McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par B

Les thèmes de recherche principaux étudiés par cette thèse sont l’économie familiale et celle de l’éducation, avec comme intérêts le développement de l’enfant, les investissements parentaux, la résidence du ménage et la scolarité. Le premier chapitre étudie le rôle des investissements parentaux pour expliquer les différences d’acquis cognitifs entre enfants provenant d’une même famille. Alors que le nombre d’enfants dans une famille augmente, les ressources parentales reçues par chaque enfant diminuent. Cette diminution, bien que présente pour l’ensemble de l’enfance du deuxième enfant, est absente durant la période vécue seul avec les parents par le premier enfant. Les estimés structuraux …  Lire la suite

Trasler, Jacquetta M. (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

La recherche en autisme a souvent été menée selon une théorisation et une compré-hension neurotypique de la normalité et du fonctionnement. Ainsi, les personnes autistes, qui fonctionnent différemment des personnes non-autistes, ont souvent été considérées comme étant anormales ou inadéquates (Olkin, 1999; Retief & Letšosa, 2018). La conceptualisation de la motivation sociale, qui concerne les mécanismes influençant la participation sociale des individus, est un exemple de ce phénomène. D’après les résultats de plusieurs études s’intéressant aux récompenses et processus sociaux chez les personnes autistes, elles présen-teraient moins de comportements caractéristiques de motivation sociale (neurotypique) à savoir : d’orientation sociale, de …  Lire la suite

Metrakos, Peter (Supervisor2)  Lire la suite

This thesis studies the estimation of the motion of a rigid-body from body-point motion data. This study is closely related to the direct kinematics problem in robotics, its solution being particularly challenging, at the displacement level, for parallel manipulators. The concept of measurement subspaces is used to characterize the motion of the end-point of three-degree-of-freedom serial manipulators of general geometry for any joint-sensor layout. Once the motion of a redundant set of body points is characterized by its measurement subspaces, the pose estimation problem reduces to a linear least-square problem subject to the nonlinear constraint of proper orthogonality over the …  Lire la suite

This study examines references to foods mentioned in elementary school texts used in Montreal English schools. A study of 58 language arts and math texts used in grades 1-6 revealed a total of 4,391 references to foods in words and/or pictures. A large proportion of these references were to sugar-rich foods. A higher percentage of adult females prepared foods, followed closely by adult males. Boys were shown as eating food more frequently than any other group. Eating with one's peers was far more frequent than eating with the family, while a surprising number of children depicted in texts used in …  Lire la suite

Environmental harm and grievances often lie at the roots of armed conflicts or exacerbate existing ones, underscoring the urgent need for legal frameworks that address environmental needs during hostilities and their enduring implications after war. Environmental governance is widely recognized as a core public function of states; consequently, legal scholarship has traditionally approached it through a narrow, state-centric lens—one that mirrors the architecture of international law itself. This perspective overlooks the complex realities of governance in conflict-affected territories and obscures the roles of other actors, particularly armed non-state actors (ANSAs). Yet some ANSAs exercise state-like authority and maintain control over …  Lire la suite

Crop production in Brazil has changed significantly over the last decade. New crops are being cultivated to satisfy the world's growing demand for Brazilian export products —a demand that has caused substantial changes in land use and cover, mainly characterized by the increase in large-scale mechanization of agriculture, deforestation, and intensification of agricultural land use. Brazil currently provides crop production information at the municipality level. This information was analyzed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to examine changes in the spatial distribution of the production of various crops and livestock in Brazil for 1990-2006. In addition, to better understand the relationship …  Lire la suite

Quick frozen section of brain tumors, as well as the smear technique developed here at the Montreal Neurological Institute by the late Dr. W.V. Cone are extremely valuable means for arriving at a preliminary pathological diagnosis which can be relayed to the surgeon prior to the completion of an operation. We felt, however, that the fine histological distinction between benign and malignant intracranial lesions which arises in some cases could not be readily resolved by using the above techniques alone and that, perhaps, a technique could be devised to help clarify these problem cases.  Lire la suite

Les cellules de type NK sont les membres fondateurs de la famille des cellules lymphoïdes innées. Elles sont regroupées auprès des lymphocytes effecteurs formés dans la moelle osseuse, mais se distinguent par leurs capacités cytotoxiques et régulatrices qui leur permettent de combattre les infections virales et d’empêcher la formation de tumeurs. En utilisant une plateforme de mutagenèse N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) chez la souris, nous avons identifié une mutation dans le gène Guanine nucleotide-binding protein-like 1 (Gnl1) entraînant une perte de fonction et menant à la susceptibilité à l’infection au cytomégalovirus murin (MCMV). La mutation introduit de façon prématurée un codon-stop à …  Lire la suite

The feasibility of using time-domain airborne electromagnetic and ground resistivity methods in geological mapping in tropical terrains is investigated. The investigation is based upon evaluation of the linear inverse theory in the determination of physical parameters of the weathered layer necessary for interpretation of underlying lithology. Inversion of ground resistivity sounding data from the greenstone belt in western Kenya yields conductivities and thicknesses that are consistent with geology. A similar inversion of modelled time-domain airborne electromagnetic data shows that conductivity, thickness and depth to the top of the conductive weathered layer can be uniquely determined if its response does not …  Lire la suite

The international civil aviation system is currently going through a transitional phase. Deregulation and liberalization of air transport services and privatisation of certain airlines have contributed to the modification of the aviation landscape. In this context, airline alliances play a crucial role. Both the US and EC authorities have been supportive of airline alliances because they believe that alliances have the potential to increase competition and to provide the consumers with benefits. The first part of this thesis intends to provide economic and historical background to highlight the reasons for the multiplication of alliances, as well as the political and …  Lire la suite

This thesis discusses the implementation of inheritance and nesting in a relational database. The purpose of this is to integrate object-oriented concepts into the relational model. RELIX is a database progamming system based on the relational model. Inheritance and nesting are two important features which are desirable to have in a database. Therefore, our aim was to incorporate these features in RELIX. The implementation was done using RELIX's existing relational functionality, without any modification. Inheritance and nesting were implemented using the natural join, showing that they could be implemented using relational operations. New syntax was added to RELIX to enable …  Lire la suite

Cette thèse examine la manière dont les poètes de l'anglais moyen utilisaient le genre onirique et le mode élégiaque pour analyser les limitations de la langue et s'interroge sur l'art poétique. Les poètes ricardiens et lancastriens, qui écrivaient durant les premières années de la tradition littéraire anglaise, combinaient les thèmes anciens du deuil et de la recherche de la consolation avec les tropes de la poésie onirique développés pendant la fin de l'antiquité et de la période médiévale. Les élégistes voulaient que la langue agisse à un niveau supérieur aux limites naturelles pour transcender la mort et ramener l'amant perdu …  Lire la suite

Takano, Tomoko (Supervisor2)  Lire la suite

The histology of the human seminiferous tubule has been, and remains, the object of concern for histologists and histopathologists interested both in normal physiology and in male infertility problems. The difficulty of obtaining good specimens from normal, healthy individuals, the fragility of the seminiferous epithelium, and the problems involved in adequate fixation and staining make it hard to prepare technically good histologic material from human testes. Certain unique histological peculiarities of the human tubule cause!' quantitation problems not encountered in the study of other mammalian species.  Lire la suite

Birdsfoot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus L., and closely related species are long-lived perennial legumes, which have a potential in agriculture for replacing clovers and alfalfas in locations which have proven to be generally unsuitable for the growth of most other legumes. However, the life of birdsfoot trefoil has been only two or three years in Quebec, instead of at least ten which is expected in the southeastern area of the United States (Drake 1958). The reduction in the life span of this plant in Quebec is generally attributed to "winter killing," but the cause of winter killing could be due to …  Lire la suite

Les signaux de communication vocale forment un élément critique de l'interaction sociale pour un grand nombre d'espèces. Chez le diamant mandarin, un oiseau chanteur très social, les mâles produisent des signaux vocaux, appris au cours du développement, pendant la parade nuptiale (« chants »). Les femelles ne chantent pas, mais font attention aux caractéristiques détaillées du chant et expriment des préférences pour certaines caractéristiques de chant et pour les chants de certains mâles. Cependant, les circuits neuronaux qui participent au codage de cette préférence restent inconnus. Ici, nous investiguons le rôle des neurones mésencéphaliques producteurs de catécholamines et de l'activité …  Lire la suite

This qualitatively-oriented thesis explores, describes, and interprets the emergence of Quebec's environmental movement, placing it in its proper historical and socio-political setting. The environmental movement was one of the myriad of new social movements that arose in the 1960s and '70's in western nations. Although it transcended national boundaries, development of environmental movements in Europe and North America differed, just as they did at more regional levels, depending on cultural distinctions, the structures of opportunity, and the amount of available resources, among other things. With its Quiet Revolution, Quebec society gained a new pluralism, secularism, and liberalism that gave the …  Lire la suite

This study was conducted using the Leadership Scale for Sports research instrument on 61 high school, 62 CEGEP, 86 university, and 34 professional football players to determine if these players' preferences for five leadership behaviours differed with respect to level of play, unit of play (offensive and defensive), and team success. The leadership behaviours investigated in this study are training and instruction, autocratic, democratic, social support, and positive feedback. In addition, the data collected was analysed to determine if differences were present between football players' preferences for and perceptions of their unit co-ordinator coach's leadership behaviours taking into consideration level …  Lire la suite

In Proustian aesthetics, the act of reading constitutes a fundamental activity in the elaboration of Remembrance of Things Past. The representation of each art form which the novel proposes to synthesize (architecture, painting, and literature) is based on intertextual relationships that unite texts from non literary (Ruskin, Male), literary (Sand, Sevigne, Racine) and philosophical (Schopenhauer) sources, that contribute to a general conception of art that reintegrates the problem of the reception of art works in the context of an essentially literary experience. In accordance with Hans-Robert Jauss' theory, the presence of such texts enables the reconstitution of the reader's expectations, …  Lire la suite

During the melting of a major ice-cap such as that which covered Central Quebec-Labrador until relatively recent times, there must inevitably be an enormous and rapid release of meltwaters. Evidence of this is left in the form of abandoned channels cut in both drift and bedrock, and assorted fluvioglacial deposits. By careful study of these features it is possible to deduce much as to the nature of the melting ice-mass which nourished the meltwater streams. [...]  Lire la suite

Statistics relating to British Guiana (especially population data) are not highly developed; the majority of those which have been garnered, while they cannot give a detailed exposition of the economy can, however, illustrate generally the trend of postwar economic development.  Lire la suite

Studies reported herein were undertaken to obtainsoma fm1damental information on developmental physiologyof red clover. Effect of light intensity and daylenBth,critical daylength for flowering, photoperiodic induction,and translocation of the photoperiodic stimulus were studied in clonal lines selected from the Dollard variety.Methods of cloning were also studied. [...]  Lire la suite

The metabolism of coumarin and c-coumaric acid by plant and animals has been studied fairly extensively but only a few trials have been reported with microorganisms. A number of fungi including strains of Penicillium and Fusarium were shown to metabolise coumarin and c-coumaric acid. Umbelliferone, dihydrocoumarin, melilotic acid and cis-cis-mucomic acid, have been identified as products of coumarin degradation. [...]  Lire la suite

"An acid-coagulated product was produced by extrusion from high and medium beat skim milk powder (SHP) and in the presence of acid as a preliminary step to the production of sodium caseinate. The medium beat SHP was more affected by extrusion variables of which only moisture which carried the ·acidulant was found to be significant. The physicochemical and functional properties (color, microstructure, bulk density, sedimentable matter, proximate composition, molecular weights, buffering capacity, molsture sorption isotherms, viscometric characteristics, solubility, meltability, foaming, emulslfication, and relative nutritive value) were studied in two caseinate systems, commercial sodium caseinate with added lactose and sodium caseinate …  Lire la suite

Pseudomonas saccharophila could fix N$ sb2$ under micro-aerobic conditions, heterotrophically and chemolithotrophically. Uptake hydrogenase activity under heterotrophic conditions had no effect on the O$ sb2$ sensitivity of nitrogenase. H$ sb2$ induced whereas sucrose and O$ sb2$ repressed hydrogenase synthesis. Sucrose and O$ sb2$ did not inhibit hydrogenase activity. Hydrogenase and urease were located in the membrane and soluble fractions, respectively. Nickel stimulated growth, hydrogenase expression, and nitrogenase activity under N-limited chemolithotrophic conditions. Hydrogenase synthesis specifically required nickel and its repression by O$ sb2$ was alleviated by increasing the nickel concentration. Incorporated $ sp{63}$Ni$ sp{2+}$ was about 3 times higher in …  Lire la suite

The following work consists of a careful analysis of the translation of the Iliad by Homer prepared by Melchiorre Cesarotti. Caught amidst the dilemma of loyalty to the original and the beauty of translation, Cesarotti decided to compose two versions: one in blank verses and the other in prose. This work is therefore none other than a comparison between Cesarotti's version in poetry and the version in prose. The first part deals briefly with a few details on the criticism that Cesarotti's work raised. The second part consists of the comparison work, which is subdivided in "Canti" (as Cesarotti's version …  Lire la suite

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) modulate normal and septic skeletal muscle contractility and redox state. We evaluated the involvement of NO synthases (NOS) and heme oxygenases (HO) in nitrosative and oxidative stresses in sepsis-induced diaphragmatic contractile dysfunction. Sepsis was elicited by injecting rats and transgenic mice deficient in either inducible (iNOS) or neuronal (nNOS) isoforms with 20 mg/kg E. coli lipolysaccharide (LPS). Peroxynitrite formation was monitored by measuring nitrotyrosine immunoreactivity with selective antibodies. Oxidative stress was assessed by measuring protein oxidation (carbonyl groups), lipid peroxidation (hydoxynonenal protein adducts), and muscular glutathione concentrations. HO expression was evaluated using …  Lire la suite

Studies of small bowel physiology in man were few until twenty five years ago. Progress in this field of study was hindered by difficulties in methodology. The inaccessibility of the organ, the difficulties in obtaining samples from its lumen and the complexity of the interelation of its main functions accounted for this fact. [...]  Lire la suite

In the mouse, the trait of innate resistance or susceptibility to infection with several species of Mycobacteria, including M. bovis BCG, M. lepraemurium, M. intracellulare and M. smegmatis, is controlled by the expression of the single gene on chromosome 1, designated Bcg. In this thesis, macrophage cell lines derived from the bone marrow of B10.A (B10S macrophages) and B10A.$Bcg sp{r}$ (B10R macrophages) were used to study functional parameters associated with Bcg gene activity. We have discovered that there is a significant difference in the production of NO$ sb2 sp-$ of B10S as compared with B10R macrophages in response to IFN-$ …  Lire la suite

Les petits ruminants sont naturellement infectés par les nématodes gastro-intestinaux lorsqu’ils broutent au pâturage. Haemonchus contortus contamine la caillette de mouton. Il s'agit d'un nématode qui se nourrit du sang de son hôte et provoque des pertes considérables dans les industries ovines. Les agriculteurs ont utilisé des médicaments anthelminthiques pendant de nombreuses années pour éliminer l'infection parasitaire et cette utilisation intensive a conduit au phénomène de résistance aux médicaments chez les nématodes. La résistance aux benzimidazoles, à l'ivermectine ou au lévamisole ont été signalées dans la majorité des régions où H. contortus est présent. La résistance aux médicaments représente une …  Lire la suite

Ce mémoire explore la manière dont les vodouisants de Saint-Domingue du XVIIIe siècle ont utilisé la pratique rituelle pour créer leurs propres espaces religieux et politiques, ainsi que pour schématiser et générer une possibilité d'existence en dehors de l'esclavage. Au cœur de cette discussion se situe la capacité du vodou à s'adapter au contexte spécifique de Saint-Domingue en tant qu'espace colonial étranger.Le vodou a offert à ses practiciens un moyen significatif de faire face à l'essentialisation et l'objectivation de leurs conditions de vie sous l’esclavage et dans la sphère coloniale. Le vodou a accueilli la différence tout en soutenant la …  Lire la suite

System identification techniques were used to obtain a parametric description of the mechanical stiffness of the ankle, which was then used to assess the effect of four weeks of stretching the ankle flexors and extensors. The ankle musculo-articular system was described in terms of elastic stiffness, viscosity and inertia. This description of the mechanical behaviour of the ankle joint provided an objective basis for evaluating the effects of a long-term stretching program that utilized proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF). PNF, preceded by a warm-up, was performed daily on the soleus, tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius of six healthy subjects, for four weeks. …  Lire la suite

Aviation is dynamic. In air transportation progress constantly outstrips the most optimistic predictions, and the great post-World-War II advances in the aeronautical sciences have produced a new dimension in air transportation: the commercial turbo-jet aircraft. In referring to these new aircraft, one writer states, "It is not adequate to simply say that they are just a faster, bigger aircraft. [...]  Lire la suite

François de Curel est né à Metz le 10 juin 1854. Par son père le Vicomte Albert de Curel il descendait d'une ancienne famille noble qui a rempli un rôle honorable dans 1'histoire militaire et religieuse de la France. Le village de Curel est situé près de Joinville et l'un des ancêtres de François de Curel a accompagné le pieux historiographe de Saint-Louis outre-mer en qualité d'écuyer. Si l'on accepte les théories darwiniennes de l'importance de l'hérédité sur la vie de l'individu, qui ont tant séduit Curel, on distingue déjà dans cette histoire du XIII siècle les origines de la …  Lire la suite

The governing feature in writing an acceptance code for any purpose is to specify conditions which will be easily duplicated in all details so that results obtained may be directly compared. These conditions, while being those most easily reproducible, are not always those with which it would be most economical to comply, especially in cases where a manufacturer is making a large number of tests during development of a process or material. In the development of arc-welding electrodes, the properties of the deposited weld metal must be controlled within the limits set out in the following specifications. [...] In view …  Lire la suite

Linking brain regions or neural circuits to specific affective symptoms could help elucidate the neural mechanisms of affective states as well as antidepressant treatment effects. Much research has implicated the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), mid-dorsolateral frontal cortex (MDLFC), and a "frontocingulate" (i.e., MDLFC-ACC) circuit in sad affect and depression as well as the mood response to antidepressant treatment, including 10-Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) applied over the MDLFC. While the empirical support for a direct role of the MDLFC in affect is unclear, a wealth of research supports the ACC as an interface between action and emotion (Paus, 2001). …  Lire la suite

To help us understand some of the fascinating properties emerging from real-world networks such as social networks and the world wide web, we study graphs that are constructed with simple rules involving some degree of randomness, i.e., random graphs. The field of random graph theory, although much younger than some other fields such as number theory and topology, contains a wealth of deep and interesting results, as well as an an ever growing number of constructive methods for generating random graphs. Despite this huge number of constructive methods, many of the results in random graph theory tell us information about …  Lire la suite