ii Acknowledgements The fact that the cover page of this thesis reads Vincent R. Caux-Brisebois is a misleading proposition that the content of this work is the product of a single man's endeavour.Although nothing would please me more than adding the names of all those who made this possible, the imposed front-to-back limit of 100 pages would hardly allow the table of contents to be published. Nevertheless, I will try to show my appreciation to all those who made this possible in the short space that is available to me.The second name that would go on the cover page of this document is without doubt Prof. Adam M. Steinberg's. In fact, if the degree of MASc. were not conditional to this dissertation, I would likely insist that it be written above mine. Prof. Steinberg is one of the few supervisors that I have known to always work with his door wide open. At any time during his long working hours, any student can walk in and ask any question knowing he or she will be well received, treated fairly, and perhaps most importantly, get the help they need. The work presented in this thesis would not have been possible without his valuable input, guidance, and hard work. Though I could go on about why Prof. Steinberg is a model supervisor, I have to cut this discussion short for the sake of space, and take this opportunity to thank the second reader of this dissertation, Prof. C. P. T. Groth, for taking some time out of his already-full schedule to review this work.

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