McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 1995

This correlational study examined the relationships among sex role attitudes and role behaviours (traditionality), marital adjustment, caregiving involvement, caregiver satisfaction, psychological distress and psychosocial adaptation in the MI patient and his wife at two months post infarction. The research also aimed to develop explanatory models of patient and spouse adjustment. A convenience sample of 130 couples was drawn from the cardiac units of four hospitals in a large metropolitan area. Data were collected during home visits using structured interviews and self-report questionnaires. Patients and wives were interviewed separately. Marital and psychosocial adjustment, psychological distress, sex role attitudes, and selected sociodemographic …  Lire la suite

This thesis is an empirical comparison of the relationship between money and other key economic variables and investigates an alternative method of defining money in Canada. Severe theoretical problems with traditional monetary aggregation methods are identified and Divisia aggregates are examined through the use of index number and aggregation theory. Summation and Divisia aggregates are constructed, tested and compared in three critical areas: information content, causality and stability. In particular this thesis investigates whether Divisia money is a potentially useful indicator of economic conditions. The data consists of Canadian quarterly observations for the period 1968.1 to 1989.4 for 26 different …  Lire la suite

The interaction between the glycolytic metabolism and fatty acid and glycerolipid biosynthesis in pea root (Pisum sativum L.) plastids was assessed in this study. When various glycolytic intermediates were used to substitute for the APT requirement for fatty acid synthesis from acetate, phosphoenolpyruvate, 2-phosphoglycerate, fructose-6-phosphate and glucose-6-phosphate each gave 48, 17, 23 and 17%, respectively, of the ATP-control activity. Similarly, in the absence of exogenously supplied ATP, the optimized triose-phosphate shuttle, which consists of 2 mM dihydroxyacetone phosphate, 2 mM oxaloacetic acid and 4 mM inorganic phosphate, gave up to 44% the ATP-control activity in promoting fatty acid synthesis from …  Lire la suite

Using polycrystalline thin films of CuInSe$ sb2$ (thickness 1.5 $ mu$m) prepared by an electrodeposition method, photovoltaic cells of the form ZnO/CdS/CuInSe$ sb2$ have been fabricated and studied. Before the cell fabrication, properties of the electrodeposited CuInSe$ sb2$ were first studied. Conditions for the preparation of high resistivity CdS thin films (thickness 360 A) by a chemical bath deposition method were then established. This was achieved by varying the deposition temperature and amount of NH$ sb4$OH in the solution. It was observed that the quality of CdS films deposited at a temperature of 60$ sp circ$C and an NH$ sb4$OH …  Lire la suite

Au cours du dix-neuvième siècle il y avait un grand nombre des architectes talentueux qui été instruit aux écoles polytechniques allemands. Ils ont émigré à l 'Amérique du Nord ou ils ont trouvé de l ' emploi aux bureaux bien assis, et quelqu'un ont fondé les cabinets eux-mêmes. Ils étaient fréquemment oublies dans l 'étude de la formation d ' architecture au Canada et aux Etats-Unis. C'est évident néanmoins qu'i ls étaient les architectes progressives qui ont employé avec tellement vitesse les innovations technologiques. Ils avaient aussi un rôle dans l'établissement des associations architecturales et l'établissement des ni veaux d'éducation …  Lire la suite

Batch fermentations of Corynebacterium dioxydans were performed using aliphatic hydrocarbons as substrates. The production of carboxylic acids was monitored throughout these fermentations. A relationship between the carbon chain length of the hydrocarbon substrate and the carboxylic acids was observed. The maximum yield of carboxylic acid was found to occur in the exponential growth phase, with the initial complete medium. Cell hydrophobicity is the proposed hypothesis for the residual hydrocarbon found in these fermentations. The addition of synthetic surfactant increased the yield of carboxylic acids, but posed problems in extraction of these acids. In spite of a variety of different approaches, …  Lire la suite

A one year water table management field study was conducted on a Soulanges sandy loam soil in Soulanges county, Quebec. Two controlled water table levels, i.e. 0.5 m and 0.75 m from the soil surface, as well as free outlet conventional drainage treatments were established in monocropped corn (Zea mays L.) and corn intercropped with ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam) plots. Cropping system showed no significant effects on evapotranspiration, and on soil moisture distribution. It was observed that the 0.5 m and 0.75 m controlled water tables (CWT) provided the same soil moisture trends in both cropping systems. The soil moisture …  Lire la suite

This thesis examines the propagation of small relative errors in poles in discrete-time domains $z, varepsilon={{z-1} over {T}}, z sp prime=z-1, w sp prime={2 over {T}}{{z-1} over{z+1}}$ and z = ${{z-1} over{Tz}},$ where T is the sampling period, to the continuous-time domain. By prescribing pole locations in the discrete-time domains or usable sampling periods in a continuous-time context, sensitivity specifications in time constant of a real pole, natural frequency, damping ratio and uncertain relative region of a complex pole can be achieved. It is shown in this thesis that the alternative discrete-time operators, $ varepsilon, z sp prime, w sp …  Lire la suite

This thesis concentrates on three main areas of research in the field of poly(vinyl chloride), PVC: (1) microstructure determination and local chain motions of PVC in a plasticized system, (2) permeability of PVC and plasticized PVC to gases, and (3) computer modeling of the thermal degradation of PVC. A quantitative carbon-13 NMR spectrum of PVC in 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane-d$ sb2$ (TCE-d$ sb2$) was recorded. Theoretical predictions using Bernoullian statistics permitted the reassignment of several resonances. Carbon-13 spin-lattice relaxation times and NOE values were measured as a function of temperature at two magnetic fields for PVC in two solvents, di-butyl phthalate (DBP) and …  Lire la suite

Attempts to design a novel mannosylation were carried, unsuccessfully, on in situ generated 3,4,6-tri-O-benzyl-$ beta$-D-mannose-1,2-sulfite, and on 3,4,6-tri-O-benzyl-$ beta$-D-mannose-1,2-carbonate, with sequential treatments with bromotrimethylsilane and with glycosyl acceptors in the presence of a base. Trials were then conducted on Lewis acid catalysed mannosylations with the two above compounds, and the use of the in situ generated 3,4,6-tri-O-benzyl-$ beta$-D-mannose-1,2-sulfite with a mixture of chlorotrimethylsilane and zinc triflate in glycosylating simple alcohols was successfully demonstrated. However this activation was insufficient to build disaccharides using 1,3,4,6-tetra-O-benzyl-$ alpha$-D-manno-pyranose, methyl-2,3,4-tri-O-benzyl-$ alpha$-D-glucopyranoside and methyl-2,3,6-tri-O-benzyl-$ alpha$-D-glucopyranoside as acceptors. A mannosylating agent, namely 2-O-acetyl-3,4,6-tri-O-benzyl-$ alpha$-D-mannopyranosyl trichloacetimidate, designed for …  Lire la suite

A numerical study is carried out to predict 3-D fluid flow and heat transfer of confined turbulent single and twin slot jets in the presence of a crossflow. The low Reynolds number k-$ sigma$ turbulence (Launder and Sharma (17)) model was used to calculate the Reynolds stress and the turbulent heat flux. In the present work the following cases were studied: (1) Case I considers an impingement surface heated by a single turbulent slot jet. (2) Case II considers an impingement surface cooled by twin turbulent slot jets. In the latter case the buoyancy effect has been taken into consideration …  Lire la suite

The adoption of software development principles and methodologies embodying best practices and standards is essential to achieving quality software products. Many organizations world-wide have implemented quality management systems that comply with the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard, or similar schemes, to ensure product quality. Meeting the requirement of ISO 9000 can be costly in time, effort and money. The effort primarily depends on the size of the organization, and the status of the quality management system. The focus of this thesis is on the development of an effort estimation model for the implementation of ISO 9001 in software organizations. …  Lire la suite

This thesis is a study of 'Abd al-Jabbar's theory of i'jaz al-Qur'an (the miraculous inimitability of the Qur'an) as expounded in his magnum opus, al-Mughni fi abwab al-tawhid wa al-'adl, part XVI, and in his other works which are related to the subject. The importance of these works lies in the fact that the author was an erudite scholar and a respected leader of the Basra School of the Mu'tazila, and also because his Mughni/ is considered by many as the Encyclopedia of Mu'tazilite philosophy. As a Mu'tazilite, 'Abd al-Jabbar demonstrates the inimitability of the Qur'an in the light of …  Lire la suite

This thesis presents a comparative study of two modern Muslim biographers of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad Husayn Haykal and Sayyid Ja$ rm sp{c}$far Murtada, the one a Sunni the other a Shispc$ = i. In dealing with their works on the { it s = i ra}, the intention is to focus on some aspects of the life of the Prophet of Islam from the time when he resided in Makka. After outlining the authors' scholarly backgrounds, sources, methods, and purposes, etc., the thesis deals with certain specific issues concerning the Prophet's birth, his nursing and the reason behind …  Lire la suite

Two series of tests were performed in summer 1993 and repeated in summer 1994 to investigate effects of potassium, calcium and water table depth on mechanical properties of tomato fruit. In the first group of tests five mechanical properties stress, strain, ER (ratio of stress to strain at break), energy and toughness were calculated from the force-deformation curve obtained by compression of pericarp disks taken from tomato fruits (cv New Yorker) at the breaker stage. In the second group of tests force, deformation and energy were obtained from puncture tests on whole tomato fruit. The textural parameters were used to …  Lire la suite

This thesis focuses on diffusion channel design for broccoli storage, an important cash crop and consumer commodity in Canada. Experiments were first conducted to determine the respiration rate of broccoli in modified atmosphere conditions created by the produce metabolic activity inside closed chambers, at four different temperatures in the cold room of 3, 7, 13, and 24$ sp circ$C. The respiration rate decreased with a reduction of O$ sb2$ concentration inside the chamber. A model to predict the respiration rate of broccoli as a function of O$ sb2$ concentration at different temperatures was developed. Experiments were then carried out to …  Lire la suite

Rosenblatt, David (Advisor)  Lire la suite

Several approaches to sample preconcentration combined with sample introduction by Direct Sample Insertion (DSI) into the Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) for ultra trace elemental analysis have been developed. A microcolumn based flow injection (FI) manifold was used with ICP Mass Spectrometry (MS) but performance was adversely affected by high and variable blank levels. Physical preconcentration by depositing the sample as an aerosol into an inductively heated graphite DSI probe yielded detection limit improvements of over two orders of magnitude for ICP Atomic Emission Spectrometry (AES). Instrumentation was developed to automate the aerosol deposition preconcentration process, and this apparatus was used …  Lire la suite

Superparamagnetic cellulosics were prepared by the in situ synthesis of nanoscale ferrites. The internal reaction volume of cellulosic matrices served as compartments for the controlled precipitation of iron oxides, biomimicking magnetic bacteria such as Aquispirillum magnetotacticum. Nanocomposites were prepared from a range of materials, both ionic and nonionic. The ionics were sulfonated thermomechanical wood pulp (TMP), sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), calcium alginate fibres and chemically modified rayon tirecord, in addition to a model synthetic system which consisted of a Nafion$ sp circler$ 117 ion-exchange membrane. Two never-dried, water-swollen, nonionic cellulose gels were also used as substrates for in situ synthesis: a …  Lire la suite

This study investigated the within-group differences in ice-time and experience with the team in task cohesion perceptions of college hockey players and their relationship with team performance success. One hundred and seventy-one male hockey players between the age of seventeen and twenty-two years, representing ten teams, answered the two task portions of the Group Environment Questionnaire, as well as a question concerning their feelings regarding the amount of ice-time received during games. The data was analysed using a 3 x 2 ANOVA for success by ice-time and success by experience with the team for each of the two measures of …  Lire la suite

The formulation and implementation of a far field boundary condition (FFBC) model for compressible flows is reported in this thesis. This FFBC model, developed for quasi-one-dimensional and two-dimensional flows, aims to permit a substantial reduction of the computational domain, leading to a considerable improvement in the computational efficiency. The present FFBC approach uses asymptotic expansions of the Riemann variables, which are truncated up to the required degree of accuracy. Then, the far field perturbation equations are integrated in time and applied in conjunction with the solution calculated within the computational domain. The propagating information from the computational domain is determined …  Lire la suite

Although the figure of the warrior woman has always existed as a literary topos, the popularity of the warrior woman figure has never been greater than in the period of the Italian Renaissance. The character of the female warrior in the 14th and 15th centuries in Italy results from many literary traditions ranging from the Amazons of classical and medieval times, to the many versions of the Aeneid to the character of Aigiarne in the Milione of Marco Polo. In addition, other examples exist of female characters who demonstrate their fighting capabilities who, without necessarily being considered warrior women, have …  Lire la suite

Soils which were known to have caused sedimentation problems in drain pipes were used in the investigations. Different envelope combinations such as soil-fabric, soil-gravel and soil-sand-fabric were evaluated. Nine 100 mm diameter, 250 mm high permeameters were used to determine the functioning of envelope materials and to improve the criteria for testing of envelope materials. To obtain a clear indication of success/failure of an envelope, a wide range of hydraulic gradients and different thicknesses of soils and envelopes were used. The most effective thicknesses were, 5 cm of soil with fabrics and 2.5 cm of soil plus 7.5 cm of …  Lire la suite

Globular proteins are important ingredients in many food formulations because of their nutritional value and their various functional properties such as gel formation. Proteins form gels by polymerization into a three-dimensional matrix. The rheological properties of the resulting viscoelastic solids can be obtained by Instron measurements. In the present work, gels were obtained by heating solutions of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in D$ sb2$O and egg albumin in H$ sb2$O under different conditions (i.e., pH, salt concentration, protein concentration, time of heating and temperature), and their gel strengths were measured by a compression test (Universal Testing Machine LRX). The Fourier …  Lire la suite

When the relative velocity between the different objects in a scene and the camera is relative large---compared with the camera's exposure time---in the resulting image we have a distortion called motion blur. In the past, a lot of algorithms have been proposed for estimating the relative velocity from one or, most of the time, more images. The motion blur is generally considered an extra source of noise and is eliminated, or is assumed nonexistent. Unlike most of these approaches, it is feasible to estimate the Optical Flow map using only the information encoded in the motion blur. This thesis presents …  Lire la suite

A numerical model is being developed for ice forecasting which is based on a granular dynamics approach. This model is intended to analyse the movements of broken ice fields at the mesoscale; i.e. for length scales of the order of 100 km and time scales of the order of a few days. It will therefore be useful for navigation, for the operation of offshore drilling platforms and for commercial fishing. At the mesoscale, the forces governing the motion of ice floes are wind drag, water drag, Coriolis force and the contact forces arising from internal collisions. Expressions are developed to …  Lire la suite

The CoHousing movement was formed in Denmark in the late 1960's, and has since become established in Scandinavia, central Europe, Australia, and North America. Through collective development and management of pedestrian-oriented housing with shared facilities that supplement individual dwellings, CoHousing fosters the sense of community lacking in other housing options. This increased contact and interaction with neighbors is seen to be particularly beneficial to two of the fastest growing household types--single parents and the elderly. CoHousing units are typically not affordable to a large proportion of these and other groups, however, and thus have tended to be an option primarily …  Lire la suite

Hogan, S. D. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

The use of fiber reinforced plastic composites in critical applications has increased dramatically in recent years. To take full advantage of the benefits of these materials, it is essential to be able to predict their behavior under impact. The continuum damage model by Nemes and Randles attempts to answer that need. For a complete formulation, the rate dependence of the material under the different modes of damage has to be quantified. Experiments, where the modes of damage are isolated from each other are therefore needed. A punching experiment was chosen to isolate the transverse shear response of the composites. The …  Lire la suite

Home builders are supplying mass housing projects which are designed without taking into consideration the specific needs and expectations of residents. As well, house are not produced with enough flexibility to enable homeowners to perform easy adaptations that would express their own choices and accommodate their particular requirements. On the other hand, due to economic constraints, most first-time home buyers usually cannot afford the professional services of architects in order to have a house specifically designed to suit their needs and aspirations. This research explores the different types of modifications that occupants of affordable single-family housing in Montreal make to …  Lire la suite

This dissertation explores the process of reproduction of works of art in the province of Quebec. Reproduction is studied historically, considering its significance as a cultural industry and its characteristics as a mode of communication. The dissertation first engages the theoretical discourse surrounding the novelty of technologies of reproduction of art works at the turn of the century and further pursues an exploration of reproduction within the framework of postmodernity. The phenomenon is studied with special attention to the movement of art works into private spaces. In considering the history of reproduction with regard to works of art in Quebec, …  Lire la suite

The prescription of R. M. Wald for determining a thermodynamic first law for stationary, axisymmetric, asymptotically flat black holes in general theories of gravity is applied to the effective Lagrangian for the bosonic sector of low-energy heterotic super-string theory. It is found that the presence of the gauge fields necessitates an alteration of the prescription. Specifically, the Lie derivatives with respect to the Killing vector of the gauge fields are non-vanishing. This introduces new terms which ensure gauge-invariance of the final result in a natural way.  Lire la suite

The N3 position of thymidine was alkylated with different sized bromoalkyl phthalimide linkers in generally good yields, with no alkylation observed on the sugar ring. The free amino group, available after methylamine deprotection of the phthalimide linker, was protected with the levulinyl protecting group (e.g., 20). Branched 'Y'-shaped nucleic acids containing branching monomer 20 were synthesized using standard solid phase synthetic methodology and complexes of these branched nucleic acids with one and two mole-equivalents of linear complement dA$ sb{10}$ are investigated by thermal melting. At the branching point the levulinic amide exhibited poor lability to Letsinger's hydrazine solution and proved …  Lire la suite

This guide provides lessons which enable teachers with little or no experience with tape recorders and other audio equipment to integrate radio production and analysis into the language art curriculum. Chapter two provides a summary of the media education and language theory that inform the activities presented in this guide. Chapter five provides perspectives on and strategies for evaluating student work with radio. The appendices include reproducible masters, information about sound technology, classroom organization and methods of reaching audiences, and a list of resources  Lire la suite

The objective of this thesis was to elucidate the neurophysiological and neurochemical bases for modulation of sensory transmission in the spinal cord evoked by the activation of primary afferents in the lightly anaesthetized rat. Effects of prolonged, intense (20 $ times$ threshold), low frequency (4 Hz) stimulation of meridian and non-meridian sites on the thermally evoked nociceptive withdrawal reflexes of the tail and limbs were studied. Threshold was the minimum current required to elicite muscle contraction. Intense stimulation applied to meridian sites inhibited tail withdrawal. This inhibition persisted beyond one hour after the end of stimulation. Stimulation of non-meridian sites …  Lire la suite

Human designers use previous designs extensively in solving new design problems and Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) provides a knowledge representation paradigm which attempts to model such process. In this thesis we present a case-based approach to solving design problems by retrieving similar previous designs and adapting them to meet the new problem. A system called CBEDS (Case-Based Electromagnetic Design System) has been developed. The thesis describes the knowledge organization for a case database which represents the semantic content of electromagnetic device designs and how to use feature extraction methods to reduce the indexing dimension of designs. A method based on interval …  Lire la suite

In parallel programming, loop computation is one of the most expensive operations in terms of execution duration. In order to solve this problem their parallelization is compulsory. One form of parallelization is for a compiler to automatically produce a parallel SPMD (Single Program Multiple Data) program. These compilation techniques encompass both compile-time and run-time resolution methods. This thesis presents a specific case of the run-time resolution of the loops, the independent loops. These loops do not have any interactions between their iterations, hence they have a great potential for parallelism. This work presents an experimental method which has been developed …  Lire la suite

The main objective of this research was to study dynamic effects of ice shedding on overhead transmission lines using a reliable numerical model. Overhead transmission lines are subjected to various static and dynamic loads. Ice shedding from the conductors is one of the dynamic loads occurring in cold regions. This phenomenon happens when glaze ice formed on the cables suddenly falls under certain temperature and wind conditions. In extreme instances, clashing and breakage of insulator and conductors are potential consequences of these dynamic forces. Maximum vertical cable jumps and drops in unloaded and loaded spans, and axial cable stresses are …  Lire la suite

This study was designed to compare the behavioral pain responses of 2-month-old Canadian-born Chinese babies receiving a routine immunization to those of Caucasian infants in similar situations. Two groups of 26 infants were obtained through convenience from a pediatric clinic held by a Chinese pediatrician at the Chinese Hospital and a suburban pediatric practice of a large Canadian city. Facial expression using the Neonatal Facial Coding System (Grunau & Craig, 1987) and cry using the Fast Fourier Transform were measured during 30 seconds following the insertion of the needle. Acculturation in Chinese mothers, infant temperament, circadian rhythm, were assessed. Multivariate …  Lire la suite

A hallmark of DNA methylation is the fact that 60 to 80% of CpG dinucleotide sequences in the vertebrate genome are methylated at the 5th-position of cytosine while the remaining unmethylated sequences are nonrandomly distributed throughout the genome generating a pattern of methylation that is both tissue and gene specific. Several lines of evidence suggest that methylation patterns correlate with the expression level of eukaryotic genes and that DNA methylation plays an important role in regulating the state of differentiation of mammalian cells. The methylation of DNA is catalyzed by the DNA methyltransferase (DNA MeTase) enzyme, which transfers a methyl …  Lire la suite

A phylogenetic character analysis of the wing venation within Apocrita (Hymenoptera) was conducted in order to examine the phylogenetic significance of wing characters. The venational data were then combined with published studies of other character suites to produce a hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships among apocritan superfamilies and families. Whereas the cladograms obtained from the collection of papers on character suites provide strong support for the sister group relationship between Orussidae and Apocrita, the ones derived from wing venation did not establish such a relationship, although they provided more support for relationships within Apocrita. A ground plan is proposed for the …  Lire la suite

Environmental regulation of nitrogen cycling processes, denitrification and nitrification, was studied in sediment of Hamilton Harbour, with particular emphasis on the role of CH$ sb4$ metabolism (production and consumption). Through extensive sediment sampling and numerical analysis, it was found that particulate carbon was the best predictor of potential for anaerobic production of CH$ sb4$ and CO$ sb2$. The only predictor of denitrification capacity was anaerobic CO$ sb2$ production, indicating that beside NO$ sb3 sp-$ and O$ sb2$, a biotic factor involved in carbon metabolism may be important in the control of this activity. Suppression of aerobic N$ sb2$O production in …  Lire la suite

The society is becoming increasingly more energy and environmentally conscientious, which has forced development of construction materials, which are both inexpensive and require very little energy to produce. One way of producing such materials is to utilize by-products of industrial processes. High-volume fly ash cement based grouts are tributary of such developements. This thesis outlines the results of a detailed study of the grain size distribution, three rheological properties and five mechanical properties of high-volume fly ash grouts (60% cement replacement for fly ash by weight) with or without the use of superplasticizers and/or anti-washout agents. The rheological properties are …  Lire la suite

In this thesis I investigated how four student conductors made musical meaning from their scores in rehearsals with their peers and the mediating role that verbal language played in that process. Rosenblatt's (1978, 1994) transactional theory of the literary work provided a framework for conceptualizing the performed musical work as a musical event. Halliday's (1975, 1978, 1985) social theory of language use, particularly his notion of 'register' served as the framework for interpreting the intended meanings of conductors' utterances during rehearsals, and for understanding the dialogic nature of language use. Vygotsky's (1962, 1978) socio-psychological theory of the interdependence of thought …  Lire la suite

Cette thèse décrit la presse clandestine aux États-Unis dès le commencement du mouvement des journaux secrets dans les années 60's jusqu'à sa mort apparente vers le début de la décennie suivante. J'utilise des articles des journaux clandestins aussi bien que des idées et de:; théories littéraires et socio-culturelles pour illustrer l'essence du mouvement et la façon dont il se reflète dans la langue et la littérature des journaux, afin de comprendre son développement rapide et sa disparition évidente au début des années 70's. Je me concentre sur l'idéalisme qui démontre ces journaux clandestins. Par ce terme "l'idéalisme journalistique" je veux …  Lire la suite

Tourette's syndrome (TS) is a chronic movement disorder characterized by motor and vocal tics. This report looks at TS through the eyes of three families and two adults diagnosed with the syndrome. The social and psychological reactions and adjustment to the disorder are examined. Three approaches were used to explore the issues: a literature review; field notes and unstructured biographical interviews. Social and psychological reactions include: depression, withdrawal and suicidal ideation. Unresponsiveness on the part of the health care and social service systems contributed to feelings of anger, powerlessness, guilt and shame. The families' and individuals' ability to lobby for …  Lire la suite

This thesis explores the relationship between the National Film Board and its audiences, with particular attention to the ways in which the NFB has tried to respond to the needs of Canadians for media representations of themselves, through the Challenge for Change program (1967-1978) and Studio D (1974-). The focus of this work will be on the progressive aspects of NFB productions, which have frequently taken controversial stands against official government policy. In the process, the place of the NFB within a politics of representation will be discussed, and its critical contribution to the constitution of a Canadian "national identity" …  Lire la suite

The rapid growth of medical sciences and technologies created the need to manage data generated by sophisticated medical equipment (e.g. lab results, vital signs, etc.). This class of equipment, especially in the modern Intensive Care Unit (ICU), emits large quantities of latient data which medical staff usually records on log sheets. This thesis presents a database design that allows abstract definition of data types, and offers a unified view of data during the development phase, distinct levels of data management and a higher degree of system flexibility. This database model is an implementation of a database for a Patient Data …  Lire la suite

In this thesis, the problem of attitude dynamics and maneuvering of flexible, multibody space systems is studied. A formulation for deriving the equations of motion of these systems, based on Kane's method, is presented. In this formulation the concepts of constrained motion and the effect of nonlinear coupling between rigid-body motion and the elastic vibrations are examined in depth. Dynamics of constrained systems is studied with the main objective of deriving the complete, minimum-dimension set of equations of motion. The effect of rigid-body motion on the dynamic behavior of flexible systems, known as dynamic or geometric stiffening effect, is examined …  Lire la suite

A numerical study was carried out to predict three dimensional turbulent flow heat and mass transfer in RH-ladles. To model the turbulence in the system, the popular Launder and Sharma (7) version of the low Reynolds number k-$ varepsilon$ model was employed. The governing equations for fluid flow and heat transfer were solved using a control volume-based finite difference method. The buoyancy effect in the axial momentum equation was incorporated through the Boussinesq approximation. From the fluid flow and turbulence characteristics predicted by the numerical model, the mass transfer occurring from the dissolution of steel rods immersed in the liquid …  Lire la suite