McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par B

Previous work has demonstrated that interleukin-6 (IL-6) is synthesized in approximately one-third of lumbar dorsal root ganglion neurons during the first week after sciatic nerve transection. The present study was undertaken to determine the signals influencing IL-6 synthesis in the peripheral nerve and the functional consequences of IL-6 production in response to nerve injury. The first sets of experiments demonstrate that IL-6 is induced by an injury factor arising from the nerve stump rather than by interruption of normal retrograde trophic support from the target tissues or distal nerve stump. Furthermore, the use of agents that stimulate or inhibit degranulation …  Lire la suite

We investigated the feasibility of using X-rays to study self-assembled monolayers on inorganic surfaces. Variable-temperature X-ray powder diffraction measurements of metal alkylphosphonate salts measured the contraction and expansion of planar inorganic layers as the material passed through a series of phase transitions when heated and cooled. Small-angle X-ray scattering measurements of alkanethiolate-capped gold nanoclusters allowed the determination of the average nanocluster size and the average distance between nanoclusters. These techniques have been demonstrated to contribute useful information which, when combined with results from other probes, lead to a detailed model of the materials' structures and properties.  Lire la suite

Lee, Todd Campbell (Supervisor2)  Lire la suite

An experimental and theoretical investigation of the measurement of electromagnetic fields has show that, in the region close to the source of the energy or to an obstrcution, the voltage generated at the terminals of an antenna immersed in the field is not an accurate measurement of the field. It is concluded that the error is due to the directive properties of the probe, and this error can be calculated by inserting a weighting function into the integral expression for the intensity.  Lire la suite

The E-plane radiation patterns of two horn radiators have been measured in the laboratory with a metal lens by the same method as that used in optical diffraction pattern measurements. Comparison with patterns measured outdoors by standard methods show little deterioration over the angular interval ± 15 degrees, for horns of aperture 32 cms, lens of aperture 11O cms, at a wavelength of 3.20 cms. It was found that a stepped lens was unsuited for the purpose because of diffraction caused by the steps.  Lire la suite

In the first of three experiments, four Holstein multiparous dairy cows, equipped with ruminal and duodenal cannulas, were used to determine the impact of different methods of treating soybean meal (SBM) on ruminal degradability and intestinal digestibility of CP and amino acids (AA). Solvent extracted SBM (SE), expeller SBM (EP), lignosulfonate SBM (LS) and heat and soy hulls SBM (HS) were incubated in the rumen, in nylon bags, for various intervals up to 48h. Additional samples incubated for 16 h were pre-treated with pepsin HCI, and then used for determination of intestinal digestibility either in situ (mobile bag technique) or …  Lire la suite

The study was designed to test the hypothesis that P excretion in manure of dairy cattle could be reduced by manipulating electrolyte balance of the diet. Feces was the main route of P excretion, but fecal P was not affected by dietary cation-anion (DCAB) (P > 0.05). Plasma concentration of P tended (P < 0.10) to be higher at lower DCAB levels, implying that DCAB may have influenced P homeostasis. The overall P balance was not affected by the different DCAB levels. The range of DCAB where both P excretion and animal performance could be optimised is very narrow (+250 …  Lire la suite

A vast amount of literature has been published about Germany's campaign in Russia during the Second World War. New attention has been focused on the role played by indoctrination in the conduct of the ideological war. This thesis examines the thematic content of the German Armed Forces circular Mitteilungen fur die Truppe for a period that coincides with the climactic confrontation on the Eastern Front. It illustrates the presence of a coherent propaganda policy designed to boost troop resilience. The data have been derived from copies of the primary source, namely part of the captured German records microfilmed at Alexandria, …  Lire la suite

Fragonard's Progress of Love is among the most impressive decorative commissions of the eighteenth century, and this despite its sudden cancellation by Madame du Barry. Called upon to produce a series of panels for her pavillon at Louveciennes (designed by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux), Fragonard succeeded in uniting the gardens of the Villa d'Este with the landscape at Louveciennes. Recapturing the essence of villeggiatura and the vistas first experienced during his stay in Tivoli, Fragonard initiated an interplay of the real and painted setting. The Progress of Love became an escape, enticing Du Barry and her lover with its sensuous verdure. But …  Lire la suite

Cette thèse vise à explorer une récente manière d'attirer les visiteurs au Temple de LongiWenheng, dans le district de Longqi à Taïwan. En 2013, le comité du temple a commencé àinclure des répliques d'icônes de la culture populaire comme les Avengers (Marvel) ou lesTransformers (Paramount) dans la salle principale, aux côtés de la divinité principale Lord Guanet d’autres. Cela vient compléter les représentations ‘mignonnes’ des dieux, dérivées del'esthétique japonaise kawaii (ke’ai 可愛 en Mandarin), présentes autour du temple. Je soutiensque ces « hybridités » se situent à la croisée de plusieurs phénomènes. Au cours du derniercentenaire, Taïwan a connu une …  Lire la suite

Here we report the expression and purification of two recombinant Fasciola hepatica enzymes, catL2 and catL5 which were used to perform cleavage studies with substrates potentially encountered by the parasite in vivo; BSA, hIgG3K and the important T cell marker, CD4. We examined the digestion products generated by the cleavage of human CD4 with catL5 using mass spectrometry and predicted candidate cleavage sites by performing a theoretical digest of the protein. Ovine CD4 is also of interest to us as a target of F. hepatica cathepsin L activity. Here we confirm a recently reported ovine CD4 cDNA sequence and the …  Lire la suite

This thesis is a reflection on the importance of the inspirited school and the value of living the great mythic questions. I am suggesting that we are living in a mythic and spiritual crisis that stems from an education informed by an uninspiring myth. While our traditional pedagogical aim has been to further the education of students, to develop their minds into keen and sharp tools capable of contributing to our economic society, we have forgotten to ask what that means exactly: what does it mean to be educated? Through an exploration of the roles spirituality, authenticity, and narrative play …  Lire la suite

Gauthier Gidel (Supervisor2)  Lire la suite

Two of the fundamental questions that arise in the manufacturing industry concerning every type of manufacturing process are: (1) Given an object, can it be built using a particular process? (2) Given that an object can be built using a particular process, what is the best way to construct the object? The latter question gives rise to many different problems depending on how best is qualified. We address these problems for two complimentary categories of manufacturing processes: rapid prototyping systems and casting processes. The method we use to address these problems is to first define a geometric model of the …  Lire la suite

La spermatogenèse est une succession d'événements complexes et hautement régulée, incluant des divisions mitotiques et méiotiques ainsi que des phases de différenciations, aussi appelées spermiogenèse, menant à la formation de spermatozoïdes génétiquement uniques. Tous ces processus requièrent un renouvellement rapide et continuel en protéines. Le système ubiquitine-protéasome (SUP) est un mécanisme connu pour être important dans la dégradation des protéines. Plusieurs évidences suggèrent un rôle du SUP lors de la méiose et la spermiogenèse, alors que sa fonction lors de la mitose des cellules germinales reste peu connue. Huwe1, une ubiquitine ligase précédemment purifiée dans notre laboratoire à partir d'extraits …  Lire la suite

Domain specific theories of development postulate that mental state reasoning (i.e., theory of mind; ToM) develops independently of general problem solving ability. In contrast, domain general theories suggest that the abilities develop concurrently. To assess the relation between mental state reasoning and problem solving, children with autism, developmental delay, and typical development were administered 2 ToM tasks, and 3 problem solving tasks that did not require mental state reasoning. Typically developing children performed better than both groups on the problem solving tasks, each of which required the use of embedded rules. For all groups, positive within-group correlations emerged between the …  Lire la suite

By analogy with the Makkai duality for first order logic, we develop a duality theory for $ kappa$-exact categories in which the structure on the model categories is that induced by $ kappa$-reduced products. The main theorem, a strong completeness result, states that for any small $ kappa$-exact category $F$, the functor $F { buildrel{e sb F} over longrightarrow} hom({ bf Mod}F,{ bf Sets})$ defined by evaluation is an equivalence of categories, where $hom({ bf Mod}F,{ bf Sets})$ is the category of functors from ${ bf Mod}F$ to Sets which preserve the reduced product structure.  Lire la suite

Meiosis is a series of cell divisions which ensures that the DNA content of a cell is reduced by half in preparation for fertilization. Any defect in the meiotic machinery could give rise to chromosomal aneuploidy, which can be lethal or result in severe developmental abnormalities in the ensuing progeny. Upon meiotic onset in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, cis¬-acting regions at one end of each chromosome, termed pairing centres (PC), recruit PC proteins and associate with the inner nuclear envelope protein, SUN-1. The Polo-like kinase, PLK-2, localizes to the PC proteins and facilitates phosphorylation of the S12 residue on SUN-1. …  Lire la suite

The Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) was formed in 1919 through a fusion of various socialist parties and non-organized radical elements in the territory of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. This unification took place under the impact of the Bolshevik Revolution. It was achieved through peremptory acceptance of a platform which advocated “repudiation of the traitorous policies of the Second International, refusal to participate in the Coalition Government and abstention from the work of the Interim National Assembly”.  Lire la suite

$ sp1$H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies were carried out on blends of lightly sulfonated polystyrenes (PS-SSA) (5 to 15 mole % sulfonation) of molecular weight (MW's) ranging from 5000 to 100,000, with poly(methyl methacrylate-co-4-vinyl pyridine) (PMMA-4VP) copolymers (5 to 11 mole %) of MW = 100,000. The process of coil overlap was monitored as a function of time by the acquisition of a proton spectra, which showed the gradual disappearance of the original methoxy signal and the appearance of a new signal originating from the shielded methoxy protons. The contributions of the two species were separated using a deconvolution …  Lire la suite

Surface and interaction characteristics of poly(styrene-b-4vinylpyridine) (S-4VP) and poly(styrene-b-methacrylic acid) (S-MAA) diblock copolymers were investigated by the method of inverse gas chromatography (IGC). Not surprisingly, the MAA segments were found to be acidic, while the polystyrene (PS) and the 4VP blocks were found to be basic, the 4VP moiety being the stronger base. For the S-4VP diblocks, when adsorbed onto particulates with acidic surfaces, the 4VP block is preferentially oriented to the substrate, leaving an air interphase which is enriched in PS. For the S-MAA diblock, at higher interphase thicknesses, the bulk and surface compositions became similar, and the interphases …  Lire la suite

Drugs of abuse are thought to have the common action of increasing dopaminergie transmission in the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) pathway, specifically in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). However, sedative-hypnotics, including the barbiturates, are anomalous in that they appear to stimulate DA release from the NAc at doses that are generally lower than their reinforcing doses. The fact that barbiturates have a long history of abuse in humans and are potent reinforcers in laboratory animals, but are behaviourally reinforcing only at doses that decrease DA release from the NAc, raises questions about the neuropharmacological mechanism of reinforcement in these drugs. Indeed, of …  Lire la suite

This study explores the tremendous pressure Japanese students must endure in the pursuit of academic achievement. It identifies the sources of student's pressure and discusses the cultural, social, and economic conditions that influence a fiercely competitive educational system. The focus of this study is the impact of academic pressures on Japanese students. Japanese education is a single-minded drive for achievement that results in what many refer to as examination hell. The university entrance examination is at the root of the pressures that are placed on students and is the primary mechanism responsible for driving competition. The life-long ramifications of students …  Lire la suite

Despite the overwhelming evidence for atrophy of the NGF-dependant Basal Forebrain Cholinergic neurons during aging, there is no persuasive evidence towards a decrease in NGF and/or NGF mRNA content in the brain of aged animals. Previous experiments from our laboratory have shown that NGF is released as a precursor protein and cleaved into the mature form in the extracellular space under the influence of a complex protease cascade. These recent findings have lead us to propose that any alterations in levels and/or activity of this maturation/degradation cascade might affect NGF's biological activity and perhaps lead to cognitive impairments in a …  Lire la suite

Periodic structures have been widely used in the radio frequency (RF) and microwave industries in the past few decades. Understanding the modal behavior of these structures requires an eigenvalue study called dispersion analysis, to which the finite element method (FEM) has been successfully applied. The classical FEM approach is to specify a purely imaginary propagation constant and find the corresponding frequency. This method provides information regarding the behavior in the passband, but not in the stopband, and moreover cannot accommodate lossy or frequency-dependent materials. Recently a new FEM was reported that allows the user to specify the frequency and find …  Lire la suite

Johnson, F. (Supervisors)  Lire la suite

This thesis examines how cultural understandings are generated and transmitted in a Canadian multicultural teaching hospital. It explores how issues of 'culture' are addressed formally and informally in the experiences of patients and practitioners. Using the approach of an institutional ethnography, emphasis is placed upon informal strategies of cultural care as a taken-for-granted practice in clinical life. It illuminates how pressure to learn culturally sensitive care seeps into the fabric of daily clinical life, and how cultural practices are constructed within a complex set of organized social practices. The study concludes that advocacy of multicultural policies, must consider the dominance …  Lire la suite

Numerous soil borne pathogens attack alfalfa roots and crowns and reduce stand longevity by predisposing plants to winter injury. Persistence can be improved by the use of cultivars with good disease resistance and by applying phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). The objective of this study was to examine the productivity and quality of alfalfa cultivars differing in disease resistance, under various fertilizer regimes on three different soils. A completely cross-classified factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) was established in 1990 with three rates of P (0, 33, and 66 kg ha$ sp{-1}$), three rates of K (0, …  Lire la suite

Fodsol soils constitute a large proportion of the soils of Eastern Canada. They are developed under woodland in cool humid conditions where rainfall exceeds evaporation. The profile from the surface downward consists essentially of an organic layer, a leached layer, and a layer of accumulation just above the parent rock. Thus the simplest podso1 profile consists of three horizons, namely: Ao ‘ the raw humus layer; A2, the leached siliceous layer; B, the layer of accumulation of sesquioxides. The Ao horizon of acid peaty organic matter is considered essential to the development of a true podsol. G.W. Robinson makes the …  Lire la suite

The importance of phosphorus in plant nutrition has been recognized since the middle of the nineteenth century, when the analysis of plant ash showed the presence of phosphates and other inorganic salts, and the use of phosphorus-containing manures and fertilizers in field experiments greatly improved crop yields. Since that time, particularly during the last fifty years, phosphorus has arrested the attention of soil scientists who have contributed greatly to our knowledge of it and its soil-plant relationships. [...]  Lire la suite

Graham Greene’s first three novels are historical adventure stories. For example, the man within, published in 1929, is the story of a young man who betrays his fellow smugglers into the hands of the law. The examination of his fear because of his knowledge that they will be avenged, constitutes the main material of the book. The novels of Greene which appeared in the period 1932-1938, however, have a contemporary setting.  Lire la suite

This history of the Tver (Kalinin) province of Russia, with particular emphasis on the years: 1945-1953, uses primary sources from archives of the Party and Soviet State, oral interviews, and readings of Russian, French, English, and German publications. The first chapters discuss the socio-economic and political effects of the events prior to 1945. Subsequently, the post-war role of Communist Party, Soviet government, security organs, and Komsomol and the results of Communist policies in agriculture and industry are analysed. The province's demographic losses between 1929 and 1945 and their consequences in Stalin's final years are assessed. The life of male and …  Lire la suite

De Mestral, Armand (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

This thesis deals with the nonlinear dynamics of an articulated system of cylinders in confined axial flow. The articulated cantilevered system is composed of rigid cylindrical segments, interconnected by rotational springs, and is hanging vertically in the centre of a cylindrical pipe, with fluid flowing downwards in the narrow annular passage. The equations of motion were obtained by application of Lagrange's equations, for a system with an arbitrary number of articulations. The forces associated with the structure itself, i.e. the inertial, restoring and gravity forces acting on the structure, are taken into account in the kinetic and potential energies of …  Lire la suite

A mining complex is an integrated business of mines and downstream facilities that extracts raw materials, converts extracted materials into sellable products, and transports products to markets and customers. Conventionally, individual components of a mining complex are optimized independently of each other, which causes underperformance of the mineral value chain. Simultaneous stochastic optimization of mining complexes has shown to create strategic mine plans that increase the net present value while reducing risk of meeting production targets by incorporating geological and price uncertainty. While these developments jointly optimize strategic decisions of a mining complex, short-term planning makes weekly to monthly decisions …  Lire la suite

Dans un contexte de l’augmentation du contrôle de l’immigration et des pratiques de détention des immigrants dans des pays comme les États-Unis, l'Australie, le Royaume-Uni, ainsi que l'Europe, les détenus migrants sont souvent présentés comme des victimes passives, incapables de créer des changements. Cela amène à se poser les questions suivantes : comment les projets de contrôle de l'immigration et des pratiques de détention des immigrants sont-ils résistés ? Quelles dynamiques d'actions politiques ces actes de résistance peuvent-ils démontrer ? Et quels sont les cadres théoriques qui peuvent le mieux aider à comprendre ces dynamiques de résistance ? En s'éloignant …  Lire la suite

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a significant social problem that affects a large part of society, especially women, and is an issue that has long been a subject of feminist concern. However, the current ways that society responds to IPV are largely insufficient. This thesis will endeavor to develop an appropriate response to IPV, drawing on the critical normative work of Iris Marion Young and Sally Haslanger. To do so, it will consider what is wrong about IPV, and knowing this, what constitutes an appropriate response. First, it will consider how IPV is often constructed as an individualized, depoliticized problem …  Lire la suite

The work performed can be divided into three stages. The first stage involved the development and study of a transparent heat pipe which served to illustrate the principles of heat pipes, specifically, thermosyphons or wickless heat pipes. The second stage dealt with the conception, construction and study of a laboratory scale heat pipe injection lance. The knowledge gained in the laboratory was used to build two pilot scale heat pipe injection lances, Mark I and Mark II, in the third stage of this work. These lances were tested in the copper converting furnace at the Kidd Creek smelter. Through the …  Lire la suite

Background: Painful temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is a serious public health problem. Chronic painful TMD is resistant to treatment and has substantial economic and social impacts. The accurate distinction between acute and chronic painful TMD is important to deliver proper and effective care to patients. However, we do not know how acute and chronic painful TMD differ regarding painful comorbidities.Objectives: The aims of this study were to compare the likelihood of back and neck pain between acute and chronic painful TMD as defined by (i) pain duration and (ii) pain-related disability.Methods: Acute (≤ 3 months) and chronic (> 3 months) painful …  Lire la suite