McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 1995

Berk, D. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Kazlauskas, Romas J. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

This study examines carbon flow in the Dipper Harbour salt marsh, a macrotidal system located on the north-west coast of the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick. The vegetated marsh surface is composed of three major zones; the Spartina alterniflora-dominated low marsh, the Plantago maritima-dominated Middle marsh, and the Spartina patens-dominated high marsh. The total net primary production (NPP) of these dominant macrophytes is 860, 300 and 650 g C m$ sp{-2}$ yr$ sp{-1}$ respectively. In all plant zones, 66% of the NPP occurs in the belowground fraction. Empirical measurements of organic matter burial indicate that the marsh sediment acts as …  Lire la suite

The telecommunications industry is being shaped by technological and market developments, and is moving into the 21st Century. The telecommunications technology of the future is integrated services digital networks. ISDN, which is the concept for a future digital telecommunications network for delivery of a wide range of innovative voice, data and video services through satellite systems and the national information highways being developed in several countries, will lead to a Global Information Infrastructure. ISDN development will pose challenges to traditional telecommunications regulation, lead to increased multimodal competition between ground and space-based transmission systems, and erode INTELSAT's market base since future …  Lire la suite

We have qualitatively explained the experiments of McCloud and Maher (McCloud and Maher (95)) for the viscous fingering problem in which an anisotropy in the surface tension parameter was imposed by engraving a grid in one of the plates of the Hele-Shaw cell. We saw the need to approach the problem in an analytical form. Therefore we decided to extend solvability theory to incorporate the effect of anisotropy. We have introduced the anisotropy through a moving boundary condition by considering an effective anisotropic surface tension with an anisotropy entering as the simplest cosine term having the right symmetry for a …  Lire la suite

A growing body of both substantive and theoretical literature suggests that educational underachievement among certain ethnic groups is due to the cultural discontinuity between mainstream education and minority students. A pedagogy that both uses and reinforces the culture of ethnic minority students, implemented by ethnically similar teachers, is therefore thought to contribute to a more constructive school experience and strengthen the social and political status of the ethnic community as a whole. For this thesis, a group of Haitian educators working in Montreal area schools was interviewed to investigate the extent to which this approach is viewed as a potential …  Lire la suite

A Kalman filter track fit system for reconstructing charged particle track parameters from solenoidal tracking chamber data has been constructed. A supporting simulation of particle transport and detector response in an all stereo wire drift chamber such as that proposed for the B Factory project has been written based on the Gismo package. Basic fitting operation has been verified, however the effects of particle interactions with detector material have yet to be incorporated into the filter. The filter system has been written usings an object oriented language in the hopes of facilitating its application to various future applications at the …  Lire la suite

This thesis presents six essays relating to various aspects of the workings of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) of the European Monetary System (EMS), an adjustable-peg exchange rate regime that has been in operation in Europe since 1979. The essays follow its development, from its inception in 1979, to its near collapse in 1992, and its current prospects in the context of economic and monetary union. The essays focus on several aspects of the EMS, notably volatility of exchange rates, offshore interest rates and forward exchange rates, the target zone model, time-series analysis of exchange rate changes, and how the …  Lire la suite

The modelling, analysis, and control of a tendon transmission for a haptic device is presented. A linear force-to-force model is used to study the dynamics of the transmission, to predict how certain system parameters affect the response, and how these parameters can be modified for improvements. To this end, sensitivity analysis was applied to show how the system is affected for each of its components considered in the linear model. This sensitivity analysis leads to criteria that can be used to choose the best values for the parameters to achieve a wide bandwidth and a good disturbance rejection. Nominal values …  Lire la suite

DNA fingerprinting was used to assess levels of genetic variation within the captive colony of pedigreed American kestrels (Falco sparverius) which have been maintained for over twenty years at the Avian Science and Conservation Centre of McGill University. Several instances of apparent linkage and allelism were observed. The high probability of fortuitous co-segregation of parental bands as if linked or allelic resulting from the small number of offspring was most likely responsible. Otherwise, the kestrel fingerprints displayed germ-line stability and high levels of heterozygosity characteristic of other species. A positive linear and quasi-linear relationship was found between pedigree-based and DNA …  Lire la suite

This thesis chronicles an attempt to delve into the murky world of image and semblance, illusion and contrivance. The examination and especially the celebration of image and style--of simulation--throughout recent cultural debate is incisively expressed through the framework of popular culture. Walt Disney World, as a cultural artifact and profit-making commodity, is the consummate model of all the entangled processes of popular culture: a turbulent melange of aesthetic, ethical, and sociological concerns. America is Disney World; borne of fantasy and ubiquitous iconism. Our cultural atlas reverberates with the energy of cinematic, pulsating and seductive imagery; restrained and unfulfilled by the …  Lire la suite

It is known that slight variations in total dose delivered to the patient in external beam photon radiotherapy can significantly alter the probability of tumour control. For this reason, ICRU has recommended a goal of $ pm$5% precision in the dose delivery to the target volume. Several investigators have analyzed the degree of precision routinely achieved and have come to the conclusion that ICRU's goal can be attained, but in practice this is just barely so. We have measured the degree of precision which exists in our institution by examining each step of the radiotherapy process on a cobalt unit …  Lire la suite

Protein trafficking events in the secretory and endosomal apparatus were evaluated in rat liver hepatocytes by EM immunogold cytochemistry. The cellular distribution of apolipoprotein E and other abundant hepatic secretory and endosomal proteins was quantitatively examined in ultrathin cryosections of liver hepatocytes. Under steady-state conditions, apoE was concentrated within the Golgi apparatus, along sinusoidal plasma membrane microvilli and within all components of the endosomal apparatus, as evaluated immunocytochemically and confirmed by quantitative immunoblotting of organelles isolated from liver homogenates. Within the secretory pathway, the hepatic Golgi apparatus was a site of protein concentration as evaluated by the gold labeling density …  Lire la suite

Avalanche Photodiode (APD) is a compact and rugged device, with single photon detection capability and high quantum efficiency. It is a good candidate as a detector to observe irradiation damage to silicon devices and the irradiation induced defects. In this thesis, we have observed the bistable defects and the multistable defects in the APD. We can also observe the time evolution of defect formation and annihilation with time resolution of 10 ms. Also we develop a technique to observe the evolution of defects in real time with an improved time resolution of 1 $ mu s$.  Lire la suite

Glenn, H. Patrick (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

The United Nations Security Council has recently imposed economic sanctions against several states with the aim to protect human rights. Before the Second World War economic sanctions had been imposed under the Covenant of the League of Nations. It was, however, only with the creation of the United Nations and the evolution of international human rights law that economic sanctions have been imposed explicitly in the name of human rights. While the Security Council has ordered economic sanctions against Iraq, Haiti and the former Yugoslavia for their human rights violations, the thesis explores the reasons why the Council has not …  Lire la suite

Four strains of the swine pathogen Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, namely, the type strain (ATCC 27088), the "reference" strain of biotype 2 (Bertschinger 2008/76) and two additional biotype 1 strains, strain BC181, which is less virulent than the type strain, and strain K17 (reference strain of serotype 5A), which was isolated from a lamb, were investigated with respect to iron acquisition. All four strains produced iron-repressible outer membrane proteins. However, only strains ATCC 27088 and Bertschinger 2008/76 could acquire iron from porcine transferrin. No organism could utilize human, bovine or ovine transferrin, or ovine or porcine lactoferrin. Haemoglobin supported good growth of …  Lire la suite

The Civil Aviation Laws in Israel began their development since the independence of the State in 1948. They comprise of five main Aviation Acts and various executive regulations which facilitate the conduct of the civil aviation industry. The basic aviation act, although modified and supplemented by native Israeli aviation laws is the Air Navigation Act: It was drafted in the 1920's by Great Britain and was incorporated into the legal system of the newly born state. A review of the development of civil aviation law in Israel has not yet been completed by a single study considering its fundamental provisions, …  Lire la suite

Braun, Peter E. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

The April 1994 elections in South Africa, which witnessed the ANC gain a determinant majority in national government, shifted the struggle in that country from national liberation and enfranchisement to economic empowerment for the black majority. The South African Government, facing millions of restitution of land claims and a national demand for effective access to land and adequate housing, has had to elaborate concrete legal implementation mechanisms to deliver land and housing for the majority of the population. Constitutionalism, through the entrenchment of land rights in a bill of rights, and the creation of a national socio-economic program to meet …  Lire la suite

Carbonetto, Salvatore (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

From 1589 to 1599, the relation between Henri IV and the Parlement of Paris was a tumultuous one. Some parlementaires associated with the Catholic League refused at first to recognize Henri of Navarre as their king. These magistrates met in Paris until April 1594. Meanwhile, their royalist colleagues congregated in Tours where, in March 1589, Henri III had transferred his sovereign court. From there, the royalist councillors helped Henri IV reconquer his realm. This, they did in spite of his religion, although they frequently asked him to convert to Catholicism. After the reunification of the two rival courts in April …  Lire la suite

Guarino Guarini's SS. Sindone Chapel and its relic offer the occasion to contemplate the paradox of the Incarnation in architecture--a dialectic of presence and absence. The thesis begins with a return to the Gospel accounts of the Empty Tomb, and examines the tradition of reliquary and martyria which the Chapel is inscribed in. The Incarnation theme is then traced to the late seventeenth century context of the Chapel and is considered in the Counter-Reformation context of Turin. The architectural organization of the theme of presence and absence is then explored in the Chapel. In Part II, an examination of Architettura …  Lire la suite

In search and rescue (SAR) and emergency planning operations real-time response is critical, particularly when lives are endangered. Until recently, such operations were planned manually by experts in the field using tools such as templates, protractors and calculators. An initiative from the Department of National Defence of Canada has recommended the development of a prototype computerized tool to help the experts in the planning phase of these operations. This thesis, which was carried out under PRECARN project Passport, addresses two types of algorithms that are at the core of SAR and emergency planning operations: airborne path planning for surveillance and …  Lire la suite

Food use and nutrient intake were studied with Cree women of Wemindji and Eastmain, Quebec. Twenty-four hour recalls and food frequency questionnaires were used among three age groups of women and in two seasons. Age had an effect on the mean amount of traditional food consumed (p $<$ 0.0001). Species and amounts of traditional food consumed varied by season. Ninety-four percent of women exceeded 2/3 of the recommended nutrient intake (RNI) for protein and 80% exceeded 2/3 of the RNI for iron, despite lower than recommended reported energy intakes. Calcium intakes of less than 1/2 the RNI were reported by …  Lire la suite

A lexical decision task and a semantic judgment task were conducted with eight right brain-damaged, six left brain-damaged and eight control subjects to explore the role of the right hemisphere in the processing of words that connote an emotion and of words that denote an emotion. Accuracy and reaction time data were measured in each experiment. Despite differences in the detailed patterns of responses across groups, there was little evidence to suggest that the right hemisphere is involved in the processing of the two kinds of emotional words. Valence (positive vs negative) had no influence on the results. Nor was …  Lire la suite

Rouleau, Guy A. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

The objectives of this thesis were: (i) to examine the relationship and the nature of the link of socioeconomic status (SES) to an objective indicator of childhood asthma; (ii) to quantify the agreement between area-based SES measures and SES assessed at the level of the individual; and (iii) to compare the test characteristics of asthma as evidenced by questionnaire, exercise and methacholine challenges without assuming a gold standard. We carried out a cross-sectional study of 989 Montreal elementary school children in an area where there is universal access to medical care through state-funded health insurance. A questionnaire was completed by …  Lire la suite

Andrews, M. P. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Trehearne, Brian (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

In the history of modern Iran, religion and nationalism often converge to bring about social and political change. The people of the bazaar and the religious leaders, who consistently supported each other on many important occasions, joined forces with the intelligensia to bring about change. This alliance was dissolved after the accomplishment of the original goal. This configuration came into existence during the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 and at the time of the movement to nationalize the oil industry. During 1951-1953, under the umbrella of the National Front, the intelligensia, led by Dr. Muhammad Musaddiq, along with the merchants and …  Lire la suite

The rapid increase in the demands for high bandwidth systems has motivated research in optoelectronic technologies and architectures. At McGill University, a five year five Major Project in Photonic Devices and Systems has been undertaken, with funding from the Canadian Institute for Telecommunications Research. One of the main goals of the project is to develop an optical backplane architecture capable of interconnecting several electronic printed circuit boards with an aggregate bandwidth on the order of 1 Terabit per second. Currently, the project is in its third year in which a representative subset of a Terabit Photonic Backplane is under development. …  Lire la suite

This study is concerned with the first part of Les Angoysses douloureuses qui procedent d'amours by Helisenne de Crenne which conforms to the writing rules of the rhetorical deliberative discourse. It is destined to a recipient in the text, to try to influence his future course of action, in a determinated way. This persuasion exercise is mostly done with examples which make up the main component of the story. The purpose of the text, explicit, manifest and admitted, is to incite the "dames" to live a life of virtue, without repeating in the future the misdeed, which the narrator is …  Lire la suite

Today we are witnessing an increased demand for Aboriginal people to assume teaching roles previously held by white Western people in their communities (L. McAlpine, personal communication; Matthew, 1982). To date, there is little research documenting the teaching strategies of different Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The present study documents Cree and Mohawk teachers' beliefs about and use of play as an educational strategy at the primary and early elementary levels, and contrasts this with three non-Aboriginal teachers working in the same communities. Nine Aboriginal teachers were interviewed regarding their beliefs about play as an educational strategy; seven of these teachers …  Lire la suite

Growth chamber trials were performed to investigate optimal conditions for the small scale production of isolate M12-4A of Fusarium oxysporum on substrate materials that are locally available to subsistence farmers in West Africa. Field trials were conducted in Mali to evaluate the effectiveness of F. oxysporum for the control of Striga hermonthica and to determine the host range of F. oxysporum. F. oxysporum grew and colonized substrates over a range of temperatures (24, 28 and 32 C). Chopped sorghum straw pieces, straw fibres, and glumes supported abundant mycelial growth. Full colonization of the substrates was observed within 10 days. Production …  Lire la suite

The electronic contribution to the resistivity rho and its temperature dependence were investigated for amorphous and crystalline [Fe xCo1--x] 33.3Zr66.7 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) alloys in the temperature range 80--300 K. As Fe-rich compositions may exhibit spin fluctuation effects, transport properties were not studied below 80 K where spin fluctuation effects must be taken into consideration. The compositional and structural integrity of the samples was verified by means of X-ray diffractometry, electron-microprobe analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. It was also confirmed that the first crystallization product for all the compositions is the face-centered cubic phase with the NiTi2-type structure. …  Lire la suite

In an effort to establish a clearer understanding of the sentencing of sexual assault offenders, this study analyzes data generated from a content analysis of sexual assault cases, using feminist theory as a backdrop for the analysis. The sample consists of ninety-seven sexual assault cases from across Canada for the period of August 15, 1992 through August 15, 1993. Using a statistical analysis, the data were analyzed for evidence of whether certain factors aggravated or mitigated sentence length. The findings indicate that factors not affecting sentence length include breach of trust, sex of the judge, sex of the complainant, plea …  Lire la suite

Field and growth bench experiments were performed to assess the effect of a selective fungal pathogen of Abutilon theophrasti (velvetleaf) on various aspects of intra- and interspecific competition between this vigorous agricultural weed and soybean (Glycine max). In the absence of the foliar pathogen, Colletotrichum coccodes, A. theophrasti and soybean responded differently to the presence of conspecies or to individuals of the other species. In pure stand, the deleterious effects of intraspecific competition on reproductive output were substantially greater for A. theophrasti than for soybean, especially at lower monoculture densities. In mixtures, however, A. theophrasti reproductive performance was markedly higher …  Lire la suite

This study investigates how Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), a medieval abbess used visions received during the prodromal stages of migraines to reconstruct herself symbolically. In her visions she believed that God, the "Living Light" instructed her "to write and say the Secrete Dei". By obeying, she obtained extensive influence and power, appropriating functions reserved for the medieval male elite only. Hildegard is contextualized within the politico-socio-intellectual parameters of the twelfth century in general and within convent life in particular. Events are chronicled to examine how she reconstructed her weaknesses--gender and infirmity--using them to construct knowledge, and to demonstrate how she …  Lire la suite

Price, Jerry (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Hassani, Ferri (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

The objective of this study was the development of the imaging subsystem of an organ mapping system that would be able to acquire sufficient information for building a 3D cellular level map of a small organ. The imaging subsystem that is presented is a confocal scanning laser microscope arrangement that is versatile and offers a number of different imaging modes, with minimal modifications in the optical configuration, and no need for realignment of optical components. The organ mapping system is a part of a larger project involving the building of a teleoperated microsurgical robot capable of operating on small organs, …  Lire la suite

Most global and regional "greenhouse gas" budgets have neglected beaver ponds, but they have been found to be relatively high emitters of methane (CH$ sb4$) (Roulet et. al., 1992). Static chambers, bubble traps, benthic chambers. piezometers, and water column and sediment profiles were used to determine the dynamics of CH$ sb4$ production, oxidation, storage, and emissions from a northern boreal beaver pond, as part of the Boreal Forest Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) from May 1 to September 15, 1994. Samples were analysed by gas chromatography, and isotopic analyses were performed by mass spectrometry. The mean flux of CH$ sb4$ from the …  Lire la suite

Grant, Martin (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Murty, Ram (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Voort, Frederick R. Van de (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

The flow of a two-dimensional incompressible non-Newtonian fluid, showing a viscoelastic behavior, has been studied using the White-Metzner model with a phenomenological law for the viscosity, the Spriggs' truncated power-law model. Our goal was to determine if these models could generate the oscillating instabilities appearing in such fluids at very high driving force. We studied the effect of various quantities on the time-dependent numerical simulations and noticed that the mesh length was not very important for the accuracy of the results. However, the time constant modulus appearing in the White-Metzner model and the applied pressure were of paramount importance for …  Lire la suite

It is now common that amendments to the Chicago Convention are adopted unanimously, or almost unanimously, and at a relatively great speed by the General Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Unfortunately, the pace of their ratification by the member States is extremely slow and it delays considerably their entry into force. The first part of this thesis tries to identify, on the one hand, different mechanisms which could accelerate the process of ratification and therefore the entry into force of amendments and, on the other hand, describes the procedure that would maintain the unity and homogeneity of …  Lire la suite