnant rats were randomly assigned to a low (4%), moderate (12%) or high (60%) carbohydrate diet, and either rested or exercised on a rodent treadmill at a moderate (15.5 m/min) or high (24.3 m/min) intensity from day 16-21 of gestation. When food intake was controlled for in the …  Lire la suite

The study compared the brain electrical activity of two groups of gifted children between the ages of 9 and 13 years. The electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded with eyes closed: "at rest" and during three simple cognitive tasks. Significant differences were found in absolute power in the resting state EEG between the gifted high achievers and non-gifted, age-matched peers. No significant differences were found between the gifted underachievers and age-matched peers. Significant differences were found in absolute and relative power during the word recognition task compared to the resting EEG. No significant differences were found in the comparisons of the topographic …  Lire la suite

Many of the stories found in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer are adapted from other sources, a common practice amongst Medieval authors. But Chaucer often draws attention to his derivations by explicitly naming a source for the stories he uses. This strategy is employed in different ways. In Troilus and Criseyde, a false source is cited, but in the Clerk's Tale, Chaucer names the actual source of the story. In this thesis, identification and close examination of Chaucer's source materials reveal his changes to the derived texts, and an analysis of the role of the narrator in each case demonstrates …  Lire la suite

Heterothallic, facultatively sexual populations are vulnerable to the loss of a mating type by natural selection during periods of asexual reproduction. Experiments are described which demonstrate a competitive difference between the mating types of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a unicellular green alga with two isogamous mating types, mt + and mt $-.$ When grown vegetatively under phototrophic (light) conditions, mt + outcompetes mt $-.$ Assays of the growth parameters of isolated spores suggest that mt + has a higher growth rate than mt $-$ in the light, and that mt $-$ has a higher growth rate than mt + in heterotrophic (dark) …  Lire la suite

McGilvray, J (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

An efficient and productive radiation treatment planning (RTP) system must make use of both appropriate visualization techniques and good user interface design. The suitability of several visualization techniques have been examined in the context of 3-D radiation treatment planning. These techniques include wire frame, surface rendering, volume rendering and a subset of volume rendering: reformatting of data. A rudimentary computerized RTP system was written using the most appropriate visualization techniques examined earlier. These techniques were used to display the anatomical data acquired from computed tomography (CT) scanners, the beam position within the anatomy, and finally, the dose distributions resulting from …  Lire la suite

The high rate of sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancies among the Cree adolescents indicate that this population frequently engages in unprotected sexual activities. AIDS is a critical health problem worldwide and AIDS contamination within a Cree community could be a threat to its survival. A questionnaire was developed to survey attitudes, knowledge and behavior of Cree students in relation to AIDS. Further analysis included finding relationships between knowledge level, attitudes and behavior in order to guide future educational interventions. A satisfactory level of knowledge about AIDS can be credited to the interventions of the clinic, the school, and the …  Lire la suite

Simulated learned helpless behavior was examined among gifted, gifted underachievers, and unselected children. Using the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility (IAR) Scale (Crandall, Katkovsky, & Crandall, 1965), after the children read a brief story and cast themselves in a failing role, the three groups of children were compared before and after the intervention (a week or two after the initial testing) on their positive and negative IAR scores. Learned helplessness theory would predict that helpless children would have high negative scores (attributing failure to themselves) and low positive scores (attributing success to external factors). Negative IAR scores did not differ or change …  Lire la suite

Demopoulos, George P. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

A computer program was developed during the course of this work to calculate electron arc dose distributions with the angle $ beta$ concept. The angle $ beta$ uniquely describes the dependence of radial percentage depth doses an electron arc therapy on the nominal field width, isocenter depth, and virtual source-axis distance. The $ beta$ concept can be used in clinical situations to determine the field width when the isocenter depth and the required radial percentage depth dose are known. This thesis presents an overview of the physical properties of electron arc therapy and describes in detail the angle $ beta$ …  Lire la suite

In this thesis, the dynamics of a mathematical model for cell replication in which there is simultaneous proliferation and maturation is studied. The cell population dynamics are described by a first order nonlinear partial differential equation (PDE) in which there is retardation (delay) in both the temporal and maturation variables. The solution behaviour of the model is investigated for two different initial conditions $ varphi(x)$ = $x sp{n}$ for n $ gg$ 1 and n = 1, where x is the maturation variable. When n $ gg$ 1, the solutions are left moving fronts whose velocities are primarily dependent on …  Lire la suite

The emotions of aggressive and withdrawn children were examined in object-conflict and group-entry situations. Izard's (1977) differential theory of emotion suggests that aggressive children should have more hostile emotions, and withdrawn children more depressive emotions. Wright and Mischel's (1987) conditional approach to dispositional constructs suggests that aggressive children's hostility would be most evident during object-conflict, and withdrawn children's depressive responses most evident during group entry. Four- and 5-year-old boys and girls (N = 128) were assigned to aggressive, withdrawn, or control groups according to teachers' behaviour ratings. Interviews about children's emotional experiences in hypothetical object-conflict and group-entry situations failed to …  Lire la suite

The recent expansion of air trucking operations in Europe has put a strain on the traditional concept of air carrier's liability. Short-haul pick-up and delivery services have gradually given way to a more complex pattern of hubbing and substitute transport by road, possibly undertaken without consent of the consignor of the goods. In the absence of a set of international rules for multimodal transport, each segment is subject to a separate legal regime. An evolutive interpretation of the original Warsaw Convention, though, fits the newly developed bimodal operations prima facie into the sphere of air carrier's liability. Problems of delay …  Lire la suite

This work studies the computational complexity of the decision procedures for Presburger Arithmetic (PA) and specific subclasses of this logical theory. Lower bound and upper bound results for unrestricted PA and for subclasses, defined by restricting the quantifier prefix, are surveyed. $PA sb{m}$, Presburger Arithmetic restricted to m quantifier alternations, is shown to be one exponential easier than the general class. For all $m ge$ 1, $ Sigma sbsp{m}{p}$-complete subclasses are defined, including the NP-complete subclasses ($ exists forall forall$) and ($ exists$*), the existential theory of addition. As well, we prove that ($ exists sp{k}$), where k is a …  Lire la suite

The term palsa is a Fennoscandian word for a peaty hillock or mound having a permafrost core composed of alternating layers of segregated ice lenses, and organic or mineral soil. This dissertation presents results of a study on the morphology, ecology, cryotic structure, and thermal regime of 6 palsas sites in the Schefferville area and offers a new categorization of these features based on their cryotic structure. Eighteen palsa sites were located within a 35 km radius of Schefferville and six of these sites were investigated in detail. Palsas ranged from 5.6-59.0 m in length and up to 1.1 m …  Lire la suite

The investigations of three different topics of granular flows are reported in this thesis. (i) Second order solutions for granular simple shear flows are derived in the framework of granular kinetic theory. Compared to the first order solutions and the inconsistent second order solutions, the second order solutions of the present study provide better predictions of the numerical simulation results. (ii) Granular shear flows within narrow gaps and unbounded fields are studied by a molecular dynamics type discrete element simulation method. The effects of inelasticity and mean solids fraction on the distributions of granular temperatures, solids fractions and number densities …  Lire la suite

In 1959, George Luscombe, a Canadian-born actor and director, founded Toronto Workshop Productions, Toronto's first alternate theatre. For over a quarter-of-a-century, Luscombe pioneered the creation of a Canadian theatre of political and social concern and the development of plays through a collective process. This study attempts to reconstruct the major events of Luscombe's personal and artistic life, and to assess his contribution to Canadian theatre through his work at Toronto Workshop Productions as revealed in company reports, contemporary records and the recollections of his friends and associates.  Lire la suite

Tully, J. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

This thesis attempts to survey the function of clothing adornment practices as a form social communication. It is shown that clothing enables the formation and distinction of social groups. The ways in which clothing becomes symbolic for a group and the way in which this system is challenged and/or destroyed are also examined. A distinction between fashion and antifashion is made to enable a repositioning of the Western system of dress into a wider context of meaning. Assumptions on the nature of appearance as related to the concept of truth are examined. Chapter One looks at the various and contradictory …  Lire la suite

Let $ phi$ be a rank 2 Drinfeld A-module over the ring A of polynomials over some finite field $F sb{q}$. We give a bound on the norm of those primes p of A which are factors of $P sb{d}(j sb phi)$ for two distinct polynomials d $ in$ A. We then show that the number of supersingular primes of $ phi$ with norm smaller than x is $ gg log log$ x. We investigate the endomorphism rings of supersingular Drinfeld A-modules over finite fields. Under a mild hypothesis, this leads to an upper bound of $x sp{3/4} log sp2 …  Lire la suite

Dried brewers' spent grain (DBSG), not-ground, was subjected to a fractionation procedure based on particle size. In addition, the DBSG was milled before the fractionation. The DBSG was fractionated by mechanical sifting using different sizes of sieves (1000 Um, 500 Um, 250 Um, and <250 Um for the not-round DBSG and 250 Um, 150 Um, and <150 Um for the ground DBSG). The composition of each fraction (moisture, ash, protein, and dietary fiber soluble and insoluble) was determined. The following functional properties: waterholding capacity, cation exchange capacity, and in vitro bile salt binding capacity were determined in the fractions of …  Lire la suite

This thesis undertakes to refine our understanding of the syntactic properties of sentential negation. The proposed analyses operate at the juncture of recent innovations to Case, Agreement, and X-bar theories, within a Government and Binding framework. Case is checked in a Specifier/Head configuration whenever possible, and agreement is analyzed as the reflex of a Case-checking operation at S-structure. The proposal that the inventory of functional categories available in Universal Grammar includes a Negation Phrase (NegP) is adopted as a point of departure. In the context of this investigation, certain syntactic properties are attributed to the head and specifier of NegP. …  Lire la suite

Atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and angiotensin II (ANG-II) have multiple biological actions, most of them related, directly or indirectly, to blood pressure regulation and fluid homeostasis. The present work was undertaken to study the regulation of renal glomerular ANF receptors by renal sympathetic nerves and ANG-II, to characterize ANF and ANG-II receptor subtypes in rat renal preglomerular vessels, and to define the precise localization of these receptors in the rat mesentery. Using radioligand binding techniques, we demonstrated that renal denervation up-regulated glomerular ANF receptors, and ANG-II blunted this effect, independently of modifications in plasma ANF levels. Receptor characterization studies showed …  Lire la suite

One of the important research problems in the area of speech coding is to determine the sound quality of coded speech signals. This quality can best be evaluated by a subjective assessment which is often difficult to administer and time consuming. An objective measure which is consistent with subjective assessment could play a vital role in the evaluation as well as in the design of a low bit-rate speech coder. In this dissertation, we introduce two distortion measures for speech coder evaluation. Since the perceptual abilities of a human being determine the precision with which speech data must be processed, …  Lire la suite

By means of torsion testing, the microstructures and mechanical properties produced in a 0.14%C-1.18%Mn steel were investigated over a wide range of hot rolling conditions, cooling rates and coiling temperatures. The reheating temperature was varied between 800$ sp circ$C and 1050$ sp circ$C, and strains between 0 and 0.8 were applied. This led to austenite grain sizes ranging from 10 to 150$ mu$m. Two cooling rates, 55$ sp circ$C/s and 90$ sp circ$C/s, were applied and cooling was interrupted at coiling temperatures ranging from 550$ sp circ$C to 300$ sp circ$C. Optical microscopy and TEM were used to study the …  Lire la suite

This thesis examines changes in the mechanical behaviour of the canine and human respiratory systems to changes in lung volume below normal functional residual capacity (FRC). In open chested dogs lung elastance (E$ sb{ rm L}$) increased and lung resistance (R$ sb{ rm L}$) changed little with decreases in positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) of the ventilatory circuit. The dominance of plastoelastic lung tissue properties at low lung volumes was used to interpret the lack of change in R$ sb{ rm L}$. Computed tomography demonstrated that pleural effusion (PE) created atelectasis in dependent caudal lung regions which contributed to the overall …  Lire la suite

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) remains an epidemic illness with no known cure. Survival time after infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has been lengthened considerably. Rates of new infection among the at-risk male homosexual populations have decreased. Prevention is possible through effective, targeted interventions. This study is an exploration of the role or health locus of control, an individual difference construct from the area of social learning theory, in the maintenance of health-oriented behaviours, co-risk indicative behaviours, and high-risk behaviours in a population of adult male homosexuals attending a general medical clinic. The findings result in distinctly different past …  Lire la suite