The question whether financial development is conducive to economic growth has entered the debate with new intensity following the financial crisis of 2007-2008. We use standardized dataset on economic growth established by the literature and Financial Development Database by World Bank to inspect the relationship. Unlike other studies, we employ Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) to address model uncertainty inherent to modelling of economic growth. Apart from dealing with omitted variable bias it also allows us to compare relative importance of banking sector and financial markets along with their varying characteristics. Examining real economic growth rates 1960-2011 in 68 countries, we find little evidence in favour of traditional financial development proxy - financial depth - to affect economic growth. Our initial results point to the importance of banking sector efficiency, approximated by net interest margin, as essential growth determinant. Moreover, we use financial indicators to construct overall measure of financial development and find it highly relevant to economic growth. The results are robust to different parameter and model priors in BMA, but not to specifications dealing with potentially endogenous nature of the finance-growth correlation.

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Experimental data on the solubility of CO2 in methyl methacrylate (MMA) and butyl methacrylate (BMA) are reported at temperatures from 308 to 333 K and pressures in the range of 1 to 10 MPa. The corresponding measurements of the volumetric expansion of the liquid phase are also presented. The solubility data are correlated with the Peng-Robinson equation of state using two interaction parameters. Solubilities of CO2 as high as 80 mol% can be attained in both monomers in the range of pressure considered. A near-linear relationship is observed between pressure and liquid-phase composition. The Peng-Robinson equation of state provides a satisfactory correlation of the solubility data. The average absolute relative deviations with respect to the calculated values of pressure are less than 2%. For a given monomer, the expansion isotherms coincide when plotted as a function of the liquid - phase composition. Catalytic chain transfer (CCT) polymerisation of CO2-expanded MMA, BMA and styrene is then described. Experimental values of the chain transfer constant are determined at 323 K and 333 K and in the range of pressure from 0.1 to 6 MPa. A cobaloxime complex is used as the chain transfer catalyst. The effect of small quantities of polymer on the volumetric expansion of the corresponding monomer is considered. The chain transfer constants for the expanded monomers are significantly higher than those obtained in the bulk monomers. It is demonstrated that a linear relationship exists between the chain transfer rate coefficient and the inverse of liquid-phase viscosity. These results provide significant evidence that the rate-determining step in the CCT process is diffusion-controlled. Finally, molecular weight evolution in CCT polymerization of CO2-expanded MMA is reported. Experimental molecular weight and polydispersity index data are presented at 323 K in the range of conversion from 1 to 25%, and at pressures of 5 and 6 MPa. Both molecular weight and polydispersity increase with conversion at conditions below the homogeneous expansion limit. Predici simulations suggest that either irreversible catalyst deactivation or cobalt-carbon bond formation is the most likely mechanism for the increase in molecular weight with conversion.

The low-energy characteristics of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) pose a great design challenge for MAC protocol design. The cluster-based scheme is a promising solution. Recent studies have proposed different cluster-based MAC protocols. We propose an intra-cluster communication bit-map-assisted (BMA) MAC protocol. BMA is intended for event-driven applications. The scheduling of BMA can change dynamically according to the unpredictable variations of sensor networks. In terms of energy efficiency, BMA reduces energy consumption due to idle listening and collisions. In this study, we develop two different analytic energy models for BMA, conventional TDMA and energy efficient TDMA (E-TDMA) when used as intra-cluster MAC schemes. Simulation experiments are constructed to validate the analytic models. Both analytic and simulation results show that in terms of energy efficiency, BMA performance heavily depends on the sensor node traffic offer load, the number of sensor nodes within a cluster, the data packet size and, in some cases, the number of sessions per round. BMA is superior for the cases of low and medium traffic loads, relatively few sensor nodes per cluster, and relatively large data packet sizes. In addition, BMA outperforms the TDMA-based MAC schemes in terms of average packet latency.

Treatment of dichloromaleic anhydride and 1,8-diaminonaphthalene in either benzene or toluene under refluxing conditions gives low yields of the new heterocyclic compound 8,9-dichloropyrrolo[1,2-a]perimidin-10-one. This product has been isolated and characterized in solution by NMR, IR, and UV/vis spectroscopies, and the solid-state structure of 8,9-dichloropyrrolo[1,2-a]perimidin-10-one has been established by X-ray crystallography. The nature of the HOMO and LUMO levels of 8,9-dichloropyrrolo[1,2-a]perimidin-10-one has been studied by extended Hückel molecular orbital calculations.

This thesis studies the relationship of income tax progressivity and output volatility. Using our dataset of 31 OECD countries and Bayesian model averaging (BMA) approach to address the model uncertainty issue, we find positive evidence that higher income tax progressivity leads to lower output volatility. This effect is robust to different prior specifications in BMA and to different tax progressivity measures, including our newly constructed measure which is based on the slope of the average tax curve. We also find a strong effect of tax progressivity on the consumption volatility and the volatility of hours worked which we see as the main channels for the reducing effect of tax progressivity on output volatility.

Treatment of 4,5 bis-(diphenylphosphino)-cyclopenten-1,3 dione with thiophene carboxyaldehyde in dichloromethane, in the presence of molecular sieves results in a new heterocyclic compound, 2-(2-thienylidene)-4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)-4-cyclopenten-1,3-dione (ligand), with a high yield. This product was characterized by using both IR and NMR spectroscopic techniques and the solid-state structure of the ligand was determined using X-ray crystallography. When the ligand was treated with the solvent stabilized intermediate of ReBr(CO)5 with THF, a monomeric metal complex, fac-BrRe(CO)3[2-(2-thienylidene)-4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)-4-cyclopenten-1,3-dione] was the result. The solid-state structure of the monomeric metal complex was determined using X-ray crystallography. Photolysis and thermolysis studies of the complex will be further explored.

The research concerning differences in duration of the Great Recession is limited and inconclusive. We define duration of crisis as the count of years lost due to the crisis, and estimate the determinants of crisis duration on the dataset of 54 developed and developing countries. This thesis contrasts with previous literature by employing Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) to accommodate for the large amount of potential explanatory variables and to address model uncertainty. Moreover, an innovative measure of export competitiveness, which accounts for the changes in non-price factors such as quality, is used. The results bring suggestive evidence of positive impact of developed financial markets, high share of private consumption and improvements in export competitiveness. We also find positive effect of fiscal policy stimulus once it is controlled for the feedback loop of uncertainty which appears when heavily indebted countries finance fiscal stimulus through issuance of additional debt. Lastly, it needs to be concluded, that the results are not robust to all prior specifications. In particular, the more restrictive Beta binomial model prior shrinks the statistical significance of aforementioned results heavily. JEL Classification F12, F21, F23, H25, H71, H87 Keywords Great Recession, Crisis duration, Economic...

<p>Bacterial biofilms are problematic in a variety of industries hence strategies for their mitigation have received significant attention. The approach described herein attempts to control bacterial adhesion using silicone-based polymers- (widely used due to their interesting properties)- via manipulation of their surface chemistry to eventually create anti-fouling surfaces. This involved study of the systematic variation of surface wettability and its effect on <em>Escherichia coli</em> (<em>E. coli</em>) adhesion to novel polymers of acrylate-modified silicone surfactant (ACR) with either hydroxyethyl methacrylate (a hydrophilic monomer), or methyl and butyl methacrylate (hydrophobic monomers). It was hypothesized that the systematic variation of ACR would produce surfaces with differing wettability, without changing other surface properties that influence cellular adhesion. Average light transmittance across the range of visible light wavelengths (400-740nm), surface roughness and Shore 00 hardness data were consistent across the ACR-HEMA copolymer series (80-90%, ~2.5 – 5 nm, and 75-95 Shore durometer points, respectively). The same consistency was observed for surface wettability (contact angles = 78-92°) despite varying HEMA content and consequently <em>Escherichia coli</em> (<em>E.coli</em>) adhesion, likely due to system saturation with silicon (as confirmed by EDX). However, wettability of the ACR-MMA-BMA polymers did vary; ≤ 20 wt% and ≥ 80 wt% ACR polymers had contact angles between 67°- 77°, while 20 < x < 80 wt% ACR polymers had increased surface wettability (contact angles 27.6°- 42.9°). <em>E. coli </em>adhesion across the set increased with increasing ACR content, a trend mirrored by the water uptake of the materials but not the contact angle data. These results indicate that <em>E. coli </em>adhesion occurs independently of wettability for these materials and although the effect of the latter on adhesion cannot be deduced, the possible correlation between bacterial adhesion and water uptake suggests that the best antifouling surfaces should not be of materials capable of imbibing significant amounts of water.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

This paper uses Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) to find robust determinants of economic growth in a new dataset of 255 European regions between 1995 and 2005. The paper finds that income convergence between countries is dominated by the catching-up of regions in new member states in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), whereas convergence within countries is driven by regions in old EU member states. Regions containing capital cities are growing faster, particularly in CEE countries, as do regions with a large share of workers with higher education. The results are robust to allowing for spatial spillovers among European regions.