McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par F

In a large multi-center study where many groups collaborate to produce data, the conditions under which the data are collected can vary significantly. In the case of the NIH funded MRI study of normal brain development (NIHPD), 6 centers across the US collect MRI scans of the developing child brain. In all, four different models of scanners from 2 manufacturers are used. The subject of this thesis is to quantify differences in acquired data that are due to scanner differences and thus enable improved biological study. The aim of this study is to analyze the scanner-induced differences across sites using …  Lire la suite

Yukata, a casual form of kimono, has undergone transformation in terms of both its associated meanings and its material forms in the post-WWII period in Japan. During this period, it changed from attire for private use to dress for events in public and became connected with various ideological notions. Tracing changes in the scale of the yukata industry in the postwar period, this thesis examines transitions in consumption patterns of yukata as a case study and compares it with observations on Japanese consumption culture by other scholars in the context of other commodities. In illustrating the transformation of yukata, I …  Lire la suite

China's scientific development has gone through several phases over the past 50 years. In 1956, the first generation of leaders called on the whole country to "march towards science," drafting China's first scientific development plan. In 1978, the then Chinese leaders sponsored a national science conference and mapped out scientific development strategies for a new period of reform and opening-up policies. In 1985, the central government issued a "Decision on the Reform of Scientific and Technological Systems," with the aim of accelerating the application of technological discoveries to promote productivity. Since then, China has implemented a series of projects to …  Lire la suite

Luis, Miranda-Moreno, (Internal/Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Luis, Miranda-Moreno, (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

Nowadays wireless frequency spectrum becomes more crowded and expensive due to emergence of data intensive wireless communication applications. Consequently, it is imperative to introduce new technologies that can enhance both spectrum efficiency and data transmission rates. Recently, full-duplex wireless transmission has emerged as one such promising technology that enables data transmission and reception in the same frequency band simultaneously. Full-duplex wireless transmission can potentially double the data rate and spectrum usage efficiency compared to existing frequency-division duplex (FDD) and time-division duplex (TDD) technologies, which use two separate frequency bands (or time slots) for up-link and down-link data transmission, respectively. However, …  Lire la suite

A diversity of plants ranging from completely rosette types to completely floral types can be found during the seedling year in Dollard red clover. Bird (1948) described five plant types (called 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4) based on the degree of floral stem development in the year of establishment. [...]  Lire la suite

Air distribution ducts are used in the environmental control of livestock and poultry building as well as the conditioning of most agricultural produce. In order to simplify the approach to the design of ventilation ducts, a mathematical equation has been derived to describe the average air velocity of a duct. The primary objective of the research work was to test goodness of fit of an equation describing the average air velocity of perforated ventilation ducts, under balanced as well as unbalanced air distribution: $V = H sb{o}{X over L} + (V sb{L}-H sb{o}) {X sp2 over L sp2}$. This equation …  Lire la suite

L’apprentissage par renforcement profond (Deep Reinforcement Learning, DRL) a transformé la prise de décision dans des domaines tels que les jeux, la robotique, la prédiction de structures protéiques et le raisonnement dans les grands modèles de langage. Cependant, son utilisation pratique est souvent limitée par une faible efficacité d'échantillonnage. Contrairement aux humains, les agents DRL nécessitent généralement des millions d’interactions pour apprendre des politiques efficaces, rendant l’entraînement coûteux et long. Cette thèse aborde le problème de l'efficacité d'échantillonnage dans le DRL à travers trois approches novatrices et présente une application pratique à la prévision de séries temporelles.Nous commençons par étudier …  Lire la suite

Inactivating SMARCA4 mutations have been shown to be the sole genetic driver event in small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type (SCCOHT), a rare and aggressive cancer affecting mostly young women. SCCOHT is also characterized by concomitant loss of SMARCA4 and SMARCA2 where SMARCA2 is epigenetically silenced. Dual loss of SMARCA4/2 also defines a subset of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) associated with poor patient outcomes. However, loss of SMARCA4/2 is not directly druggable and the precise mechanisms by which SMARCA4/2 loss drives tumorigenesis are not well understood. While conventional chemotherapies are rarely effective for treating SMARCA4/2-deficient cancers, rationalized …  Lire la suite

The behaviour of dapped ends with high-performance concrete and headed bars, together with the effects of fibres added to the concrete was investigated. Two full-scale dapped end beams with four dapped ends were constructed in this experimental programme. One half of each beam was cast without fibres while the other half was constructed with concrete containing either steel fibres or polypropylene fibres. The beams had a design concrete compressive strength of 60 MPa. Strut-and-tie models were used to predict the capacity of the dapped end beams. Headed bars were used as the horizontal tension ties, and closed stirrups provided the …  Lire la suite

This thesis is a study of the development of the Babi movement and the political implications embodied in its religious teachings. The thesis basically assumes that in its early development (1844--1848), the movement may be seen merely as religiously dissenting from the mainstream of Shi'i tradition. In the course of history, however, and especially after the Bab, its founder, claimed in 1848 to be the return of the Hidden Imam and proclaimed the abrogation of Qur'anic shari'a, the Babi movement showed radical tendencies, thus threatening the established religious and political authorities. This later development (1848--1853) was characterized by armed revolts …  Lire la suite

This dissertation develops a theoretical framework for the study of a resurgent realism inthe context of contemporary global anglophone literature. By demonstrating the continuingrelevance of Mikhail Bakhtin and Georg Lukács, and by expanding their theories of realism andthe novel for the study of global texts and contexts, my project also outlines the political stakesof the debate about global realism. Reading the return of realism as an attempt to roll back thebreakdown of our cognitive mapping function helps us understand that this is not merely a matterof generic distinction or literary style. The realist trajectory that defines the texts discussed in …  Lire la suite

Hydrocarbons are a common constituent of many mineral deposits and are associated directly with high-grade mineralization. In the deposits of the Witwatersrand Basin (South Africa), the focus of this research, hydrocarbon seams are associated with over 40 % of the gold and 95 % of the uranium that has been produced. Although this association is widely known, the roles of the hydrocarbons in the ore-forming process are not fully understood.The metalliferous nature of hydrocarbons and their role(s) in the ore-forming process of the Witwatersrand are evaluated in this thesis in three studies using gold-, uranium- and pyrobitumen-bearing samples of the …  Lire la suite

Lau, Chantal (Supervisor2)  Lire la suite

Lau, Chantal (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

While much attention has been paid to the events which followed the publication of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses (1988), there has been little detailed examination of the role of Islam in that novel and in the rest of Salman Rushdie's fiction, notably Midnight's Children (1981) and Shame (1983). His portrayals of Islam and Islamic societies are not easily recognizable via the traditional structures of the academic study of Islam. His divergence from the vast majority of Muslim tradition and experience can be seen firstly through his own experiences in India, England, and Pakistan; and secondly through his provocative literary …  Lire la suite

The corpus of this project consists of the five volumes of Simone de Beauvoir's memoirs: Memoires d'une jeune fille rangee, La force de l'age, La force des choses I, La force des choses II and Tout compte fait. In this study, we have considered the difficulties of self-analysis and examined the limitations and demands of the genre of autobiography. A memoir is not simply the reconstruction of the author's past, but a personal interpretation of this past which often includes discrepancies between the narrative and the reality of his or her life. The autobiographer's primary objective is not to deliver …  Lire la suite

Cette thèse vise à fournir un cadre théorique pour expliquer les choix effectués par les décideurs internationaux sur ce qui constitue la loi. Il est proposé que la pratique des tribunaux internationaux des droits de l'homme reconnaît que différents instruments normatifs coexistent dans un espace non-ordonné, et que le sens peut être produit par le libre jeu de ces instruments autour d'un problème. Sur la base de cette pratique, l'auteur avance son hypothèse de la pluralité normative qui stipule que les décideurs doivent étudier l'acquis du droit international afin d'identifier tous les instruments contenant des informations normatives pertinents pour une …  Lire la suite

Is it possible to redefine Aboriginal title? This study intends to answer this question through the construction of an integral doctrine of aboriginal title based on a detailed analysis of its criticisms. The author uses international law to show a possible way to redefine this part of Canadian law. After a careful review of the most important aspects of aboriginal land in international law, the author chooses the law of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights as its framework. Using the decisions of this Court he produces an internationalized redefinition of Aboriginal title.  Lire la suite

The purpose of this work is to analyze the principles of human rights theory underlying the protection of freedom of expression and the normative limits imposed on communication. The analysis involves those principles argued in American and Canadian judicial review. The curtailment of sexual expression is at the core of the discussion of the nature of human beings and their relationship with the state power. By analyzing the way in which governments ban sexual messages, one can infer with a great degree of accuracy how they will react toward other forms of expression. This connection can be established because arguments …  Lire la suite

Giant planets like Jupiter, which undergo strong convection in their gaseous envelopes, might have composition gradients in their interiors. As the planet cools in time from its surface, a convection zone propagates inward and mixes the primordial composition gradient. How quickly does the convection zone move inward? What is the mixing mechanism behind this process? In Chapter 2 we use 2D simulations to answer those questions. We found that turbulent motions near the boundary of the convective zone carry enough energy to lift and mix heavier fluid from below. This process is called entrainment and plays an important role in …  Lire la suite

Das XIX. Jahrhundert ist eine Blütezeit des Gesellschaftsromans. In England analysieren die Romane der früh-viktorianischen Epoche hauptsachlich das dortige Bürgertum. In Frankreich sind die Helden der Romane Balzacs fast ausnahmslos Geschopfe der kraftstrotzenden, geldgierigen Epoche, in der die Bürger zur politischen Führung gelangten. Flaubert schildert mit viel Verachtung die Menschen seiner Zeit, Hugo mit mehr Verstandnis und Gefühl für die Entrechteten. Zola malt mit der Geschichte der Rougon-Macquart die Geschicke seiner Zeit und ihrer Menschen. Sein pessimistischer Realismus ist lunchsetzt von Mitleid mit den Armen - und von Hoffnung.  Lire la suite

The idea of an "Islamic threat" to national security in Uzbekistan is widespread in the media and amongst several academics. The regime of Uzbek President Islam Karimov has repeatedly emphasized the seriousness of this threat and acted to contain it. In this thesis, I examine both the present ability of different Muslim political actors to challenge the Uzbek state's defense position and recent historical elements of the Uzbek security strategy related to Islam. I argue that the relationship between Muslims and national security in Uzbekistan is characterized by the two following observations: (1) it is unlikely that Muslims are able …  Lire la suite

Gymnotiformes are South American weakly electric fish that produce weak electric organ discharges (EOD) for orientation, foraging and communication purposes. Because EOD properties vary widely across species, electric signals could serve a species recognition function. We quantified the electric signals of various species and used discriminant function analyses to verify whether these signals are species-specific based on different signal parameters. We found that the EOD waveform was a more specific cue than EOD frequency. Using Apteronotus leptorhynchus as a focal species, we complemented these measurements with playback experiments using stimuli of different species (varying in frequency, waveform, or both). In …  Lire la suite

The main objective of this PhD thesis is to document impacts of deforestation and agricultural land use on afrotropical streams at the organismal, community, and ecosystem levels. Using a meta-analysis and systematic literature review comparing global distributions of current deforestation, freshwater fish diversity, consumption and trade of freshwater fishes by human populations, and research effort on deforestation impacts on inland waters, I first demonstrate that tropical Africa is the only region of the world that has rapid deforestation, high biodiversity, and a high reliance of human populations on inland waters for income and food security, and yet a low research …  Lire la suite

Blake's writings were explored as a refutation of Newton and Locke, and thereby positivism and atomistic psychology, leading to a renovation of the sensual body and the imagination. The form of Blake's work, the Illuminated Manuscript, is examined for the relationship between image and text in the prophetic mode, and for its investigations of the copy within a typographic culture. In the last Chapter, Blake's prophetic poem Jerusalem unveils his conception of the Spiritual Fourfold as the restitution of an ornamental universe and the 'building' of the Heavenly City on earth.  Lire la suite

Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) is a dimension reduction technique that is capable of deriving complex latent themes from multi-modal inputs while retaining interpretability due to its non-negative nature. The technique has been applied to various fields, and we have developed a NMF-based tool for multi-omic integration and applied the model to a major depressive disorder (MDD) patient cohort to investigate important players in antidepressant (AD) treatment response. MDD is a leading cause of disability worldwide, and is commonly treated with AD. Although effective, many patients fail to respond to AD treatment, and accordingly identifying factors that can predict AD response …  Lire la suite

La sclérose en plaque (SP) est une maladie inflammatoire chronique, neurodégénérative et liée à une perte de gaines de myéline dans le système nerveux central (SNC). Les astrocytes jouent un rôle conventionnel dans la SP en étant impliqués dans la formation de la cicatrice gliale durant les dernières étapes de la pathologie. De plus, les astrocytes interagissent non seulement avec leur environnement glial mais aussi avec les cellules du système immunitaire et leur implication dans le développement des lésions lors des premiers stades de la maladie est reconnue par l'ensemble de la communauté scientifique. Dans notre étude, nous avons mesuré …  Lire la suite

Meger, David (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

The basic goal of the Adaptive Optical Music Recognition system presented herein is to create an adaptive software for the recognition of musical notation. The focus of this research has been to create a robust framework upon which a practical optical music recognizer can be built. The strength of this system is its ability to learn new music symbols and handwritten notations. It also continually improves its accuracy in recognizing these objects by adjusting internal parameters. Given the wide range of music notation styles, these are essential characteristics of a music recognizer. The implementation of the adaptive system is based …  Lire la suite

This mixed methods study was conducted to explore learners' cognitive processes triggered by different types of oral corrective feedback (recasts and prompts) and to examine their relationships with the outcomes of second language learning. The study addresses two research questions: 1) What kinds of cognitive processes are triggered by different types of oral corrective feedback (recasts and prompts)? and 2) What are the relationships (if any) between these different types of cognitive processes and the outcome of second language learning?Forty-two beginning and intermediate learners of Japanese participated in the study. The participants were assigned to one of three groups: recast, …  Lire la suite

This study explores issues related to native and non-native English speaking teachers in the context of Japanese English education, specifically in public junior high school settings in relatively rural areas of Japan. The study mainly asks Japanese teachers of English, assistant language teachers employed in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme, and students about their perceptions of the roles of native and non-native teachers in their English classrooms. These stakeholders seem to have preconceived assumptions about the roles of native and non-native teachers. These include native teachers as opportunity providers and motivators and non-native teachers as facilitators. These fixed roles …  Lire la suite

Park, Morag (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

Smith, Nathan (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

The developmental potential of mammalian oocytes cryopreserved with procedures similar to those used for embryos has been limited, inasmuch as oocytes differ from embryos in advanced stages of development, both physiologically and morphologically. The objective of this work was to elucidate the precise nature of freeze-thaw damage with the expectation that identification of specific targets will enable devising optimal procedures for cryopreservation of bovine oocytes to prevent specific damage and minimize the loss of developmental capacity. In the first series of experiments, bovine oocytes were vitrified (V-oocytes) or frozen slowly (S-oocytes) at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage or after maturation …  Lire la suite

Firstly, exposure of compacted morulae (CM) and early blastocysts (EB) to methanol (M) or glycerol (G) for 1 h at room temperature followed by culture in standard culture medium showed that the embryos tolerated up to 12 to 24% methanol or 24 to 48% glycerol. Next, the effects of stage of embryo (CM vs EB), preservation temperature and concentration of 1:1 M:G on embryo survival were tested. EB survived longer than CM under all conditions. Increased concentrations of cryoprotectants (M and G) increased the survival of supercooled embryos, but survival was decreased with the storage temperature. Replacing G with propanediol …  Lire la suite

Hasegawa, Sumi (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

This dissertation introduces a theoretical background and an analysis of my composition Simulacra for five cellos, electronics and video. This research addresses the following question: what is an authentic form of music with which audiences engage in concerts in the post-pandemic age? I hypothesize that the plethora of telematic concerts in the field of contemporary music during the pandemic time has changed what is authentic for the modern audiences from the substantiation of the recorded performances to a blend of the real and so-called virtual existence in a live space. To this end, I propose the perception of the blurred …  Lire la suite

Les traitements pharmacologiques de la douleur neuropathique périphérique (DNP) et du syndrome de douleur régionale complexe (SDRC) sont peu efficaces et source d’effets systémiques adverses. Le présent projet vise à développer des agents analgésiques efficaces et tolérables pour ces deux conditions en ciblant les mécanismes de l’hypoxie tissulaire et du stress oxydatif qui sont d’importants agents de sensibilisation nociceptive périphérique et de surcroît susceptibles à des traitements topiques aux effets systémiques minimes. Les premières expériences démontrèrent les effets analgésiques d’une nouvelle préparation topique combinant l’agent vasoactif meldonium et l’antioxidant N-acétylcystéine (NAC), qui atténua l’allodynie mécanique dans un modèle du SDRC …  Lire la suite

Off-flavour development in raw or underblanched vegetables occurring as a result of an imbalance in the enzyme reactions was recognized early in the development of the frozen vegetable industry by Joslyn (1930), Tressler (1932) and Diehl and Berry (1933). Since then, numerous investigations have been carried out on various aspects of this problem but the reactions involved are still largely unknown. The investigators seem to agree that off-flavours are due to an enzymatic process because they do not develop in properly blanched vegetables.  Lire la suite

L’identité théologique de Richard Hooker (1554–1600), théologien élisabéthain, fait l’objet de débats depuis son époque jusqu’à aujourd’hui. Certains le considèrent comme réformé, d’autres estiment qu’il adopte une voie médiane entre la théologie réformée et la théologie catholique romaine, tandis que d’autres encore soutiennent qu’il n’appartient à aucune de ces deux traditions. Comparées à l’éventail des positions exprimées par d’autres auteurs réformés du XVIᵉ siècle — tels que Jean Calvin, Heinrich Bullinger, Pierre Martyr Vermigli et Wolfgang Musculus —, les prises de position de Hooker sur des questions relatives à la doctrine de l’Écriture le situent clairement au sein de cette …  Lire la suite