McGill University Thèses et mémoires par auteur commençant par É

Jordan, Steve (Supervisor2)  Lire la suite

A detailed theoretical study for the operation of the surface-acoustic-wave diode storage correlator is presented. A circuit model describing the device is developed which is used to analyze the signal storage characteristics and the different read-out modes of operation for both p-n and Schottky diode structures. The calculated predictions of the proposed theory are in excellent agreement with experimental data published by independent researchers. The theory presented is self consistent and takes into account, for the first time, the minority carrier lifetime in the dynamics of charging the p-n diode structures which was neglected in previous theories. A straightforward transmission …  Lire la suite

This thesis establishes a framework for analysing and evaluating human rights within the contexts of global, African-Islamic and Sudanese cultural diversity. The normative impact of culture on international human rights is viewed from the perspective that culture is adaptive and flexible. African-lslamic culture, as exemplified by the Sudan, is no exception. The first part of this thesis advances a theoretical framework for recognition of cultural diversity and its impact on human rights. Recognition of change as an integral part of culture is vital for a successful mobilisation of internal cultural norms to the support of international human rights. An important …  Lire la suite

Nanoindentation à l'échelle nanométrique: effet de pénétrateurs très pointus sur l'adhésion, la plasticité et le transport électronique.Les propriétés mécaniques de volumes à l'échelle nanométrique ont été étudiées expérimentalement par indentation de pénétrateurs pointus de W(111) de rayons de courbure de 3.6nm, 6.1nm et 8.5nm, dans des surfaces propres et recuites d'or Au(111). Les expériences ont été menées à température ambiante et sous Ultra Haut Vide (UHV). Les pointes ont été caractérisées à l'échelle atomique in situ par microscopie à champ ionique (FIM), et les surfaces d'or ont été nettoyées par bombardement ionique, recuites, et caractérisées chimiquement par spectroscopie Auger (AES) …  Lire la suite

Information on the variations of rainfall in space and time is essential for the design and management of different water resources systems. This thesis proposed a new stochastic model (referred herein as the MCME model) that is able to capture accurately the statistical properties of the observed daily precipitation process for the current and future climates under different climate change scenarios. The MCME model consists of two components: (i) the first component representing the daily precipitation occurrence process based on the first-order two-state Markov Chain (MC); and (ii) the second component describing the distribution of daily precipitation amounts using the …  Lire la suite

Daniel, Sam Joseph (Internal/Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Les matériaux cellulaires périodiques, aussi connus sous le nom de matériaux réseaux, sont constitués d'un grand nombre d'éléments de micro-treillis réticulés qui sont assemblés de manière périodique ; ils sont construits en assemblant un grand nombre de cellules composées d'un petit nombre d'éléments pour former un pavé dont la périodicité peut être infinie. Les matériaux réseaux servent à modifier les propriétés des matériaux solides qui les constituent selon la topologie des cellules ou la densité relative, . Le développement des matériaux réseaux permet d'élargir la gamme de matériaux pouvant servir dans la conception d'applications avancées.Les progrès récents dans cette nouvelle …  Lire la suite

Photonics is a technology capable of supporting very high bit-rates of data. However, with the current state of photonic technologies logic and memory functions are very difficult to implement in the photonic domain. In photonic star networks using time division multiplexing (such as the Agile All Photonic Network), timeslots from the edges of the network have to arrive at the star point at exactly the same instant to be switched because they cannot be buffered in the photonic domain. The switching requires that the time at which the timeslots are transmitted must be coordinated and tightly controlled. This thesis addresses …  Lire la suite

Marina B Klein (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

Contexte Les personnes qui recherchent des informations par procuration sont celles qui, de manière informelle, recherchent des informations au nom ou à cause d'autres personnes sans qu'on leur demande nécessairement de le faire. Les gens qui recherchent des informations par procuration (agents mandataires) dans l’entourage d'une personne peuvent l'aider à surmonter les obstacles à la recherche d'informations et les difficultés liées à la maladie. Cependant, on sait peu de choses sur le contexte, l'utilisation et les effets des recherches d'informations web trouvées par procuration. Objectifs Les objectifs sont les suivants : (a) développer et valider un modèle théorique expliquant ces …  Lire la suite

Pluye, Pierre (Internal/Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Sharf, Inna (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

Les drones sont sujets à des accidents et des collisions avec des objets dans un environnement urbain tels que les immeubles, les lignes électriques, des pôles et des clôtures. Durant une collision, il y a de fortes chances qu’un des propulseurs du véhicule soit endommagé, résultant dans une défectuosité du cycle de contrôle principal et causant la destruction du drone. La thèse présentée gère la récupération du contrôle de vol lorsque le drone entre en collision avec des obstacles solide et perd un des propulseurs. Dans un tel scénario, il est directement en lien avec des drones volant dans un …  Lire la suite

Code review is a well-established software quality practice where developers critique each others’ changes. A shift towards automated detection of low-level issues (e.g., integration with linters) has, in theory, freed reviewers up to focus on higher level issues, such as software design. Yet in practice, little is known about the extent to which design is discussed during code review. To bridge this gap, in this thesis, we set out to study the frequency and nature of design discussions in code reviews. We first perform an empirical study on the code reviews of the OpenStack Nova (provisioning management) and Neutron (networking …  Lire la suite

This thesis will study the development of the Palestinian women's movement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip from the Mandate period (1920) to the outbreak of the Al Aqsa Intifada (2000). This work will attempt to outline the evolution of this movement and the impact of two factors that have significantly affected the form and course of its development; the first of which and the principal force is Palestinian Nationalism; the second is Islamism. Nationalism and Islamism are presented here as two formations that functioned separately and in conjunction to present impediments to the ability of an independent Palestinian …  Lire la suite

Effluents are neutralized with lime forming a voluminous waste sludge which may slowly redissolve in groundwater. This sludge may also be a significant secondary metal source. The present research aims to develop a concept for metals removal and recovery using stabilized colloidal suspensions of activated silica sol, which acts as a neutralizing agent and an adsorption medium. Silica sol was prepared by firstly acidifying a sodium silicate solution to initiate polymerization, which would ultimately yield a gel. Polymerization was then arrested before gelation by water dilution giving a stabilized, negatively charged sol. Adsorption and precipitation were distinguished by comparing the …  Lire la suite

A comparison of hafnium solvent extraction from hydrochloric acid solutions using either Cyanex 923 or 925 (organic extractants) diluted in kerosene was established. Since understanding of the hafnium-hydrochloric acid solution is important, development of a speciation diagram for such a solution was carried out. While both Cyanex 923 and 925 are mixtures of trialkyl phosphine oxides, the trialkyl group in the former have straight chains, while those in the latter have branched chains. Experimentally, the major variables studied were hydrochloric acid, hafnium and Cyanex concentrations. Hafnium is rapidly loaded as the tetrachloride complex by a solvation reaction forming a disolvate …  Lire la suite

In wireless communication, it is possible to achieve high level of security by exploiting the random characteristics of wireless channels and the transmitted signal structure. Thus, applying security at physical layer gained much attention since this randomness can be utilized to provide infinite set of secret keys; unlike cryptographic techniques that are applied at the network layer and are limited by the finite set of available keys. Not only this, but also the emerging types of networks pose restrictions on applying security at higher level due to the light computational abilities of the devices used such as sensors, radio-frequency identification …  Lire la suite

Champness, Professor C.H.  Lire la suite

Steel slag is a major by-product of the steel industry, with a production of nearly 300 kg for every tonne of steel produced. It has been conventionally used as an aggregate in road base construction, but this use has been limited due to the high free lime content, which causes volume expansion problems. This thesis explores the feasibility of using CO2 activation to eliminate free lime and develop strength for a steel slag-based building product. The CO2 activated steel slag has the potential to be used as cementing material to replace Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and to sequester carbon dioxide …  Lire la suite

Quantitative determinations were made, by a newly developed method, of p-coumaric, ferulic, sinapic, p-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic and syringic acids which occur as alkali-hydrolyzable derivatives in ethanolic extracts and in ethanol-insoluble residues of wheat tissues. Changes in the ethanol-soluble and ethanol-insoluble derivatives of these acids during growth and development were determined. A new phenolic acid, orthoferulic acid, was isolated from wheat. C14-labeled compounds were administered to wheat shoots and their incorporation into lignin and into hydroxycinnamic acids was measured. Labeled CO2, phenylalanine or tyrosine were incorporated more readily into the insoluble derivatives of hydroxycinnamic acids than into ethanol-soluble derivatives whereas the reverse …  Lire la suite

Atherosclerosis is a complex disease which develops silently over decades and can lead to acute myocardial infarction or stroke, the main cause of death worldwide. Apoliporotein E (apo E) is a glycoprotein known for its major role in lipid metabolism and its pro-atherogenic effects. Swine make a unique and viable research model as it shares most of the anatomic and physiologic characteristics with humans, notably for the the cardiovascular system. In addition, it is the only animal species, other than nonhuman primates, that develops atherosclerosis spontaneously. In this study we examined the feasibility for creating an apo E-deficient pig model …  Lire la suite

Starke-Meyerring, Doreen (Supervisor2)  Lire la suite

Clarke, P.B.S. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

De-inking sludge generated from pulp and paper industry is considered hazardous since it may contain heavy metals such as Cd, Cr, and Pb. Hence, the de-inking sludge needs to be treated before being disposed of. Sludge combustion is a proven disposal technology, which generates fly ash containing a portion of the heavy metals that may leach out under uncontrolled conditions. The aim of this thesis is to implement a new multi-zone temperature combustion technique (Low-High-Low temperature combustion, LHL) to help contain and immobilize the heavy metals within fly ash particles. During the LHL, the waste will be initially fed into …  Lire la suite

The present experiments were carried out to test the hypothesis that NC is involved in nicotinic receptor mediated muscle cell degeneration. As a model to study nicotinic receptor mediated myopathy, neonatal skeletal muscle cultures prepared from one day old Sprague-Dawley pups were used. Skeletal muscle cultures were exposed to different concentrations of nicotine. The results demonstrate a significant dose dependent decrease in the number of muscle branch points with increasing nicotine concentrations. The degenerative effect(s) of nicotine were prevented by preincubating the muscle cultures with d-tubocurarine, a nicotinic receptor blocker, suggesting that the effects of nicotine are receptor mediated. Experiments …  Lire la suite

The effects of deep fat frying and oven baking on mass transfer (moisture loss and oil uptake), color and textural characteristics of chicken nuggets were studied. Deep fat frying was performed at three oil temperatures, namely 150, 170 and 190°C. The frying times were 1, 2, 3 and 4 min. Oven baking was accomplished at three temperature levels: 200, 220, and 240°C, and the baking times were 10, 15, 20 and 25 min. Moisture content of the breading portion of the fried chicken nuggets decreased following a typical drying curve and ranged from 0.90 to 0.22 g/g (db), while the …  Lire la suite

Hussain, S. N. A. (Supervisor)  Lire la suite

Periodic structures play an important role in engineering since they allow the manipulation of the electromagnetic properties of certain materials. To design such structures and investigate their different properties, it is essential to use simulation techniques. Among the various methods that have been used traditionally, the finite element method offers great advantages. In this thesis, a three dimensional finite element method is used to obtain the band diagrams of periodic structures; hierarchal higher-order elements are employed, thereby opening up the possibility of goal oriented h-p adaptivity. The computed dispersion curves for doubly-periodic and triply-periodic metallic structures are presented and compared …  Lire la suite

Climatic loads (wind speed and ice accumulation) are the main factors that govern the planning and design of telecommunication towers and electric transmission lines. Whilst wind loads are covered comprehensively in the literature and in design standards, ice loads and rules for combination of wind speed on ice-covered-structures are still in development. The main difficulty in achieving a design that meets a target reliability level as specified in design codes is the uncertainty in the temporal and spatial variation of ice accretion. Due to the lack of sufficient direct field measurements, empirical models are usually utilized in combination with meteorological …  Lire la suite

The phonotactic steering behavior of tethered flying crickets (Teleogryllus oceanicus) was examined as a measure of the insect's attraction to temporal patterns of calling song at different frequencies and intensities. A stimulus with a 5 kHz carrier becomes less attractive the further its pulse repetition rate deviates from 16 pulses/s. Increasing the intensity increases selectivity for temporal pattern. At sufficiently high intensity level crickets cease to respond to stimuli with altered temporal patterns. High frequency neurons were suspected to be behind cessation of responsiveness to stimuli with altered temporal features. This hypothesis predicts that the effect on selectivity of increasing …  Lire la suite

The recent trend towards increasing the operating frequency of integrated analog processors while lowering the supply voltages results in a serious reduction of the dynamic range of the signals. To cope with those conditions, a new signal processing scheme has recently emerged known as "log-domain signal processing". Circuit realizations based on this scheme operate in current-mode and therefore have potential for high-frequency as well as low-voltage applications. This thesis proposes a versatile log-domain integrator structure which enables the synthesis of arbitrary and general filter topologies. The structure is verified through detailed mathematical analysis of two examples: The first one is …  Lire la suite

To overcome the limitations that accompanied traditional transgenesis using pronuclear injections, multiple methods have been employed to target a single copy of a transgenic sequence to a chosen location in the genome. One of which is the introduction of a construct as a single copy, in a known orientation, upstream of the hprt (hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase) gene. The present study is designed to characterize the influence this locus could impose on the expression capability of the docked sequence. Consistent ectopic expression of reporter constructs bearing different Myelin Basic Protein (mbp) regulatory elements and docked at the hprt locus was noted …  Lire la suite

The aim of this study is to compare, with regard to volume maintenance and viability of the grafted bone, three different types of autogenous bone grafts. The three types of autografts with different embryonic origin and cellularity are; cancellous endochondral, cortical endochondral and cortical membranous bone. The endochondral bone was harvested from the ilium and the membranous bone from the cranium, of New Zealand White rabbits. The grafts were applied to the mandible in an onlay fashion and were stabilized by a titanium mesh. The control group consisted of a blood clot under the titanium mesh. Micro CT and histologic …  Lire la suite

The study objectives were to: (1) assess fetal exposure to oxidative stress by measuring amniotic fluid concentrations of nitric oxide (NO), thiobarbituric acid--reactive substances (TBARS), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and (2) establish whether these concentrations were associated with infant birth weight, gestational age, or oxidative stress-related conditions arising during pregnancy. Frozen amniotic fluid samples were obtained from 654 mothers undergoing amniocentesis for genetic testing during second trimester in Montreal, QC, Canada. Maternal and neonatal characteristics were collected from medical charts and questionnaires and exclusion criteria were applied. ANOVAs and multivariate regression analyses showed that NO, which differed among …  Lire la suite

Static and dynamic carbonation curing at early age was developed for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and Portland limestone cement (PLC) concrete masonry units (CMU) production. It is intended to replace conventional steam curing, improve the CMU performance, reduce energy consumption, and permanently sequester carbon dioxide in concrete. Concrete slabs representing the face shell of a 20-cm CMU as well as full sized CMU were used throughout the carbonation process. In static carbonation, it was found that initial air curing was vital to maximize carbonation reaction. After a procedure of casting, air curing, carbonation curing, and water compensation in subsequent hydration, …  Lire la suite

Faced with the twin challenges of food security and environmental protection, given the energy resource scarcity, agriculture needs to develop production systems that are highly productive, economically viable and environmentally sound. In this regard, several production systems have been recently developed. All of them share the general objective of using less energy per unit of output. The focus of this study for red pepper, is to examine the environmental performance of a plasticulture system compared to a conventional system in terms of: (1) energy inputs per unit of output; and (2) cost per unit of output. Energy analysis was performed …  Lire la suite

Signals from the extracellular matrix (ECM), mediated by integrins, play critical roles in regulating gene expression, differentiation, function, and survival of osteoblasts. Following engagement with the ECM, integrin receptors signal via multiple downstream effectors, including the Integrin-Linked Kinase (ILK). The net effect of stimulating the ILK signaling cascade is to modulate gene transcription: ILK-dependent phosphorylation of the cJun transcriptional coactivator, aNAC, induces the nuclear accumulation of the coactivator and potentiates c-Jun-dependent transcription. In order to determine the role of ILK in osteoblasts, we first inactivated ILK using RNA knockdown in osteoblastic cells. In parallel, we engineered mice with specific inactivation …  Lire la suite

Pause, Arnim (Supervisor1)  Lire la suite

Cette thèse révise les procédés de transfer et d'absorbtion d'énergie causés par l'interaction des photons avec la matière en accordant une attention toute particulière aux calculs du coefficient de transfert d'énergie massique et du coefficient d'absorbtion d'énergeie massique. Les concepts définissant ces coefficients son déjà bien établis, mais ils ne proposent pas une excellente comprehension des quantités dosimétriques reliées au transfert et à l'absorbtion d'énergie de même qu'à la relation existant entre l'énergie photonique et le numéro atomique absorbé. Une approche nouvelle et visuellement coherente est proposée afin de metre en lumière une relation fonctionnelle entre ces quantités et ces …  Lire la suite

This thesis reports on research, performed at McGill University, on the experimental responses of four deep beams forming part of a larger research program involving eight deep beams. The other four beams are reported by BouSaleh (2006). The beams reported in this thesis were tested in an attempt to obtain crushing at the support nodal zones through the provisions of inadequate bearing area for beams with different tension tie anchorage details. In order to study the influence of different anchorages of the main tension tie, the beams were designed with the same strut-and-tie model in accordance with the CSA Standard …  Lire la suite

This thesis introduces active database concepts to a relational database system. Event handlers are introduced as user defined procedures. An event is the procedure call by the system, triggered in our case by an update statement. Event handlers for the Relix (Relational database on UNIX) update statement have been implemented. These event handlers are of two types: the first type is that which runs before an update statement. The second type runs after an update statement. Also, event handlers have states. An event handler can be either active or inactive. Event handlers are executed when they are in the active …  Lire la suite

The complexes CpRu(PPh$ sb3)$(L)SR (Cp=$ eta sp5$-cyclopentadienyl; R=CMe$ sb3,$ CHMe$ sb2,$ 4-$ rm C sb6H sb4Me)$ reacted with NOBF$ sb4$ to give either (CpRu(PPh$ sb3)$(NO)SR) BF$ sb4$ (L=PPh$ sb3)$ or complexes containing disulfide ligands (L=CO). The bisphosphine complexes, CpRu(PPh$ sb3) sb2$SR, reacted with HBF$ sb4$ to give the corresponding thiol complex salts (CpRu(PPh$ sb3) sb2$(HSR)) BF$ sb4$ and with (MeSSME$ rm sb2 rbrack BF sb4$ to give (CpRu(PPh$ sb3) sb2$(SMe$ sb2)$) BF$ sb4$ regardless of the starting thiolates. The complexes CpRu(PPh$ sb3) sb2$SR reacted with the sulfur transfer agent MeSphth (phth=phthalimido) to give CpRu (PPh$ sb3) sb2$(phth) and the dimers …  Lire la suite