McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par R

The Progress of science for more than a century has been associated with the development of two concepts, that of force and that of matter. One of the most important discoveries which man made in his study of the universe was that the attractive force between bodies was proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. This same law of attraction was found later to govern the foroes between electrically charged particles and the forces between magnetic poles. The hypothesis that matter is discontinuous has been very successful in explaining …  Lire la suite

King, L. (Supervisors)  Lire la suite

Soil heterogeneity is probably the greatest obstacle in the way of the correct interpratation of experimental data. Whether the experiment deal with the testing of varieties, of fertilizers or of rotations, soil heterogeneity is always a confusing factor. Of those experimental fields which have been investigated, practically all were found to be sufficiently non uniform as to affect seriously the tests conducted on them. This fact emphasizes the point that greater care must be taken in all agronomic work and that there should be a more extensive use of statistical methods in analysing data if correct conclusions are to be …  Lire la suite

Summerby, R. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

This thesis examines the process of welfare policy-making in Quebec with respect to single mothers and their children. Historically, traditional notions of the role of women in society and the distinction between "deserving" and "undeserving" poor have inhibited adequate social assistance for single mothers. Chapter 1 examines the 1937 Needy Mother's Assistance Act, the first state assistance program for single mothers in Quebec. Chapter 2 discusses the ideological basis for present-day welfare policy making. The liberal feminist commitment to gender neutrality and acceptance of the marketplace economic model have abetted recent attacks on the Motherwork norm in welfare policy and …  Lire la suite

During HIV-1 assembly, the Gag structural protein specifically encapsidates two copies of viral genomic RNA in the form of a dimer. An RNA stem-loop structure (SL1) in the 5' untranslated region, known as the dimerization initiation site (DIS), is important for dimerization and packaging of HIV-1 genomic RNA; however, the mechanisms involved are not fully understood. The major goal of this PhD study was to further understand HIV-1 RNA dimerization, and to study the role of the Gag protein in the dimerization and packaging processes. Despite the known involvement of the DIS in RNA dimerization, DIS-mutated viruses still contain significant …  Lire la suite

Most investigations with radio frequency electrical fields have dealt with their effect on physical properties of molecules, but only a few studies have been made to determine whether they could affect chemical reactivity and these report conflicting results. In an effort to settle the question, Bryce (1) and Genge (2) investigated the effect of radio frequency fields on the catalyzed and uncatalyzed polymerization of styrene. The problem dealt with in the present thesis is an outcome of their work. [...]  Lire la suite

In effect, the purpose of this study is implied by the title it bears, "Geography of Roads West of Lake Wiinnipeg, Inter-Lake Area". The aim, in the chapters following, is to outline in some detail the varied factors bearing influence on the roads of this area, and in due order, to consider the influences exerted by the roads themselves upon the cultural environment. [...]  Lire la suite

The chromosome 20q13 region is recurrently amplified in many different cancer types, including breast and stomach cancer. This genomic region harbors the oncogenic zinc-finger transcription factor ZNF217, whose overexpression is associated with the immortalization of cancer cells, metastasis phenotypes, and poor patient prognosis. However, whether additional mechanisms, other than increased copy number, are responsible for ZNF217 hyperactivation remain to be elucidated. Several emerging paradigms suggest that copy number variants (CNVs) target regulatory non-coding regions, either on their own, or together with oncogenes. By analyzing publicly available array data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we discovered a significantly co-amplified noncoding …  Lire la suite

van de Voort, F. R. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Tightropes is a work for sextet (fl., cl., vl., vc., pno. and perc.) that explores the conceptsof trope and tropism as extended metaphors for music composition through the exploitation and manipulation of commonplace musical idioms. The thesis is in two parts: the musical work in full score followed by an analytic text. The analysis first defines these extramusical concepts and correspondingly explores techniques for their application as musical metaphors. Following this, it discusses my intention to create a piece of music that is precarious in nature, manipulating a listener's sense of expectation as a musical metaphor for the suspenseful nature …  Lire la suite

Individuals with autism experience specific deficits in the area of executive function. A differentiated view of executive function was recently described by Metcalfe and Mishel, in which a distinction was made between hot, affective components and cold more purely cognitive, non-affective components. The "Hot/Cold" distinction of executive function was examined in a group of children with autism in relation to a group of typically developing children matched on verbal, pattern and Leiter mental ages. Two hot (Gamble and Delay of Gratification) and two cold tasks (DCCS and SOP) were administered. Children with autism successfully completed fewer trials of the SOP, …  Lire la suite

Burack, Jacob A. (Internal/Supervisor)  Lire la suite

The study of the effects of sleep loss in animals has been a neglected area of research. If sleep is a basic need, then the deprivation of sleep, as the deprivation of any basic need, should lead to certain physiological changes within animals and to differences in their behavior. To the author's knowledge, there are but four relevant studies of sleep loss in animals. All four studies show improved performance following sleep loss (Bunch, Cole & Frerichs, 1937; Bunch, Frerichs & Licklider, 1939; Gray, 1937; Licklider & Bunch, 1946). None of these four previous studies examined physiological changes in animals …  Lire la suite

Many attempts have been made to lighten the obscurity which surrounds the physio-pathology of bronchial asthma, but the varying degrees of success encountered have been greatly decreased by the limitations of the methods of study available. A great deal of information has been compiled from reports on clinical observations and on studies of blood pressure, blood chemistry, x-ray, spirometric and electrocardiographic findings. Animal experiments and the results obtained from a variety of therapeutic procedures have provided indirect evidence which has set off many trains of thought and activity along a confusing number of tracks. A few valiant efforts have been …  Lire la suite

Wollastonite is a calcium inosilicate mineral (CaSiO3) which is used in a variety of industries including ceramic, plastic, painting, pharmaceutical and paper industries. Wollastonite flotation that contains silicate minerals as gangue is challenging and rarely discussed in literature, even though wollastonite beneficiation technologies are more developed and studied than that of diopside. Diopside is another silicate mineral with composition (MgCaSi2O6). It is a monoclinic pyroxene mineral, which is usually found in solid solutions with hedenbergite and augite in ultramafic igneous rocks. There is a scarce information on diopside beneficiation in general due to probably relatively low industrial importance of this …  Lire la suite

La résistance aux antimicrobiens (RAM) est provoquée par une utilisation excessive et inappropriée dans la médecine humaine et d'autres secteurs. Escherichia coli (E. coli) est une espèce bactérienne gram-négative endémique connue pour présenter des taux de résistance élevés contre de nombreux antibiotiques importantes à travers le Canada et dans le monde entier. Étant donné les associations complexes et interconnectées entre les infections, l'utilisation des antimicrobiens et la RAM, il est important de démêler et de caractériser cette relation à travers diverses populations et contextes afin de comprendre et de traiter les inégalités qui peuvent favoriser la propagation de la RAM. …  Lire la suite

Dans la présente étude qualitative, j'examine les perceptions identitaires et les expériences d'immigration de six Roumains-Canadiens qui ont appris à enseigner le programme d'anglais langue étrangère dans leur pays d'origine. Mon objectif est d'analyser les choix de carrières de ces enseignants lorsqu'ils immigrent au Canada et d'analyser les difficultés qu'ils perçoivent avoir rencontrées dans leur nouvel environnement professionnel. J'examine aussi le développement de leur identité compte tenu du fait qu'ils côtoient, dans leur nouvel environnement de travail, des collègues locuteurs natifs de l'anglais. Je m'appuie sur les écrits de Hall, Holland, Bhabha, Bakhtin et Vygotsky relativement au procédé dialogique continu …  Lire la suite

This thesis is a comparative study of the educational reforms initiated by the Aligarh and Muhammadiyah movements in India and Indonesia respectively. It covers three main points: Ahmad Khan's and Ahmad Dahlan's educational philosophy; the educational system of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College (MAOC) and Muhammadiyah schools; and the impact of the educational reforms of the two movements to Muslim education in general in the two countries. As will be explained in this thesis, Ahmad Khan and Ahmad Dahlan were deeply concerned with economic and social problems faced by the Muslims due to colonial policies. Both scholars came to the conviction …  Lire la suite

This investigation is part of a project which was recommended by the Committee on Calorie Conversion Factors and Food Composition Tables of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (1947). One of the aims of the Food and Agriculture Organization is to promote international agreement regarding a common basis for the calculation of the nutritional value of foods. The first consideration has been given to calories.  Lire la suite

The access of commercial farm workers in Zimbabwe to resources such as wages and land has been strongly influenced by the spatial inscriptions of modernity in state administrative practices that emerged along with the international concerns of “development” in the 1940s. Marginalized by the dominant narratives of modernization within colonial development policies that focused on “African peasants” and “urban African workers,” farm workers were officially viewed less as a Government responsibility and more as a domestic responsibility of white farmers. In this thesis, I discuss this form of governance on commercial farms which I call “domestic government” - “domestic” in …  Lire la suite

The Vertical propagation of geostrophic waves is studied by means of time integrations of a spectral baroclinic model of high vertical resolution. The results are compared with the predictions of linear theory and the energy transfers between the propagating wave and the zonal flow are calculated. Short waves are trapped near the bottom of the model, as expected, but planetary waves propagate vertically through both easterly and strong westerly zonal winds. Interaction of the propagating wave with the zonal current produces a high-level wind reversal, in the latter case, analagous to stratospheric sudden warmings.  Lire la suite

Intermediate filaments are fibrous proteins, appearing in a wide variety of tissue specific forms. The function of these proteins is poorly understood, although they are commonly believed to perform a structural role in the cell. Evidence suggests that the role these proteins play may be more dynamic than was previously believed. To gain more insight into their normal in vivo function, a single-chain monoclonal antibody has been constructed to serve as a specific reagent which can disrupt the intermediate filament network in vivo. The work presented in this thesis represents the first step in an approach which involves the use …  Lire la suite

Cette thèse explore l'influence d'Oscar Wilde sur les récits surnaturels britanniques durant la période de "fin de siècle" et au début du vingtième siècle. Soutenant que l'influence de Wilde est évidente dans le topos de l'oeuvre d'art hanté dans les récits surnaturels, la thèse établit d'abord l'importance et la signification de l'œuvre art hanté en relation avec la représentation sociale de Wilde en tant que personnalité culturelle, le roman Le portrait de Dorian Gray, le mouvement du décadentisme ainsi que la conception publique de l'homosexualité masculine qui émerge dans le sillage des procès de Wilde. Les chapitres suivants de la …  Lire la suite

In the summer of 1611, Sir George Carew, the Irish Elizabethan military commander and former president of Munster, was commissioned by the king and his royal council in London to conduct an enquiry into all aspects of the Castle administration. Included in that wide mandate was an investigation into the existing practices and procedures of the Irish exchequer and judiciary, the two most important divisions of the Dublin government. This thesis is concerned with these two aspects of the commission of Sir George Carew. Since it is requisite for an understanding of the terms of reference handed to Sir George …  Lire la suite

Paraskevas, Steven (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

It is only within recent times that any study of boy behaviour from the point of view of its purely social origin has been made. The boy has been studied merely as an individual and little if any emphasis has been given to those many interesting influences which constantly tend to mold his life and develop his character. But we are becoming conscious of the multiplicity of those influences which constantly play on the individual, and what is more significant, we are beginning to recognize the importance of these influences upon intimate behaviour traits. By a concentration of thought upon …  Lire la suite

This thesis will first offer an explanation of what "the cloud" is and why it matters to us. It will also detail some ways in which law can both alleviate and exacerbate problems in the cloud. Subsequent sections will contrast regulation in the United States and Europe, which were selected as examples because of the contrasts they offer. A section on jurisdiction will outline the ways in which cloud providers can be subject to numerous regulatory regimes simultaneously. This section should show how governance of the cloud has necessitated new and permissive theories for the exercise of jurisdiction; what constraints …  Lire la suite

A chemically defined medium was developed which supported good growth of B. sphaericus. The medium contained one amino acid, L-glutamic acid, as organic nitrogen source in addition to basal salts and glucose. In the preparation of cells for growth studies, a diluting fluid was chosen from several investigated which best protected the viability of the cells. Granules containing inorganic polyphosphate were found in the cells during the logarithmic and stationary phases of growth. These structures were isolated with the aid of an alkaline hypochlorite solution. The fatty acids of their lipid fraction were analysed by gas chromatography. The main fatty …  Lire la suite

Carol Dweck's (1988) social-cognitive theory of achievement proposes that individuals will be most likely to pursue challenges and persevere in the face of obstacles if they (a) attribute failures to lack of effort, (b) possess an incremental theory of intelligence, and (c) possess high confidence in their intelligence. A recent study by Breed and Koestner (1991) showed that all 3 of these factors enhanced motivation among 5th and 6th grade children in regular classes. The present study examined the relation of these variables to the motivation of 44 7th, 8th and 9th graders who were classified as learning disabled (LD). …  Lire la suite

Cette thèse décrit la presse clandestine aux États-Unis dès le commencement du mouvement des journaux secrets dans les années 60's jusqu'à sa mort apparente vers le début de la décennie suivante. J'utilise des articles des journaux clandestins aussi bien que des idées et de:; théories littéraires et socio-culturelles pour illustrer l'essence du mouvement et la façon dont il se reflète dans la langue et la littérature des journaux, afin de comprendre son développement rapide et sa disparition évidente au début des années 70's. Je me concentre sur l'idéalisme qui démontre ces journaux clandestins. Par ce terme "l'idéalisme journalistique" je veux …  Lire la suite

Is it possible to correlate the source of an Aerobacter strain with some biochemical property? An answer to this question would be of value in the bacteriological analysis of water and soil for fecal contamination. It would also be valuable in medical bacteriology to differentiate intestinal forms from those derived from soil and water on uncooked foods. At present, water is oondemned by public health authorities on the basis of the presence of any member of the coliform group. Standard Methods (1946) defines the coliform thus; nIt is recommended that the coliform group be considered to include all aerobic and …  Lire la suite

Hermo, Louis S. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Progranulin is a secreted high molecular weight growth factor. While inappropriate over-expression of the progranulin gene has been associated with many cancers, haploinsufficiency leads to atrophy of the frontotemporal lobes and development of a form of dementia (FTLD-U). We have demonstrated that progranulin is abundantly expressed in mouse motor neurons in vivo and primary cultures in vitro. The cellular location of progranulin was examined using confocal microscopy. Progranulin was localised to organelles using immunocytochemistry and by examining the intracellular fate of exogenously expressed flu orescently-labelled progranulin. Taken together these studies revealed progranulin to be located within compartments of the secretory …  Lire la suite

The purpose of this study was to examine the responses of male and female children to musical performance anxiety. Twenty-six sixth-grade piano students (11 male, 15 female) performing in a piano recital served as subjects. Boys' and girls' heart rates, behaviour, performance quality, and anxiety levels were examined for possible differences between the genders. It was found that girls had substantially higher heart rates than boys immediately prior to performing, but that this difference was minimal while performing. Significantly more anxious behaviours were noted for both genders prior to performing than during performing, but boys had significantly more anxious behaviours …  Lire la suite

Durley, R. (Supervisors)  Lire la suite

The following qualitative study explored self-reported iatrogenic effects of intervention with data collected through semi-structured interviews. This small clinical sample consisted of four female adult "survivors" between the age of 34 and 47 who had experienced childhood sexual abuse perpetrated by at least one caregiver. The findings indicated significant iatrogenic effects particularly for the victims who disclosed in childhood that included a strong theme of betrayal by the systems that were supposed to protect them. One woman continued to be sexually abused, while another woman was returned to the home where she had been physically abused, following no intervention and/or …  Lire la suite

Lorenzino, Lisa Marie (Internal/Cosupervisor2)  Lire la suite