The complementary value of vibrational spectroscopy and mass spectrometry in obtaining structural information on a range of tricyclic indoles with various ring patterns has been investigated, focusing particularly on whether these heterocycles with a functional group containing oxygen in the third ring should be described as ketoindoles or hydroxindolenines. Parallels between certain fragmentations of ionised indoles and electrophilic substitution in solution have been identified. A mechanistically interesting and analytically useful interesting dimerisation, leading to the formation of [2M-H]+ ions, has been discovered in the positive ion electrospray mass spectra of 3-alkylindoles. This dimerisation, which occurs in the nebuliser of the instrument, offers a potential new route to bisindoles under milder conditions than those employed in classical solution chemistry. Facile formation of C=N bonds by condensation of C=O and H2N has been shown to provide a means of preparing protonated imines and protonated quinoxalines from mixtures of the requisite (di)carbonyl compounds and (di)amines, thus further illustrating how organic synthesis is possible in the droplets in the nebuliser of the instrument. Possible metal catalysed coupling reaction routes to bisindoles have been explored. Acyl transfer reactions from nitrogen to carbon have been investigated in 1-acyl-2-methylindoles and orthogonally protected sulphonamides. These processes have been shown to be intermolecular and intramolecular, respectively. The latter rearrangement, which may be prevented when necessary by choosing the nitrophenylsulphonamide protecting group, offers a route to acyl, carboalkoxy and carboaryloxy aromatic compounds, some of which are difficult to prepare.

This thesis has two data chapters that consider factors affecting loblolly pine health in localized regions of Mississippi. The first data chapter investigated the abiotic and biotic factors contributing to loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) mortality on private timberland in Mississippi. This assessment considered temperature and precipitation variations, bark beetle populations, foliar and root pathogen tests, and drone survey. The results revealed that the loblolly pine mortality resulted from combination of factors. The second data chapter examined the impact of habitat fragmentation on southern pine beetle (SPB; Dendroctonus frontalis) infestation in Homochitto National Forest (HNF). This was assessed through remote sensing and categorization of SPB spots in HNF over nine years. Results indicated that increased total pine patch area, decreased distance between pine patches, and low patch diversity are important drivers of SPB outbreak in HNF. These results can help improve loblolly pine health and management in the southeastern United States.

In the last three decades, civil conflicts have become more complex and intractable than in the past. One reason for this development is the proliferation of rebel groups within the armed oppositions involved in these conflicts. Today, armed oppositions are more likely to be movements composed of loosely connected or competing rebel groups rather than unitary blocs. Yet, despite their centrality to the dynamics of conflict, different structural characteristics of and competitive and power relations within armed oppositions have not been taken in adequate account as possible predictors of civil conflict outcomes. To further our knowledge and cover this gap in the scholarship, the dissertation investigates how and to what extent the fragmentation, internal competition, and internal power distribution of armed oppositions affect civil conflict termination. The dissertation develops a theory that sees the fragmentation of, a moderate and severe competition, and a dispersed distribution of power within armed oppositions as having an impact on the fighting effectiveness of the rebels, the countereffort of the government, bargaining problems, and the intensity of the conflict. This impact shapes, in turn, how civil conflicts end. This theory is tested with a nested analysis consisting of a large-N and a small-N analysis. Through the large-N analysis, the dissertation demonstrates that, at a general level, these characteristics of armed oppositions indeed affect how civil conflicts end. Through the small-N analysis, the dissertation further illustrates the causal mechanisms linking these characteristics to specific civil conflict outcomes. With these findings, the dissertation makes two important contributions. First, it provides generalisable conclusions that remedy the limited generalisability of the scholarship on the phenomena under study. Second, it provides indications on how to resolve conflicts in which the involved oppositions are fragmented and bedevilled by internal competition, thus helping disentangle the proverbial complexity of multi-party civil conflicts.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(理学) / 甲第24868号 / 理博第4978号 / 新制||理||1711(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院理学研究科物理学・宇宙物理学専攻 / (主査)准教授 細川 隆史, 教授 井岡 邦仁, 教授 橋本 幸士 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

All companies are subject to some degree of regulatory oversight of their operations. Economics, finance, and government research demonstrate that operational regulatory oversight (for example, provided by the EPA or FDA) imposes financial and operating burdens on regulated firms. My study examines how auditors respond to their clients’ operational regulatory oversight with additional audit costs, as reflected in audit fees. I focus on operational regulatory oversight from six federal regulatory agencies with authority to regulate companies in any industry. I find that operational regulatory oversight intensity, measured by number of regulators, occurrences of regulator-specific disclosures, and regulatory fragmentation, is positively associated with audit fees. Cross-sectional tests show that operational oversight from “continuous” regulators (i.e., regulators that maintain routine oversight) significantly weakens the positive association between operational regulatory oversight and audit fees. Further analyses provide no evidence that the higher audit fees are accompanied by changes in auditor effort. Lastly, my results are robust to an audit fee change model and an alternative measure of regulatory fragmentation. / Business Administration/Accounting

The transversity distribution function, $h_1^{q}(x)$, where $x$ is the longitudinal momentum fraction of the proton carried by quark $q$, encodes the proton's transverse spin structure at leading twist. Difficulties arise when extracting $h_1^q(x)$ due to its chiral-odd nature. However, it can be coupled with a spin-dependent interference fragmentation function (FF), $H_1^{\sphericalangle, h_1h_2}$, in a dihadron ($h_1h_2$) production channel in polarized proton-proton ($p^\uparrow p$) collisions. The coupling of $h_1^{q}(x)$ and $H_1^{\sphericalangle, h_1h_2}$ produces an experimentally measurable azimuthal correlation asymmetry, $A_{UT}$, between the spin of the fragmenting quark and the final state dihadron. A model-independent extraction of transversity from these measurements relies on the knowledge of dihadron FFs, namely the unpolarized dihadron FFs, $D_1^{h_1h_2/q(g)}$ for quarks, \emph{q} (gluons, \emph{g}). Extraction of these FFs requires measurements of the unpolarized dihadron cross-section in $pp$ collisions, which are urgently needed. In $pp$ collisions, the unpolarized cross-section measurement provides access to the $D_1^{h_1h_2}$ for both quarks and gluons. This thesis outlines the measurements of the \dipion azimuthal correlation asymmetry in the forward ($\eta > 0$) and backward ($\eta < 0$) pseudorapidity regions with respect to the polarized beam using the RHIC Run 2015 polarized $pp$ data and the measurement of the unpolarized \dipion cross-section in the invariant mass bins in the mid-pseudorapidity ($|\eta|<1$) region using the RHIC Run 2012 $pp$ data at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV. These data sets were collected at the STAR experiment. The STAR Time Projection Chamber (TPC), Barrel Electromagnetic Calorimeter (BEMC), and Time-of-Flight Detector (TOF) were used in conjunction to measure outgoing particle energy, tracking, and identification. / Physics

Epiphytic lichens are important species in the forest ecosystem. The Swedish forestry model affects them by fragmenting large old continuous forests. These fragments could be used as islands in a test of MacArthur and Wilsons theory of island biogeography. This study investigates if island biogeographic factors such as area and distance from nearest continuous forest affects lichen diversity in forest fragments, In addition time since logging to investigate if the populations will reach equilibrium and also if differences in habitats such as forest volume affects lichen diversity in addition to island biogeography. The number of lichen species were examined in 15 boreal forest fragments north of Storuman municipality, Västerbotten.   According to the results, positive significant correlations were observed between the number of lichen species and island biogeographic variables in the area of the islands. No positive correlations could be observed between the number of lichen species and distance to the nearest continuous forest.  There were also significant correlations between number of species and time since logging around the forest islands. However, there were positive correlations between the number of lichen species and forest volume, which tells us that more than island biogeographic factors that affect lichens in the form of habitat changes. This study indicates that in order to favor lichen diversity in forest landscapes it is important to maintain larger forest fragments with older trees. Clearly forest management agencies should consider the complex ecology of lichens when planning and performing forestry practices.

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