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This thesis focuses on the effect of factors in the pre-acquisition planning stage on M&A outcomes. With three empirical chapters, the main findings provide compelling evidence that pre-acquisition factors are related to M&A fundamentals such as the motivation and incentives to carry out M&A transaction, and play significant roles in deal’s negotiation and post-acquisition integration. The first empirical chapter of this thesis investigates whether the voluntary disclosure at pre-acquisition issuance activities, i.e. the intended ‘use of proceeds’, has influence on subsequent M&A outcomes. The results show that firms disclosing acquisition intention at debt/equity issuance significantly raise more funds but fail to allocate capital efficiently on value-increasing M&A transactions. This evidence is consistent with the capital need theory. The second empirical chapter examines the wealth effect of mega corporate takeover and explores whether rich acquisition experience facilitate acquirers to generate shareholder value in mega-deals. The findings show that acquirer’s acquisition experience is positively related to mega-deals completion likelihood, stock performance in short- and long-run, and operating performance in the long-run following mega-mergers. The evidence indicates that acquirers are able to learn though experience and develop skills to deal with the complexity of mega-mergers. The final empirical chapter provides evidence on the relationship between target CEOs’ acquisition experience and takeover gains for target shareholders. The results show that target shareholders are likely to receive lower bid premiums and earn lower abnormal stock returns around deal announcement when they have a CEO with more acquisition experience. Additionally, target CEOs’ acquisition experience is positively related to stock payment. Our evidence suggests that more experienced target CEOs tend to bargain for more personal benefits related to the voting influence in the combined firm instead of helping their shareholders to gain bargaining advantage in the negotiation.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) represent one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Epidemiological studies have suggested an inverse association between the consumption of citrus fruit and the risk of CVD. However, the molecular mechanisms by which citrus flavonoids contribute to cardiovascular health have not been fully elucidated. In addition, evidence from human studies is limited and contradictory. Therefore, the aims of this thesis were to investigate mechanisms by which citrus flavonoids impact on endothelial cells and their effects on endothelial function and cardiovascular health in an acute manner and following regular consumption. The potential of selected citrus flavonoids to modulate gene expression relevant to nitric oxide (NO) production and antioxidant status was investigated in EA.hy926 cells; the acute effect of flavanone-rich blond orange juice (total flavanone content=81.7 mg/100 ml) on vascular function (cardiac electrical activity, blood pressure, vascular compliance, peripheral blood flow, pulse transit time and pulse wave velocity) in healthy subjects (n=13) was determined; in a randomized controlled crossover trial, the effect of flavanone-rich blood orange juice (total flavanone content=89.7 mg/100 ml) on endothelial function, blood pressure, lipid profile, inflammation in overweight/obese men and premenopausal women of European origin (n=15) were examined following 2-week consumption (400 ml/d) of blood orange juice and a sugar-matched control drink. The in vitro study demonstrates NOS3 mRNA and protein expression were significantly upregulated by nobiletin and tangeretin; incubation with nobiletin also resulted in a significant reduction in ET-1 mRNA levels and a significant induction of HO-1 and GCLC. Vascular related markers were not acutely altered at 2 h post consumption of a flavanone-rich orange juice in healthy subjects under the investigated conditions. Following 2-week consumption of blood orange juice, endothelial function was significantly improved from 8.15% ± 2.92% to 10.16% ± 3.31%, compared to the control drink (time by treatment interaction: P=0.002). Interestingly, this favourable effect on endothelial function was only observed in overweight subjects but not in obese subjects. Baseline blood pressure, lipid profile, hsCRP and ET-1 were generally within healthy ranges and not altered during juice supplementation. Present data indicate that regular consumption of blood orange juice exerts beneficial effect on endothelial function in healthy overweight men and premenopausal women of European origin, which may be attributed to elevated NO bioavailability and the induction of cell-protective enzymes as evidenced by the in vitro findings.

This thesis makes four different contributions to the literature on international finance and corporate governance. Firstly, it examines the forward exchange rate bias and the forward premium puzzle, using weekly and daily data from thirty-one developed and emerging economies during 1999-2010. The forward-spot relationship is analysed through both a time series and a panel construction. Secondly, it investigatges empirically the relationship between the e3xchange rate and the term structure of interest rates, as proposed by Lim and Ogaki (eg Fama 1984: Lim and |Okaki 2004) using data from sixteen emerging economies during 1993-2001. Thirdly, it examines the impact of the term structure of the interest rates on bond risk in G7 countries and it tests the stability of this relation during pre- and post-financial crisis periods. Fourthly, this disseration exploes the link between a director's pay and corporate performance using a panel data set of FTSE 350 companies during 2004-2009. The empirical results deomonstrate a robust cointegrating forward-spot relationship and support the forward rate unbiasedness with high frequency data: however, the forward premium puzzle remains in most sample economies. The term structure of interest rates plays an important role in exchange rate determination and the cointegrating relationship is stable despite the presence of a number of exchange rate regime changes for the emerging economies. In this study the short rate is considered as a proxy for economic uncertainty and the yield spread is considered as a proxy for business condition. The findings show statistically significant effects of the short rate and yield spread on the bond risk for G7 economies, implying that interest rate policy may be important in reducing market volatility. Lastly, a positive and significant relationship is identified between corporate performance and a director's pay in both levels and first difference regression specifications, and through both directions. However, this link has broken down since recent financial crisis

This study examines the approach to instrumental writing and musical structure in Dai Fujikura's 2010 composition for string quartet, Flare. A close reading of Fujikura's own writing on his compositional process indicates three noteworthy areas of concentration. The first is the focus on smaller “phrases” (referred to as “elements” in this study) to form larger “shapes” (which correspond to various textures). The second is the significance of texture variance, driven primarily by changes in timbre, in defining the formal structure of the piece. The third is Fujikura’s interest in the tension between opposing dualities, which is manifested in an active-static interchange throughout the piece. In question are the parameters beyond rhythmic density which affect the perception of stasis or activity. The overview outlines the different textures featured throughout each Part of the piece, identifying texture “blocks”, along with their local and global implications (active or static). Structural analysis reveals references to conventional form, dividing the string quartet into four Parts. In each Part, fundamental musical parameters are analyzed to reveal the primary “elements” and the timbre-based textures they form. The active-static characters are also explored on a micro- level within each Part and in relation to the quartet as a whole. Ultimately, two primary factors impact the perceived implication of motion. The first is the quantity of musical material or events, which affect rhythmic or elemental density. The second is the degree of unity, which is signified most notably by texture, but also by cohesion or regularity. My original composition, A Lonely Person Sitting, Viewing A Flower for string quartet, is based on the poem of the same name by the Taiwanese poet Shiao-Fung Chang. The poem is a tranquil meditation on solitude using the concise syntax of the Chinese language. This string quartet is a musical realization that directly responds to the flow, structure, and sentiments of Chang’s poem.

This thesis suggests a robotic system architecture analysis, modeling, and design workflow that is systematic and intuitive. Firstly, a revised hybrid robotic paradigm model is proposed. Secondly, a method for robotic system subtask analysis, system type identification, and functional hierarchy modeling is presented and examined. Lastly, three robotic system design cases that are under the influence of the proposed method are studied. The main contribution of this work is to serve as a system investigation and decision-making tool, while providing an abstracted blueprint for designing a robotic system architecture that requires extensive interaction between the cyber and physical worlds.

Polyelectrolyte complexation (PEC) is an associative phase separation process initiated by mixing of two kinds of oppositely charged polyelectrolyte solutions. PEC-based materials have been recognized as ideal prototypes to study membraneless organelles, self-assembled into smart delivery vehicles for nucleotides and proteins, and fabricated into functional devices for purification purposes. Continuous studies have been devoted to understanding thermodynamics, kinetics, morphology, and structures of the polyelectrolyte complexation systems, which were summarized in Chapter 1 of this dissertation. However, a lot of the studies remained qualitative, and the fundamental understanding of the polymer physics involved has not kept pace. Specifically, a precise description of the binodal phase diagram capturing detailed phase behaviors and partitioning of different components into the two respective phases is still lacking. Moreover, joint efforts by experiments and theories are needed to provide an overarching framework with the predictive capacity to control the properties of the PEC-based materials. Accordingly, we have designed a new experimental approach combining salt resistance measurement and thermogravimetric analysis with minimum processing and approximation to produce accurate binodal phase diagrams. Chapter 2 of this dissertation focused on illustrating the phase behaviors of a “clean” polypeptide system, poly(lysine) and poly(glutamic acid) with hydrophilic backbones and matched chain lengths. Essential features of this system were demonstrated, including the screening effect of salt, self-suppression and the change of the volume fraction of the complex phase with addition of salt. Additionally, the salt partitioning into the supernatant phase was found to initially increase and then decrease on increasing the salt concentrations, manifesting as a distinct minimum in the salt partition coefficients. These trends were shown by simulations to be strongly influenced by the excluded volume interactions in the complex phase, which were not accounted for in their entirety in earlier theories. Equipped with the knowledge from the polypeptide system, we have further extended our research to an aliphatic pair of poly(acrylic acid) and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) with hydrophobic backbones in Chapter 3 of the dissertation. While we found the phase behaviors were, to some extent, similar under neutral/basic pHs and followed general expectations of PEC materials, remarkably different behaviors were observed under acidic conditions. Unintuitively, polymer content in the complex phase increased as salt was added, due to the hydrophobicity of aliphatic polymer backbones coupled with hydrogen bonding of unionized monomer units. We systematically investigated both of these specific interactions using turbidimetry, microscopy, and FTIR spectroscopy. These binodal phase diagrams detailed the associative secondary phase assembly from electrostatic complexation, precipitation of an individual polymer, and other noncovalent contributions as a function of pH, polymer concentration, and added salt. Lastly, Chapter 4 of the dissertation has compared the binodal phase behaviors of both polypeptide and aliphatic polyelectrolyte systems to accentuate the effect of solvent quality and chain length. The experimental results could be qualitatively explained by the scaling theory and random phase approximation calculation. The threshold value of Flory-Huggins χ parameter distinguishing complexation disintegration upon salt addition and that remaining stable even at high salt concentrations could be estimated. Additionally, the salt resistance concentration was shown to be proportional to the square root of the polymer chain length.

In this thesis, we will study two problems in parabolic Partial Differential Equations. In the Chapter 2 we study the problem of backward uniqueness of the linear heat equation. We briefly recall some results about backward uniqueness under the assumption of Dirichlet boundary condition and results of boundary controllability in control theory. It was shown in the papers of Escauriaza, Seregin and Sverak (Russian math. Surveys 58: 211-250, 2003), Seregin and Sverak (Int. Math. Ser. 2:353-366, 2002) that a bounded solution of the heat equation in a half-space which becomes zero at some time must be identically zero, even though no assumptions are made on the boundary values of the solutions. In a recent example, Luis Escauriaza showed that this statement fails if the half-space is replaced by cones with opening angle smaller than 90 degree. The main result of the chapter is that the result remains true for cones with opening angle larger than 110 degree. In Chapter 3 we study the profiles of the singularity of the 1-D complex Burgers equation. The Cauchy problem for the 1-D real-valued viscous Burgers equation $u_t+uu_x=u_{xx}$ is globally well-posed (Hopf in Commun Pure Appl Math 3:201-230, 1950). For complex-valued solutions finite time blow-up is possible from smooth compactly supported initial data, see Polacik and Sverak (J Reine Angew math 616:205-217, 2008). They also proved that the singularities for the complex-valued solutions are isolated if they are not present in the initial data. We study the singularities in more detail. In particular, we classify the possible blow-up rates and blow-up profiles. It turns out that all singularities are of type II and that the blow-up profiles are regular steady state solutions of the equation.