McGill University Thèses et mémoires publiés en 1998

The utilization of ultrasound in diagnostic medicine has increased since the 1950's. Ultrasound is a non-invasive two dimensional (2D) imaging technique that provides useful information about underlying soft tissue anatomical structures. Developed recently, three dimensional (3D) reconstruction algorithms convert a series of sequential 2D ultrasound images into 3D data sets. 3D reconstruction is one phase in a pipeline for 3D ultrasound volume visualization that typically takes upwards of 2 minutes to complete. The objective of this research focuses on high speed 3D ultrasound reconstruction by comparing reconstruction speeds on parallel and sequential processors. To decrease reconstruction times, optimizations such as; …  Lire la suite

Casault, Andre (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

The purpose of this study was to validate an abbreviated interview schedule for the assessment of adolescent life stress based on the original Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (LEDS) by Brown and Harris (1978). The main objective of the abbreviated instruments was to elicit the severe stressors shown to be of etiological significance for predicting psychiatric disorder without requiring two hours to administer. A non-clinical sample of 58 adolescents (mean age = 15.67 years) completed the Childhood Depression Inventory (Kovacs, 1982), the Abbreviated Life Event and Difficulty Schedule - Adolescent version (ALEDS-A), and the full-length LEDS-Adolescent Version (LEDS-A). The abbreviated …  Lire la suite

Piggott, Glyne L. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

A dynamic model of the calendering of paper which incorporates relationships for both roll local thermal deformation and the stress-strain behaviour of paper in and after the nip was developed, validated, then used to demonstrate its application to model predictive control of calendering. The experimental determination of the stress-strain behaviour of paper included documenting the effect of initial temperature and moisture content as well as process parameters, and was expressed as the in-nip calendering equation. The rheological behaviour of commercial newsprint made from thermomechanical pulp was found to be a strong nonlinear function of temperature and moisture content over the …  Lire la suite

The spaceplane could be the most desirable form of space transportation in the next century. However, accompanying it are questions of whether a boundary is needed between airspace and outer space, and whether the current definition of 'space object' in the outer space treaties is adequate to include these hybrid vehicles This thesis concludes that the spaceplane does not portend the need for a boundary and that it will not require the development of a new definition. Chapter I describes some of the best known spaceplane initiatives. Chapters II and III, respectively, discuss the air law and space law regimes …  Lire la suite

Manfredi, Christopher P. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

The present research compared a newly developed interview measure of adolescent life stress, the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (Brown & Harris, 1978), to a self-report checklist The Adolescent Perceived Events Scale (Compas, Davis, Forsythe, & Wagner, 1997). Participants consisted of a community-based sample, of 58 adolescents in grades 9--11. The life strew interview and checklist were compared on a number of factors, namely accuracy and comprehensiveness of obtained stressor data and accuracy of stressor dating. Moreover, the relative performance of the two measures in predicting current depressive symptomatology was assessed. Results revealed differences in the stress profiles obtained by …  Lire la suite

Ever since Joseph Conrad chose fin de siecle London as the place to begin and end his Heart of Darkness, the city of London has been host to literary meditations on the darker aspects of empire and imperialism. The decline of the British Empire in the twentieth century has had far-reaching consequences for the former heart of empire. In the second half of the twentieth century, immigrants from the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia have transformed Britain into an ethnically and racially diverse nation. The colonies have 'come home to roost.' Following Conrad's narrative in Heart of Darkness, my thesis begins …  Lire la suite

The tonal organization of the first-movement development sections of ten Haydn symphonies (nos. 1, 4, 6, 10, 13, 15, 19, 24, 31 and 72), all in D major composed between 1758 and 1765, is directly linked to eighteenth-century theories of modulation. The recent theoretical or musicological literature, with the exception of H. C. Robbins Landon's Haydn: Chronical and Works (1976--1980), has concentrated on Haydn's later high classical style generally ignoring these earlier works composed during his largely self-didactic, most formative years. After evaluating the analytical procedures established by Webster (1991), Wheelock (1992), Sisman (1993) and Haimo (1995) in chapter one, …  Lire la suite

Sadness in literature has often been thematically interpreted as an indication of literary originality. Notions of solitude, silence, and alienation contribute to the idea that melancholy benefits the introspective work of the artist. But it is also possible to explore sadness as a more complex literary phenomenon, one that expands the dimensions of affect and influences possibilities of aesthetic and ethical renovation that gesture beyond the usual themes of melancholy and solitude. Sadness thus does not come to be conceived as merely an aspect of mourning, but as a structure of loss that is intrinsic to our concept of the …  Lire la suite

The two-dimensional solidification of a dilute binary melt in the small Peclet number with small surface tension is considered. The asymptotic solution for the case of the steady-state cellular growth with the deep cells is being built. Matching technique is suggested to match the solutions in the different regions for the case of any lambda in the range from 0 to 1.  Lire la suite

In the absence of specific guidelines for the seismic analysis of self-supporting telecommunication towers, designers may be tempted to apply simplified building code approaches to these structures. However, these towers respond to earthquakes in a different fashion than that of shear buildings. The objective of this research is to propose simplified methods for the seismic analysis of self-supporting telecommunication towers. The author studied the specific problem of self-supporting lattice telecommunication towers using numerical simulations and applying the modal superposition method and the response spectrum technique on ten existing towers, typical of microwave towers usually erected in Canada. The analyses are …  Lire la suite

Numerical experiments were carried out to determine tube geometries for more efficient thermal storage. A finite element simulation code developed earlier, which solves the two dimensional governing conservation equations was employed to examine the thermal performance of horizontal annuli of the following configurations: (a) Square external tube with a circular tube inside---Annulus Type A; (b) Circular external tube with a square tube inside---Annulus Type B. Effects of the Rayleigh number as well as heating of the inside, outside or both walls at a temperature above the melting point of the material were studied. Flow and temperature patterns within the melt, …  Lire la suite

Tooley, F. A. P. (Advisor)  Lire la suite

The onset of a 'late' rotating vortex over an off-centre drain nozzle at 2/3 radius was studied in an 1160-mm diameter tank. It was found that using a sloped bottom ladle could be beneficial in terms of steel yield, provided the exit nozzle is located 'centrically'. Miner modification of the nozzle (skewed nozzle) to impart a radial component of velocity to the spinning vortex core was found to be effective in making AMEPA system sensitive to early slag entrainment phenomena by diverting the core away from the central vertical axis of the nozzle. A 0.75 scale water model was constructed …  Lire la suite

All eukaryotic mRNAs (except organellar) are capped at their 5' end. The cap structure (m7GpppN, where N is any nucleotide) is extremely important for the processing and translation of mRNA. A modified form of this cap is also present in some snRNAs. Several cap-recognizing proteins that mediate these processes have been characterized. This thesis describes a novel human cytoplasmic protein that is 30% identical and 60% similar in sequence to the human translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E). This protein, named 4E-Homologous Protein (4EHP), binds specifically to the cap structure. Sequence alignment and site-directed mutagenesis analysis of 4EHP strongly suggest that …  Lire la suite

This study is a secondary analysis which compared the psychosocial and functional adjustment of MI couples who manifest different patterns of psychological distress. Data were collected on 130 couples two months after the husband's MI. Couples were categorized into four groups based on their scores on a psychological distress measure, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Husbands and wives completed the demographic questionnaire, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ6), and the three subscales (domestic adjustment. sexual relationship, social adjustment) of the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS). In addition, husbands completed the Cardiac Symptoms List (CSL) and …  Lire la suite

Wireless telephone service providers must deploy their cellular networks with two main criteria in mind: radio coverage and traffic density. All areas where users expect a service must be covered and enough channels must be provided to accommodate the users. This thesis explores the problem of radio coverage prediction for indoor systems. The indoor radio channel contains a large number and variety of obstacles which scatter and attenuate electromagnetic waves. A transmitted signal reaches a receiver via multiple propagation paths after undergoing a series of reflection, transmission and possibly diffraction effects along each path. The sum of all path contributions, …  Lire la suite

Saba, J. (Advisor)  Lire la suite

Soybean peroxidase (SBP) catalyzes the polymerization of aromatic compounds, which precipitate from solution. The useful lifetime of the enzyme is limited by inactivation; however, the rate of enzyme inactivation is significantly lower in the presence of high molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG). Of the various molecular weight PEGs, PEG 35 000 provides the most protection to SBP from inactivation. The protective effect of PEG is related to molecular weight which is likely due to the unique manner in which PEG hydrates. Observations suggest that the protective mechanism relates to the interaction between PEG and the phenol polymers. The low biodegradability …  Lire la suite

Murine acquired immune deficiency syndrome (MAIDS) shares several common characteristics with human AIDS, including immunodeficiency, hypergammaglobulinemia, susceptibility to infection, both B and T cell dysfunctions, lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly and aberrant cytokine production. The etiologic agent of MAIDS has been identified as a defective retrovirus which contains major deletions in its pol and env regions but has largely maintained its gag region. The only gene product of this virus is a 60 kDa gag fusion protein, Pr60 gag, which is necessary and sufficient to induce MAIDS in susceptible mouse strains. The target cells of the MAIDS defective virus have been identified as …  Lire la suite

The effects of high-strength concrete on the seismic performance of reinforced concrete exterior beam-column-slab subassemblages were investigated by comparing the behaviour of three full-scale specimens. Two specimens, one constructed with normal-strength concrete and one constructed with high-strength concrete, were designed with square columns. The specimen tested in this thesis was constructed with high-strength concrete and designed with a circular column. All the specimens were designed as ductile moment-resisting frames and tested under reversed-cyclic loading. The Canadian Standard, CSA A23.3-94, limits the concrete compressive strength used in seismic design to 55 MPa. The applicability of the current design specifications, developed for …  Lire la suite

The concept of fundamental breach plays a crucial role within the remedial system of the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), because the remedies available to the parties to a contract of sale depend on the character of the breach. The Thesis analyzes the concept. It canvasses the different approaches employed by scholars and courts in determining fundamental breach and examines whether they can be justified by the rules of interpretation under the CISG. This examination shows that none of the approaches can be applied to all potential situations of fundamental breach and that their …  Lire la suite

Besides the need to have generally available power system test networks with parameters that closely match those of realistic power systems, the continuously increasing sizes of practical power systems also dictates a growing requirement for larger and larger test networks. A new method is proposed for the development of artificial, but reasonably realistic, power system networks of arbitrary size and complexity, suitable for full load-flow analysis (having feasible load-flow solution). It is based on an iterative procedure to expand an initial network by adding a new bus and/or line at each iterative step, until the system of the desired size …  Lire la suite

Despite its considerable influence Damien Keown's The Nature of Buddhist Ethics has not received an extended criticism, and the goal of this thesis is to attempt this task. I direct two general criticisms against the text. The first questions its teleological model of Buddhist ethics and the second interrogates its binary model of human psychology, which excludes the notion of the will.  Lire la suite

A novel high-pressure sliding plate rheometer has been developed to investigate the effect of pressure on the rheology and wall slip of rubbers and elastomers. The new rheometer is capable of generating hydrostatic pressures of 68.9 MPa (10.000 psi) and 225°C. The sample is subjected to simple shear flow, and the resulting shear stress is measured locally using a shear stress transducer. This design eliminates the inhomogeneities in pressure and shear rate that occur in high-pressure capillary and slit rheometers. Preliminary testing and calibration were carried out using a linear low density polyethylene. Flow curves were generated at six pressures, …  Lire la suite

Tenenhouse, Harriet S. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Copper hydroxide-treated surfaces are commonly used to control roots in horticultural production systems, although the particulars of Cu movement from the treated surface are largely unknown. The rate and temporal pattern of Cu mobility from in-ground Cu-treated growing baskets, and the fate of this Cu, was studied. In a field experiment involving Acer platanoides, an alternative Cu formulation consisting of Cu metal powder was determined to move slightly more slowly from the basket fabric than Cu(OH)2 over the first season while providing adequate root control. Addition of Glomus intraradices inoculum to the basket system increased the mobility of Cu metal …  Lire la suite

Professional actors from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, who had emigrated to Canada after World War II, organized a theatre-group in order to provide fellow compatriots with the culture and language of their mother countries. This thesis analyses the different stages of the ensemble and its development until 1997, focussing on the preparation of a chronological list of performance-statistics and the reception of German-language plays in the press. The Deutsches Theater Montreal (DTM) had been a member of the International Theatre "La Poudriere" for about 20 years when it became independent in 1979 and moved to the Centaur Theatre. There it …  Lire la suite

In June 1998, a Steering and Revisions Committee of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Unidroit) fleshed out the final version of a "Draft Unidroit Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment". Framed by introductory and concluding remarks, the thesis is divided into five chapters. One after the other, these components will expound the generation and elaboration of the reform project, synchronise its jurisdictional aspects with the pre-existing law of international civil procedure and of conflict of jurisdictions, trace intimately related other harmonisation efforts, and briefly compare conventional and up-to-date substantive and conflict of law rules of …  Lire la suite

The dualist paradigm, which has been criticized by sources in both the Catholic tradition and feminism for alienating persons from their bodies and allowing the treatment of persons as objects and property, has greatly influenced the development and practice of medicine. Particularly now, with the advent of modern molecular biology techniques as well as the potential for commercial profit-making from human biomaterials, the use of patient-derived tissue in biomedical research brings forth many questions for discussion. The notion of embodiment, what it means to have and to be a body, can be seen as a useful perspective from which to …  Lire la suite

Most toddlers with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) and Autism are non-compliant, have language delays and immature play; however, some have intact information processing ability, while others do not. Play data from two treatment outcome studies of children with PDD and Autism, and one normative longitudinal study were analysed to (1) compare play of normally developing children to delayed children with intact versus impaired processing; (2) investigate differential impact of a parent-implemented cognitive-behavioural treatment on children with intact versus impaired processing; and (3) investigate the use of information processing, and non-verbal play measures, including sustained attention, for use with children with …  Lire la suite

This statement forms the basic premise for the proposed research study. An attempt has been made to search for the inherent order in the seemingly "unplanned" squatter settlements. Spatial order, an expression of the socio-cultural milieu of the residents, needs multi-disciplinary analysis. The research methodology selected encompasses the principles of spatial (morphological) analysis and the field work techniques of ethnography. Data has been collected empirically from the field. Since the proposed research uses a case-study research design, analysis and interpretation is qualitative rather than quantitative. The study has been conducted in a trial and error, sequential process. Various models and …  Lire la suite

The study of expertise has led to insight into the nature of expert performance in a variety of problem solving domains. In medicine, considerable study has focused on diagnostic reasoning, however the role of expertise in coping with decision complexity has remained to be more fully explored. In this thesis three groups of subjects, consisting of medical students (novices), residents (intermediates) and intensive care experts were each presented with complex cases of intensive care problems containing varying levels of uncertain and conflicting evidence. The subjects were asked to think-aloud as they worked through the problems and provided a management and …  Lire la suite

In this thesis, after examining the evolution of both the economic situation over the recent past and of the various treaties and agreements that both inspired and responded to this evolution, we propose a resolutely legalistic procedure for dispute resolution to be included in a panamerican free-trade agreement that would encompass almost all countries of the American continent, in accordance with the objective announced by the heads of State who participated in the Summit of the Americas. We opt for institutional dispute resolution mechanisms that would intervene after any possibility of appealing a ruling by a lower forum has been …  Lire la suite

Currently available mathematical models of the eardrum are limited to low pressure levels owing to the assumption of linearity between stimulus (applied pressure) and response (eardrum displacement). In this work, the response of the cat eardrum to large static pressures is measured with a moire interferometer, and the data are modelled using the finite-element method. Experimental data indicate that eardrum response with a normal mobile malleus is nonlinear, asymmetric and hysteretic. Measurements with a fixed malleus permit investigation of eardrum behaviour without the confounding effects of the middle-ear ossicles. Artifactual banding in measured displacement patterns is investigated by means of …  Lire la suite

Work of a lifetime and linked intimately to his own life, Kurt Schwitters' Merzbau is the expression of the MERZ collage, in a work that brings together architecture, theatre, sculpture, painting and literature. His work evolves through time, based on two specific moments: the extraction of fragments, and the assembly of these elements into a new harmonious and meaningful entity. To Schwitters, the MERZ collage is not the mere manipulation of forms; it is the continuous process of transformation, from their initial state, of various fragments found in his daily environment, including material doomed to destruction: debris, rubbish, scrap, trash, …  Lire la suite

Fitness components of small and large males (emerging respectively from small and large hosts) of Trichogramma evanescens Westwood (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) were compared in laboratory experiments. These components were the longevity, courtship, mate competition, and daily and lifetime fertilization. Small males were less fit than large males: they had a reduced longevity, took longer to induce female mating behavior, rarely succeeded in mating females when in competition with large males and had lower fertilization capacity; female fertilized by small males oviposited in the first two days of their life only one third of the progeny of daughters mated by large males. …  Lire la suite

Unpasteurized (condition A) and pasteurized (condition B) orange juice samples were stored frozen for eight months. In addition, pasteurized samples were also aseptically packaged and stored at +1°C in polyethylene bags (condition C). Nine quality parameters were monitored during the eight months of storage: sedimentation of the pulp, cloud measurement, aroma volatiles, ascorbic acid concentration, viscosity, density, colour, sugar content (sucrose, glucose and fructose), organic acids (malic and citric), in addition to sensory analysis. The optimum storage condition for freshly processed orange juice was the unpasteurized frozen storage method (condition A). The juice retained most of its chemical and physical …  Lire la suite

The nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans has become a model system for the analysis of the genetics of aging. Previously, mutations in four genes, age-1, clk-1, daf-2 and daf-28 had been shown to lengthen adult life span. Based on the molecular genetic analysis of these genes, the sole function of the dauer genes age-1, daf-2 and possibly daf-28 is to regulate the activity of the forkhead-like transcription factor daf-16. daf-16 may determine life span by regulating the transcription of genes that are necessary for resistance to stresses, especially oxidative stress. Mutations in clk-1 affect behavioral and developmental timing as well as …  Lire la suite

We performed a large (n = 878), multicenter, hospital-based, cross-sectional study to measure the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of healthy participants treated for dyslipidemia and patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). The HRQOL measures included a nonpreference-based measure (SF-36 Health Survey) and three preference-based measures (Rating Scale (RS), Time Trade-off (TTO) and Standard Gamble (SG)). The adjusted mean HRQOL, of healthy participants undergoing treatment for dyslipidemia was 2.8 (p = 0.02) and 3.3 (p = 0.02) points lower, when compared to a similar group of participants not being treated for dyslipidemia, on the RS and the SF-36 General Health …  Lire la suite

Several important aspects of ZnO/CdS/CuGaXIn1-X Se2 photovoltaic cells have been examined in this thesis. First of all, CuGaXIn1-XSe2 crystals free from ampoule adhesion and suitable for photovoltaic cell studies were grown using a horizontal Bridgman method. The composition variation for ingots with different starting Ga content was analyzed and the results were interpreted using established pseudobinary phase diagrams. Various optimizations in the cell fabrication, such as crystal polishing, window layer deposition and cell area patterning, were carried out to establish a highly reproducible cell fabrication process for routine studies. The effects of substrate annealing in Ar were investigated for cells …  Lire la suite

Thermal conductivity is a powerful probe of electronic quasiparticles, especially at low temperatures. At higher temperatures it gives very useful information on the behavior of quasiparticles and phonons, however both contributions are more difficult to identify precisely. We carried out a comparative study of the thermal conductivity in the hole and electron-doped cuprates, focussed on Bi2Sr2CaCu 2O8 (hole-doped) and Pr1.85Ce0.15CuO 4 (electron-doped). After a brief review of the literature it was clear that these families show very different physical properties, although they present similar features in their structure and phase diagram. We detected the presence of a residual normal fluid …  Lire la suite

This thesis examines whether the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act of 1996, also referred to as the Helms-Burton Act, is consistent with the international obligations of the United States, deriving from both customary and conventional international law. After describing the historical background of the Helms-Burton Act, this analysis (1) discusses the consistency of the Act under customary international law, and particularly the legality of the extraterritorial features of the Act; (2) exposes the US's arguments under the World Trade Organization Agreement (WTO) and under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); (3) questions the legality of the Helms-Burton …  Lire la suite

Three different types of field emission diodes (FEDs)---Si field emitters, metal wedge emitters and Si emitters with an air bridge---have been fabricated. These FE diodes were studied to determine the emission uniformity and stability. Effects of diamond-like carbon (DLC) film on the emission characteristics were specifically studied. The coating of DLC films was carried out by laser ablation and rf sputtering. Significant reduction in turn-on voltage was observed for the first time in the Si microtips with a DLC film coated by laser ablation. Effects of substrate temperature on the quality of the DLC films were also observed. For the …  Lire la suite

Handling for the first week of life has been observed to increase glucocorticoid receptor (GR) levels selectively in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. The handling effect is specific to GR, mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) levels are not altered. Handling results in a high turnover of serotonin. In vitro, serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) treatment markedly increases cAMP formation and GR expression in hippocampal neurons. We wanted to explore the cellular mechanism involved in GR regulation. Primary hippocampal cell cultures treated with 5-carboxamidotryptamine (5-CT) or 5-HT for five days resulted in an increase in GR levels as measured by receptor binding and Western blotting. …  Lire la suite

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the teaching tasks used by disciplinary mastery (DM) and ecological integration (EI) oriented teachers. Specifically, this case study of four high school physical educators examined (a) the types of instructional tasks used, (b) the extent to which the instructional tasks were reflected in their teaching, and (c) the extent to which their articulated goals translated into action. Primary data sources involved the Value Orientation Inventory-2 (Ennis & Chen, 1993b), class observations (TSOBS; Jones, 1992), interviews with the teachers, and field notes that were analyzed using constant comparison. The most notable …  Lire la suite

Karpati, George (Advisor)  Lire la suite