Excess enthalpy combustion utilizes heat recirculation, in which heat is transferred from hot products to cold reactants to effectively preheat the reactants, in order to achieve improved combustion performance through the extension of flammability limits and increased burning rate. This research examines the effect of key parameters in excess enthalpy combustion on combustion stability, fuel conversion, and product species production through experimental and numerical investigation. Operating condition parameters that are studied include inlet reactant equivalence ratio and inlet velocity, and reactor geometry parameters that are studied include reactor channel height and length. Premixed reactants, including gaseous and liquid fuels, are investigated at rich and lean conditions. The examination of liquid fuels and the ability of a reactor to support rich and lean combustion of both gaseous and liquid fuels is a significant demonstration of a reactor’s flexibility for practical applications. This research experimentally and numerically examines excess enthalpy combustion in a counter-flow reactor. First, the counter-flow reactor, previously used for thermal partial oxidation of gaseous hydrocarbon fuels, is used in experiments to reform a liquid hydrocarbon fuel, heptane, to syngas. The effect of inlet operating conditions, including reactant equivalence ratio and inlet velocity, on combustion stability and product composition is explored. Second, lean combustion is demonstrated through experiments in the same counter-flow reactor previously used in reforming studies. The effect of inlet operating conditions, including reactant equivalence ratio and inlet velocity, on combustion stability and pollutant concentrations in combustion products is studied. An analytical model, previously developed for rich combustion, is adapted to qualitatively predict the behavior of the counter-flow reactor in response to changes in lean operating conditions. Third, lean combustion in the counter-flow reactor is further studied by examining the combustion of increasingly complex gaseous and liquid fuels. Again, the effect of inlet operating conditions, including reactant equivalence ratio and inlet velocity, on combustion stability and pollutant concentrations in combustion products is studied. Fourth and finally, a computational scaling study examines the impact of counter-flow reactor channel geometry on combustion stability, temperature increase above adiabatic values, heat recirculation, and fuel and product species conversion efficiency. / text

Transition metals are essential micronutrients for organisms. Excess zinc can be lethal to bacterial survival. Zinc homeostasis is crucial and is regulated by zinc uptake and efflux system. Streptococcus pneumoniae AdcR (Adhesin competence regulator) transcription factor is the member of MarR (multiple antibiotic resistance regulator) family proteins that suppress the zinc upregulation transporter. In the absence of zinc, AdcR has less affinity to bind DNA and uptake genes are expressed in order to transport zinc inside the cell. Streptococcus pneumoniae is a gram-positive human pathogen that is capable of colonizing in the human nasopharynx, especially in young children and leads to severe diseases including pneumonia, septicaemia, and meningitis. In this work, we have transformed AdcR gene in E.Coli (BL21D3) cell, and we have overexpressed and purified AdcR using classical molecular biology and protein purification techniques. We also performed preliminary biophysical characterization of purified zinc(II) dependent transcription factor AdcR.

Boronic acids, particularly those that carry an ortho-aminomethyl group, have been extensively utilized in the field of molecular recognition in recent years thanks to their ability to reversibly bind to a wide variety of polyol substrates. They have been shown to form cyclic boronate esters rapidly upon reaction with 1,2- and 1,3-diols, catechols, carbohydrates and hydroxycarboxylic acids, making them attractive as potential sensing units. While they have found broad application in this forum, the mechanism by which they work is still up for debate. This work begins in Chapter 1 with a review of the fundamentals of ¹¹B NMR spectroscopy and its application on the analysis of boronic acid-containing systems. The focus of Chapter 2 turns toward systems with an o-iminomethylphenylboronic acid moiety. This species can be formed easily through a three-component assembly, though physical understanding of this complex lags behind. With the fundamentals of ¹¹B NMR spectroscopy detailed previously, the results obtained when utilizing this technique to study both the structure and mode of interaction in these species will be presented. In Chapter 3 we give a comprehensive review of the data and conclusions that have been published by different groups about one of the most successful fluorescent sugar sensors of this kind, first introduced by Seiji Shinkai in 1994. Additionally, it delineates the experimental results obtained by our group when attempting to answer some of the remaining questions. In Chapter 4 we report the use of the aforementioned multi-component assembly as an enantioselective sensor for α-chiral primary amines. Using circular dichroism, the ee% of these analytes could be accurately determined with this system. Additionally, enantio- and chemodiscrimination was possible by employing chemometric tools like PCA and LDA. Finally, Chapter 5 is a compilation of efforts to expand the use of these sensing systems into synthetic organic chemistry research labs. In collaboration with Xumu Zhang at Rutgers University, we have implemented a previously developed system to analyze the product of an asymmetric hydrogenation of an imine to create a chiral amine. A proof of concept study on a novel automated circular dichroism plate reader prototype aimed to increasing sample throughput was completed at New York University with Professor Bart Kahr. / text

It has been established in New Zealand and internationally that morbidity and mortality tends to rise during colder winter months, with a typical 10-20% excess compared to the rest of the year. This study sought to investigate the spatial, temporal, climatic and demographic patterns and interactions of excess winter morbidity (EWMb) among the elderly in New Zealand. This was achieved through analysis of acute hospital admissions in New Zealand between 1996 and 2013 for all patients over the age of 60 with an element of circulatory or respiratory disease (N=1,704,317) including a primary diagnosis of circulatory (N=166,938) or respiratory (N=62,495) disease. A quantitative approach included ordinary least squares and negative binomial regression, graphical analysis and age standardisation processes. Admission rates and durations were regressed against a set of 16 cold spell indicators at a national and regional scale, finding significant spatial variation in the magnitude of EWMb. EWMb was ubiquitous across New Zealand despite climatic variation between regions, with an average winter excess of 15%, and an excess of 51% for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Statistically significant relationships were found between hospital admission durations and cold spells up to 28 days prior; however the magnitude would not be expected to have a significant impact on hospital resources. Nonetheless, there is potential for preventative public health strategies to mitigate less severe morbidity associated with cold spells. Patients over the age of 80 were particularly vulnerable to EWMb; however socioeconomic deprivation and ethnicity did not affect vulnerability. Patients residing in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation or identifying with Maori or Pacific Island ethnicity experienced significantly shorter admissions than other groups, and this warrants further investigation. Further investigation into winter COPD exacerbations and non-climatic factors associated with the EWMb are recommended. A comprehensive understanding of EWMb will enable preventative measures that can improve quality of life, particularly for the elderly population.

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According to economic rational choice theory greater choice will deliver well-being by increasing the likelihood that individuals satisfy personal preferences (Mas-Colell, Whinston, & Green, 1995). Consequently, extensive choice has become a fundamental aspect of both consumer markets and public policy (Schwartz, 2000; 2004; Botti & Iyengar, 2006). Crucially however, recent psychological research has begun to challenge the assumption that more choice leads to greater well-being. In several instances evidence has been found that whilst some choice is good, more choice can lead to reduced post-decisional satisfaction (e.g. Iyengar & Lepper, 2000; Shar & Wolford, 2007; Reutskaja & Hogarth, 2009). This is referred to as the Excess Choice Effect (ECE). If widespread, this ECE may mean that policies aimed at increasing well-being via choice actually deliver the opposite of their objectives. Although subject to much theoretical speculation, surprisingly little is known about the underlying cause of this effect. In light of this lacuna, the main aim of the current thesis was to investigate an alternative explanation for the ECE – namely, increased counterfactual thought. Across 7 experiments various factors known to influence the availability of counterfactual thoughts were manipulated, and the impact upon the prevalence of the ECE was explored, whilst another experiment (Experiment 7) aimed to determine individuals’ predicted affective responses to extensive choice. Overall, evidence was found that counterfactual thinking appears to play an important role in driving the dissatisfaction often associated with extensive choice. Specifically, the ECE was found to be most prevalent where counterfactual alternatives were made readily available, for example when under low cognitive load, when reflecting upon a recent, real-life decision, and when choice outcomes were negative. Further, in Experiment’s 1, 5, 6, and 8 these ECE’s were found to be significantly mediated by increased counterfactual thought, or the heightened experience of counterfactual emotion, following extensive choice. No evidence for any impact of choice level upon (psychological) satisfaction levels was found when the capacity to think counterfactually was reduced, i.e. via high cognitive load, over time, when reflecting upon a hypothetical scenario, or following a positive choice outcome. Ideas for future research are considered, and the potential implications of these findings for our theoretical understanding of the ECE, for the psychology of choice, for consumer well-being, retailers and the construction of public policy are discussed.

The effect of excess gravity on bone-forming elements of the growing perichondrial shaft of embryonic chicks was investigated through the use of the transmission electron microscope and various cytochemical techniques.

Does efficient internal investment generally translate into successful external investment activities? In this research we use the internal capital allocation efficiency as a proxy for the efficiency of internal investment, and study whether firms that are internally efficient also make efficient external investment decisions. Our sample consists of multi-segment acquirers that announce acquisitions between 1986 and 2003 (only completed deals are included). We estimate short-term and long-term abnormal performance, excess value and operating performance around mergers in order to measure the success of acquisitions (external investment decisions). Our results indicate that internal capital allocation efficiency is indeed a significant factor in the success of acquisition. Firms that are internally efficient also make efficient external investment decisions. Conversely, internally inefficient firms are also externally inefficient. Thus, our results indicate that internal efficiency can be used as a predictor of the success and efficiency of external investment decisions.

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Party Season is about sex and speech and employs some of the conventions of the porn film. Apparently inconsequential 'filler' scenes and dialogue link the pay-off scenes of vividly depicted sex. Except that, in Party Season, this relationship is gradually reversed - the scenes of excessive behaviour becoming 'filler' scenes linking the pay-off moments, the latter often embedded in deliberately extended 'unrealistic' dialogue. A key component of this as a piece of inquiry-based practice is the exploration of this altering balance and of how action and dialogue can function to produce such a reversal of conventionality. The intention with the accompanying essay is to sustain a progressive interweaving of reflective commentary and analytical vignettes. There is also an intended symmetry here - an 'excessive' essay (long, without conventional subheadings, breaks, etc.) will sit alongside the 'excessive' screenplay as its twin of sorts, a different style of invention. The essay is to speech what the screenplay is to sex.