McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par B

Abrege--- Dans cette thèse, une plateforme technologique hybride basée sur l'As_{2} Se_{3} et le PolyMethyl MethAcrylate (PMMA) est étudiée avec l'objectif d'obtenir des microfils hybrides hautement nonlinéaires, versatiles, compacts et mécaniquement robustes. Les microfils hybrides composés d'un coeur d'As_{2} Se_{3} et d'une gaine de PMMA sont fabriqués par l'étirement de structures hybrides à partir de méthodes de fabrication dans l'état de l'art. Deux approches basées sur l'usage de deux structures de fibre hybrides ont été utilisées pour la fabrication des microfils. Dans la première approche, une fibre hybride monomode composée d'une fibre optique monomode d'As_{2} Se_{3} enrobée d'une couche de …  Lire la suite

Ce mémoire présente le résultat de recherches sur la fabrication et la caractérisation de microfils et de coupleurs à base de As2Se3. La géométrie de guide d'onde en microfil a été préférée à cause de sa capacité à accroître le déphasage non-linéaire des ondes guidées. De tels microfils sont utilisés comme élément non-linéaire dans le dispositifs de traitement de signal optique. Pour leur part, les coupleurs ont été fabriqués à partir de la combinaison de microfils. Finalement, des structures hybrides à base de As2Se3 et polysulfone ont été développées pour la fabrication de microfils et de coupleurs non-linéaires mécaniquement robustes …  Lire la suite

The effect of the perception of fitness on the acquisition of several basic interviewing skills was explored. Furthermore, the relationship between perceived and actual fitness was investigated, as well as the relationship between actual fitness and basic interviewing skills. The interviewing skills were eye contact, talk time, verbal following (topic change) and focus of subject verbalization. The study consists of two parts. The first part explored the viability of altering an individual's perception of personal physical fitness. Fifty-four subjects were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control condition. Experimental subjects received positive feedback related to their physical fitness during …  Lire la suite

The presence of carotenoids in bacteria was demonstrated by Zopf in 1889, who designated this group of bacterial pigments lipochromes because of their solubility in the fat solvents. He demonstrated the presence of the carotenoids by means of the lipocyan reaction. This reaction is a color test for carotenoids and consist of adding concentrated sulfuric acid to an ethereal solution of the pigment and a positive test gives a deep indigo blue color.  Lire la suite

The majority of investigations on the carotenoid pigments of bacteria have dealt with the identification of the types of carotenoids present in bacteria. Since the publication of Sullivan's paper in 1905 little work has been done to show which factors affect the synthesis of carotenoids in bacteria. Most of the investigations which have been conducted along this line have dealt with the effect of various carbon sources, inorganic ions, pH and temperature on pigmentation. [...]  Lire la suite

This thesis proposes a legal regime for the environmental protection of outer space. The proposed regime aims to avoid the shortcomings of current environmental protection practices based on human self-interest by placing emphasis on respect for all of nature. Chapter I describes the physical parameters of human space activities, with an emphasis on near-Earth space, the Moon, Mars and Venus. Chapter II proposes the biocentric (life-centred) moral perspective as a rational basis for international environmental law on Earth and in outer space. Chapter III deals with four basic principles of international environmental law, which are analysed in order to develop …  Lire la suite

Cette dissertation est un travail de recherche des expériences des sakâwiyiniwak (les cris des bois du nord) avec la contamination des plantes sauvages comestibles dans la région des sables bitumineux de l'Alberta. Cette étude est basé sur les expériences ethnographiques des membres de la Nation Crie de Bigstone et de la Première Nation de Fort McKay et leurs territoires traditionnels dans la région du Traité numéro huit. Ceci a pris lieu sur ce terrain lors d'études de surveillance environnementale communautaire sur la contamination des plantes sauvages comestibles. Tout d'abord, je présente un examen approfondi des «diagnostiques» et des «étiologies» implicites …  Lire la suite

La politique française entrait dans une ère nouvelle lorsque les élections générales de 1877 accordèrent la majorité eu groupe républicain a la chambre des députes. C’était une Victoire, mais comme la plupart des victoires celle-ci devait être attenue par la dissension, par les différences d’opinion causées par un siècle de conflits politiques, par les traditions fidèles qui depuis des siècles combattaient les conceptions révolutionnaires de l’État et de la Démocratie. C’était ce que Gambetta avait prévu quand il a déclaré. « L’ère des dangers est passée, celle des difficultés est commencées. »  Lire la suite

La politique francaise entrait dans un ere nouvelle lorsque les élections générale de 1877 accord rent la majorité au groupe républicain à la chambre des députés. C'était une Victoire , mais comme la plupart des victoires celle-ci devait etre atténuée par la dissension, par les différenoes d'opinion oausées par un siecle de conflit politiques, par les traditions fideles qui depuis des sieoles oombattaient 1es conaceptions révolutionnaires de l'Etat et de la Démocratie. C'était ce que Gambetta avait prévu quand il a déclaré "L'err des dangere est passé, celle des diffioultés est commencées."[...]  Lire la suite

When the general elections of 1877 gave a majority to the republican group in the Chamber of Deouties, French politics entered upon a new era. It was a victory, but like most victories it was to be accompanied by dissension, by differences of opinion produced by a century of political conflict, by age-old loyalties aligned against evolutionary conceptions of state and democracy. It was this that Gambetta foresaw when he declared, "The era of dangers is over, that of difficulties has begun." [...]  Lire la suite

Microsatellite instability high (MSI-H) colorectal cancers (CRCs) possess such features as heavy infiltration by intraepithelial tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (iTILs), a relatively good prognosis, and truncating mutations in the type II TGFbeta receptor (TGFbetaRII). The aim of this study was to examine the possibility of a connection between these phenomena in MSI-H CRCs. Immunohistochemical analysis identified increased tumor TGFbeta expression as predictive of high iTIL counts in MSI-H CRCs but not in microsatellite stable (MSS) CRCs. Abundant iTILs were associated with longer survival times only for patients with MSS tumors. These results indicate that iTILs in MSI-H CRCs are not part …  Lire la suite

The choice between purchasing land or entering into a long-term lease is analyzed using a deterministic cash analysis both from the tenant's and landlord's perspective. It is less financially stressful to start farming through a lease agreement than by purchasing the assets. The lease period of landlord indifference between these choices is determined for each combination of input variables. Land value and income forecasting models are developed and presented. These models are based on two similar but conceptually different statistical tests. Each test results in different forecasting models which has implications for the use of such models in the future. …  Lire la suite

While there is much data in the experimental cognitive psychology literature reporting that subjects working on science-like tasks ignore findings inconsistent with their hypotheses, much cognitive science research has found that reasoners focus on unexpected findings. To study how real-world scientists deal with unexpected findings, data was collected from a prominent immunology laboratory. Four lab meetings were analyzed using a standardized coding procedure. The amount of reasoning, interactions, and new hypotheses about unexpected versus expected findings was analyzed. Presenters at the meetings reasoned more about unexpected than expected findings, and group members reasoned and interacted extensively about unexpected findings. Both …  Lire la suite

While theory formation and the relation between theory and data has been investigated in many studies of scientific reasoning, researchers have focused less attention on reasoning about experimental design, even though the experimental design process makes up a large part of real-world scientists' reasoning. The goal of this thesis was to provide a cognitive account of the scientific experimental design process by analyzing experimental design as problem-solving behavior (Newell & Simon, 1972). Three specific issues were addressed: the effect of potential error on experimental design strategies, the role of prior knowledge in experimental design, and the effect of characteristics of …  Lire la suite

The work described in this thesis was undertaken due to scepticism of the basically accepted belief that "physiological" ileus occurred regularly after abdominal surgery. The aim, if the scepticism was justified, was to examine postoperative management from this point of view and to present a concept from which individual surgeons might further postoperative management to the benefit and comfort of their patients. The postoperative management of a patient who has undergone abdominal surgery is to a large extent, governed by the findings of abdominal auscultation. [...]  Lire la suite

The joint stiffness plays a significant role during movement; however its function is not fully understood, particularly in terms of reflex contributions. Studies examining the mechanical consequences of reflex activity during movement are few. The long term objective of this thesis was to develop and validate a method for identifying joint mechanics during movement. Previously developed ensemble, time-varying algorithms were used to extend the parallel-cascade model to non-stationary conditions. This algorithm was tested using simulated data. We obtained parameter estimates of ankle stiffness from experiments under stationary conditions and used them to create a simulated system undergoing a ramp displacement. …  Lire la suite

Rockumentary: Style, Performance, and Sound in a Documentary Genre est une étude approfondie d'un genre audio-visuel dédié à la représentation non-fictive de la musique rock et de ses idiomes. Née de l'explosive croissance de popularité de la musique rock dans les années 60, le rockumentaire évolue en bordure de l'historique plus large de la pratique documentaire, se trouvant parfois à la remodeler et parfois à démontrer les limites et le potentiel du genre. Le rockumentaire contribue à l'histoire du documentaire et de la musique populaire en général, ainsi qu'à celle de la culture et de la musique rock. Il se …  Lire la suite

This thesis documents the design and implementation of computations, the procedural abstraction facility of a database programming language. Conceived as a special form of relation, computations fit neatly into the relational model. A computation is defined over a set of domains, which also act as parameters. Invocation is accomplished by means of the operators of the relational algebra. A computation is intended to embody a constraint amongst its parameters. These are grouped into inputs and outputs at call time. Given a set of input values, the computation returns output values that satisfy the constraint. Computations may be recursive, and may …  Lire la suite

Critical EssayInnu author Naomi Fontaine’s novel Kuessipan depicts the Innu community on the Uashat reserve by way of fragments. Through an examination of the healing aspects of Indigenous literature, this analysis posits that Kuessipan is an example of curative literature and that the fragmented form paradoxically provides coherence to an experience fragmented by colonialism. Fontaine’s text also seems to contribute to the collective process of healing and restoring Innu identity by evoking Indigenous kinship and survivance.Creative WritingHow to evoke gender ambiguity in writing without confusing the reader? This short story reflects on the way in which identity is constructed with …  Lire la suite

La thèse fait une enquête sur l'intégration particulière, au domaine inimitable de l'opéra, de l'art dramatique avec la musique à travers un élément en commun au deux, le temps. Elle vise de nouvelles conceptualisations du temps dans l'opéra en fournissant des outils aux compositeurs pour qu'ils puissent comprendre et régir divers aspects de la dimension temporelle ; elle vise aussi à élargir mes propres techniques et moyens dans la facture d'œuvres musico-dramatiques. Dans ce but, le document est divisé en deux parties : un mémoire de recherche ; un monodrame, œuvre lyrique originale. À la partie I, « Temporalité dans …  Lire la suite

Time Fields: Chamber Concerto #3 for fifteen players (2004) is a composition for five woodwinds, three brass, one percussionist, piano, string quartet and double bass with an approximate duration of 14 minutes. This work addresses the nature of musical time and its role in the organisation of the large-scale structure of the piece. Four differing states of musical time, which I refer to as Temporal Textures (Static, Obscure, Temporal Counterpoint and Clear), are employed in particular alternations to form a single movement work in four distinct sections.  Lire la suite

[...] Experimental evidence has been obtained indicating theease with which carbonyl groups, assumedly present inthe side chains of native lignin, readily undergoreduction to methylene groups. Furthermore, ligninpolymers containing side chain ether linkages in eitherthe beta or gamma position should readily undergohydrogenolysis at the ether union. On the other hand,if such polymers are united by a carbon-to-carbonlinkage of the side chains, such linkages should beresistant to chain fission by hydrogenolysis even atrelatively high temperatures.  Lire la suite

Factors influencing testicular gonadotropin receptors and testis responsiveness to luteinizing hormone (LH) stimulation were studied during the seasonal sexual cycle of the adult ram. The normal variation in testis content of gonadotropin receptors was mapped out in relation to changes in (1) testis size, (2) testis responsiveness to LH stimulation and (3) mean serum concentration of LH, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), testosterone and prolactin (PRL). The increase in gonadotropin receptor numbers during testicular redevelopment was preceded by elevated serum concentrations of PRL and associated with increases in both the frequency of endogenous pulses of LH and the responsiveness of the …  Lire la suite

Introduction: Multiple studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) simulators in surgical skills training and assessment. Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is among the most common spine procedures and requires trainees to master a broad spectrum of surgical techniques. The Sim-ortho VR simulator provides a validated anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) simulated task. This validated tool can be used in the evaluation and assessment of surgical skill. Objective This thesis aims to analyze the three-dimensional data recorded by the Sim-Ortho VR simulator platform during the discectomy component of the ACDF task. We aim to use the …  Lire la suite

Many bacteria have the ability to degrade cyclohexanol through a five-step biochemical pathway that leads to the production of adipic acid. Adipic acid is then processed by beta-oxidation to succinyl-CoA and acetyl-CoA. The original goal of this study was to locate and characterize the gene that is responsible for the first dehydrogenation step of the cyclohexanol ( chn) degradation pathway in the Grampositive bacterium Rhodococcus maris strain HI-31 in order to obtain the full gene complement for cyclohexanol degradation. Instead, three new open reading frames (ORFs) or genes were obtained as the result of cloning and sequencing of a 5-kb …  Lire la suite

Hamdy, C Reggie (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

Mongeau, Luc (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

The production and disposal of biosolids by municipal wastewater treatment infrastructures represent an economic burden to plant operators considering that annual cost of biosolids is approximately 50% of their total operational cost. Anaerobic digestion is one of the most widely used processes to treat biosolids and has the benefit of producing valuable energy. Conventionally, anaerobic digesters are operated at 35 ºC to overcome the rate-limiting step of hydrolysis. However, the energy expenditure for heating up the anaerobic digester system is significant. This study assessed the feasibility of operating anaerobic digesters at low mesophilic temperature (20 ºC) by combining them with …  Lire la suite

Contexte: Les directives de meilleures pratiques pour l'AVC aigu recommandent un parcours de soins, en dépit des preuves limitées de l'impact sur les indicateurs de la fonction. Les parcours de soins existants manquent d'éléments visant directement l'amélioration de la fonction; ces éléments pourraient mieux orienter les soins vers des résultats fonctionnels. Objectif: L'objectif était de développer et de tester la faisabilité et l'impact d'un tableau de bord, centré sur le patient, suite à un AVC en phase aigue pour suivre les indicateurs de récupération fonctionnelle des patients post-AVC. Méthodes : Trois théories du transfert des connaissances ont été utilisées pour …  Lire la suite

The exploitation of the superprism phenomenon for optical demultiplexing using a slab photonic crystal on the silicon on insulator platform is the main subject of this thesis. The S-vector and k-vector superprisms are considered. Design equations for the S-vector superprism demultiplexer which fully take into account the nonlinear spectral dependence of beam propagation and dispersion are introduced. This allows wide-band coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) demultiplexers to be designed. Selecting minimum prism area as a metric, the best photonic crystal lattice, design parameters and prism geometry is sought. A full 3-D modeling approach using the plane wave expansion method is …  Lire la suite

Marco, Fossati, (Supervisor2)  Lire la suite

The beta3-adrenergic receptor (beta3-AR) represents a very attractive target for the development of anti-obesity drugs. Selective agonists have been developed based on the rodent beta3-AR and successfully used to treat obesity and Type 2 diabetes in these animals. In humans, however, these particular compounds appear to be less effective and not as specific for the beta3-AR as they are in rodents. An additional problem is the low level of expression of these receptors in human adipose, which may ultimately limit the clinical use of stronger more specific agonists. The objective of this research was to examine the regulation of the …  Lire la suite

Machelle Wilchesky (Internal/Cosupervisor2)  Lire la suite

Peter Bartello (Supervisor2)  Lire la suite

This thesis consists of four essays. The first essay looks at pollution taxation under capital mobility, and analyzes the role of pre-commitment by countries to their pollution tax rate. A polluting firm sells its product in two countries, and can locate and produce in a single country or in both countries. Due to the discrete-choice nature of the firm's location problem, the countries' welfare functions are discontinuous in their pollution tax rate. We show that when the countries cannot pre-commit to their pollution tax, the firm can still engender tax competition between them by strategically locating in both the countries. …  Lire la suite

This thesis deals with Islam and nation formation in Indonesia. It attempts to describe the particular relationship between Islam and the development of the Indonesian nation. It examines the role of Islam in promoting the process of nation formation in Indonesia until the early 1930's. Since the coming of Islam to the Archipelago, the 'ulama' and their writings played a central role in the integration of the Malay world. The use of the Malay language as a lingua franca accelerated the process of integration as well as the process of mutual understanding among the people, the majority of whom were …  Lire la suite

Cette étude explore la relation entre texture et forme dans les six quatuors à cordes de Mozart dédiés à Haydn, et soutient que la texture peut être un facteur déterminant de la forme. En m'inspirant des concepts de fonctions formelles de William Caplin et de la distinction qu'il apporte entre certaines organisations formelles très rigoureuses et d'autres moins structurées, je soutient que la texture polyphonique est utilisée comme élément relâchant lors de conflits groupes-structure, et ainsi agit comme un des éléments détérminants de fonctions formelles médianes, et parfois conclusive. La polyphonie est également employée comme moyen de contraste, en distinguant …  Lire la suite

This thesis consists primarily of a critical review of recent literature on the subject of the employment effects of technological change. The analysis of this literature is derived from a 1942 article by Hans P. Neisser, directed against the orthodox denials of the possibility that technological progress could cause "permanent" or unreabsorbed displacement of labour. Arguments classified under one of the Say's Law, neoclassical, or wage fund schools are examined using the Neisser framework. As a secondary aspect, some elaboration is undertaken of the process by which uncompensated technological unemployment could arise. The main conclusion made is that, in agreement …  Lire la suite

Motor proteins kinesins and dynein are mechanoenzymes that catalyze ATP hydrolysis to take successive steps on microtubule filaments, while transporting organelles to their destinations. How do motor proteins efficiently navigate specific microtubule tracks to sort cargoes? The microtubule cytoskeleton regulates the trafficking and sorting of vesicles through interactions with microtubule-associated proteins, tubulin post-translational modifications and network organization. The impairment of transport causes neurodegenerative disease. The interplay of the microtubule-based regulatory factors poses challenges in understanding the regulation of intracellular transport and contributes to apparent discrepancies between studies in live cells and reconstituted in vitro systems. In my thesis, we address …  Lire la suite

The motor proteins kinesin and dynein transport organelles, mRNA, proteins, and signaling molecules along the microtubule cytoskeleton. In addition to serving as tracks for transport, the microtubule cytoskeleton directs intracellular trafficking by regulating the activity of motor proteins through the organization of the filament network, microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs), and tubulin post-translational modifications (PTMs). However, it is not well understood how these factors influence motor motility, as in vitro assays and live cell observations often produce disparate results, likely due in part to the interdependencies between MAPs, PTMs, and cytoskeletal organization. For example, the MAP tau strongly inhibits kinesin-1 motility in …  Lire la suite

Approximately 20% of all metastatic breast cancers overexpress the HER-2 receptor, a cell surface-bound receptor tyrosine kinase upstream of crucial proliferation and cell survival pathways. Trastuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody binding to the extracellular domain of HER-2, has proven to be a beneficial treatment for patients diagnosed as HER-2+ but continues to have limitations. With low response rates for patients when administered alone and for patients having received prior chemotherapy, the true potential of trastuzumab seems to arrive only through combination therapies. However, the majority of advanced HER-2 positive breast cancer patients still develop resistance to the therapy by the …  Lire la suite