Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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This collections holds all University of Saskatchewan graduate level electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) published since 2005. More than 700 print theses published before 2005 have been digitized and added to the collection as well.

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ROBUST FRAME SYNCHRONIZATION FOR NOISY PCM SYSTEMS
(0003) Pan, Si Ming; Dodds, D. E.
Serial digital transmission requires reliable frame synchronization at the receiver in order to demultiplex and recover the transmitted signals. This thesis proposes a faster and more robust technique for detecting frame synchronization. A large serial memory is used to store sufficient history to improve the performance of a framing system. An automatic testing method has been developed which measures the means, variances and probability distributions of the acquisition and maintenance times. These performance tests show that the new technique improves reframe time by a factor of 10 when compared with standard methods. The tests also show a factor of 1000 improvement in "in frame" maintenance time when the system is used on a noisy channel.
Responsible government and the Metcalfe Crisis
(1914) Weir, George M.
The aim of the present thesis is to trace the political development of the Province of Canada during the period beginning with Lord Sydenham's tenure of office and terminated by the famous Metcalfe Crisis. The fifteen years, from 1839 to 1854, are of outstanding significance to the student of Canadian constitutional and political history in that they comprise what might be named the Responsible Government epoch. During this period the forces of political evolution in the Province, which were rapidly emerging into prominence, became manifest chiefly in the transformation of the great bulk of power previously exercised by the Governor, and in the gradual absorption of this power by the various members of a responsible Canadian administration. Two epoch-making events stand out conspicuously during this process: the Metcalfe Crisis, our chief subject of investigation, which marks the culmination of the resistance offered by the Governor; and those incidents connected with Lord Elgin's ratification of the Rebellion Losses Bill in 1849, which have been described as designating "the keystone in the arch of responsible government."
The law of employers liability and Workmen's Compensation in Canada
(1915) Weir, John Alexander
Special work in Economics
Cereal Rusts : 1916
(1916) Henry, Arthur Wellesley
The summer of 1916 will live in the memories of the people of Western Canada and the U.S.A. as one of the most severe ever experienced, from the standpoint of damage to cereal crops, wrought by rust. Coming at such a critical period in the history of the world, this disaster has had a national importance that as yet, is probably underestimated. Its ravages have been widespread, especially in the spring wheat sections of North America, and its virulence enhanced by the favorable season, has demonstrated once more the dreaded possibilities of the disease, when the proper environment for its maximum development is provided by Nature. Besides giving the farmer an ocular demonstration of the difficulties presented in combating such a pest, this epidemic has served to emphasize some outstanding features of the disease in relation to cultivated crops, which in turn have suggested and confirmed a few practical and feasible means of control. It is to be helped that the improvements in grain production resulting in lessons learned at this time will counterbalance several times over the actual loss sustained in the deficiency of grain production this one season.
Status of Saskatchewan Livestock Industry
(1920-04) Kirkpatrick, Walter L.
In reviewing the live-stock situation, not withstanding its difficulties there is reason for continued hope and confidence in its future for Saskatchewan. The animal husbandry man is putting his work into a permanent system of agriculture over a longer period than the exclusive grain-grower. His aim is to maintain the fertility of the soil of which he is a steward for the time in which he holds possession and there is interest and variety in the management of such a big problem. Just how to maintain the right balance between grain and livestock on the typical prairie farm is a question worth considering carefully at the present time and it is to be hoped that it will receive the consideration by our farmers that such an important economic problem deserves.
A study of economic and social life in the Ethelton district
(1921) Coates, Walter George
The aim of this dissertation is a study of rural social problems by examining general principles in their application to a definite local situation. Nothing of the kind has been done in this Province, so far as can be ascertained, except for a very detailed statistical survey made by Rev. J. M. Singleton, B.A. of Blaine Lake which accumulated figures rather than facts and simply provided data for such a study as is here proposed. But while local conditions have received little attention the general provincial situation has not been neglected. Business institutions, Farmers' organizations and a very sympathetic Provincial Government have collected, classified and disseminated information on many subjects of value to the rural community - but always in the broadest and most general terms. Our province however has such a wide area and variety of soil, climate and population that conditions which prevail in one district may be directly reversed in the experience of people elsewhere. We shall therefore take the district of Ethelton and see how general agricultural problems of Saskatchewan can be dealt with there.
[An embryological study of the gopher (Citillus richardsonii)]
(1922-04) McNeill, Archie Kitchener; Cameron, A. E.
The thesis is divided into four parts; 1.The implantation of the blastodermic vesicle, 2.The method of amnion formation in Citillus, 3.The anatomy and foetal membranes of a 25 mm. embryo, 4.The brain of a 9 mm. foetus.
Rye Production, With Special Reference to Saskatchewan
(1922-04) Allen, William
To control weeds we have no other crop nearly as effective as is rye. As a frost-proof cereal rye has no equal. The general interest taken in rye by prairie authorities of high repute, on the grounds already advanced, can have only one lesson to teach, viz:- "That the production of Rye under prairie conditions is possible, advisable, and profitable." The increasing interest, and the satisfactory results obtained, far exceed any disadvantages which may attend it, and a sane introduction of rye on many farms may provide to be the best thing possible for the finnancial and agricultural salvation of the prairie farmer.
A study of Chateaubriand's Atala with special reference to its American sources
(1924) Lawson, Florence Mildred
This is Atala, a tale which, according to Chateaubriand, "sort de toutes les routes connues , et qui présente une nature et des moeurs tout à fait étrangères à l’Europe.” Chateaubriand might better have said that he had followed certain well known roads, but that he had followed them further than those who had marked them out. It has been definitely proved, as we shall show, that he found his idealized and romantic conception of the American Indian in the writings of a comparatively, small group of writers. But it is not enough to say that he owes a debt to these writers only, for they themselves, in many instances, had obtained their information from earlier writers. Careful perusal of previous works reveals the fact that some of these widely acclaimed authorities have been mere compilers or have written supposedly original works, which in truth owe their importance to wholesale borrowing. Thus a study of the source of Chateaubriand’s inspiration takes us back to the first writings following the discovery of the New World.
Actions of alkali on concrete
(1924) Harris, Rae Hudson
The research problem which was chosen is closely connected with a question which is of wide-spread importance to the prairie provinces of Canada, and to the corresponding states lying south of the international boundary, the question of the so-called "Actions of Alkali on Concrete". It has been proved beyond doubt that those regions of the Western plains having a poor rainfall coupled with bad drainage have extraordinary amounts of soluble salts present in the soil. The difficulties which engineers have encountered in the dry belt of Western Canada and the Western states have, in some cases, proved well-nigh insurmountable, and have resulted in bringing this problem before both scientists and the public, in a very striking manner. Alternately titled The action of sulphate solutions on Portland cement.
Studies in embryology of the Felis domestica
(1924) Hughes, Winifred; Cameron, A. E.
The following account is a description of various observations made during a study of Reproduction in the Domestic Cat. It includes the development of the embryo and foetus, the embryonic membrane and appendages, and also the character of the maternal reproductive organs at various stages of pregnancy. Although these investigations have produced by no means a complete history of any of the structures mentioned, the material obtained was sufficient to enable the writer to state the general facts of this particular type of mammalian reproduction, and to make comparisons with other types which have been more carefully investigated. The cat is so common an animal, and its material so easy to handle, that one would expect all work in this direction to have been carried to completion. This does not seem to be the case, however. Knowledge of the subject is fragmentary and incomplete; and several points have arisen even in this brief study which indicate that the cat might hold a place of considerable importance from a standpoint of comparative embryology.
Electro-endosmosis across cement membranes
(1924-04) Taylor, Francis Henry Laskey
Studies on a Foot-rot of Cereals Caused by Helminthosporium sativum P., K., & B.
(1925-06) Machacek, J.E.
This disease appears to be relatively new to science although it is probable that it has existed, without recognition, for a considerable length of time. At first, attention was drawn to only the leaf spotting phase of the disease, when Pammel (19) in 1909 first referred to it. In 1910, Pammel and his co-workers (20) described the causal fungus, naming it Helminthosporium sativum. Bolley (5), however, was the first to point out that fungi such as this were present in soil, and tended to accumulate in wheat-sick soils following a period of intensive cropping. This observation was confirmed by Beckwith (4). Stakman (23) found that li. sativum attacked not only the leaves but also the stems and roots of barley and rye, causing a seedling blight and a root rot. She found the fungus would attack the leaves of certain grasses as well. The studies of Christensen (6) showed that li. sativum had a much wider host range than that formerly recognized and there were marked differences in varietal susceptibility to attack. Henry (13) found that li. sativum commonly occurred in discolored seed of wheat.
Views of Annexation of the North West Territories and Rupert's Land to Canada
(1929-09) Lee, Mary MacGillivray
It will be our endeavour to show that the acquisition of Rupert's Land and the North-West by the Dominion of Canada was not a fortunate after-thought of Confederation, but that there were men who recognized the value of opening the west for settlement while Confederation itself was still only a pleasant dream. We wish to draw attention to the fact that there were men who made Rupert's Land a subject of their interest, who recognized the difficulties involved in breaking the monopoly of the Hudson's Bay Company, and who saw the need of opening a means of communication through British North America to the Pacific Ocean. These men were also cognizant of the dangers inVOlved in allowing the United states to encroach on this territory lying to its north. The period with which we deal in tracing the general trend of feeling of Canadians towards the west embraces the years from 1843 to 1870. In our discussion there are numerous factors to be considered, the question of the validity of the charter of the Hudson's Bay Company upon which it based its monopoly and which was so often called into dispute, the attitude of the British Government which wished to deal fairly with both Canada and the Company and act in the best interests of both, and the general trend of events in the Red River Settlement itself. But above all it is our object to trace the awakening of interest in Canada, the general movement towards the consummation of the aim of those Canadians who wished to see the North-West joined by ties of government and of national feeling to themselves.
A preliminary study of the polyembryonic cutworm parasite berecyntus Bakeri var. gemma Girault
(1930-04) McMillan, Ellis; Saunders, L.G.
As early as 1923, the attention of Mr. K. M. King Was drawn to the occurrence in SasKatchewan of a hymenopterous insect parasite of the family Encyrtidae, Berecyntus bak.eri How. which was parasitizing noctuid larvae. Because of the great number of adults developing in a single host larva, it was thought that this parasite developed polyembryonically. A study of this insect was undertaken by the writer in 1927 at the suggestion of Mr. King, Since it was one of the major parasites of the red-backed cutworm (the most important cutworm occurring in Saskatchewan). This study was continued for three years, during which time much information concerning the parasite was secured. The data here presented indicate that Berecyntus bakeri develops in a polyembryonic fashion, the stage in which parasitism initially occurs being the host egg. The various stages in its development are somewhat similar to those described by Leiby for Copidosoma Gelechiae How., but there are striking differences also exhibited, not only with the former species but with other polyembryonic species. Such are to be expected since the development of only a few polyembryonic species have been described and since each of these differs essentially from any other.
A study of seed borne diseases and discolorations of barley in Saskatchewan
(1930-05) Mead, Howard W.; Simmonds, P.M.
These studies were undertaken to ascertain what fungi are borne by barley kernels produced in Saskatchewan, and their possible pathogenic relations to their host. In addition, we hoped to develop a standard technique which could be used in testing seed samples for the presence of pathogens. We hoped, also, to show What fungi, if any, are associated with the commonest discolorations of barley in Saskatchewan.
Settlement in Saskatchewan with special reference to the influence of dry farming
(1931) Clark, S. Delbert
"I have been assured that the British public do not care much about Canada, except as a refuge for the superfluous population. It is quite satisfied, say my informants, with pamphlets on the subject distributed by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and other emigration agents. This is doubtless true of a large class. The pamphlets in question record only the successes of the British settlers in Canada. It is no business of theirs to give the many losses, their cause, and how to avoid them. A boy is backward at school - he cannot pass an examination for a profession; why trouble, says a sanguine friend, to work up for a second attempt? Why don't you go and make your fortune in Canada? how this fortune is to be made, or even how the small capital which the boy perhaps takes out with him is to be safely invested and kept from melting away, does not seem to occur to his adviser. So an inexperienced sanguine youth sets forth from his home - credulous because he has lived among honest people, unacquainted with any species of labour except cricket and football, but confident in his own judgement - to fall an easy prey to those unscrupulous gentry who in every colony are prepared to welcome the novice and dispose of unprofitable land, unsaleable machinery, worn-out cattle, and anything else they want to get rid of - at his expense. This is the commonest way in which fortunes are made and lost in Canada. "Yet we have heard men, who have started a son with £500 or £1000, speak as confidently of a certain interest on that sum within a year or two, as if it had been invested in British console. If farming is hazardous and slow to bring a profit in England, it is much more hazardous and experimental in the most uncertain climate of the North-West; but then many of us cannot afford to indulge in farming at all in England, and it can be enjoyed by everyone for a comparative trifle in Canada, if a man farms on Canadian soil in the Canadian way."(1) But to farm on Canadian soil in the Canadian way was exactly what the early settlers failed to do; and it was not until this simple truth was brought home to them, after years of failure, that settlement on the western plains made any progress. Ignorant of the true conditions of the country, the people, not only of Great Britain and Europe, but of Eastern Canada, had flooded upon them a mass of propaganda in the form of pamphlets, books and lectures, telling of the wonderful opportunity awaiting them in the country west of the Red River. According to the propagandists, all that was necessary in order to grow wheat in this distant land was to turn the sod over and plant the seed - the crop would never fail. The larger the quantity of seed planted the more fabulous would be the proceeds. After a few years farming the settler would be able to return to his native land and spend the remainder of his life a retired man. Unfortunately all this propaganda was believed by many people. Leaving their old homes, and often good positions, they set out for the land of "milk and honey", unprepared for the problems with which they were to be confronted but confident that in a very few years they would be wealthy, and, if they desired, would be able to return home and live at ease. The vicissitudes which these people experienced in the country of their adoption will be told in the following pages. Although the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1883 solved, in some measure, the transportation question, there still remained the problems of drought and frost and for some time it seemed that the statement of Sir George Simpson, made before the Select Committee on the Hudson's Bay Company in 1857, would be borne out. He had said: "I do not think that any part of the Hudson's Bay Company's Territories is well adapted for settlement; the crops are very uncertain." (1) Ridiculed by propagandists of the 'seventies and 'eighties, and even by present day writers (2), this statement has been interpreted as dictated by his interest in the fur-trade. His modern critics, in claiming that the west to-day has given the lie to his contention, forget that Simpson spoke before the discovery of an early- maturing wheat and dry land farming. he could not foresee that agriculture science was to revolutionize the possibilities of the west. In his day, besides the lack of transportation facilities, there were no means of coping with the problems of drought and frost; both of which constituted the barrier to the settlement of the west, as he well knew. The propaganda of the immigration officials and railway agents made no mention of either of these; and, as a consequence, the settlers did not come prepared to guard against them. Located along the railway line, their one and sole aim was to produce thousands of bushels of wheat and they sought to increase the acreage of this grain at the expense of proper cultivation and other branches of agriculture. A visit of drought or frost meant complete failure, and, in most cases, bankruptcy. Only after years of bitter experience which often resulted in the depopulation of whole districts did the settler learn the lesson of proper farming. To guard against drought he must practice better methods of land tillage and to guard against frost he must diversify his farming operations and grow less wheat. The failure of the settler sooner to learn this lesson and the consequent ill-effects on settlement was caused largely by the false impression given him by the eastern propagandists.
A morphological study of some of the immature stages of Cryptohypnus nocturnus eschscholtz, and a study of some ecological factors concerning wireworms : a preliminary study
(1931) Arnason, Arni Pall; Saunders, L. G.
Wireworms, the larvae of the Elateridae, are among the most common and widely distributed pests of cultivated crops. They have undoubtedly caused some losses from the earliest days of agriculture, since their importance has been recognized from the beginning of economic entomology. Several species of Elaterids are injurious to crops; scarcely any plant species being immune; while cereals and vegetables are most susceptible. the crop in some cases is a total loss, although usually the damage is moderate, and is often ascribed either to other causes or overlooked entirely. Losses caused by wireworms in Western Canada occur yearly in the same field, since the larvae spend several years in the soil. the direct loss of plants killed or injured is augmented by weed growth favored by the thinning of the crop. These increase the cost of production, and depreciate the value of the land. Thomas (1930) states that the depreciation in value of Carolina farm land, as a ruslt of wireworm depredations, has been estimated conservatively at over a Million Dollars. In Saskatchewan, wireworms reduced the yield of field crops by 1.71% during the period 1926-1930, and caused an average annual net loss of $3,274.000 to farmers. (Estimates of Damage 1930, Dom. Ent. Lab. Saskatoon Tech. report, 1930.) Observations in this province indicate that wireworms are most troublesome in older cultivated fields. The wireworm problem is therefore becoming more important and more accurate information about the injurious species and their ecological requirements and relationships must be gathered, if lasting and effective control measures are to be perfected. Various recommendations for the control of wireworms have been made; some being based on field observations, while others are more or less theoretical and without experimental proof. Poisons and other seed treatments have proved ineffective; sterilizing the soil and "baits", too costly for field crops. Hence practical control measures are limited to modifications of those factors affecting wireworm damage so as to favor the plant more than the wireworm. Of the several species of wireworms occurring in cultivated fields in Saskatchewan, so far as know, only two are of general economic importance, the others being of more local or of no importance. Ludiusaereipennis tinctus. Leconte; the most injurious species, and Cryptohypnus nocturnus Eschscholtz, second in importance, occur widely, the former causing about four-fifths, the latter one-fifth of the damage to field crops. (King '28). Although both species are usually found together, they appear to differ somewhat in their requirements and activities. Since the immature stages of C. nocturnus have never been described, a study of the external morphology was undertaken and is presented in the first main division of this report. In spite of the well known fact that temperature and moisture conditions affect the activities of soil fauna, as well as plant growth, little, if any, work has ever been done to determine the influence of these factors on injury to plants by soil insects. Consequently, a study of some phases of this problem, chiefly the relation of sil moisture to damage, was unertaken and is presented in the second section. The study of the influence of moisture conditions has proved very interesting and indicates possibilities for much further work. The work done in the present study is only a small fraction of what might be accomplished, especially in combination with controlled temperatures. It is hoped that this phase of the work can be studied in great detail when better equipment is available.
The periodical essays of Dr. Johnson
(1932) Neatby, Kate
The periodical essays make up over a third of the bulk of Johnson's writings, and yet in comparison with his later work they are very little known. The fact that they do not rank with his later writings in quality is not alone sufficient to account for the neglect with which they have been treated. The true reason for the comparative obscurity of these essays lies not so much in the essays themselves as in the fact that they labour under the handicap of a literary form which had already been so perfected that any falling away was sure to bring with it neglect. Johnson complains several times that the public expect him to follow in the footsteps of Addison and Steele and complain if his subject matter and technique show any variation from theirs, while he fails to see why Addison and Steele should be allowed to prescribe the nature of the periodical essay for all time. This is fair enough, but the retort found in another of his own essays -- to the effect that authors who deviate from the beaten track because they think they see a greener path must be willing to suffer neglect and even harsh criticism as the price of their originality.1 Certainly Johnson had as much cause to thank his predecessors for the excessive popularity of the essay as a literary format he had to resent their having fixed in the minds of the public the exact type of essay they desired. Only the impetus supplied by this popularity could have made it worth his while to write five volumes of essays, for valuable as they are in some respects, it is hard to conceive of them as being popular as periodical literature in any age. His interests would not permit a suitable selection or subject matter, and even had this not been the case his particular powers never included the lightness of touch which made the earlier works what they were. This becomes patent in the papers which he designed to add frivolity and gaiety to the collection. Judged by the Spectator, which is, and will no doubt continue to be, our standard of the periodical essay, these are inferior, but taken on their own merits, which after all is the only reasonable way to estimate literary work, they are quite the reverse. The reader who goes to them expecting to be bored is pleasantly surprised. They are not meant to be read straight ahead by the volume, but a judicious selection will draw forth an echo of the compliment which so pleased their author -- "I thought very well of you before; but I did not imagine you could have written any thing equal to this. "2 It would be remarkable if several hundred essays on subjects as varied as creation, by a man as great as Johnson, did not contain much that was worth our notice. In this essay an attempt is made to bring forward the more important theories and facts they contain by a classification and discussion of the subject matter. 1. Adv. #131. 2. Boswell. (The Life of Samuel Johnson).
A STUDY OF PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE OF DAIRY COWS RECEIVING HIGH AND LOW PROTIEN RATIONS
(1932) Hassan, George; MacEwan, J.W.G.

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