McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par R

A complete study of the processes involved in migration would include not only a discussion of the immigrant flow, but also an analysis of the effect on the homeland from which these people were uprooted, and the repercussions in the new land to which they went in search of happiness and economic security. Such a project, while ambitious, is not impossible of accomplishment, and indeed has been attempted by C. H. Young in his study of "The Ukrainian Canadians", and T. C. Blegen in his book, "Norwegian Migration to America 1825-1860." [...]  Lire la suite

The object of this work was the isolation of an estrone conjugate, in a chemically pure form, from human pregnancy urine; and the characterization of this compound by classical procedures. In the course of the investigation, a partial separation of the various estrogen conjugates in pregnancy urine was accomplished through counter current distributions between nor-butanol and alkaline buffers.  Lire la suite

Natalie Stoljar (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

Gold, Ian Jeffrey (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

Asimakopulos, A. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Given their anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory effects, glucocorticoids are frequently administered in high doses as therapy for a variety of ailments including cancer and autoimmune disorders. Unfortunately, the lifesaving benefits of glucocorticoid therapy are offset by grave side-effects that include the development of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) in association with high-dose glucocorticoid administration. Studies into ONFH etiology implicate endothelial cell dysfunction leading to impaired haemostasis, vascular obstruction, and downstream ischemia in the observed tissue necrosis. Endothelial cells play a major role in orchestrating the various factors that regulate haemostasis, maintaining regular blood flow under normal physiological conditions and initiating …  Lire la suite

La grossesse est un processus séquentiel essentiel au cours de la reproduction des mammifères qui comprend l'implantation d'oocytes fécondés, la décidualisation, la placentation et éventuellement la parturition. Tout difficulté pouvant survenir au cours de ces événements peut entraîner des complications de la grossesse chez l'Homme. Celles-ci peuvent se manifester en tant qu’une naissance prématurée, la prééclampsie et un retard de croissance intra-utérine. Bien que de nombreux attributs physiologiques liés à la reproduction féminine aient été étudiés, une grande partie des composants moléculaires et des voies de signalisation impliqués dans ces processus doivent encore être étudiés.Nodal, une protéine sécrétée est membre …  Lire la suite

A laboratory study was conducted to bioremediate a fine textured soil contaminated with diesel. The local microorganisms were stimulated by supplying nutrients with the aid of a water table management system. A fine textured soil, contaminated for more than 20 years, with more than 6500 mg/kg of diesel was packed in fifteen columns, 2 m long and 0.2 m in diameter. Twelve out of fifteen soil columns were subjected to bioremediaton, by supplying nutrients, water and air at desired depths. Three columns were used as a control to monitor passive degradation of contaminant without intervention. The experiment was designed to …  Lire la suite

This thesis examines the relationship between Football Club Barcelona (Barça) and the Catalan nationalist movement. From its creation, Barça has been identified as a Catalan club. This identity took on new meaning during the Franco period when the regime's oppression of Catalan society drove all expressions of Catalan identity out of the public sphere. It was through the club and within the walls of the Camp Nou stadium that Catalunya was able to sustain its identity. The end of the Franco regime has created new opportunities for national expression and political solutions and the forces of globalisation have expanded Barça's …  Lire la suite

It was known since ancient times that one generally becomes immune to certain disease, such as smallpox after the recovery from that disease. The method of artificial immunization was however not known until the end of the 18th century when Jenner showed that the artificial immunity against smallpox could be conferred upon an individual by vaccination with cowpox virus. [...]  Lire la suite

Les conduites en charge sont largement utilisées comme galerie d'amenée pour les centrales hydroélectriques. Historiquement, les conduites en charge non revêtues ont été utilisées par les Norvégiens dans des massifs rocheux de type granitique de bonne à excellente qualité. Cependant, la demande sans cesse croissante pour l'énergie électrique à travers le monde, a conduit l'industrie à développer des sites présentant des conditions géologiques de moins en moins favorables. Trois types de revêtement sont possibles, non revêtus, semi-revêtus et blindés. Même si le massif rocheux est de bonne qualité, insoluble et peu poreux, les sections de galerie non revêtues ne sont …  Lire la suite

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the interplay of exegesis and ideology in the variety of Jewish medieval interpretation to Exodus 33:12-23. This thesis examines the intersection of ideology at three stages of the exegetical process. In the first stage, the commentator singles out "difficulties" in the biblical text. In the second stage, the commentator proposes formal solutions to these textual problems which provide a conceptual framework in which to introduce exegetical content. Finally, there are the actual comments themselves which provide the reservoir of exegetical content from which to glean the ideological tendencies of a particular commentator. …  Lire la suite

The censorship in England traced to the Master of Revels(1377); in France to an ordonnance against jongleurs(789). More arbitrary and traditional in England Patent Theatres' Act, 1843, confirmed the censorship'under the Lord Chamberlain, assisted by a permanent Examiner of Plays Select Committees, 1866 and 1909, reported on censorship. French censure depended on political changes, and was finally abolished in 1906. More persuasive and thorough than the English. The influence of the· stage on public 'morale; evidence showing the French more excitable and amenable to suggestion. [...]  Lire la suite

Proteins comprise approximately 80 per cent of the solid matter of muscle tissue and in the living animal are called upon to perform many varied functions. Proteins are present in muscle tissue which are capable of rapid contraction and relaxation, together with a complex system of enzymes to supply these elements with energy, a surrounding network of connective tissue to bind them into place and to bear the stress of their movements, and an intricate blood supply and nervous system. [...]  Lire la suite

The recent increase in interest in the biology of field crickets has prompted the author to attempt a revision of the subfamily Gryllinae. The description of new species of field crickets has for the past thirty years been based at least in part on the structure of the male genitalia and most of the new species have had at least the epiphallic portion of their genitalia figured. This practice, unfortunately, has not included the type species of the various genera and furthermore has not been universally applied to the genera in the subfamily. The logical beginning for a revision would …  Lire la suite

Mayr, Linsley and Usinger (1953) have defined three levels of taxonomic study; the first or alpha level dealing with the recognition and description of new species, the second or beta level dealing with the arrangements of these described species into the hierarchical system and the third or gamma level dealing with the study of infraspecific variation and the evolution of taxa. It is probably the general rule that, in any one group, progress is made by passing through these various levels in turn as they suggest in the following quotation.  Lire la suite

Le séchage est un procédé largement utilisée dans l'industrie alimentaire pour augmenter la durée de conservation des denrées périssables. Au cour des dernières années, plusieurs techniques permettant de modéliser le séchage ont été étudiées. Parmi ceux-ci, l'un des outils émergents est le réseau de neurones artificiels (RNA). Dans cette étude, différents modèles mathématiques conventionnels, des RNA à action directe (feed-forward, FFN) et des Réseaux récurrents à mémoire à court terme (LSTM), ont été développés et comparer pour décrire la cinétique de séchage de rondelles de cantaloup.Dans un premier temps, des modèles FNN et RNN ont été construits en utilisant 70% …  Lire la suite

In the summer of 1997, 217 fishes of different species (Raja erinacea, R. radiata, R. ocellata, Malacoraja senta, and Squalus acanthias) were collected from the West Isles of the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick. Parasites belonging to 13 species were found: 10 Cestoda; 2 Nematoda; and 1 Acanthocephala. Of the 10 cestodes, five are described as new species. The remaining five re-described in detail and compared to similar worms reported in the literature. None of the eight tetraphyllidean cestodes was found in more than one host species, thereby supporting current dogma that the Tetraphyllidea are species specific with respect to …  Lire la suite

Depuis la légalisation du cannabis récréatif en 2018, son utilisation chez les Canadiennes est passée de 18 % avant la légalisation à 22 % en 2021. Les composants du cannabis sont appelés phytocannabinoïdes, dont le tétrahydrocannabinol (THC) se lie aux isoformes des récepteurs cannabinoïdes, CNR1 et CNR2. Étant donné que ces deux récepteurs ont été trouvés dans les organes reproducteurs, l'augmentation continue de la consommation de cannabis soulève des inquiétudes quant à ses effets potentiels sur le système reproducteur féminin. Cependant, peu de choses ont été explorées en termes de leurs rôles dans les fonctions ovariennes. Les objectifs de cette …  Lire la suite

E2F1 est un facteur de transcription nécessaire pour la régulation de la progression et des points de contrôle du cycle cellulaire. La Drosophile melanogaster possède un gène activateur e2f, mais deux isoformes protéiques produites par épissage alternatif, e2f1a et e2f1b. La seule différence de séquence entre e2f1a et e2f1b est un micro exon (appelé 3b) dans le domaine de la boîte marquée qui est unique à l'isoforme e2f1b. Malgré des études antérieures montrant que E2F1b joue un rôle unique lors du développement de tissus polyploïdes tels que la glande salivaire, le mécanisme par lequel l'épissage du micro exon 3b est …  Lire la suite

The development of reflexive and voluntary shifts of visual attention, as well as relations between the two forms of shifting was examined in three groups of children (5-, 7-, and 9-years-old), one group of young adults (24-years-old), and two groups of senior adults (young seniors: 69-years-old, old seniors: 81-years-old). The task entailed the detection and response to the presentation of a target (black dot) in one of four possible locations in the visual field. The dependent measure was reaction time (RT). The extent to which flash cues facilitated or inhibited reflexive orienting was determined through presentation of nonpredictive abrupt onset …  Lire la suite

A forced-choice reaction time (RT) task was used to examine the relations between covert orienting (shifts of visual attention independent of eye movement) and filtering (the inhibition of processing of irrelevant stimuli) components of attention in persons with Down syndrome (n = 17) and children of average intelligence (n = 17) matched for mental age (MA), (MA = approximately 5 years). Conditions varied with regard to presence or absence of distractors, and the validity (valid, invalid, or neutral) of location cues. RT/p(correct) scores of both groups were longer in distractor-present conditions and in conditions when the location cue provided incorrect …  Lire la suite

We must always carefully distinguish between the explanation of the existence of interest and the condemnation of, or apology for, interest. In this thesis I shall try to isolate the explanations of the nature and origin of interest, according to the various theories, from the answers to the subsidiary questions: Ought interest to exist at all? (a) If not, can we abolish it, and how? (b) If so, what is the proper policy that statesmen should have in regard to interest on capital? [...]  Lire la suite

Les ecto-nucléotidases / pyrophosphatases (ENPP) 3 et 5 participent à l'hydrolyse des nucléotides extracellulaires et jouent un rôle important dans la signalisation purinergique. Ces protéines sont des modulateurs pour les récepteurs purinergiques en hydrolysant leurs substrats, principalement l'ATP et en générant des nucléosides extracellulaires. L'implication de l'ENPP3 dans la suppression de l'inflammation allergique chronique dans les cellules immunitaires en fait une cible thérapeutique intéressante. Nous avons déterminé la structure de l'ENPP3 en complexe avec AMP, en montrant les résidus impliqués dans la reconnaissance du substrat, et en soutenant le mécanisme de catalyse déterminé précédemment. Nous proposons également une structure à …  Lire la suite

Nathan Hall (Supervisor2)  Lire la suite

The aortic valve is a complex and dynamic structure, which, with age, degenerative disease, or genetic abnormality, can become pathological and cease to function as in its natural state. A particularly prevailing disease of the aortic valve occurs when the valve becomes abnormally dilated, and regurgitation, or backflow of blood occurs. When this condition becomes severe and is accompanied by debilitating clinical manifestations, the standard procedure has been to replace the entire aortic root and valve with a composite valve graft incorporating either a mechanical or a bioprosthetic valve, during a type of surgery known as the Bentall procedure. However, …  Lire la suite

Rougnon, a French physician published the first case in 1768, (164), and Heberden, an English physician, in the same year gave the name angina pertoris to the clinical state of coronary ischaemia.(87). Since then many authors have concerned themselves with the nature of the disease while the treatment concerned Duchenne (55) and the rest as early as 1855. At the present time the terms atherosclerosis and occlusive vascular disease of the coronary arteries are synonymously used in the consideration of ischaemic heart disease.  Lire la suite

The potential of hot water dipping, vapour heating or ultraviolet irradiation to eliminate the use of chemicals for control of sprouting and post-harvest diseases of the potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) was examined. The microorganisms on which these treatments were tested were the fungal dry rot (Fusarium solani) and the bacterial soft rot (Erwinia carotovora pv. carotovora), two major post-harvest pathogens of potatoes. The study focused on short-term storage (three months) at 8$ sp circ$C or 18$ sp circ$C, which are representative of storage temperatures used by producers in northern temperate and semi-arid tropical regions, respectively. Response surface methodology was used …  Lire la suite

La conception de systèmes cyber-physiques complexes tels que les turbines à gaz aéro-dérivées (AGT) chez Siemens Canada, nécessite l'exécution de flux de travaux multidisciplinaires dans lesquels des outils d'analyse intensifs en calcul sont exécutés. Un cadre d'intégration d'outils basé sur le flux de travail facilite le chaînage des outils dans le flux de travail, minimise le transfert et la conversion de données et permet l'appel automatique d'outils à l'aide de connecteurs d'outils.Le cadre d'intégration d'outils existant à Siemens Canada nécessite l'exécution locale des outils d'analyse, ce qui se traduit par des performances limitées pour des analyses complexes en raison des …  Lire la suite

Rosenblatt, David (Advisor)  Lire la suite

Henderson, Janet (Internal/Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Les neurones développent leurs axones et leurs dendrites vers des régions où ils trouvent des centaines de partenaires synaptiques potentiels mais ne se connectent qu'à quelques privilégiés. Cette sélectivité est essentielle pour établir des motifs de connexion fonctionnels, mais la façon dont se produisent est encore inconnue. Dans la rétine, un neuropile spécialisé appelé couche de plexiforme interne (CPI) organise les neurites de ~ 40 types de cellules ganglionnaires (CG) et leurs ~ 100 types d'interneurones constituent leurs entré d’information neuronale. Le CPI est une structure à 5 couches, où chaque couche est enrichie pour certaines pairs d’interneurone-CG. Cette organisation …  Lire la suite

L’assemblage des circuits rétiniens est essentiel à la vision, et les conditions pathologiques peuvent les perturber de différentes manières. Dans cette thèse, j’ai exploré trois aspects fondamentaux des circuits rétiniens: 1) les mécanismes moléculaires qui guident leur formation, en particulier le rôle des cadhérines (Cdhs) qui dirigent les cellules ganglionnaires de la rétine (CGR) à former des synapses avec les interneurones rétiniens; 2) le devenir du message rétinien, en étudiant comment les signaux spécifiques des CGR sont traités en aval dans le noyau géniculé latéral dorsal du thalamus (dLGN); 3) l’impact des maladies sur la fonction rétinienne, notamment comment le …  Lire la suite

Joos, Geza (Internal/Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Zuijdwijk, Ton (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Aerosols interact with clouds and affect climate through absorption and scattering of radiation. However, aerosol-cloud interactions are complex, making radiative forcing predictions hard to calculate accurately. The most important uncertainty is the role of aerosols in the formation and dissipation of clouds, which are controlled by nucleation processes. In the lower troposphere, ice and mix-phase clouds are common. In these types of clouds, ice formation is primarily catalyzed by aerosols through heterogeneous ice nucleation. The conditions at which this process occurs depends on the properties of aerosols. Some aerosols are more efficient than other, but due to the complexity of …  Lire la suite

This thesis demonstrates how tidal changes in the availability of intertidal zone habitats can affect the distribution and behaviour of juvenile pollock (Pollachius virens). Schools of pollock moved from the subtidal zone to the open habitat in the intertidal zone. On rising tides, pollock switched from the open habitat at low tidal stages to the dense algal habitat at high tidal stages. On falling tides, pollock rapidly schooled downshore in the open habitat. Pollock were rarely solitary in the open habitat and usually formed large schools. In the algal habitats, pollock were usually dispersed and preferred the dense algae over …  Lire la suite

In this study, the feasibility of using laccase from Trametes versicolor to catalyze the oxidation of aqueous phenolic substrates at initial concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 50 micromolar was assessed. In particular, the oxidation of substrates of environmental concern including phenol, estradiol, cumylphenol and triclosan was tested experimentally over a wide range of initial concentrations, enzyme concentrations and as a function of time. Moreover, to provide a means for predicting the kinetics of reactions of such substrates at low concentrations, a semi-empirical kinetic model was developed based on the known reactions of the catalytic cycle of laccase. This model accounted …  Lire la suite

Many forms of cancer express activated Stat3, a pleiotropic transcription factor that is implicated in pro-tumourigenic signaling in a variety of cancer cell lines, revealing that it may be important for tumour onset, progression, and malignancy. Yet, the role of Stat3 in the context of tumourigenesis in vivo is still unclear. Downstream of an activated form of ErbB2, we have demonstrated that Stat3 is dispensable for in vivo tumour initiation but is crucial for metastasis. Conversely, the loss of Stat3 in a novel inducible model of PyVMT-driven tumourigenesis revealed that Stat3 is necessary for tumour initiation downstream of this oncogene …  Lire la suite