McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par A

According to Chapter XV of the Chicago Convention, the Joint Financing Aid has been successfully applied in the North Atlantic Region since 1948. The Agreement on the Joint Financing of Certain Air Navigation Services in Iceland, the main topic of this thesis, has ensured the availability of the service and facilities in the Reykjavik Flight Information Region, in accordance with the Standards and recommended practices of the Annexes to the Chicago Convention. The services were at first financed by the participating States, but later on user charges were gradually introduced and, since 1981, they became the principal means of services …  Lire la suite

The goal of this thesis is to contribute to the development of generally-intelligent Artificial Intelligence agents that can first learn to represent the world through their own terms and then build world models out of these terms to achieve the task of interest, with the ability to effectively adapt and generalize to new tasks over time. To achieve this research goal, we build on top of the model-based reinforcement learning (RL) framework and provide answers to important questions within it towards the goal of building model-based RL agents that effectively adapt and generalize.In the first part of the thesis, we …  Lire la suite

Les communautés d'Amérique Latine affectées par des projets miniers se sont mobilisées de nombreuses fois pour dénoncer des pratiques nuisibles pour l'environnement et pour demander le respect du droit à la consultation et au consentement. Loin de prendre des dispositions pour respecter ou écouter ces demandes, les États ont cherché à neutraliser les mobilisations sociales pour pouvoir poursuivre l'exploitation des ressources naturelles. En effet, parce que les mouvements anti-extractivistes remettent en cause de puissants pouvoirs politiques et économiques, les régimes Latino-Américains soutiennent générale-ment les compagnies minières. Entre 2014 et 2016, 322 défenseurs environnementaux ont été assassinés sur le continent, faisant …  Lire la suite

Nietzsche a dit : " L'homme véritable veut deux choses: le danger et le jeu". Quelques années plus tard un français, Jean Giraudoux, a dit dans son article "Notes sur le Sport"(1):"Le sport est le seul moyen de conserver dans l'homme moderne les qualités de l'homme primitif. Il assure le passage de l'ère de pierre passée à l'ère de pierre future. Il se pourra, grâce à lui, qu'il n'y ait aucune trace des méfaits de la civilisation." [...]  Lire la suite

Common urban development patterns have given Middle Eastern cities their distinctive character. This identity is partly due to the climatic and regional similarity. The remarkable degree of unity and homogeneity amongst Islamic cities is also attributed to the common religious backgrounds and the behavioural expectation of Islamic society in its urban context. In the past, when religion and politics acted as one body, the Islamic building principles played a major role in shaping the traditional settlement of Damascus. Political, economic, social and cultural changes introduced a new system of government. The reform movements changed the structure of the administration and …  Lire la suite

Cette thèse décrit l'utilisation d'une nouvelle classe de 1,3-dipôle, le phospha-Münchnone, dans la préparation d'hétérocycles azotés. Le phospha-Münchnone peut être facilement préparé à partir d'imines, de chlorures d'acides et de composés organophosphorés (2-catechyl)PhP. Le couplage sélectif de ces composés suivi d'une réaction de cycloaddition permettent la synthèse d'une variété de composés hétérocycliques de façon modulaire et rapide. Dans le Chapitre 1, un aperçu est présenté en ce qui a trait à l'utilité des imines dans les réactions de cycloadditions 1,3-dipolaires. Cela inclut également leur rôle dans la synthèse d'hétérocycles aromatiques contenant un azote tels que les pyrroles, les imidazoles, les …  Lire la suite

Protein-lipid complexes are known to result from complex molecular interactions which contribute to physiochemical and functional properties of foods. To identify the interactions of food proteins with lipids and the associated changes in properties, the following factors were investigated: incubation temperature, pH, type of lipids (phospholipid, triglyceride and fatty acids) and different proteins (ovalbumin and soybean glycinin). The effects of lipids on physiochemical and functional characteristics of ovalbumin and glycinin were investigated using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), fluorescence, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and emulsification and gelation properties. The results showed that pH, temperature and the …  Lire la suite

Adenocarcinoma of the proximal stomach is the fastest rising malignancy in North America,and is associated with a high rate of recurrence to the peritoneum. As part of cancer treatment,the majority of patients undergo at least one invasive surgical procedure. Recent clinicaldata has linked postoperative infection complications with adverse oncologic outcomes;however, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Emerging evidence suggests that duringinfection the release of TNFα, a key inflammatory cytokine facilitates cancer progression.The role and mechanisms of gram-negative bacterial infections in facilitating the metastaticpotential of gastric cancer to the peritoneum is unknown. We hypothesized that incubation ofgastric cancer cells or peritoneal MCs …  Lire la suite

Rauch, Frank (Internal/Cosupervisor2)  Lire la suite

Gamification is a new concept in education, defined as the use of game-based mechanics and game thinking to engage students, motivate action, and promote learning. In this study, gamification was integrated with classroom formative assessment and produced via technology to investigate its potential to enhance motivation and learning of vocabulary as opposed to traditional paper-based formative assessment methods. As of yet, there is not much research comparing the effectiveness of technology game-based formative assessment (GBFA) and paper-based formative assessment (PBFA) to promote vocabulary learning and motivation inside second language (L2) classrooms. This study investigated whether technology GBFA can improve vocabulary …  Lire la suite

A literature review revealed that unsteady shock wave reflection has been the concern of much research efforts, with many questions yet to be settled. Among these unresolved queries are the physical mechanisms governing transition from shock wave reflection of irregular type to the regular type in unsteady flows. Additionally, recent numerical work from Lau-Chapdelaine & Radulescu showed non-uniqueness of shock wave reflection solutions in asymptotically self-similar flows, depending on seemingly negligible changes on the wedge corner geometry. These findings motivated this thesis to investigate these questions through a combined numerical, experimental and analytical approach.Two-dimensional simulations of unsteady shock wave reflections …  Lire la suite

The artificial ground freezing (AGF) system has been extensively employed as an excavation-support method in mining and civil engineering projects. Over the last few decades, AGF system has become one of the most favorable ground-support procedures in critical, long-term environmental projects such as underground uranium mines and hazardous-waste management sites. Despite its advantages, most of the conventional AGF systems require continuous energy input for extended periods of time to maintain sufficient frozen body. Essentially, the AGF process involves transient, multi-phase, conjugate heat transfer and fluid flow in a porous ground and bayonet freeze pipes. These complex phenomena and interactions are …  Lire la suite

Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA) transmission technology is used III differentcommercial and military communication systems and, due to the widespread popularity of the 3Gwireless cellphones, CDMA is projected to be used by over 720 million people by 2013 [24], [99].This dissertation work has been motivated by a widely accepted conjecture [27], [92], [135], thatthe (sum) capacity of CDMA transmission with single-user demodulation and single-user decodingat the receiver is limited to about 0.72 bits per channel use (or CDMA chip). This thesis presents aconstructive counter-example to this conjecture and provides design of coding schemes withpractical implementation complexity that can exceed this …  Lire la suite

In the forthcoming decades housing will be facing major controversial issues such as those of achieving higher densities, obtaining socio-cultural acceptance through the retention of the inherent qualities of low rise, low density dwellings, and that of attaining sustainability. Courtyard housing addresses these issues fairly effectively with at least one individual courtyard allocated to every single dwelling unit. Apart from achieving higher densities, it possesses qualities such as ground relatedness, security, territoriality, dwelling identifiability, image of home, personalization, adaptability to alternative lifestyles, the provision of private outdoor space, and child surveillance possibility. These are qualities seldom found in other housing …  Lire la suite

Les précurseurs biogéniques et anthropogéniques jouent un rôle central dans la formation des aérosols organiques secondaires (AOS), principalement par des mécanismes d’oxydation et de partitionnement. Cette thèse explore les défis majeurs liés à la modélisation de la formation et de la composition des AOS, en combinant des études expérimentales rigoureuses avec des avancées méthodologiques en modélisation.Deux axes de recherche sont développés. La première porte sur la caractérisation de la croissance hygroscopique et du partitionnement gaz-particule des AOS dérivés de l’isoprène. Le second introduit un cadre automatisé pour la classification et le regroupement des composants des aérosols organiques.Les résultats expérimentaux révèlent …  Lire la suite

After international transportation by air became a reality, the need to fashion out an appropriate global regime to govern the new relationships created by this development led to the signing of the Warsaw Convention in 1929. As time went on, the need to adjust this original Convention to contemporary technological and legal realities necessitated the enactment of several other instruments that were not new Conventions in themselves, but were merely welded to the original 1929 Convention. With the absence of consolidation, the undesirable result was total confusion created by the concurrent operation of the multiple regimes of the Warsaw System. …  Lire la suite

Gunjal, Kisan R.  Lire la suite

Progress in the investigation of nucleic acids has been unexpectedly rapid during the past decade. They, like proteins, carbohydrates and fats, have been recognized as indispensable constituents of all living organisms and, indeed, of all tissues. Two, and only two, kinds of nucleic acids, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), have been identified in living tissues. The morphological evidences of nuclear conjugation at fertilization, and the succeeding nuclear divisions led to the belief that the main genetic material is in the nucleus and consists of the nuclear chromatin.  Lire la suite

Contexte. Les fonctions exécutives (FE) sont des processus de contrôle essentiels à la réalisation de comportements dirigés vers un but (Diamond, 2013). Elles jouent un rôle central dans les compétences langagières pragmatiques (Kuhn et al., 2016; Landa & Goldberg, 2005), qui impliquent l’utilisation appropriée du langage dans des contextes sociaux, notamment l’adaptation à un partenaire de conversation (Cardillo et al., 2021). Une distinction fondamentale est faite entre les FE froides, sollicitées lors de tâches sans exigences émotionnelles, et les FE chaudes, mobilisées dans des situations comportant des enjeux émotionnels ou motivationnels (Zelazo & Muller, 2002). Alors que des liens ont …  Lire la suite

Optimized slender and short-thick beams are used in building, aircraft and machine structures to increase performance at a lower material cost. A previous work proposes an optimum shape, material and size selection model to design lightweight slender beams under pure bending. In short-thick beams, the transverse shear effects are no longer negligible and impact the choice of the optimum shape. This work extends such an optimum selection model to consider both slender and short-thick beams, by formulating the total beam stiffness design requirement as a combination of shear and bending stiffness. Selection charts are developed to show the impact of …  Lire la suite

The institutional legitimacy and impact of the Supreme Court, like all political institutions, ultimately depend on public support. However, unlike other political institutions, the Court does not draw that support directly from the democratic process. Scholars in the United States have examined this problem by analyzing the relationship between public perceptions of judicial institutions and their legitimacy, emphasizing the importance of myth in sustaining support for courts in the absence of democratic accountability. This thesis extends American research to the Canadian case, by examining the role of the media as a significant source of popular perceptions of the Canadian Supreme …  Lire la suite

The hippocampal formation is often investigated for its role in memory within the context of healthy development, aging, and numerous neuropsychiatric disorders. Projections from within the hippocampal formation form collections of thin white matter tracts (alveus and fimbria) leading out of the medial temporal lobe via the fornix. These fiber bundles then project to the mammillary bodies, forming the outputs of the human memory circuit. In contrast to the anatomy of the hippocampal formation, volumetric analysis of these white matter structures has received significantly less attention. Therefore, a robust and reliable anatomically detailed protocol was created for their manual segmentation …  Lire la suite

Over the last decades, attention to animal welfare has increased globally as a result of continued intensification of livestock production systems, technological innovations, evolving dietary habits, and changes in consumer perception. Consequently, initiatives to improve animal care and their respective environments have been made with the goal to satisfy some of the moral implications associated with animal production systems. A popular mitigation strategy applicable to farm environments is environmental enrichment. Cognitive enrichment is a subset of environmental enrichment that refers to the structured delivery of cognitively engaging opportunities that promote goal-directed behaviors, operant learning, and perceptual discrimination in animals, thereby …  Lire la suite

Nicolau, Belinda Farias (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

Vu que la jeunesse (âgée entre 15 à 24 ans) est plus susceptible à la volatilité des revenus, aux bas revenus et au chômage, il est important, comme premier pas vers la sécurité alimentaire pour ce groupe d'âge, de pouvoir comprendre l'étendue et l'importance des inégalités en sécurité alimentaire reliées aux revenus et comment celles-ci se comparent avec la situation chez les adultes (âgés de 25 à 65 ans). Les objectifs de cette étude étaient de déterminer la prévalence de l'insécurité alimentaire auprès la jeunesse globale, d'investiguer les inégalités en sécurité alimentaire reliées au revenu parmi la jeunesse à l'échelle …  Lire la suite

The problem of religious toleration dates back to the earliest days of history and though great strides have been made since those days, towards freedom of religious expression, it is st111 possible in our own time to call religious liberty 'The Great American Illusion'. (1) In making a study of the development of the idea of religious toleration one may have in mind several methods of approach, and the result of the study will depend largely on the point of view from which the study has been undertaken. One might undertake to defend or to condemn the prevailing tendencies of …  Lire la suite

A Study of the Integration of Blac in N.D.G. Schools  Lire la suite

La présente thèse vise à examiner les héritages des activités missionnaires protestantes dans la Turquie ottomane (Thrace orientale et Anatolie) en utilisant une multiplicité de méthodes historiques comparatives. Les recherches sur les missionnaires ont dépeint ces acteurs historiques comme étant soit des pionniers du capital humain, soit des fomentateurs de sédition. Je n'ai trouvé aucune preuve appuyant ces deux arguments en Turquie ottomane. La dimension la plus conséquente des activités des missionnaires dans la région était plutôt la manière dont ils ont galvanisé les communautés autochtones pour qu'elles augmentent leurs investissements dans la modernisation de l'enseignement public. La concurrence dans …  Lire la suite

Contexte: Les personnes souffrant d'obésité sévère et de diabète de type 2 (DT2) présentent un risque plus élevé de chutes et de fractures malgré une densité minérale osseuse (DMO) normale ou supérieure. La force musculaire et la production de force liée aux muscles peuvent protéger contre les chutes et les fractures en augmentant la mobilité fonctionnelle et la solidité des os. Cependant, les données comparant les associations entre la performance physique et les indices de santé musculaire et osseuse dans l'obésité sévère avec et sans DT2 manquent.Objectif: L'objectif de ce projet de thèse est de décrire et de comparer les …  Lire la suite

Rouleau, Guy (Supervisor2)  Lire la suite

This dissertation investigates transitivity alternations, with particular reference to Amharic. The lexical-semantic and morphosyntactic properties of morphological causatives, experiencer predicates, applicative constructions and complex predicates formed by light verbs are examined in detail. It is claimed that transitivity alternations are an artefact of Event-type alternations and follow from universal principles such as Event Headedness. It is argued that the valency difference between various verb classes reduces to whether the Root of the verb is specified or underspecified for Event Headedness. Two levels of phrase structure, l-syntax and s-syntax, are recognized in the study. It is argued that productive causatives are …  Lire la suite

Let A be an $n times n$ stochastic matrix with rank($A) leq r (1 leq r leq n$). A reformulation of the Boyle and Handelman Conjecture is det($I-tA) leq1-t sp{r}$ for all real numbers t satisfying $0 leq t leq1$. In this thesis, we prove that this conjecture is true for $n times n$ stochastic matrices whose rank exceeds ${n over2}$.  Lire la suite

Cette thèse présente la première observation de la production d’un boson W en association avec deux photons dans des collisions proton-proton. Les processus impliquant la production simultanée de trois bosons de jauge dans des collisions proton-proton sont extrêmement rares, certains n’ayant pas encore été observés expérimentalement. Le taux de production de ces états finals est directement sensible à de nouveaux phénomènes physiques qui pourraient se manifester à des énergies plus basses sous la forme de couplages quadratiques de jauge anormaux. En tant que tel, l’étude de ces types de processus constitue un test important du Modèle Standard de la physique …  Lire la suite

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be upgraded in 2024-26 to increase its beam intensity by a factor of up to 7 from its original design value. To cope with increased interaction rates and radiation exposure at this new High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), upgrades to multiple ATLAS detector subsystems are planned to take place alongside those to the LHC's accelerator chain. In this context, a re-design of the Hadronic End-Cap (HEC) calorimeter's electronic readout chain is required in order to maintain its energy reconstruction performance at the HL-LHC. The HEC readout electronics was implemented in a simulation framework capable of …  Lire la suite

Activating mutations in the Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor-3 gene (FGFR3) cause a number of chondrodysplasia in human, including achondroplasia (ACH) the most common form of inherited dwarfism. Mouse models of achondroplasia have shown that one consequence of inappropriate Fgfr3 activation is a significant reduction in the level of expression of the Indian hedgehog gene (Ihh), encoding a signaling peptide essential for growth plate chondrocyte proliferation and maturation. How FGFR3 signaling controls Ihh transcription is unknown. We used specific small molecule inhibitors of some of the signal transduction pathways known to act downstream of FGF receptors to test the involvement of …  Lire la suite

The central problem with which this work is concerned may best be introduced in the words of an economist in an address dealing with problems of growth in the Canadian economy... [large block quote] ... The emphasis in this work will rest heavily upon the presentation of the empirical evidence rather than on the development of theory. It is, unfortunately, not within the present competence of the author to do both, even at the cost of leaving the reader without understanding. It is, however, believed that the breakdown by Province, region, city and town which is carried out in this …  Lire la suite

Latimer, Eric A (Supervisor2)  Lire la suite

Psychiatric advance directives (PADs) are legal documents allowing competent individuals to declare their treatment preferences in advance of a mental health crisis. The objective of this thesis is to examine psychosocial perceptions of legal and mental health professionals in Ontario and Quebec regarding their knowledge and willingness to implement PADs. Two hundred professionals---psychiatrists, psychologists, lawyers and administrative tribunal members---participated in an Web-survey measuring psychosocial perceptions of clinical, ethical, legal and implementation factors of PADs. Results indicate Quebec professionals are more willing to begin using PADs than Ontario professionals. Mental health professionals reported more concern than legal professionals for medical malpractice …  Lire la suite

We investigated the role of two intracellular second messengers, extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK), and protein kinase C (PKC) in a model of persistent pain, using intrathecal (i.t) (R,S )-DHPG to induce spontaneous nociceptive behaviours (SNBs). SNBs were measured in animals that were treated with an ERK inhibitor (PD 98059), and a PKC inhibitor (GF 109203X) compared with controls. Mechanical allodynia, was measured using paw withdrawal thresholds in the von Frey test, and thermal hyperalgesia was measured using response latencies in the plantar test. In study 1, it was shown that spinal administration of PD 98059, dose-dependently decreased SNBs, and …  Lire la suite

This thesis defends Adorno's critical theory of society against the charge of pessimism. Its two aims are to portray the theory's hope and to present its model for progressive social change. I argue that Adorno's pessimistic assertions concerning the closed society are not to be taken literally but understood as rhetorical devices which provoke reflection. Neither is his "negative utopia” to be read as pure criticism. It is a new vision of reconciliation that preserves the individual from subsumption under the universal, and it is this focus on the individual which the term "negative" stresses. In his constellation of utopia, …  Lire la suite