Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: David L. Kirchman, College of Marine and Earth Studies. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Mathematics, June 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Notre laboratoire s’intéresse au développement d’une méthodologie simple permettant de construire aisément des cycles de taille moyenne ainsi que des macrocycles fonctionnalisés. Si la formation des composés cycliques de trois à sept chaînons est aisée, la préparation efficace des cycles de taille moyenne et des macrocycles reste un défi en chimie de synthèse. Nous avons récemment développé une nouvelle stratégie permettant la synthèse d’une large variété de cycles de taille moyenne fonctionnalisés. Parmi ceux-ci, la formation des cycles possédant une fonction a-iodocétone ainsi qu’une fonction cétone est particulièrement efficace. Nous avons donc décidé d’étudier la transformation chémosélective de la fonction a-iodocétone en présence d’autres groupements carbonyles. Pour ce faire, nous avons développé une nouvelle réaction d’addition radicalaire des a-iodocétones sur des oléfines pauvres en électrons. Celle-ci est, à notre connaissance, la première méthode générale d’addition radicalaire intermoléculaire des a-iodocétones. / Our laboratory is interested in the total synthesis of natural products having at least one medium-sized ring in their structure. Whereas the synthesis of three to seven membered ring systems is well-established, the efficient preparation of medium and large rings still remains a major challenge in organic synthesis. With the aim of developing a common strategy for the synthesis of medium and macrocyclic systems, we recently discovered a simple and general methodology for the construction of a wide variety of functionalised medium sized rings. As the formation of medium sized rings wearing an a-iodoketone and a ketone is particularly efficient, we decided to study different transformations of this compound. Thus, a novel radical reaction of a-iodoketones with electron-deficient alkenes was developed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported intermolecular radical reaction of a-iodoketones.

Notre laboratoire s’intéresse au développement d’une méthodologie simple permettant de construire aisément des cycles de taille moyenne ainsi que des macrocycles fonctionnalisés. Si la formation des composés cycliques de trois à sept chaînons est aisée, la préparation efficace des cycles de taille moyenne et des macrocycles reste un défi en chimie de synthèse. Nous avons récemment développé une nouvelle stratégie permettant la synthèse d’une large variété de cycles de taille moyenne fonctionnalisés. Parmi ceux-ci, la formation des cycles possédant une fonction a-iodocétone ainsi qu’une fonction cétone est particulièrement efficace. Nous avons donc décidé d’étudier la transformation chémosélective de la fonction a-iodocétone en présence d’autres groupements carbonyles. Pour ce faire, nous avons développé une nouvelle réaction d’addition radicalaire des a-iodocétones sur des oléfines pauvres en électrons. Celle-ci est, à notre connaissance, la première méthode générale d’addition radicalaire intermoléculaire des a-iodocétones. / Our laboratory is interested in the total synthesis of natural products having at least one medium-sized ring in their structure. Whereas the synthesis of three to seven membered ring systems is well-established, the efficient preparation of medium and large rings still remains a major challenge in organic synthesis. With the aim of developing a common strategy for the synthesis of medium and macrocyclic systems, we recently discovered a simple and general methodology for the construction of a wide variety of functionalised medium sized rings. As the formation of medium sized rings wearing an a-iodoketone and a ketone is particularly efficient, we decided to study different transformations of this compound. Thus, a novel radical reaction of a-iodoketones with electron-deficient alkenes was developed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported intermolecular radical reaction of a-iodoketones.

Biomass cogeneration systems can generate power and process heat simultaneously from a single energy resource efficiently. In this thesis, three biomass cogeneration systems are examined. Parametric analysis of back pressure steam turbine cogeneration system, condensing steam turbine cogeneration system and double back pressure steam turbine cogeneration system is conducted. Energy and exergy analyses are performed for three biomass based cogeneration configurations. The parametric analysis demonstrates the effects of varying operating conditions (temperature: 340 oCto 520 oCand pressure: 21bar to 81bar). A higher steam inlet temperature and pressure to the turbine yields better energy and exergy efficiencies and performance. Steam inlet conditions to the turbines and process heater requirements influence the power output and cogeneration system efficiencies. Greenhouse gases reduction is achieved by cooperating cogeneration systems with biomass to reduce CO2 emissions and global warming potential in the power industrial sectors. / UOIT

This dissertation analyzes voting behavior and presence of political cycles in India. While such exercises have been carried out extensively in the context of developed countries and established democracies, there have been few studies on similar behavior in developing countries and new economies. The focus on India in this study may provide valuable insight into this literature in an area that has been largely ignored. Our findings suggest that political manipulation of taxes, grants and expenditures are prevalent at both the national and sub-national levels; though they are tempered by the nature of partisanship. However, while these manipulations may be economically inefficient, they are politically very strategic as incumbents seem to focus on manipulating those items for which they can claim sole responsibility. Indian voters seem to be fiscal conservatives, as they penalize increases in most items of expenditures and generally reward reductions in taxes. Evidence of yardstick effects in taxes is also presented. We find that a higher degree of ‘clarity of responsibility’ also fosters stronger economic voting effects. Voters seem to be cognizant of the division of functional responsibility between the two levels of government (the center and the state) and they evaluate their performance independently. Also, we find results consistent with the notion that the central government is responsible for the overall health of the economy as voters seem to penalize the central incumbent for increases in inflation and reward them for steady growth while being indifferent to such outcome variables while voting for the state level incumbent. The policy implications of such findings are also briefly discussed. It is a matter of grave concern if incumbents tailored policies to provide them with the biggest political payoff. This may lead to differences in economic development across states and the incidence of expenditure and tax changes may fall unfairly on the most vulnerable people of the society. There are also important insights on assignment of responsibility and the ‘how’ of political interference which would aid us in building more comprehensive political economy models that are closer to reflecting reality than purely economic models commonly used today.

Esta tesis doctoral consiste en tres ensayos independientes sobre Macroeconomía y Crecimiento Económico.Ensayo 1. "Technological Transfers, Limited Commitment and Growth"Las evidencias muestran que hay sustanciales flujos de capital de países ricos hacia países pobres, aunque no son tan abundantes como sugieren las diferencias en tasas de rendimiento. Esos flujos son pro-cíclicos: abundantes en tiempos de bonanza y escasos en los malos tiempos. Los modelos de crecimiento convencional afrontan ciertas dificultades para explicar estos hechos. En este estudio, proponemos un modelo dinámico de flujos de capital hacia países en desarrollo que es cualitativamente consistente con regularidades empíricas. El modelo está basado en tres premisas principales: i) los contratos de préstamo internacional son imperfectamente ejecutables; ii) el acceso a los mercados financieros internacionales está relacionado con transferencias tecnológicas a un país en desarrollo del resto del mundo; iii) algunos de los beneficios tecnológicos asociados al acceso a la financiación externa son perecederos. Nuestras conclusiones sugieren que las transferencias tecnológicas pueden desempeñar el papel de mecanismo que hace cumplir las obligaciones contractuales.Essay 2. "A Note on Computing Partial Derivatives of the Value Function by Simulation"Los problemas que contienen restricciones de compatibilidad de incentivos han recibido una amplia atención en la literatura debido a los recientes avances en optimización dinámica. Frecuentemente las condiciones de optimalidad para este tipo de problemas contienen derivadas parciales de la función de valor (value function) con respecto a algunas variables de estado endógenas. En este trabajo proponemos un algoritmo para calcular estas derivadas parciales por simulación. Essay 3. "Institutions and Growth: Some Evidence from Estimation Methods Partially Robust to Weak Instruments"Este estudio se centra en la estrategia empírica propuesto por Hall y Jones (1999) para estimar el efecto de lo que ellos denominan "infraestructura social" sobre la productividad de los países. Nosotros intentamos responder la crítica de Acemoglu et al (2001) a esta metodología por basarse en instrumentos geográficos. Para ello consideramos el problema de identificación débil en los modelos de variables instrumentales de Hall y Jones (1999). La evidencia obtenida de los estimadores parcialmente robustos como k-class y jackknife está interpretada en base a los estudios de Monte Carlo. Podemos concluir que el uso de algunos estimadores k-class permite utilizar variables lingüísticas para instrumentar la calidad institucional a pesar de su baja correlación con el regresor endógeno en cuestión. / This doctoral thesis consists of three self-contained essays in Macroeconomics and Economic Growth.Essay 1. "Technological Transfers, Limited Commitment and Growth"Evidence shows that there are substantial rich-to-poor international capital flows although not as abundant as differences in rates of return would suggest. These flows are procylcical: abundant in good times and scarce in bad times. They have been reported to promote growth and stability in some countries, but merely to augment instability in the others. Conventional growth models face certain difficulties in accounting for this pattern. In this paper, we propose a dynamic model of capital flows to developing countries which is qualitatively consistent with these empirical regularities. The model is based on three main premises: i) international lending contracts are imperfectly enforceable; ii) access to the international financial markets results in technological transfers to a developing country from the rest of the world; iii) some of the productivity gains associated with the access to external financing are perishable. We solve for transitional dynamics of the model economy with endogenously incomplete markets and compare the results with the solutions obtained from the perfect risk-sharing and autarkic environments. In addition, we examine the implications of alternative assumptions about the severity of the repudiation punishment for growth, welfare and borrowing patterns. Our findings suggest that technological transfers may play a role of an important enforcement mechanism. In our framework, existence of substantial rich-to-poor capital flows is not inconsistent with the presence of default risk.Essay 2. "A Note on Computing Partial Derivatives of the Value Function by Simulation"The problems involving incentive compatibility constraints in the form of dynamic participation constrains have received wide attention in the literature due to the recent advances in dynamic optimization techniques. Often the optimality conditions for this class of problems involve partial derivatives of the value function with respect to some of the endogenous state variables. In this paper we suggest an algorithm for computing these partial derivatives by simulation. The attractive features of the algorithm include its rather wide scope of applicability and simplicity of implementation. Furthermore, the suggested method does not suffer from the curse of dimensionality and therefore it is particularly convenient for the models involving many state variables.Essay 3. "Institutions and Growth: Some Evidence from Estimation Methods Partially Robust to Weak Instruments"This paper focuses on the empirical approach proposed by Hall and Jones (1999) to estimate the effect of what they call "social infrastructure" on productivity across countries. We attempt to address the criticism of Acemoglu et al (2001) directed towards this methodology for relying on the geographical instruments. To do so we consider the issue of weak identification in the linear instrumental variables model of Hall and Jones (1999). The evidence obtained from the partially robust estimators like the k-class and jackknife estimators is interpreted on the basis of the Monte Carlo studies. Our findings suggest that using some of the k-class estimators allows exclusive reliance on the linguistic variables to instrument for institutional quality despite their low correlation with the endogenous regressor in question.

The problem of liquid loading is common for all gas producing wells and should be identified and solved for efficient gas production. Production engineers and operators need to choose the best solution possible, one that is cost effective and also efficient in doing the job. The plunger lift operation is a cost-effective solution to this liquid loading problem and also is efficient in increasing the gas production. However, the current understanding of plunger lift operation has used field experience and some previous models that have restrictive assumptions which might not be applicable for all plunger lift installations. This research proposes a new plunger lift model that overcomes some of the limiting assumptions of earlier models by using additional data available in the form of pressure and temperature from new technology like smart plunger. The model is based on fundamental principles of mass conservation and pressure balance, and uses the smart plunger data as input. The implementation of the model is carried out in user-friendly and easily accessible software like Excel VBA (Visual Basic Applications). The model predicts the plunger velocity, plunger position and annulus liquid level during an upward travel of the plunger in an onshore gas well in East Texas. The results of model implementation in VBA show the importance of fluid properties for the model, apart from indicating that the model is optimized for the given set of input data. The model developed in this research considers only pressure drop due to gravitational effects, and thus provides a scope for improvement in modeling the plunger lift dynamics by adding frictional and acceleration components. This research also provides recommendations for future work that can be carried out on plunger lift modeling using smart plungers.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2008. / Title from title screen (site viewed Sept. 16, 2008). PDF text: 212 p. : music ; 5 Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3297750. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.