McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par B

Research has demonstrated that self-reported relationship commitment is positively associated with behaviours that help to maintain relationships. One of these, accommodation, refers to an individual's willingness to respond constructively, rather than destructively, to his or her partner's transgressions. Until now, commitment has been measured using mainly self-report methods. This study sought to show that cognitive accessibility of commitment may also be able to predict the relationship maintenance behaviour of accommodation. Participants either encountered the relationship threat of an attractive opposite-sex confederate or encountered no threat. They then complete measures of the accessibility of commitment and accommodation. Results revealed that for …  Lire la suite

Canadian artist Helen McNicoll (1879-1915) has long been neglected in art historical scholarship. Although well-known and well-regarded during her lifetime, her work has since been marginalized as feminine and dismissed as old-fashioned. Through the lens of a modernist art historical tradition that has privileged the urban and masculine above all else, McNicoll's Impressionist depictions of sunlit beaches, open fields, and rural women at work may indeed seem quaintly nostalgic. In this thesis, I argue that these images can and should be seen as both representations of modernity and assertions of feminist thought. McNicoll travelled throughout England and Europe, and across …  Lire la suite

This dissertation examines the ways in which Canadian women artists who lived as expatriates in Britain managed multiple and often competing ideas about home in their writing and artwork in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Focusing on a small group of professional, white, English-Canadian painters, including Emily Carr, Elizabeth Armstrong Forbes, Mary Alexandra Bell Eastlake, Helen McNicoll, and Frances Jones, I reveal links between Canada and the greater British Empire that have tended to be lost in nationalist art history narratives. Though well-known and respected during their lifetimes as successful professional artists who pursued international careers, Canadian women …  Lire la suite

The interferon response pathway is an important antiviral mechanism. Protein Kinase RNA-activated (PKR) is an Interferon-Stimulated Gene (ISG) activated by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), such as the TAR RNA structure from HIV. PKR is one of the most studied ISGs and an efficient HIV suppressor. PKR phosphorylates the translation initiation factor eIF2a, resulting in the inhibition of cellular and viral protein synthesis and a block in viral replication. During HIV infection, our lab has shown that PKR is activated at the beginning of infection in Jurkat cells followed by a deactivation when the virus replicates. This is in part attributed to …  Lire la suite

Vedel, Isabelle (Supervisor2)  Lire la suite

Groucho/transducin-like Enhancer of split (Gro/TLE) family proteins are corepressors found as part of multiple transcriptional complexes that play significant roles during many developmental processes, including neurogenesis. This thesis sought to characterize the molecular mechanisms underlying the biological activity of Gro/TLE1. More specifically, the aim was to clarify the contribution of different transcriptional cofactors, as well as phosphorylation events induced by cofactor binding, to Gro/TLE1 ability to inhibit neuronal differentiation from proliferating neural progenitor cells. By characterizing specific point mutations within the C-terminal domain of Gro/TLE1, we were able to selectively impair binding of Gro/TLE1 to different classes of DNA-binding proteins …  Lire la suite

Cette mémoire de maîtrise évalue l’état de l’art de la technique dans les procès du laser femtoseconde pour le micro-usinage des moules à injection, et l’utilisation des revêtements glissants basé d’oléogel de qualité alimentaire afin d’améliorer les propriétés anti-mouillantes et autonettoyantes, offrant une solution durable et facile à nettoyer pour réduire le gaspillage alimentaire et la contamination des articles recyclables. La première partie de l’étude compare les capacités des systèmes laser industriels et celles des systèmes industriels académiques à grande vitesse pour la production des moules microtexturés. Alors que les systèmes industriels réussissent dans l’usinage perpendiculaire, plusieurs défis reliés à …  Lire la suite

In mice, the trait of natural resistance and susceptibility to Mycobacterium bovis (strain BCG Montreal) infection is controlled by the Bcg gene. The two alleles of the Bcg gene, termed $Bcg sp{ rm r}$ (resistant) and $Bcg sp{ rm s}$ (susceptible), are expressed by host macrophages as an innate ability to restrict the multiplication of BCG bacteria. In the present study, a regulatory effect of the Bcg gene was established on the host immune response to BCG infection. An indirect effect of the Bcg gene on lymphocyte proliferation in vitro was observed in inbred strains expressing $Bcg sp{ rm s}$ …  Lire la suite

Folkerth, Theodore W (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

Les instruments de musique numériques (IMN) offrent de nouvelles possibilités sonores et expressives, mais leur utilisation est souvent entravée par des difficultés de configuration et d’utilisation. Face à ces problèmes, j’ai créé un artefact technique appelé « T-Tree » : un dispositif qui tente d’alléger ces problèmes pour un sous-ensemble d’IMN connu sous le nom de « T-Sticks ». Les objectifs du T-Tree sont (a) de permettre une installation facile et une configuration initiale des T-Sticks qui permet une utilisation immédiate et peut-être limitée, et (b) d’atténuer l’obsolescence des anciens T-Sticks. J’ai créé trois T-Trees au cours de ma recherches; …  Lire la suite

The advent of the Internet in the 1970s has led to an unprecedented level of global connectivity enabling communication across continents and oceans. Over the last ten years, its continuous commercialization and adoption by mainstream consumers has led to tremendous growth in global traffic which is stressing the capacity of all current network layers. This trend is expected to continue as the technology permeates deeper into our lives through affordable mobile devices and high bandwidth services such as on-demand streaming audio and video services, high-definition television and remote cloud storage. To meet these projected traffic demands, experts anticipate that fiber-to-the-home …  Lire la suite

Using electronic spin rather than charge to replace existing microelectronic systems has been a well studied area of research in the last ten years. More recently, research has focused on using the nuclear spin of GaAs rather than the electron spin. This work has demonstrated that GaAs nuclear spins have many desirable properties and show great potential as quantum information carriers. The challenge in the implementation of nuclear spins lies in the ability to control and retrieve the information that they carry. One proposed method is to dynamically polarize the GaAs nuclear spins using circularly polarized photoexcitation. If successful, this …  Lire la suite

Sixty-six chronic low back pain sufferers, recruited through the media, were randomly divided into three groups. Following an assessment consisting of psychological questionnaires, pain monitoring and measurement of paraspinal electromyogram (EMG), one group received paraspinal EMG biofeedback, and a second group received a placebo treatment. The third group received no intervention. Two further assessments were carried out on all groups immediately after and three months after treatment. All groups showed significant reductions in pain, anxiety, depression and paraspinal EMG, but there were no differences among the groups. A regression analysis failed to identify subject characteristics which predicted positive outcome in …  Lire la suite

In Canada and the United States, segments of the public misunderstand the physical science of anthropogenic global climate change (AGCC) and its connection to human society. Individuals have been shown to filter their scientific understandings through identification with specific worldviews, ecological paradigms, geographic identities or political leanings. To overcome this problem, prominent scientists and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have called for curricula and instructional approaches that emphasize learning about climate research using climate models. Using the techniques of educational research, this study presents unique empirical findings on how geoscientists can employ innovative instructional approaches and science education technologies …  Lire la suite

Comme la majorité des adolescents nord-américains ne suivent pas les directives en matière d'activité physique pour une vie active saine, il est crucial que nous trouvions un moyen d'accroître leur activité physique. Aider les organisations à améliorer leurs capacités à mettre en place et à maintenir des programmes de promotion de la santé est une approche viable, mais elle a rarement été utilisée dans le domaine de la recherche interventionnelle sur l'activité physique.Afin d'améliorer la capacité d'un YMCA à promouvoir l'activité physique auprès des adolescents, le YMCA et moi avons développé un partenariat de recherche participative. En partenariat, nous avons …  Lire la suite

A period of devastating war has ended. The identification of the. period that follows must await the passing of time. True and prosperous peace, depressed and stagnant peace amidst want and privation, ar.med peace with the spectre of war hovering ever in the background mark the range of possibilities. The battlefield period of World War II is concluded, the military has passed to public administrators the responsibilities for the conclusion of World War II in the economic sphere.  Lire la suite

Bohemian art of the second half of the fourteenth century is closely associated with the personality of Charles IV, Emperor of the Romans and King of Bohemia (1316--1378). In an effort to legitimize his reign as ruler of the Holy Roman Empire and to raise the profile of his ancestral Bohemian lands, he leaned on the power of history to reveal his heritage as stemming, on one side, from an illustrious line of emperors including Charlemagne, and on the other, from the dynasty of Bohemian sovereigns. He recognized that art could display this legitimization and so implemented a programme of …  Lire la suite

Whenever an evacuated solid is exposed to a gas some of the gas is taken up by the solid. If the gas molecules adhere to the surface of the solid they are generally considered to be adsorbed. If the gas molecules enter the solid the term absorption is generally applied, although the less popular term, occlusion has occasionally been used. [...]  Lire la suite

Cette thèse apporte des contributions dans les domaines de l'effet photomécanique et de l'ingénierie de cristal de cristaux d'azobenzène. Effet photomécanique est un phénomène important qui traite de la transformation directe de la lumière en mouvement mécanique par les matériaux incorporant des molécules photoactives. Seulement récemment, il a été réalisé qu'une fois pensée chimiquement et mécaniquement, des monocristaux inertes peuvent, en fait, montrer un mouvement en réponse à une irradiation lumineuse. L'azobenzène, qui est une molécule de choix pour les matériaux photomécaniques, a été peu exploré dans les cristaux avant ce travail. La contribution du chapitre 2 réside dans l'observation …  Lire la suite

Post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression enables cells to fine-tune the expression of a protein in a spatial and temporal manner. This regulation is mediated by the binding of trans-acting factors, such as RNA-binding proteins, to cis-elements in their mRNA targets. RNA-binding proteins modulate the post-transcriptional regulation of mRNAs by regulating their splicing, localization, turnover, and translation. One of the most extensively studied trans-acting factors, the RNA-binding protein Human Antigen R (HuR), has been shown to play a key role in modulating the outcome of cellular processes such as muscle cell differentiation or the onset of diseases such as cancer-cachexia induced …  Lire la suite

We used genetically T-lymphopenic rats as donors to probe the contribution of T-lymphocytes to graft immunogenicity. Graft survival (GS) of lymphopenic donors was significantly increased as compared to normal donors (median (M) = 17 days vs M = 7d, n = 10). To confirm this observation, we reconstituted 7 lymphopenic rats before organ retrieval with $10 sp7-10 sp8$ purified T-lymphocytes. GS was significantly shorter than with lymphopenic donors (M = 7d, n = 7 vs M = 17d, n = 10). Conversely, we treated 6 normal donors with R7.3 (mouse anti-rat TCR $ alpha/ beta$) monoclonal antibody (mab). GS was …  Lire la suite

McKee, Marc D. (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

The development of swimming was investigated in zebrafish aged 1.5 to 5 days postfertilization by examining both the swimming behavior and its generation by the nervous system. Upon hatching (at day 2), swimming is undirected and occurs in sustained bursts of high frequency (mean = 67 Hz) tail undulations. By 4 days, the swimming pattern matures to a more directed, less erratic, beat-and-glide pattern where slower (mean = 35 Hz) tail undulations, lasting ~200 ms, alternate with longer gliding rest periods. Swimming is powered by two classes of embryonic muscles (embryonic red, ER and white, EW) that are electrically coupled …  Lire la suite

A knowledge of the role played by the papillary muscles in the activity of the heart and especially in the closure and function of the mitral valve has become important to the surgeon involved in surgery of the cardiac valves. Current surgical techniques tend to destroy the normal relationships of the papillary muscles and there is some clinical evidence (16.20) that this is detrimental to the cardiac dynamics. Current understanding of the importance of the papillary muscle mechanism is limited by a lack of information describing the activities of the papillary muscles. It is the object of this thesis to …  Lire la suite

This thesis is concerned with the creation, verification and implementation of a computer programme for simulating photon transport in diagnostic radiology. The programme is based on the Monte Carlo technique in which probabilistic problems are solved using random numbers. For this reason mathematical number generators along with a few standard tests which enable the randomness of the numbers to be evaluated are introduced. A discussion on sampling from probability distributions is presented with emphasis on the physical aspects of the Monte Carlo technique applied to low energy photon transport. The validity of the computer programme is established by comparisons with …  Lire la suite

Pour assurer leur développement et leur activation, les cellules du système immunitaire dépendent d’un réseau complexe de signalisation. De simples changements au niveau de ces signaux peuvent transformer une réponse normale du système immunitaire, comme l’inflammation, en pathologie. L’importance des évènements de phosphorylation sur résidus tyrosines dans la régulation de la signalisation intracellulaire est bien établie. Les protéines qui possèdent une activité tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) sont les principaux régulateurs de cette phosphorylation et contribuent à maintenir l’équilibre des signaux cellulaires. Les PTPs, de par leur action sur la signalisation, jouent ainsi un rôle important dans le système immunitaire.La PTP des …  Lire la suite

Across the globe, most nations are facing challenges posed by longer life expectancy resulting in the increased proportion of elderly citizens and prevalence of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Susceptibility to AD may be attributed to immutable factors (sex, ethnicity, genetics) or modifiable risk factors (education, physical activity, hypertension, smoking). The hippocampus is a key brain region involved in learning, memory, and spatial navigation which has been studied in relation to different diseases. However, the relationship between hippocampal morphometry and microstructure in age related and AD-related brain modifications remains largely unexplored.In Chapter 3, the impact of magnetic resonance …  Lire la suite

Liquid biopsy has emerged as a minimally invasive approach to detect and monitor cancer progression, recurrence, and response to treatment. Tumor cells release fragments of circulating tumor (ct) DNA that can be isolated from a liquid biopsy. ctDNA is released from all tumor cells and reflects an integrative genetic profile of all tumor subclones. ctDNA analysis is especially useful when a tissue biopsy is not possible due to tumor localization. Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common intraocular tumor in adults, occurring in the posterior segment of the eye, and it is associated with a high risk of metastasis. It …  Lire la suite

Le développement présent des dispositifs semi-conducteurs d’un seul électron, à l’échelle nanométrique et atomique, bénéficierait grandement d’un outil de caractérisation capable de détecter les événements de charge d’électron unique avec une haute résolution spatiale, à basse température. La microscopie de force électrostatique avec résolution à électron unique (e-EFM) est une technique prometteuse pour la caractérisation des boı̂tes quantiques. Cependant, elle n’a jamais été appliquée aux dispositifs nanoélectroniques. L’objectif de cette thèse est de développer un outil capable de caractériser des dispositifs à l’échelle nanométrique et atomique, fabriqués à l’aide de la technique de lithographie par résistance à l’hydrogène avec une …  Lire la suite

Leask, Richard L. (Internal/Cosupervisor2)  Lire la suite

[...] We will briefly review the subjeet focusing our attention on the spermatogonial cella in the rat, and occasionally in other species. [...]  Lire la suite

For much of the last twenty years, political leaders and academics have assumed that the survival of Canada depends on constitutional reform, and never more so than in the wake of the 1995 Quebec referendum. This thesis updates the literature by explaining the remarkable story of the last several years: the achievement of a national unity peace in the absence of constitutional reform. The explanation centres on the post-referendum shift in federal strategy from constitutional reform to Plan B, a strategy based on the rules of secession that has its origins, it is argued, in the Reform Party's response to …  Lire la suite

Les personnes souffrant d'insuffisance cardiaque congestive (ICC) seraient plus à risque d'être affectées par les fluctuations journalières de pollution de l'air ambiant. L'objectif principal de cette dissertation était d'étudier les effets aigus de la pollution de l'air chez les individus souffrant d'ICC en réalisant une étude de cohorte longitudinale novatrice, qui incorpore l'historique médical des individus et des estimations spatiotemporelles d'exposition journalière aux polluants atmosphériques.Cette thèse comprend trois études:La première étude est une revue structurée des études épidémiologiques de panel portant sur l'effet des polluants de l'air ambiant (PM2.5, NO2, O3) sur la variabilité de fréquence cardiaque (VFC). La VFC …  Lire la suite

La wollastonite est un silicate de calcium utilisé dans diverses applications industrielles telles que la production des céramiques, des plastiques, d’isolants thermiques, des produits pharmaceutiques et papier. La flottation de minerais de wollastonite contient des minéraux silicatés comme gangue, tel que le feldspath, le diopside et le quartz présentent de nombreuses difficultés et n’est que rarement traitée dans la littérature.Dans cette étude ont été employés des tests de microflottation, des mesures de potentiel zéta, de la spectrométrie photoélectronique X (SPX), de la spectroscopie ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) ainsi que des tests d’adhésion bulle-particule, afin d’évaluer les interactions de la wollastonite, du quartz …  Lire la suite

Les quelques dernières décennies ont apporté d’énormes progrès quant à notre compréhension sur la régulation centrale de l’équilibre énergique au niveau moléculaire ; cependant, des changements structurels au niveau cellulaire ou du circuit neuronal en tant que contributeur à une altération du poids n’a reçu que brève attention. D’autre part, certaines études antérieures qui attestent que des altérations structurelles au niveau de processus neuronaux ont lieu en réponse à des changements de régimes alimentaires sont basées uniquement sur un résultat de groupe dont les animaux n’ont été examinés qu’une seule fois ; l’aspect dynamique de ces changements reste donc irrésolu. …  Lire la suite

The problem of the interaction between two nucleons has for many years been one of the outstanding tasks of elementary particle physics. In order to investigate this interaction in the non-relativistic domain by means of a Schroedinger equation it is necessary to know the form of the operator representing the potential energy of the interacting nucleons as a function of their positions, their momenta, and their spin and isotopic spin states. [...]  Lire la suite

Modern woman-authored romance novels eroticize female sexual vulnerability and depict sexual dynamics that are heavily if not wholly contingent upon patriarchal ideals of male dominance and female submission and/or passivity. It is typical for the hero of a romance novel to sexually dominate the heroine, who accepts, delights, and even takes comfort in the power and aggression of her partner. This tradition of woman-authored female sexual passivity is remarkably incongruous with the degree of intention and sexual self-possession that the creation and consumption of erotic romance fiction requires. The aim of this thesis is to delineate the emergence and evolution …  Lire la suite

Smith, J. P. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Les nourrissons passent la majeure partie de leur première année de vie à dormir. Le sommeil joue un rôle crucial dans le développement de l’enfant et il influence de nombreuses facettes de la vie quotidienne. Cependant, le lien entre les patrons de sommeil au cours de la petite enfance et le développement de l’enfant, y compris les futurs problèmes de sommeil, demeure mal compris. Cette thèse vise à identifier quelles variables liées au sommeil au cours de la petite enfance sont associées au développement de l’enfant et aux futurs problèmes de sommeil.La première étude consistait en une revue systématique d’études …  Lire la suite

This qualitative inquiry explores the use of Hollywood films depicting teachers (teacher-films) as an approach to reflective practice and social change with 60 undergraduate students in a teacher education programme in the Bahamas. In order to facilitate critical reflection on the preservice teachers' perceptions of teaching, on themselves as teachers, and on their teaching experience, a module comprised of five teacher-films (To Sir With Love, Blackboard Jungle, Stand and Deliver, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and SARAFINA!) is designed and employed. The depictions of teaching are deconstructed as a means of introducing the complexity of teaching as well as …  Lire la suite

Suter, B. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

The chief task of physical chemistry is the application of physical methods to the treatment of chemical problems. These methods offer a new way of attacking the problem of chemical constitution through investigation of the numerical relationships between physical and chemical properties. A consideration of the various physical properties of substances will show that, in general, these may be divided into two classes, -- additive and constitutive. Although all physical properties, except mass, are to a certain extent influenced by the, constitution of the molecule, we call certain properties additive, since each atom has a constant effect only slightly influenced …  Lire la suite

This work deals with the relationship between the Canadian Federal Government and the Government of Quebec from January 1967 - February 1968. It treats both governments as members of a dyad but differs from other studies of dyadic conflict in a number of important ways. Whereas other investigations have examined the dyadic behavior of sovereign states, this work explores the relationship between a federal and a provincial government within an ethnically-divided federation. In so doing, concepts and methods normally reserved to the field of international relations are applied to this particular type of domestic conflict. Second, rather than examining only …  Lire la suite

Reed, R. W.  Lire la suite

It was proposed to make an investigation of the terrestrial heat flow in the area about Montreal using boreholes drilled to explore for gas or oil. A fairly satisfactory D.C. thermistor bridge method of measuring temperatures at depth has been developed and three boreholes have been surveyed.  Lire la suite

Within recent years attention has been drawn to cellulosic materials cross linked by primary valence bonds between the macromolecules because such cross linking might impart certain valuable properties to cellulose derivatives. This chemical bonding between the linear high polymer macromolecules, of which cellulose is built, changes a two- into a three-dimensional molecular lattice and causes change in one or more of the following physical properties: temperature at the softening point, tensile strength and the elongation at break, water vapour permeability and moulding characteristics as well as in solubility.  Lire la suite