The Role of Mobile Phones in Governance-Driven Technology Exports in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study assesses how the mobile phone influences governance to improve information and communication technology (ICT) exports in Sub-Saharan Africa with data from 2000-2012. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments and three main governance concepts are used, namely: (i) institutional (comprising the rule of law and corruption-control); (ii) political (involving political stability/no violence and voice & accountability) and (iii) economic (including regulation quality and government effectiveness) governance. The following findings are established. First, there are positive net effects on ICT goods exports from independent interactions between mobile phones and ‘political stability’ ‘voice and accountability’ and corruption-control. Second, significant net effects are not apparent from independent interactions between mobile phones and government effectiveness, regulation quality and the rule of law. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

The Role of Mobile Phones in Governance-Driven Technology Exports in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study assesses how the mobile phone influences governance to improve information and communication technology (ICT) exports in Sub-Saharan Africa with data from 2000-2012. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments and three main governance concepts are used, namely: (i) institutional (comprising the rule of law and corruption-control); (ii) political (involving political stability/no violence and voice & accountability) and (iii) economic (including regulation quality and government effectiveness) governance. The following findings are established. First, there are positive net effects on ICT goods exports from independent interactions between mobile phones and ‘political stability’ ‘voice and accountability’ and corruption-control. Second, significant net effects are not apparent from independent interactions between mobile phones and government effectiveness, regulation quality and the rule of law. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Arsenic speciation in polychaetes (Annelida) and sediments from the intertidal mudflat of Sundarban mangrove wetland, India

This paper documents the concentration of total arsenic and individual arsenic species in four soft-bottom benthic polychaetes (Perenereis cultifera, Ganganereis sootai, Lumbrinereis notocirrata and Dendronereis arborifera) along with host sediments from Sundarban mangrove wetland, India. An additional six sites were considered exclusively for surface sediments for this purpose. Polychaetes were collected along with the host sediments and measured for their total arsenic content using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Arsenic concentrations in polychaete body tissues varied greatly, suggesting species-specific characteristics and inherent peculiarities in arsenic metabolism. Arsenic was generally present in polychaetes as arsenate (AsV ranges from 0.16 to 0.50 mg kg−1) or arsenite (AsIII ranges from 0.10 to 0.41 mg kg−1) (30–53 % as inorganic As) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMAV <1–25 %). Arsenobetaine (AB < 16 %), and PO4-arsenoriboside (8–48 %) were also detected as minor constituents, whilst monomethylarsonic acid (MAV) was not detected in any of the polychaetes. The highest total As (14.7 mg kg−1 dry wt) was observed in the polychaete D. arborifera collected from the vicinity of a sewage outfall in which the majority of As was present as an uncharacterised compound (10.3 mg kg−1 dry wt) eluted prior to AB. Host sediments ranged from 2.5 to 10.4 mg kg−1 of total As. This work supports the importance of speciation analysis of As, because of the ubiquitous occurrence of this metalloid in the environment, and its variable toxicity depending on chemical form. It is also the first work to report the composition of As species in polychaetes from the Indian Sundarban wetlands

Characterization of austenitic stainless steels deformed at elevated temperature

Highly alloyed austenitic stainless steels are promising candidates to replace more expansive nickel-based alloys within the energy-producing industry. The present study investigates the deformation mechanisms by microstructural characterisation, mechanical properties and stress-strain response of three commercial austenitic stainless steels and two commercial nickel-based alloys using uniaxial tensile tests at elevated temperatures from 400 C up to 700 C. The materials showed different influence of temperature on ductility, where the ductility at elevated temperatures increased with increasing nickel and solid solution hardening element content. The investigated materials showed planar dislocation driven deformation at elevated temperature. Scanning electron microscopy showed that deformation twins were an active deformation mechanism in austenitic stainless steels during tensile deformation at elevated temperatures up to 700 C.Previous status of this publication was manuscriptFunding agencies: AB Sandvik Materials Technology in Sweden; Swedish National Energy Administration through the Research Consortium of Materials Technology for Thermal Energy Processes [KME-701]; AFM Strategic Faculty Grant SFO-MAT-LiU at Linkoping University [2009-00971]</p