Exploiting the facile oxidation of evaporated gold films to drive electroless silver deposition for the creation of bimetallic Au/Ag surfaces

Gold is often considered as an inert material but it has been unequivocally demonstrated that it possesses unique electronic, optical, catalytic and electrocatalytic properties when in a nanostructured form.[1] For the latter the electrochemical behaviour of gold in aqueous media has been widely studied on a plethora of gold samples, including bulk polycrystalline and single-crystal electrodes, nanoparticles, evaporated films as well as electrodeposited nanostructures, particles and thin films.[1b, 2] It is now well-established that the electrochemical behaviour of gold is not as simple as an extended double-layer charging region followed by a monolayer oxide-formation/-removal process. In fact the so-called double-layer region of gold is significantly more complicated and has been investigated with a variety of electrochemical and surface science techniques. Burke and others[3] have demonstrated that significant processes due to the oxidation of low lattice stabilised atoms or clusters of atoms occur in this region at thermally and electrochemically treated electrodes which were confirmed later by Bond[4] to be Faradaic in nature via large-amplitude Fourier transformed ac voltammetric experiments. Supporting evidence for the oxidation of gold in the double-layer region was provided by Bard,[5] who used a surface interrogation mode of scanning electrochemical microscopy to quantify the extent of this process that forms incipient oxides on the surface. These were estimated to be as high as 20% of a monolayer. This correlated with contact electrode resistance measurements,[6] capacitance measurements[7] and also electroreflection techniques...

Defining mega project success in Australian defence : a relation-based framework for value co-creation with project stakeholders

Defining success in mega projects has been a challenging exercise for Australian Defence. The inherent conflict between nation capability building and cost efficiency raises questions about how to appropriately define mega project success. Contrary to the traditional output-focused project methodology, the value creation perspective argues for the importance of creating new knowledge, processes, and systems for suppliers and customers. Stakeholder involvement is important in this new perspective, as the balancing of competing needs of stakeholders in mega projects becomes a major challenge in managing the value co-creation process. In our earlier study reported interview data from three Australian defence mega projects and reported that those senior executives have a more complex understanding of project success than traditional iron triangle measures. In these mega defence projects, customers and other stakeholders actively engage in the value creation process, and over time both content and process value are created to increase defence and national capability. Value created and captured during and post projects are the key to true success. We aim to develop a comprehensive theoretical model the capture the value co-creation process as a way of re-conceptualising success in mega projects. We propose a new framework redefine project value as multi-dimensional, contextual and temporal construct that emerges from the interactions among multiple stake holders over the complete project life cycle. The framework distinguishes between exploitation and exploration types of projects, and takes into consideration the requisite governance structures.

New directions for digital video creation in the classroom : spatiality, embodiment, and creativity

This column features a conversation (via email, image sharing, and Facetime) that took place over several months between two international theorists of digital filmmaking from schools in two countries—Professors Jason Ranker (Portland State University, Oregon, United States) and Kathy Mills (Queensland University of Technology, Australia). The authors discuss emerging ways of thinking about video making, sharing tips and anecdotes from classroom experience to inspire teachers to explore with adolescents the meaning potentials of digital video creation. The authors briefly discuss their previous work in this area, and then move into a discussion of how the material spaces in which students create videos profoundly shape the films' meanings and significance. The article ends with a discussion of how students can take up creative new directions, pushing the boundaries of the potentials of classroom video making and uncovering profound uses of the medium.

Go with the flow : optimal AUV path planning in coastal environments

This paper describes a novel optimum path planning strategy for long duration AUV operations in environments with time-varying ocean currents. These currents can exceed the maximum achievable speed of the AUV, as well as temporally expose obstacles. In contrast to most other path planning strategies, paths have to be defined in time as well as space. The solution described here exploits ocean currents to achieve mission goals with minimal energy expenditure, or a tradeoff between mission time and required energy. The proposed algorithm uses a parallel swarm search as a means to reduce the susceptibility to large local minima on the complex cost surface. The performance of the optimisation algorithms is evaluated in simulation and experimentally with the Starbug AUV using a validated ocean model of Brisbane’s Moreton Bay.

Creation of a new evaluation benchmark for information retrieval targeting patient information needs

Searching for health advice on the web is becoming increasingly common. Because of the great importance of this activity for patients and clinicians and the effect that incorrect information may have on health outcomes, it is critical to present relevant and valuable information to a searcher. Previous evaluation campaigns on health information retrieval (IR) have provided benchmarks that have been widely used to improve health IR and record these improvements. However, in general these benchmarks have targeted the specialised information needs of physicians and other healthcare workers. In this paper, we describe the development of a new collection for evaluation of effectiveness in IR seeking to satisfy the health information needs of patients. Our methodology features a novel way to create statements of patients’ information needs using realistic short queries associated with patient discharge summaries, which provide details of patient disorders. We adopt a scenario where the patient then creates a query to seek information relating to these disorders. Thus, discharge summaries provide us with a means to create contextually driven search statements, since they may include details on the stage of the disease, family history etc. The collection will be used for the first time as part of the ShARe/-CLEF 2013 eHealth Evaluation Lab, which focuses on natural language processing and IR for clinical care.

Disclosures of social value creation : a case study of three global social enterprises

This study seeks to fill in gap in the existing literature by looking at how and whether disclosure of social value creation becomes a part of legitimation strategies of social enterprises. By using legitimacy reasoning, this study informs that three global social organizations, Grameen Bank, Charity Water, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provide evidence of the use of disclosures of social value creation in order to conform with the expectations of the broader community—the community that wants to see poverty and injustice free world.

Critical review of time-dependent shortest path algorithms: A multimodal trip planner perspective

A multimodal trip planner that produces optimal journeys involving both public transport and private vehicle legs has to solve a number of shortest path problems, both on the road network and the public transport network. The algorithms that are used to solve these shortest path problems have been researched since the late 1950s. However, in order to provide accurate journey plans that can be trusted by the user, the variability of travel times caused by traffic congestion must be taken into consideration. This requires the use of more sophisticated time-dependent shortest path algorithms, which have only been researched in depth over the last two decades, from the mid-1990s. This paper will review and compare nine algorithms that have been proposed in the literature, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each algorithm on the basis of five important criteria that must be considered when choosing one or more of them to implement in a multimodal trip planner.

ACE research vignette 036 : SMEs, Growth, and Job Creation: Lessons from Systematic Research

This series of research vignettes is aimed at sharing current and interesting research findings from our team of international Entrepreneurship researchers. This vignette, written by Professor Per Davidsson, summarises some important, stylized facts about small and medium enterprises (SMEs), growth, and job creation. It was specially prepared for “The G20 Agenda for Growth: Opportunities for SMEs Conference” in Melbourne, June 20, 2014. For this reason its format deviates slightly from other vignettes in the series.

Medial temporal lobe roles in human path integration

Path integration is a process in which observers derive their location by integrating self-motion signals along their locomotion trajectory. Although the medial temporal lobe (MTL) is thought to take part in path integration, the scope of its role for path integration remains unclear. To address this issue, we administered a variety of tasks involving path integration and other related processes to a group of neurosurgical patients whose MTL was unilaterally resected as therapy for epilepsy. These patients were unimpaired relative to neurologically intact controls in many tasks that required integration of various kinds of sensory self-motion information. However, the same patients (especially those who had lesions in the right hemisphere) walked farther than the controls when attempting to walk without vision to a previewed target. Importantly, this task was unique in our test battery in that it allowed participants to form a mental representation of the target location and anticipate their upcoming walking trajectory before they began moving. Thus, these results put forth a new idea that the role of MTL structures for human path integration may stem from their participation in predicting the consequences of one's locomotor actions. The strengths of this new theoretical viewpoint are discussed.

Path information effects in visual and proprioceptive spatial learning

Objects in an environment are often encountered sequentially during spatial learning, forming a path along which object locations are experienced. The present study investigated the effect of spatial information conveyed through the path in visual and proprioceptive learning of a room-sized spatial layout, exploring whether different modalities differentially depend on the integrity of the path. Learning object locations along a coherent path was compared with learning them in a spatially random manner. Path integrity had little effect on visual learning, whereas learning with the coherent path produced better memory performance than random order learning for proprioceptive learning. These results suggest that path information has differential effects in visual and proprioceptive spatial learning, perhaps due to a difference in the way one establishes a reference frame for representing relative locations of objects.

Minimizing the Gibbs–Thomson effect in the low-temperature plasma synthesis of thin Si nanowires

An advanced combination of numerical models, including plasma sheath, ion- and radical-induced species creation and plasma heating effects on the surface and within a Au catalyst nanoparticle, is used to describe the catalyzed growth of Si nanowires in the sheath of a low-temperature and low-pressure plasma. These models have been used to explain the higher nanowire growth rates, low-energy barriers, much thinner Si nanowire nucleation and the less effective Gibbs–Thomson effect in reactive plasma processes, compared with those of neutral gas thermal processes. The effects of variation in the plasma sheath parameters and substrate potential on Si nanowire nucleation and growth have also been investigated. It is shown that increasing the plasma-related effects leads to decreases in the nucleation energy barrier and the critical nanoparticle radius, with the Gibbs–Thomson effect diminished, even at low temperatures. The results obtained are consistent with available experimental results and open a path toward the energy- and matter-efficient nucleation and growth of a broad range of one-dimensional quantum structures.

The path to stoichiometric composition of III–V binary quantum dots through plasma/ion-assisted self-assembly

Semiconductor III-V quantum dots (QDs) are particularly enticing components for the integration of optically promising III-V materials with the silicon technology prevalent in the microelectronics industry. However, defects due to deviations from a stoichiometric composition [group III: group V = 1] may lead to impaired device performance. This paper investigates the initial stages of formation of InSb and GaAs QDs on Si(1 0 0) through hybrid numerical simulations. Three situations are considered: a neutral gas environment (NG), and two ionized gas environments, namely a localized ion source (LIS) and a background plasma (BP) case. It is shown that when the growth is conducted in an ionized gas environment, a stoichiometric composition may be obtained earlier in the QD as compared to a NG. Moreover, the stoichiometrization time, tst, is shorter for the BP case compared to the LIS scenario. A discussion of the effect of ion/plasma-based tools as well as a range of process conditions on the final island size distribution is also included. Our results suggest a way to obtain a deterministic level of control over nanostructure properties (in particular, elemental composition and size) during the initial stages of growth which is a crucial step towards achieving highly tailored QDs suitable for implementation in advanced technological devices.

Exploring innovation driven value creation in B2B service firms : The roles of the manager, employees, and customers in value creation

This study adopts the premise that innovation capability underpins a service firm's value creation ability and that management style, employee behaviors and marketing underpin its innovation capability. This study examines the role of managers and employees in the creation and delivery of superior value to customers via the firm's innovation capability. To test this premise the current study examines the role of transformational leadership (TFL) as an aspect of the service firm's management style in creating and delivering value to customers through its services. This study adopts a multi-level study, collecting data from managers, employees and customers of service firms in a Southeast-Asian country, Cambodia. The results show that a service firm's innovation capability has a positive effect on the firm's value offering (VO), the VO has a positive relationship with customer perceived value-in use (PVI), and PVI has a positive relationship with firm performance. This study also finds moderating effects of TFL on the relationship between service innovation capability and VO, and of service marketing capability on the relationship between VO and PVI respectively.

Understanding service firms brand value creation : a multilevel perspective including the overarching role of service brand marketing capability

Purpose This study seeks to extend the existing literature on value creation by specifically focusing on service brand value creation (SBVC) and the role of brand marketing. Design/methodology/approach The authors first develop a model of SBVC and simultaneously investigate SBVC from the firm perspective (service brand value offering – SBVO) and from the customer perspective (service brand perceive value-in use – SBPVI). Subsequently, they investigate the effects of SBVO on SBPVI and integrate the moderation role of service brand marketing capability (SBMC) on the relationship between SBVO-SBPVI outcomes. SBVO is viewed as the firms' interpretation of and responsiveness to customer requirements via the delivery of superior performance the value offering through the service brand and SBPVI customers' perceived value from the firms' service brand. The contributions of SBVC to customer-based performance outcomes are then investigated. Hypotheses were tested using a sample of the senior managers of service firms in Cambodia and their customers. A survey was used to gather data via a drop-and-collect approach. Findings Results indicated that SBVO is positively related to SBPVI and SBPVI is positively related to customer-based performance. Noticeably, the results revealed that SBMC enhances the positive relationship between the firm SBVO and the customers SBPVI. Originality/value The paper extends the previous literature on value creation to capture SBVC. More significantly, the premise of the theoretical framework provides a breakthrough in the current SBVC literature which has so far neglected to take into account the dyadic approach (firm-customer) in understanding value creation and more specifically SBVC. The model is expanded by looking at the contingency role of SBMC in communicating value to customers.

Aligning off-balance sheet risk, on-balance sheet risk and audit fees: a PLS path modelling analysis

This study focuses on using the partial least squares (PLS) path modelling technique in archival auditing research by replicating the data and research questions from prior bank audit fee studies. PLS path modelling allows for inter-correlations among audit fee determinants by establishing latent constructs and multiple relationship paths in one simultaneous PLS path model. Endogeneity concerns about auditor choice can also be addressed with PLS path modelling. With a sample of US bank holding companies for the period 2003-2009, we examine the associations among on-balance sheet financial risks, off-balance sheet risks and audit fees, and also address the pervasive client size effect, and the effect of the self-selection of auditors. The results endorse the dominating effect of size on audit fees, both directly and indirectly via its impacts on other audit fee determinants. By simultaneously considering the self-selection of auditors, we still find audit fee premiums on Big N auditors, which is the second important factor on audit fee determination. On-balance-sheet financial risk measures in terms of capital adequacy, loan composition, earnings and asset quality performance have positive impacts on audit fees. After allowing for the positive influence of on-balance sheet financial risks and entity size on off-balance sheet risk, the off-balance sheet risk measure, SECRISK, is still positively associated with bank audit fees, both before and after the onset of the financial crisis. The consistent results from this study compared with prior literature provide supporting evidence and enhance confidence on the application of this new research technique in archival accounting studies.