Emissions control catalysts: links between Fecralloy preoxidation and coating adherence

Tightening emissions legislation for vehicles across the world has caused the use of monolith catalysts in automobile emission control to become ubiquitous. In this study, the physiochemical transformations caused by thermal pre-oxidation of the surface of Fecralloy® foil, an integral component of emissions control catalysts, have been studied to assess their role on coating film adherence. The foil coupons were pre-oxidised at 950°C for 0, 5, 10 and 30 h and the mass gain was found to fit a simplified hyperbolic model. Measurements were made of surface topography and microstructure using laser profiling interferometry (LPI) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), with phase analysis being obtained from X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optimal surface roughness was obtained after 10 h of pre-oxidation, when the surface contained significant amounts of α-alumina arranged as randomly oriented whiskers. Upon coating of the treated foil coupons with γ–alumina slurry, the sample pre-oxidised for 10 h gave the best performance in terms of coating film loading of 7.94 mass % and adherence of less than 10 mass % loss

Multiple influences on corporate governance in sub-Saharan Africa : actors, strategies and implications

This paper examines the influences of three major actors – the international organisations, rating agencies, and indigenous African institutions - on the fledging corporate governance and accountability practice in Nigeria. Findings from this study suggest that corporate governance in Nigeria seems to be in a flux resulting from a degree of ‘confusion’ in the country’s corporate governance system with regards to ‘which corporate governance model’ to follow, due to the influential powers of these three actors, pulling the governance phenomenon in somewhat different directions. As a result, this paper adds to the debate on the diffusion and translation of governance practices across different institutional contexts, particularly drawing out inferences for the literature on the convergence of national systems of corporate governance

A selective control information detection scheme for OFDM receivers

In wireless communications, both control information and payload (user-data) are concurrently transmitted and required to be successfully recovered. This paper focuses on block-level detection, which is applicable for detecting transmitted control information, particularly when this information is selected or chosen from a finite set of information that are known at both transmitting and receiving devices. Using an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing architecture, this paper investigates and evaluates the performance of a time-domain decision criterion in comparison with a form of Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimation method. Unlike the ML method, the proposed time-domain detection technique requires no channel estimation as it uses the correlation (in the time-domain) that exists between the received and the transmitted selective information as a means of detection. In comparison with the ML method, results show that the proposed method offers improved detection performance, particularly when the control information consists of at least 16. However, the implementation of the proposed method requires a slightly increased number of mathematical computations

CSR communication research: A theoretical-cum-methodological perspective from semiotics

Despite the proliferation of studies on corporate social responsibility (CSR), there is a lack of consensus and a cardinal methodological base for research on the quality of CSR communication. Over the decades, studies in this space have remained conflicting, unintegrated and sometimes overlapping. Drawing on semiotics – a linguistic-based theoretical and analytical tool, our article explores an alternative perspective to evaluating the quality and reliability of sustainability reports. Our article advances CSR communication research by introducing a theoretical-cum-methodological perspective which provides unique insights into how to evaluate the quality of CSR communication. Particularly, we illustrate the application of our proposed methodology on selected UK FTSE100 companies. Our two-phased analysis employed the Greimas Canonical Narrative Schema and the Semiotic Square of Veridiction in drawing meanings from selected sustainability/CSR reports. In addition, we present a distinctive CSR Report Quality Model capable of guiding policy makers and firms in designing sustainability/CSR reporting standards.N/

Effects of limestone and super-plasticizer on the fresh properties of self-compacting concrete

The free flow ability of fresh self-compacting concrete (SCC), capable of overcoming obstacles and penetrating into difficult joints is one of the special properties that differentiate SCC from normal concrete. It can then be rightly said that the fresh property of self compacting concrete (SCC) is the most important factor that distinguishes SCC from conventional concrete. Due to the importance of this property to the overall performance of self-compacting concrete, the tests of fresh SCC must be gotten right since any mistake will compromise the essence of recurring to SCC in place of normal concrete. This research attempts to enhance the flow-ability of SCC via replacement of cement with varying dosage of limestone and super-plasticizer. To validate the improvement of SCC fresh properties, slump test is used to assess workability, L-box test for passing ability and V-funnel test for filling ability. Test results analyzed with statistical tools confirmed that the workability and rheological properties of self-compacting concrete can be improved through the adoption of various dosages of limestone powde

Financial Globalisation and Domestic Investment in Developing Countries: Evidence from Nigeria

Financial globalisation is hypothetically helpful to a country to the extent that capital inflows augment available domestic savings for investment purposes. This may be impossible where a globalised country finds itself experiencing more capital outflows than inflows. In this study, we identified the factors that determine the level or degree of financial globalisation of a country as the nominal exchange rate, the level of financial development as captured by the level of financial deepening of the financial system and trade. Using the Kaopen (Capital opening index) and average exchange rates measures of financial globalisation the paper found that, for Nigeria, the greater the level of financial globalisation, the more Nigeria experienced capital outflows. Export is particularly positively impactful on capital outflows. Capital outflows have depleted available domestic resources and impacted domestic investment negatively. The paper recommends the greater need for autonomous investment to crowd in other investments by implementing policies that encourage investment in the economy. This situation may not improve until there is a proactive and deliberate action from the government to improve investment, especially of infrastructure,in the econom