This thesis is a long work of fiction, straddling the line between a cycle of short stories and a novel. The work is comprised of 35 chronological sections, with a new main character in each section. The dominant narrative of the book is a twenty-four hour period in which the individual narratives of characters gradually overlap and inform one another. Each section in the book is preceded by a meditation on a species of native bird that thematically relates to the character to follow. In sum. the project attempts to unite a number of disparate perspectives into a cohesive whole.

The synthesis of yttrium phenalenide complexes 129-132 was achieved by salt metathesis reactions between ligand anions and YCI3. Ytterbium phenalenide complexes 133-137 were synthesized by protonolysis reactions between neutral ligands and Yb[N(SiMe3)2]2(THF)2. The solid state structure of (Pni1Bu)2Yb(THF) 136 reveals a unique n3 bonding pattern, however the electrons of the phenalenide ligand remain delocalized even when bonded to the metal center. Mono-alkyl complexes (PCpR)2Y(CH2SiMe3)(THFSiMe3)(THF) 147-149 (R = Me. Ph. H) and bis-alkyl complexes (PCp*)Y(CH2SiMe3)2(THF) 150 and (sCp)Y(CH2SiMe3)2(THF) 152 were synthesized by direct protonolysis reactions between Y(CH2SiMe3)3(THF)2 and neutral ligands. When treated with phenylsilane, complex 148 generated the crowded hydride dimer [(PCpPh)2Y(u-H)]2 161. Complexes 150 and 152 undergo acid-base. metallation. insertion reactions and polymerization of small substrates. A variable temperature `H NMR study of 150 and 152 at low temperature reveals an equilibrium between 150/152-THF and 1501152. The THF-free complexes. 150/152-THF. appear to undergo inversion of a pyramidal ground state structure to generate a C2 symmetric intermediate. The X-ray structures of 136, 147, 150. 152, (sCp)Y(CH2SiMe3)2(bipy) 154, 161. [PCp*Y(CCSiMe3)(THF)]2(u2-CCSiMe3)2] 167, acetylide cluster 169 and bis-(Me3Si)2Cp yttrium chloride dimer 176 were determined and structural features discussed.

Fiber-reinforced composites have many advantages over conventional engineering materials. However. the intrinsic inhomogeneities of fiber-reinforced composites have made the prediction of the mechanical behavior of such a material a great challenge over the past three decades. In this dissertation, a micromechanical-based computational model within the context of finite element method is developed so as to predict. the overall elastoplastic behavior of n-phase fiber-reinforced composite with degrading matrix phase due to void growth. The computational micromechanics framework is based on the Transformation Field Analysis which takes into account the microstructure of the individual phases. The evolution of porosity is governed by the rate of void growth and the yield criterion is based on the model proposed by Gurson-Tvergaard. To integrate the overall governing equations, an implicit. stress integration scheme based on a modified Governing Parameter Method is employed to replace the explicit integration scheme commonly used and documented in the literature. The evaluation and verification of the proposed computational framework is carried out by comparing the results with numerical and experimental case studies published in the literature. In addition, an extensive parametric study has been completed to study the influence of the governing parameters on the overall mechanical behavior of fiber-reinforced composites. Finally, to demonstrate the application of the proposed methodology, the proposed constitutive model has been implemented in a finite element commercial software to study the effect of impact loading on particle-reinforced composite structures.

To elucidate the neural generator of the feedback error-related negativity (fERN), which is an event-related brain potential (ERP) component elecited following negative feedback, this study utilized a converging method approach by applying electrophysiological methods to replicate a reward task modeled after a functional magnetic resonance imaging, single-cell recording, and primate studies that activated the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) with negative feedback. This study involved two ERP experiments. The first involved a replication of the reward task and the second experiment involved a modification of the reward task that separated the valence and instructional aspects of the feedback stimulus. Experiment 1 demonstrated that methodological issues can arise when using ERP methods to replicate a paradigm used in other neuroimaging techniques. Experiment 2 was conducted to control for these methodological issues. For experiment 2, the reward condition following a switch movement elicited a large N2 component, which consequently overlapped with the fERN. I concluded that if participants are incorrectly expecting negative feedback after switch trials, the `unexpected' positive feedback following the switch trails violated their expectation, thereby eliciting a large N2, and not a fERN. This hypothesis will be tested in several follow up experiments by modifying the paradigm in Experiment 2 so that all the possible combinations of condition mappings can be applied.

In Habermas's latest work, The Future of Human Nature. he points out that with our newfound ability to intervene in the physical substratum of an as yet to be realized subjectivity we have unveiled the well-entrenched presuppositions that support our modern conception of autonomy. Habermas recognizes that autonomy may depend upon on critical assumptions concerning the nature of substance and this dependence threatens to undermine the Habermasian project of rational moral universalism by forcing it to reconsider its very foundations. Habermas argues that if we limit the extent to which we intervene in the human genome then we can protect our current concept of autonomy and thereby protect and maintain an egalitarian universalist morality and our ability to universalize moral norms. His proposed method for accomplishing this is via a "species-ethic". I argue that Habermas's species-ethic does not prevent the erosion of human autonomy. Moreover, makes this attempt comes at the expense of a procedural and cognitively empty rationality and is replaced with a rationality oriented by substantive values: in direct opposition to Habermas's process of a culturally unbiased framework. A comparative analysis of Kant's conception of freedom/autonomy lays the foundation for a rigorous examination of the process by which Habermas inaugurates the subject and develops human autonomy. Ultimately, Habermas's discourse ethic is shown to have a metaphysical bias in the form of a universal human nature that lends stability and unity to the moral realm.

Understanding why organisms possess particular combinations of visual pigments (VPs) is central to visual ecology. Species that adjust spectral sensitivity by changing retinal VPs provide a powerful tool to investigate this question. Changing chromophores (A1 or A2) and altering opsin expression are mechanisms used to adjust photoreceptor maximum absorbance (λmax). My research explored the function of such dynamic systems in two teleosts, coho salmon and zebrafish. I investigated temporal VP changes in relation to life history and environmental change. In coho, I found a correlation between chromophore shifts and seasonal variations in environmental variables for freshwater and marine life history stages (seasonal hypothesis). These findings provide an alternative explanation to the migration/metamorphosis hypothesis. The latter, suggests that shifts from A-2 to AI at metamorphosis, preceding seaward migration, are preemptive to changes in photic environment. Using exogenous thyroid hormone (TH), which plays a role in coho metamorphosis, I demonstrated that under various rearing conditions and times of year, TH consistently shifted VPs towards A2 dominance. This increased A2 is opposite to that occurring at metamorphosis, further supporting the seasonal hypothesis. While TH induced changes in rod λmax were consistent with a change in A1/A2 ratio, λmax variations in middle wavelength- and long wavelength-sensitive (MWS and LWS) cones were greater than predicted by a shift in A1/A2 ratio alone. I proposed a change in opsin expression to explain MWS and LWS cone λmax variations. In support of this hypothesis, a novel RH2 opsin subtype (expressed in MWS cones) was isolated and sequenced. This second RH2 possessed an E to Q substitution at the position analogous to 122 in bovine RH1 which imposes a hypsochromic shift in X. Further investigation found that changes in coho MWS cone λmax were correlated with ontogeny and the frequency of MWS cones with below 500 nm was reduced in marine compared to freshwater stages. The combination of changes in A1/A2 ratio and opsin expression provides coho with a dynamic spectral tuning mechanism. In zebrafish, I demonstrated the presence of an A1/A2 VP pair, which shifted to A2 dominance with exogenous TH treatment, but not with temperature.

This thesis examines the anti-Confucian theme in Shimazaki Toson's The Broken Commandment (1906) and Lu Xun's "Diary of a Madman" (1918) as representative examples of the historical necessity of vernacular language. Applying a Marxist literary critique, I argue that the complex resistance against Confucian morality was the main ideological motivation of literary language reforms among literati in Meiji Japan and early Republican China. The choice of a new written language was inspired by a modern concern for individual sensation as opposed to the spiritual constraints of Confucian morality. The prevalence of nationalism and modernity during the late nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries contributed to the reforms. Integrating socio-historical, biographical and textual analysis, my thesis demonstrates that the vernacular language was both a necessary medium to express inner struggle and an act of rebellion whereby writers abandoned the intellectual world which had been perpetuated by the use of classical language.

Parallel manipulators are prone to have force-unconstrained configurations. If the resultant. forces together do not span the system of forces to be applied or sustained, the manipulator is degenerate and is force unconstrained. Physically. the mobile platform can have motion even if all the actuated ,joints are locked, i.e., the manipu¬lator can instantaneously gain one or more degrees of freedom that are unconstrained by the actuators. Since force-unconstrained configurations are uncontrollable, the identification and elimination of such configurations become critical. Two methodologies for identifying the force-unconstrained poses are analyzed. The first method involves the differentiation of the nonlinear kinematic constraints of the input and output variables with respect to time. The second method makes use of the reciprocal screws associated with the actuated joints. Force-unconstrained poses of planar manipulators are analyzed depending on their actuation: Non Redundant Planar Parallel Manipulators.- Force-unconstrained poses of non-redundantly actuated planar parallel manipulators can be mathematically expressed as a function of the three variables that define the dimensional space of the ma¬nipulator. i.e., the location and orientation of the mobile platform. As a conse- Quence, these poses can be plotted as surfaces in the mentioned three dimensional space. i.e., there are two orders of infinity of force-unconstrained poses. Examples of force-unconstrained poses of parallel manipulators are presented: 3-RPR, 3-PRR, and 3-RRR, where the underscore indicates the actuated joint. For the 3-RPR ma¬nipulator, a comparison and discussion between both methodologies is carried out. For the 3-PRR and 3-RRR manipulators, an efficient technique for identifying their force-unconstrained poses, based upon having joint displacements as known values, is presented. Planar Parallel Manipulators with In-Branch Redundancy.- Force-unconstrained poses of planar parallel manipulators with actuated joints replacing passive joints lead to conditions of the joint displacements that have to be satisfied. In particular, the RRR - 2RRR. PRR - 2PRR. and RRR - 2RRR layouts are analyzed. In addi¬tion, equivalent mechanisms, whose motions describe the path of continuous force-unconstrained poses. are presented. The force-unconstrained poses of the analyzed layouts with in-branch redundancy represent curves in the three dimensional space, i.e., there is one order of infinity of force-unconstrained poses. Planar Parallel Manipulators with, Additional Actuated Branches.- Force-uncon-strained poses of planar parallel manipulators with the inclusion of actuated branches, beyond three. lead to a system of multivariable polynomials. Elimination methods are used to reduce the multivariable polynomials to a single polynomial in terms of one variable. In particular, Gröbner Bases and dialytic elimination methods are employed. The actuation layouts 4-RPR. 4-PRR. and 4-RRR are analyzed. The force-unconstrained poses of the analyzed planar parallel manipulators with additional actuated branches also represent curves in the mentioned three dimensional space, i.e.. there is one order of infinity of force-unconstrained poses.

A series of para-dioxolene bridging ligands with bis-tridentate or bis-bidentate coordination pockets have been prepared. These ligands were designed to serve as building blocks in the preparation of functional metallosupramolecular structures. The bis-tridentate dipyridyl-diazaanthraquinones have topologies suitable for the preparation of [2 x 2] grids or larger extended structures. Employing a double condensation reaction between 1,3-diamino-4,6-benzenedicarboxaldehyde and 2-acetyl pyridine successfully afforded a cisoid binding diazaanthraquinone. The redox activity of the latter revealed it is more easily reduced than structurally similar 1,5- and 1,8-diazaanthraquinones. The synthesis of an analogous ligand displaying transoid coordination pockets proved challenging. Several approaches were attempted however the preparation of key intermediates 1,4-dinitro-2,5-benzenedicarboxaldehyde and 2,5-diamino-1,4-(hydroxyI-methyl) benzene were unsuccessful. A collection of bis-bidentate 2,5-bis(phosphino)1,4-dioxolenes were prepared with diphenyl, diisopropyl and diethoxy substituents at the phosphorus center. 2,5- Dibromo-1,4-dimethoxybenzene was reacted with the appropriate chlorophosphine under lithiation conditions to afford the dimethoxy compound, which was subsequently deprotected to the hydroquinone state with a Lewis acid. The diphenylphosphino hydroquinone was oxidized using phenyliodonium bisacetate, however efforts to oxidize other hydroquinone precursors to the targeted quinone state proved challenging. Diphenyl and diisopropyl phosphino hydroquinones were successfully coordinated with diamagnetic palladium hexafluoroacetylacetonate precursors. The resulting bimetallic bis(phosphino) dianion complexes were subsequently oxidized to the semiquinone state using silver (I) hexafluorophosphate and studied to determine the distinctive features of the semiquinone ligand.

An Electrolyser is a part of a renewable energy system (RES) and generates hydrogen from water electrolysis that is used in fuel cells. A dc-to-dc converter is required to couple the Electrolyser to the system DC bus. This thesis presents an extensive comparison of three soft-switched high-frequency transformer isolated dc-to-dc converters for this application. It is shown that LCL-type series resonant converter (SRC) with capacitive output filter is suitable for this application. Due to the wide variation in input voltage and load current, no converter can maintain zero-voltage switching (ZVS) for the complete operating range. To overcome this problem, two new converter configurations are proposed. Proposed Configuration 1 is a two-stage boost-LCL SRC with capacitive output filter and Proposed Configuration 2 is a transient-boost dual half-bridge LCL SRC with capacitive output filter. Operating principle, design, simulation and experimental results of the newly proposed converters are also presented.