McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 1997

A two-fluid model of dielectric barrier gas discharge is presented in this thesis. The model predicts the physical structure of the gas discharge obtained between two electrodes, when one is covered with a dielectric material: It predicts the distribution of the electron and ion particle densities, electron energy, and electric field strength. It is a self-consistent numerical model, in which the dielectric properties of the dielectric material are included and the geometry of the electrodes is taken into account, thus coupling the charged-particle transport to the electric field. New boundary conditions are developed for the electron gas at the anode; …  Lire la suite

The partly dolomitized Swan Hills Simonette oil field (Givetian-Frasnian) of west-central Alberta reached maximum burial (6500 m, Tpeak $=$ 160$ sp circ$C) during the Paleocene. Five buildup stages are recognized. The most consistently porous facies comprise grainy, proximal reef lithofacies. Early calcite spars occluded pores which influenced fluid flow during burial diagenesis. Dolomites have the highest porosities (up to 20%) due to leaching of calcite fossils. Permeability is greatest (up to 1000 mD) in porous dolomitized matrices. Fractures are typically plugged with pyrobitumen. Dolomite distribution is controlled by the more porous primary lithofacies and by proximity to faults. Most limestones …  Lire la suite

Ahmed, Abdul M. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Field and laboratory studies were performed to estimate fluxes of the a-ace gases nitrogen monoxide (NO), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) in an organic soil, to determine the microbial processes involved, and to assess how soil water and nitrogen controlled flux rates. Metabolic inhibitors showed microbial nitrification to be the major NO source, regardless of the soil moisture content. Nitrification also produced N 2O, but denitrification losses of this gas from flooded, anaerobic soil were much higher. Up to 26% of nitrified N was converted to NO, but most of this (95%) was consumed microbially before it could escape …  Lire la suite

The reversed cyclic loading test of an "as-built" bridge column with details typical of those designed and built (Griezic, 1996) in the Montreal area in the 1960's is reviewed. This test emphasized the inadequate design and detailing used at that time and showed how poorly lap-spliced dowels perform under reversed cyclic loading. A retrofitting technique (Griezic, 1996) that employs an added footing block, which moves the location of expected plastic hinging to the top of the lap splice and adds confinement to the lower portion of the lap splice region, and adds an infilled steel shell to confine the column, …  Lire la suite

This thesis examines the transformation in the representation of painters during Charles LeBrun's tenure as Life-Chancellor to the Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, from an initial definition in terms of the monarchy at Versailles to one founded on the practice of the art of painting. To promote the status of painters and painting, Louis XIV was celebrated as the protector of the arts in a royal portrait by Henri Testelin and was depicted as the ideal subject of art in paintings by Nicolas Loir and others. A painter's stature was then derived from the skillful manner in which …  Lire la suite

This work examines the effects of the Second World War on Verdun, Quebec, an urban, working-class community with a 1941 population of 67,000. Verdun was the third-largest city in Quebec and the thirteenth-largest in Canada. This study assesses the military, civilian and industrial contribution of this community to the national war effort. No comprehensive study of Canada's 'home front' war has ever been approached from the perspective of a community study. Verdun's population was 58% English speaking and 42% French speaking. Nearly one-third of Verdun's English-speakers were born in the British Isles. Verdun's exceptional British character and its linguistic mix …  Lire la suite

The establishment and maintenance of the cardiac phenotype requires the activation of cardiac-specific as well as muscle-restricted genes in a tightly regulated spatial manner. This process is presumably governed by the combinatorial action of cell-restricted as well as ubiquitous transcriptional regulators. In order to unravel new cardiac transcriptional regulatory pathways and to characterize how they participate in the establishment of the cardiac transcriptional program, we used the atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) gene as a marker. This strategy led to the identification of a novel cardiac cis-element, the NKE, which is critical for the activity of the ANF promoter and which …  Lire la suite

A series of studies were conducted to evaluate genetic and phenotypic aspects of culling, herd life and survival in Quebec Holstein herds. Data consisted of lactation records obtained from the Programme d'Analyse des Troupeaux Laitiers du Quebec (PATLQ) files, which included 2.2 Million records before the editing procedures. The average productive herd life in Quebec herds was approximately 33 months, corresponding to an average replacement rate of MIND, for both milk recording options. Herds enrolled in the PATLQ official option had cows with longer calving intervals and culled their heifers earlier than herds in the owner sampler option. The probability …  Lire la suite

This thesis is a critical survey of selected feminist writings on topics of interest to Christian, feminist thinkers. Specifically, this thesis has examined inter-feminist debates, highlighting those themes related narrowly to the virtues of self-sacrifice, care and peace, and broadly to how these relate to wider themes in Christian theology. This survey indicates directions and tendencies within works on virtues connected to women's work and gendered ideological assumptions about public and private spheres. A summary of the contribution and themes of this thesis includes using critical social theory to uncover ideological distortions such as those perpetuated by patriarchy. The thesis …  Lire la suite

Yikhus--the salient feature of the Jewish aristocracy--may be defined as a type of prestige deriving from the achievements of one's forbears and living family members in the scholarly, mystical, or, to a lesser degree, economic realms. Unlike land acquisition, by which the non-Jewish aristocracy preserved itself, yikhus was intimately linked with achievement in the above realms, requiring a continual infusion of new talent from each generation of a particular family. A question which has yet to be resolved is the extent to which the founders of Hasidism, a mystical revivalist movement that swept Eastern European Jewish communities from the second …  Lire la suite

The purpose of the study was to describe the relationship between motivation, job satisfaction, characteristics of nursing care delivery systems, and intent to leave, and to consider the applicability and usefulness of the Job Characteristics Model (JCM) of work motivation to the work of nursing in four McGill University teaching hospitals. The population consisted of over four hundred nurses who work in medical surgical units of four McGill University teaching hospitals. A total of one hundred and fifty-nine useable questionnaires were collected for a response rate of 40%. Respondents were full and part time nurses with an average age of …  Lire la suite

This thesis is a case study of a cultural institution located in Paris, France, namely the Arab World Institute. It strives to identify the various political and ideological discourses that manifest themselves throughout the Institute's history. The Institute's mission is to bridge the two cultures, Arab and European. It is a particularly interesting case study because of its problematic status which lies somewhere between the imperatives of local policies and those inherent to the international arena. The first chapter is a presentation of the institute, its history and its mission. It also dwells upon the local French political scene and …  Lire la suite

The present experiments were carried out to test the hypothesis that NC is involved in nicotinic receptor mediated muscle cell degeneration. As a model to study nicotinic receptor mediated myopathy, neonatal skeletal muscle cultures prepared from one day old Sprague-Dawley pups were used. Skeletal muscle cultures were exposed to different concentrations of nicotine. The results demonstrate a significant dose dependent decrease in the number of muscle branch points with increasing nicotine concentrations. The degenerative effect(s) of nicotine were prevented by preincubating the muscle cultures with d-tubocurarine, a nicotinic receptor blocker, suggesting that the effects of nicotine are receptor mediated. Experiments …  Lire la suite

Faced with the twin challenges of food security and environmental protection, given the energy resource scarcity, agriculture needs to develop production systems that are highly productive, economically viable and environmentally sound. In this regard, several production systems have been recently developed. All of them share the general objective of using less energy per unit of output. The focus of this study for red pepper, is to examine the environmental performance of a plasticulture system compared to a conventional system in terms of: (1) energy inputs per unit of output; and (2) cost per unit of output. Energy analysis was performed …  Lire la suite

Previous research has demonstrated regional variations in the thickness of the calvarium which can adversely affect surgery in this region. An accurate intraoperative method of skull thickness measurement is not available to enhance the safety and efficacy of these procedures. The aim of this research represents the first attempt to examine the reliability of A-mode ultrasound for this purpose. Acoustic measures of bone thickness were analyzed followed by serial modifications of existing ultrasound probes. Standardized calvarial sites were identified and marked for experimentation with human cadaveric and live animal skull models. The individual points were insonified using an appropriately calibrated …  Lire la suite

Normal breast growth and development depends on functional androgen:estrogen (A:E) balance. Androgen actions are mediated by the androgen receptor (AR), a DNA-binding, transcriptional-regulatory protein. Decreased AR transactivational. activity lowers A:E balance and may result in functional hyperestrogenicity: this could promote the pathogenesis of breast cancer (BC). The present study is the first to seek AR mutations in female BC. The length of the polymorphic CAG-repeat in exon 1 of the AR correlates inversely with the transactivational activity of the AR. Using 10% polyacrylamide gels, I found a significant (p < 0.0001) shift to greater CAG-repeat lengths in BC samples. This …  Lire la suite

The paradox of tropical forests is that they are simultaneously the most diverse, the least understood, and the most imperiled terrestrial ecosystem in the world. Dramatic increases in the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO$ sb2$) concentration threaten to adversely affect fundamental climatic and ecosystem processes, gradually changing many things which we do not yet understand. Although the impacts of this rise have been studied in temperate areas, little research has investigated tree responses in the tropics, especially under natural frost conditions. This thesis examines three central issues in tropical ecophysiology and global change. First, it investigates the feasibility of in-situ measurements …  Lire la suite

This thesis is dedicated to the work of one of the most brilliant representatives of the Soviet (Russian) literature of the past decades---Chinges Aitmatov. In this thesis I concentrate on Aitmatov's short stories which I consider to be one of the most important aspects of his work. What is so particular about Aitmatov's short stories? How does he manage to condense in his short stories such a deep meaning such a refined and sensitive world of heroes, together with the very essence of being? His pure and sometimes naive stories characterized by deep philosophical thought lead us to ponder over …  Lire la suite

Composite materials can be produced through a novel process known as reactive plasma spray forming. This technique was used to fabricate Al-TiAl 3 composites by injecting both Al and TiCl4 vapor into a triple plasma system. The microstructures of the Al-TiAl3 composites were compared with those of more conventional processing routes. The resulting microstructures were strongly dependant on processing method. The cast microstructure exhibited an acicular morphology of TiAl3 in an Al matrix. Composites produced by powder metallurgy and vacuum plasma spray contained coarse equiaxed particles of the intermetallic phase whereas the microstructure of the reactive plasma sprayed material was …  Lire la suite

This study combines qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches in a microanalytic examination of discourse features found in the instructional interactions of six Inuit first language, two Inuit second language, and six non-Inuit second language teachers of Inuit children in northern Quebec. In particular, the study analyzes the discourse features that contribute to the formulation of differing forms of communicative competence required for successful performance in the classrooms of Inuit versus non-Inuit teachers as well as the potential effects of these differences on the classroom participation of Inuit students. The quantitative results are integrated with findings taken from participant observation and …  Lire la suite

In this work the nature of contemporary Canadian evangelicalism will be evaluated in light of Luther's theology of the cross. To commence, a I shall recount a brief history of "evangelicals," tracing the movement from its origins in early sixteenth century Europe at the time of the Protestant Reformation to the present. A four point theological characterization of the contemporary evangelical movement will be outlined. Drawing upon a spectrum of evangelical commentators, leaders and events, I consider the impulses that most typically comprise the evangelical ethos in Canada. Martin Luther's theology of the cross will then be presented and shown …  Lire la suite

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

This thesis explores both modernist and poststructuralist theories of the identification process as a vehicle for understanding the makeup of individuals and their relationship with social movements. It is asserted that individuals are made up of multiple lines of identity, such as sexuality and gender, which interact with societal normative discourse. This essay develops the theory of the fractured being to account for these arrangements and asserts that individuals continually rearrange their identity in order to negotiate axiomatic activities. By demonstrating that it is possible to affect change at micro and macro levels, the fractured being retains agonistic power relations. …  Lire la suite

This thesis attempts to resuscitate the use of the much-disparaged term "problem plays" to describe Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, All's Well That Ends Well, and Measure for Measure; three works which, I argue, share a strong and unifying thematic interest in the vexed relationship between individual sexual desire and social cohesion. Although each of these plays offers a unique perspective on this conflicted interaction, I attempt to demonstrate through close readings of each work that the broad trajectory traced by the problem plays is a movement from the festive comedies' idealistic faith in the possibilities of both romantic and generic …  Lire la suite

International lawyers and jurists have been employing terms varying from secession, partition, disintegration, and dissolution and referring to rights such as self-determination, minority rights, peoples rights and so on. However, there is not always a crystal clarity behind the terminological distinctions and legal issues. The resolution of various legal issues in separatist conflicts is often a complex matter. For instance, it is not possible to respond fully to separatism without understanding the implications of various underlying institutions and what appear frequently to be conflicting rights. (What is self-determination and how does it relate to separatism? What is the difference between …  Lire la suite

This report studies variable-block size motion estimation in time-varying imagery. An image can be partitioned into variable-size blocks where one vector represents the motion of each sample point within a block. The goal is to reduce the number of displacement vectors that can faithfully represent the motion field across an image. The approach builds on established gradient-based methods. The same concepts regarding the temporal consistency of the image information and spatial smoothness of the motion field are used to reach at an image partitioning algorithm and a corresponding formulation of the problem statement. Various aspects of the solution method are …  Lire la suite

The epididymis is the site where spermatozoa are matured and stored. After orchidectomy this tissue loses up to 80% of its weight. In the prostate, androgen withdrawal by orchidectomy is associated with apoptotic cell death. The objective of this study is to investigate whether apoptotic cell death is involved in the androgen dependent weight loss found in the orchidectomized rat epididymis. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were orchidectomized and apoptotic cells were identified by in situ TUNEL apoptosis detection. Throughout the rat epididymis, apoptotic cell death was localized specifically to epithelial cells. Androgen replacement therapy demonstrated that apoptosis in the caput, …  Lire la suite

Due to advances in computing technologies, the field of Virtual Reality is undergoing an intense developmental stage, with numerous applications being developed in various fields. These applications are diverse, ranging from architectural walk-throughs and virtual manufacturing environments to the entertainment industry and legal police investigations. One very active research area within the field of virtual reality is that of human figure modeling, design, and articulation. With virtual environments becoming more elaborate and involved, there is an increasing need for synthetic human models to act as "inhabitants" of such worlds, and to further contribute to the level of realism and immersion …  Lire la suite

Beaudet, A. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Chavez, E. R. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

The use of a direct method for measuring respiration and transpiration rates may lead to better storage control systems and closer observation of storage losses. A laboratory scale environmental chamber was constructed and provided with a fan and adjustable louver to obtain variable ventilation flow rates. Flow rates were determined using a pressure sensor and fan characteristic curves which were determined experimentally. A regression equation representing the flow rate versus pressure relation was derived and used for estimating the flow rates throughout the study. Respiration and transpiration were simulated using precision heat sources ranging from 15 to 105W in 15W …  Lire la suite

Currently, a very large scale negotiation on economic integration involving the entire Western Hemisphere, save Cuba, is taking place. The 1994 Summit of the Americas called for the completion of the negotiation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas no later than 2005. Given the ample recognition that investment codification is an essential complement to rules governing trade flows, the eventual incorporation of a comprehensive set of investment rules within the free trade area agreement, seems unavoidable. The inclusion of such rules within the regional trading system would constitute an extension of the recent practice of incorporating investment norms …  Lire la suite

In recent years, "participatory development" has gained popularity in development circles. It has been recognized that participatory approaches in development programs and projects can help in meeting the conventional development objectives of economic growth and equity as well as more recent concerns of sustainability, good governance and democratisation. This is a qualitative study examines the theory and practice of people's participation in development programs and projects on a micro level. The objective study is to understand community participation structures in Barangay Lumangan, a village on the University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV) campus in Miagao, Province of Iloilo, …  Lire la suite

There have been many commercial, cultural, and literary endeavors which have examined connections between African Americans and the Irish. Irish musicians as diverse as De Dannan, U2, and Van Morrison have all voiced their debt to the African-American traditions of gospel, rhythm and blues, and jazz. Popular mediums, such as newspaper cartoons and columns, as well as a recent spate of Irish films (The Commitments, The Crying Game , and In the Name of the Father) have characterized the experience of the Irish as colonized subjects, wholly parallel with the experience of disenfranchised African Americans. In a literary context, most …  Lire la suite

The increasing incidence of adolescent depression calls for the study of individual difference factors that may impinge on psychosocial adjustment. Researchers have identified depressive personality styles, namely dependency and self-criticism, that represent distinct vulnerability orientations. A series of four studies was conducted to (1) examine the relation of the depressive styles to adolescent dysphoria and interpersonal functioning; (2) assess the Personality-Event Congruence Model of Depressive Vulnerability in youngsters; and (3) explore how dependency and self-criticism relate to the regulation of negative affect using an experience sampling methodology. Findings provide evidence for heightened vulnerability of adolescent self-criticism in terms of increased …  Lire la suite

In a Victorian Britain in crisis, Chartism was as it remains an exemplary site for contestation of various forms of authority--social, political, theological, historical, and literary. When Carlyle in his Chartism essay demands what "the under classes intrinsically mean," he discounts "these wild inarticulate souls" unable to recognize or express their own true state (122). But even as Carlyle authorizes detached observation, he also helps cement those unpredictable alliances that haunt his work. In an increasingly statistical culture, the representation of Chartism has much to tell about technologies of power, the cultural inflection of difference, and the production and reproduction …  Lire la suite

Trehearne, Brian (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

These studies investigated relationships between the working alliance, client good moments, therapist verbal response modes, and client experiencing. Correlations between increased levels of the working alliance and increased occurrence of good moments were only between the bond aspect of the alliance and good moments of provision of significant information. The best fitting models of the working alliance, therapist verbal response modes, and client good moments indicated that a 3-way interaction was a good fit in the provision of significant information modality. Two-way interactions between the working alliance and therapist response modes revealed that low structure response modes, Particularly reflection/restatement occurred …  Lire la suite

Elliott, Carl (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

In the field of musicology, most commentators agree that the late style of Gabriel Faure is highly contrapuntal. At the same time, no systematic or generally accepted methodology exists for the discussion of the way in which Faure combines individual lines, except for Robert Orledge's brief enumeration of Faure's preferred procedures with respect to such things as time and interval of entry. In this thesis, I develop a method for examining counterpoint in selected songs from the late-style song cycle, La Chanson d'Eve. This is based on historical information concerning Faure's education, his pedagogical habits, and his comments concerning the …  Lire la suite

This dissertation considers the evolution of Rap music and Hip Hop culture from the perspective of two spatial modalities. It first introduces theoretical concepts of geographic scale and the inscription of socio-spatial values in order to examine Rap and Hip Hop's geo-cultural expansions from their primary enclaves of urban black America. The dynamics between race, social space, and youth are assessed both individually and in tandem as crucial elements in the expression and practices of Hip Hop. The dissertation challenges and extends research in the prevailing Rap "canon" by analysing the processes and structuring logics through which Rap has been …  Lire la suite

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the function and the modulations of the figure of Rimbaud in the works of Rene Char, from 1927 to 1988 approximately. This analysis, which traces the passage---from the latent to the manifest---of the figure of Rimbaud through Char's works, is situated at the junction of two series of texts, one "interior" (Char's writings on Rimbaud), the other "exterior" (twentieth-century interpretations of Rimbaud). Intertexuality, understood to mean the influence of Rimbaud on Rene Char, emerges as a reading, that is a "critique" of Rimbaud, the elaboration of a "Rimbaldian" text of which Char …  Lire la suite

Gros-Calin, La Vie devant soi, Pseudo and L'Angoisse du roi Salomon, the four books written and published by Romain Gary under the name Emile Ajar, clearly stand out from the author's other works. They can be distinguished by their unusual style which presents a multitude of literary devices that closely resemble mistakes and are seldom found in Gary's other writings. The present study attempts to explain this particular style by the author's desire to create a truly "total novel" as discussed in Pour Sganarelle, an essay that presents Romain Gary's approach to the art of writing. The greater part of …  Lire la suite

Mu and D108 are temperate bacteriophages which can follow two possible modes of growth after infection of Escherichia coli. The bacteriophages can follow the lytic cycle, in which the bacteriophage genome is replicated and progeny phages are produced, or the lysogenic cycle, in which the bacteriophage remains dormant in the E. coli genome. In this case, the bacteriophage's DNA is replicated along with the host chromosome. Central to the lytic/lysogenic switch, is the Ner protein. Ner is a small, basic, DNA-binding protein. To better understand the mechanism by which bacteriophage D108 regulates its lytic/lysogenic switch, a plasmid containing the D108 …  Lire la suite

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the procedure for the redress of grievances in the Canadian Armed Forces. A comparative study of the parallel system under the American law will be undertaken. The author's wish is to highlight deficiencies in the Canadian grievance procedure and to suggest changes which would improve the procedure. The military context is reviewed in the first two parts of the thesis, it being the view of the author that the grievance procedure evolves in a work environment and as part of an institution which are unique. In the following parts, the thesis will …  Lire la suite

This thesis will investigate the significance of the Eastern Orthodox perspective of theosis, for the bioethical principle of autonomy, specifically with regard to its respect for the elderly. Theosis is a central doctrine of the Orthodox Church which pertains to the salvation of human persons and their free and cooperative response to God's grace, and as such, has an intimate relationship with the Eastern Orthodox understanding of personhood. On the one hand there are a number of areas of mutual concern or overlap between the concept of respect for autonomy and the Orthodox understanding of personhood and the goal of …  Lire la suite

Souvenirs du vent is a composition for soprano and chamber orchestra with a duration of approximately 16'.30". The piece consists of three movements, a prelude, two interludes and a postlude. The poems set in the three movements were chosen for their similar subject matter, the wind. This common subject is emphasized by a music in which both the large-scale and small-scale formal divisions are blurred through structural counterpoint. The poets of the three poems are all from the Montreal area; they are: Emile Nelligan, Claude Brouille and Remi-Paul Forgues.  Lire la suite

Desbarats, Catherine (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Ricard, François (Supervisor)  Lire la suite