fixes to null assignment
fixes from dz alerts
fixes
updates
remove regex string escaping, use simple loop

FROM (with regex)
EMPTY x 1 x 200000 = 0.141999959946
UNICODE x 1 x 10000 = 0.0759999752045
SIMPLE x 1 x 100000 = 1.60000014305
NESTED x 1 x 100000 = 4.62999987602
HUGE x 1 x 100 = 5.51999998093

TO (simple loop)
EMPTY x 1 x 200000 = 0.147000074387
UNICODE x 1 x 10000 = 0.0209999084473
SIMPLE x 1 x 100000 = 0.742000102997
NESTED x 1 x 100000 = 2.64599990845
HUGE x 1 x 100 = 3.35500001907