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Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Queen Mary, University of London

Mechanism for the development of Sn-Cu alloy coatings produced by pulsed current electrodeposition

Pulsed current (PC) electrodeposition has become an essential tool for producing coatings in a wide range of industries. The pulsed current can have a significant influence on the composition, morphology and properties of electrodeposited coatings and this is particularly true when plating an alloy. In this study, the mechanism for the development of Sn-Cu alloy coatings produced by PC electrodeposition was investigated. Sn-Cu alloy coatings produced by PC electrodeposition were essentially composed of a dual layer of Sn-Cu electrodeposits and Cu6Sn5 inter metallic compounds (IMCs). In addition, it was observed that pulsed Sn-Cu electrodeposits exhibited an increased Cu content. Experiments were carefully designed to elucidate the mechanism for this important finding and based on their results a theory is proposed which explains the increased Cu content in terms of a metal displacement reaction occurring during the ‘relaxation’ time of PC electrodeposition.This file contains the preprint submitted for publication to Materials Letters. Published version of the manuscript can be found on Elsevier's ScienceDirect site https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167577X18301034?via%3Dihu

Business growth ambitions amongst SMEs – changes over time and links to growth

This study is a follow up to a report published in 2012 which examined the level and determinants of growth ambition amongst UK SMEs . The purpose of this research is to resurvey the respondents to the 2012 study in order to generate new data which, in combination with secondary data on business performance, will provide answers to the following key research questions: • How does ambition change over time and what influences this? • What is the relationship between ambition and business performance? In addition to these major research aims, other study objectives were set which include examining the effect of growth ambition on productivity, employment growth and turnover growth and to examine and identify the policy relevance of the findings

The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress 2001: The Longest Decade: Canada in the 1990s

In this chapter, Frank Graves examines the relationship between what he describes as the "official economy," as portrayed by conventional measures of economic performance, and public perceptions of the state of the economy. He also considers the public's understanding of the relationship between economic and social well-being, and the linkages between the public's perception of economic performance and their attitudes toward the redistributive impact of the State and its broader social role. The analysis in the chapter is based on data from quantitative survey and evidence from qualitative focus group conducted over the past decade.Well-being, Wellbeing, Well Being, Social Progress, Social, Societal, Society, Values, Social Capital, Subjective Well-being, Subjective, Redistribution, Growth

Are Hubs the Centre of Things? eProcurement in the Automotive Industry

Organizations are being confused by simplistic, technology-driven models of e-business that allegedly enhance competitive and co-operative capability. Re-examining the perceived wisdom of electronic markets finds shallow, overlapping networks competing for membership, isolated pockets of collaboration and irregular flows of revenue, resembling an ad-hoc arrangement of spokes rather than a hub structure. This paper develops a classification that highlights the link between inclusive/exclusive hub membership and the buyer-supplier relationship as part of planning eprocurement strategy. Three automotive case studies show that introducing electronic hubs without IS-related, industry-level planning simply speeds up the mess

Protein-tyrosine Kinase Pyk2 Mediates Endothelin-induced p38 MAPK Activation in Glomerular Mesangial Cells

Endothelin-1 (ET-1), a member of a family of 21 amino acid peptides possessing vasoconstrictor properties, is known to stimulate mesangial cell proliferation. In this study, ET-1 (100 nm) induced a rapid activation of p21(ras) in human glomerular mesangial cells (HMC). Inhibition of Src family tyrosine kinase activation with [4-Amino-5-(4-methylphenyl)-7-(t-butyl)pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine] or chelation of intracellular free calcium with 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid acetoxymethyl ester significantly decreased ET-1dependent p21(ras) activation and suggested the involvement of the cytoplasmic proline-rich tyrosine kinase Pyk2. We have observed that Pyk2 was expressed in HMC and was tyrosine-phosphorylated within 5 min of ET-1 treatment. ET-1-induced activation of Pyk2 was further confirmed using phospho-specific anti-Pyk2 antibodies. Surprisingly, Src kinase activity was required upstream of ET-1-induced autophosphorylation of Pyk2. To determine whether Pyk2 autophosphorylation mediated ET-1-dependent p21(ras) activation, adenovirus-mediated transfer was employed to express a dominant-negative form of Pyk2 (CRNK). CRNK expression inhibited ET-1-induced endogenous Pyk2 autophosphorylation, but did not abolish ET-1-mediated increases in GTP-bound p21(ras) levels. ET-1-induced activation of the p38 MAPK (but not ERK) pathway was inhibited in HMC and in rat glomerular mesangial cells expressing the dominant-negative form of Pyk2. These findings suggest that the engagement of Pyk2 is important for ET-1-mediated p38 MAPK activation and hence the biological effect of this peptide in mesangial cells

Performance of a low-cost, solar-powered pop-up satellite archival tag for assessing post-release mortality of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) caught in the US east coast light-tackle recreational fishery

Pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) are a valuable tool for estimating mortality of pelagic fishes released from commercial and recreational fishing gears. However, the high cost of PSATs limits sample sizes, resulting in low-precision post-release mortality estimates with little management applicability. We evaluate the performance of a lower-cost PSAT designed to enable large-scale post-release mortality studies. The tag uses solar rather than battery power, does not include a depth sensor, and transmits daily summaries of light and temperature data rather than high-resolution habitat profiles, contributing to a substantially lower per-unit price. We assessed the tag’s ability to detect mortality while also estimating the post-release mortality of juvenile (119–\u3c 185 cm) Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) caught using light-tackle angling methods along the US east coast

The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress 2002: Towards a Social Understanding of Productivity

In this chapter, Graves and Jenkins explore the attitudes of Canadians to productivity. The distinction between our standard of living and our quality of life is a powerful one for Canadians generally. The economic citizen who emerges from Graves and Jenkins data is relatively aware of the terms of the productivity debate. Canadians appear to have a broadly optimistic view of the economy, but give the country only a lukewarm overall rating of its productivity. Moreover, although improved productivity does not rank as highly as health care, education, the environment and crime prevention, the public does see it as an important goal, qualified by some scepticism. Nevertheless, the Canadian public's attitude towards productivity is qualified by a commitment to a broader sense of the quality of life. Graves and Jenkins report that Canadians place considerably higher emphasis on quality of life as a goal as compared with a high standard of living when these are traded off. This attitude also influences the public's reaction to policy debate about the productivity agenda. As well, in their words, "there is a significant gap in the understanding of how productivity should be dealt with between the residents of the boardrooms and the residents of the family rooms of Canada".Government, Productivity, Growth, Labour Productivity, Labor Productivity, Living Standards, Quality of Life, Policy, Public Opinion, Innovation, Jobs, Employment, Unemployment, Investment