This paper analyses how corruption in a host country affects the amount of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) it receives. It discusses a model in which FDI is explained by GDP, corruption and the distance between the host country and the origin of capital. It then runs a regression comparing FDI from developed to 46 developing countries, which shows that corruption is a significant variable and it does have a negative effect on total FDI. It then compares if there are any difference depending on the origin of Capital, comparing USA, Europe and Japan. Capital from USA is the most sensitive to corruption. It also shows that capital from Europe is the least responsive to distance, as a factor of explaining FDI. The paper also runs a base mark estimation of what could be expected if corruption levels changed. We can see that if Dominican Republic would have reduced the level of corruption to that of Uruguay, it could have increased the average FDI per year, from 0,8% of GDP to 1,4%. If Argentina, who has a higher FDI over GDP than expected given its level of corruption, would have reduced its level of corruption to the level of Chile, it could have increased the FDI over GDP from 2% to 3,6%. The implications of the results of this paper are that public policies should aim to reduce corruption levels because they have a negative effect on FDI and on the living standard.

The regioselectivity in Pd(0)-catalyzed direct arylation of pyrrole, thiophene, and indole can be improved by blocking some of the reactive sites with a chloride group, leading to increased yields of the desired regioisomers. Competition experiments and computational studies show that the blocking group also activates the substrates toward arylation. Due to the activated nature of chlorinated heteroaromatics, rare and sought after regioisomers, such as 3-arylthiophenes, can be obtained under mild conditions in good yields. Chlorine-bearing thiophenes arylated at C3 and C4 have the potential to undergo controlled regioregular polymerization under conditions developed in the field of polythiophene chemistry. Mechanistic studies support the hypothesis that the arylation of the substrates under investigation likely proceeds via the CMD transition state.

Higher temperature (~ 200°C) operation for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells would have several advantages including enhanced electrochemical kinetics, useful heat recovery, and improved catalyst tolerance for contaminants. Conventional perfluorosulfonic acid membranes (PFSA), such as Nafion show a dramatic decrease in proton conductivity at temperatures above 80°C. For this reason, there has been an increasing effort toward the development of stable, higher temperature membranes with acceptable proton conductivity. This work is directed toward the development of Nafion free membranes for direct hydrocarbon PEM fuel cells containing zirconium phosphate as the proton conductor component. Hence, composite membranes composed of zirconium-phosphate (ZrP), a solid proton conductor, which was precipitated within the voids of a porous polytetraflouroethylene (PTFE) support were synthesized. Amorphous-like zirconium phosphate (ZrP) powder was synthesized in this work. ZrP was prepared by precipitation at room temperature via reaction of ZrOCl2 with H3PO4 aqueous solutions. The proton conduction properties of ZrP powder were studied under the processing conditions found in direct hydrocarbon fuel cell. Our experimental results showed that the ZrP powder processed at 200°C possess a proton conductivity that is greater by one order of magnitude than the oven-dried samples at 70°C. Thereby, it was possible to avoid the normal decrease in conductivity with increasing temperature by having sufficient water in the vapor phase. This thesis reports the first synthesis of composite ZrP/PTFE/Glycerol (GLY) membranes. Glycerol (GLY) was introduced into the pores of PTFE with the ZrP proton conductive material using the successive wetting/drying technique. These membranes had reasonable values of proton conductivities (0.045 S cm-1), approaching that of Nafion (0.1 S cm-1) at room temperature. Samples of these composite membranes were processed at the inlet conditions of a propane fuel cell, at 200°C. Experimental results showed that the proton conductivity remained almost unchanged. This thesis also describes and reports the first synthesis of sulphur “S” or silicon, Si–modified zirconium phosphate (ZrP), porous polytetrafluoethylene (PTFE) and, glycerol (GLY) composite membranes. It was aimed at the substitution of a minor amount of phosphorus “P” in the ZrP by (S or Si) in the ZrP to modify the proton conduction properties. The modification was performed by adding a certain amount of silicic acid or sulphuric acid into phosphoric acid then proceeding with the precipitation in situ. A high proton conductivity, of 0.073 S cm-1,i.e. 73% of that of Nafion, was observed for the Si–ZrP/PTFE/GLY composite membrane.

No description available.

Polypropionates represent a large family of natural products and several strategies have been developed for their synthesis. The aldol reaction is one of the most important tools for the construction of polypropionate natural products. The Ward group has developed an approach to polypropionate natural products based on sequential aldol reactions of thiopyran building blocks. The Thiopyran Route to Polypropionates (TR2P) involves the stepwise aldol reactions of 15 and 16 to rapidly access stereochemically complex tetrapropionate and hexapropionate synthons in a few steps. The current work describes the effort to prepare enantioenriched 17-AA and/or 17-SA through chiral transition metal based Lewis acids (176) and chiral organocatalysts (48, 179) with chelating Lewis acids. The preparation of non-Felkin tetrapropionate and hexapropionate synthons through the use of a weak base in conjunction with a Lewis acid was developed.

The regioselectivity in Pd(0)-catalyzed direct arylation of pyrrole, thiophene, and indole can be improved by blocking some of the reactive sites with a chloride group, leading to increased yields of the desired regioisomers. Competition experiments and computational studies show that the blocking group also activates the substrates toward arylation. Due to the activated nature of chlorinated heteroaromatics, rare and sought after regioisomers, such as 3-arylthiophenes, can be obtained under mild conditions in good yields. Chlorine-bearing thiophenes arylated at C3 and C4 have the potential to undergo controlled regioregular polymerization under conditions developed in the field of polythiophene chemistry. Mechanistic studies support the hypothesis that the arylation of the substrates under investigation likely proceeds via the CMD transition state.

This thesis examines Canadian FDI (foreign direct investment) in China from 1978 to 2006 in the context of globalization and with a focus on the challenges faced by Canadian firms when doing business in China. Building on John Dunning's 'eclectic model' of FDI and Kobrin’s ‘bargaining’ approach, this study explores the relative importance of home country (Canadian) and host country (Chinese) factors in explaining outcomes for Canadian firms in China in the mining, manufacturing and service sectors. Using interview data collected from Canadian high-level management personnel working in these sectors during 2005 the study argues that it has been largely the host country factors that have been at work in causing difficulties for Canadian companies in China. These include issues such as Chinese government regulations and institutions, cultural differences between Canada and China, as well as market and business environment impediments in China. On the other hand, home country factors, particularly the small size of Canadian firms in China, have also played an important part in affecting the operations of Canadian firms there. The empirical analysis of the mining, manufacturing and service sectors revealed that Canadian firms in China are not a homogenous group and their experience and challenges can only be understood in the context of the particular sector that they are engaged in. In particular, Canadian firms in the mining sector have been more subject to pressures from the Chinese state, while firms in the manufacturing sector have been subject more to factors surrounding the Chinese market and business environment. Firms in the service sector have fallen in between, and have been subject to both factors such as state regulation and local market and business conditions. The survey analysis of some Canadian successful firms in China also suggests that the fate of Canadian firms does not hinge solely on cultural dynamics associated with either home or host country or regulatory issues, but also on the very real efforts that individual companies make to understand local conditions, and to become accustomed and to prosper in China.

Ce mémoire-création est né de la participation de l'auteure au programme de réalisation documentaire à l'Institut national de l'image et du son. Découlant de l'entente UQAM-INIS, ce projet jette un regard sur la manière dont les documentaristes de cinéma direct représentent la réalité à travers leurs œuvres. Ce genre, que les cinéastes québécois ont contribué à faire naître à partir de la fin des années 50, est toujours utilisé des décennies plus tard. Le style du direct et sa technique donnent des documentaires basés sur la confiance des gens filmés et qui sont souvent produits dans l'action. Ils suscitent une grande impression de vérité chez les spectateurs. La réflexion proposée dans ce document émane de deux volets du cursus de l'INIS: des entretiens avec six cinéastes québécois de renom et la réalisation d'un court métrage de cinéma direct. Les paroles des réalisateurs permettent d'esquisser les défis éthiques liés à la représentation de la réalité et d'en cibler les grands thèmes. Ceux-ci sont ensuite passés en revue et analysés grâce aux réflexions de théoriciens du documentaire et plus précisément du cinéma direct. Ces thèmes servent ensuite à examiner la production d'un court métrage réalisé lors du programme de l'INIS. Il est à noter que ce mémoire-création, qui apporte une réflexion à la jonction de la théorie et de la pratique, a été exclusivement pensé et préparé après le passage à l'Institut. Il ne s'agit donc pas de vérifier une hypothèse proposée avant le programme, mais bien d'apporter un questionnement basé sur l'expérience. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Documentaire, cinéma, représentation, éthique.

Novelis Global Technology Centre (NGTC) in Kingston, Ontario have been developing a relatively new technology known as Novelis Fusion™ Technology, which is a new variant of the traditional direct chill (DC) casting process that allows co-casting of multi-layered composite aluminum alloy ingots. One of the first steps in this development program is to create a mathematical model of conventional DC casting and validate it through experimentation before proceeding to the next step of modeling, designing, testing, and experimenting with the co casting process. The focus of this document is on the design of the experiments, measurement technique, and analysis of the experimental results to be used to validate the models for conventional DC casting. A series of experiments was conducted using a lab scale caster using a 95 mm × 227 mm rectangular mould available at the Novelis Global Technology Centre in Kingston, Ontario. AA3003, AA6111, and AA4045 aluminum alloys were chosen for this study since these aluminum alloys are commonly used in clad products. Two series of experiments were performed to investigate the effect of casting parameters on the solidification and cooling of the ingots such as casting speed, water flow rate, and the superheat of the molten aluminum. A set of seven thermocouples were embedded in the ingot during the cast to capture the thermal history of the ingot. Melt poisoning with a zinc rich alloy was also performed as an independent method of determining the sump depth and shape. Experienced gained from the first series of experiments allowed improvements to be made to the experiment design for the second series of experiments. Thermocouples must be supported so they are not pushed out of position by the jet of molten aluminum entering the mould. Grounded thermocouples of at least 1.5 mm in diameter were recommended to survive the high temperatures of the molten aluminum. Knowledge gained from the experiments of the conventional DC caster allowed design and development of an experimental co-caster mould that will be useful for future research at NGTC. Melt poisoning and thermocouples were complementary measurement methods that should be used together. In all three alloys, the liquidus sump profile generated by the thermocouple implants correlated well with the etched sumps of the melt poisoned ingots. Primary and secondary water flow rates beyond 1.79 L/s and increasing the superheat by 30°C did not have significant effect of the cooling rate with solidified ingots, but all casting experiments showed that the thermal histories and sump profiles were very sensitive to the casting speed. The sump depth increased with increasing casting speed in all casting experiments. The sump depth increased directly proportionally to the Péclet number and the sump depth could be predicted using a linear regression model by calculating the Péclet number. The formation of remelting bands were seen in the surface of the AA3003 and AA4045 ingots, but were not apparent in the AA6111 ingots. A fast Fourier transform performed on the data obtained from the thermocouples that were inserted in the mould wall showed that remelting occurred at regular intervals and that the frequency increased with casting speed. The thermocouples in the mould also indicated that AA6111 had a higher rate of heat transfer than AA3003 or AA4045. The AA6111 ingots had a higher rate of heat transfer in the mould than for the other alloys. This was evidence that there was a smaller air gap formation between the ingot and the mould in AA6111. This research on the effects of casting parameters on DC cast ingots made using the three alloys, AA3003, AA6111, and AA4045, is beneficial in the development of a design of an experimental lab-scale co-caster for validation of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the Fusion™ Technology process.

Polypropionates represent a large family of natural products and several strategies have been developed for their synthesis. The aldol reaction is one of the most important tools for the construction of polypropionate natural products. The Ward group has developed an approach to polypropionate natural products based on sequential aldol reactions of thiopyran building blocks. The Thiopyran Route to Polypropionates (TR2P) involves the stepwise aldol reactions of 15 and 16 to rapidly access stereochemically complex tetrapropionate and hexapropionate synthons in a few steps. The current work describes the effort to prepare enantioenriched 17-AA and/or 17-SA through chiral transition metal based Lewis acids (176) and chiral organocatalysts (48, 179) with chelating Lewis acids. The preparation of non-Felkin tetrapropionate and hexapropionate synthons through the use of a weak base in conjunction with a Lewis acid was developed.