The knowledge economy, hub airports and accessibility. A location based perspective.

The airplane is gradually creating a completely new spatial pattern as did other kinds of transportation modes in the past. Successively, international airports have gone through a morphogenesis from original pure infrastructure facilities into multimodal and multilayered spatial growth poles and center of competences. Landside infrastructure investments have converted airports and their hinterland into spaces of highest accessibility. The airports unique locational advantages and the growing segment of non-aviation activities on the part of the airport operators have made airports an advantageous business location for knowledge-intensive industries. At the same time airports have become a crucial asset for city-regions especially those competing on a European or international spatial level for future-oriented enterprises and highly skilled employees. The paper asks about the general interplay between airports, air transport and the knowledge economy. What are the contributions of the knowledge economy that explain the economic effects of airports on the spatial structure? What kinds of knowledge economy linked locational patterns have already emerged around airports? What is their spatial relationship to more traditional locations for example within the core cities? Why does an array of knowledge-based companies relocate their business activities at spaces of highest accessibility such as international airports? This paper analyzes aviation induced spatial patterns and processes of specialization around European airports, especially around those with hub function. First results show that airports and their vicinities have become attractive sites for real estate developments and property-led capital accumulation. Locations directly at or close by international airports are notably in demand among highly globalized sectors characterized by their need for frequent face-to-face interaction, high value products and services. As the traditional role of airports is redefined a new spatial quality and entity within the city regions is evolving.

Hub Airports, the knowledge economy and how close is close? Evidence from Europe

Airports have stepped beyond the stage of being simply pure infrastructure facilities. Hub airports in particular are considered to function as supra-regional and international gateway infrastructure thus having a decisive impact on firms' competitiveness and stimulating urban development. Hub airports have ? through their capability of concentrating different types of flows, from local to global ? morphed into strategic nodes within the networked economy. Recent studies indicate that hub airports increasingly play a significant role for multi-branch multi-location firms with their decision making process about where to locate. Successively, knowledge-intensive companies have settled their regional, national and sometimes supranational branches in close spatial proximity to primary and secondary airports. Simultaneously to their enhanced functionality, hub airports in Europe are increasingly recognized as general urban activity centres; that is, key assets for cities and regions as economic generators and catalysts of investment, in addition to being critical components of efficient city infrastructure. Hub airports thus represent ? against the backdrop of knowledge intensive firms optimizing physical and relational proximity within their knowledge generation efforts ? a crucial case where new urban functionalities co-produce new emerging urban patterns and vice-versa. The paper will shed light on the following questions: Which role does the knowledge generation process of firms and their respective locational needs play for geographical and relational proximity? What role does the hub airport represent within the value chains of knowledge-intensive companies? What role does an airport assume within a multi-branch firm's decision-making process about locating activities? The paper reflects the empirical results of a research project that compares the firm location behavior at the airports of Amsterdam, Munich, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt. We conclude with some recommendations on how airport-linked real estate sites need to be planned in order to reach certain robustness towards the constantly changing spatial needs of its users

The knowledge economy, hub airports and accessibility. A location based perspective.

The airplane is gradually creating a completely new spatial pattern as did other kinds of transportation modes in the past. Successively, international airports have gone through a morphogenesis from original pure infrastructure facilities into multimodal and multilayered spatial growth poles and center of competences. Landside infrastructure investments have converted airports and their hinterland into spaces of highest accessibility. The airports unique locational advantages and the growing segment of non-aviation activities on the part of the airport operators have made airports an advantageous business location for knowledge-intensive industries. At the same time airports have become a crucial asset for city-regions especially those competing on a European or international spatial level for future-oriented enterprises and highly skilled employees. The paper asks about the general interplay between airports, air transport and the knowledge economy. What are the contributions of the knowledge economy that explain the economic effects of airports on the spatial structure? What kinds of knowledge economy linked locational patterns have already emerged around airports? What is their spatial relationship to more traditional locations for example within the core cities? Why does an array of knowledge-based companies relocate their business activities at spaces of highest accessibility such as international airports? This paper analyzes aviation induced spatial patterns and processes of specialization around European airports, especially around those with hub function. First results show that airports and their vicinities have become attractive sites for real estate developments and property-led capital accumulation. Locations directly at or close by international airports are notably in demand among highly globalized sectors characterized by their need for frequent face-to-face interaction, high value products and services. As the traditional role of airports is redefined a new spatial quality and entity within the city regions is evolving

Структура и свойства керамических композитов, модифицированных углеродными нанотрубками и нановолокнами Al2O3

Работа направлена на установление закономерности влияния вводимых добавок одностенных/многостенных УНТ и нановолокон Al2O3 на структуру, фазовый состав и физико-механические свойства композитов на основе оксидов алюминия и циркония. Показано, что использование УНТ и нановолокон Al2O3 при изготовлении композитов, может приводить к существенному повышению трещиностойкость керамических материалов. Кроме того, варьируя концентрацию вводимых добавок, можно получать оптимальные свойства керамических композитов для конкретных применений.The work is aimed at establishing the regularity of the influence of the introduced additives of single-wall/multi-walled CNTs and Al2O3 nanofibers on the structure, phase composition, and mechanical properties of composites based on alumina and zirconia. It is shown that the use of CNTs and Al2O3 nanofibers in the manufacture of composites can lead to a significant increase in the fracture toughness of ceramic materials. In addition, by varying the concentration of the added additives, it is possible to obtain the optimal properties of ceramic composites for specific applications

Biological Flora of the British Isles: Sorbus torminalis

1.This account presents information on all aspects of the biology of Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz (Wild Service-tree) that are relevant to understanding its ecological characteristics and behaviour. The main topics are presented within the standard framework of the Biological Flora of the British Isles: distribution, habitat, communities, responses to biotic factors, responses to environment, structure and physiology, phenology, floral and seed characters, herbivores and disease, history, and conservation.2.Sorbus torminalis is an uncommon, mostly small tree (but can reach 33 m) native to lowland England and Wales, and temperate and Mediterranean regions of mainland Europe. It is the most shade-tolerant member of the genus in the British Isles and as a result it is more closely associated with woodland than any other British species. Like other British Sorbus species, however, it grows best where competition for space and sunlight is limited. Seedlings are shade tolerant but adults are only moderately so. This, combined with its low competitive ability, restricts the best growth to open areas. In shade, saplings and young adults form a sapling bank, showing reproduction and extensive growth only when released. Sorbus torminalis tolerates a wide range of soil reaction (pH 3.5-8.0) but grows best on calcareous clays and thin soils over limestone.3.Sorbus torminalis is a sexual, diploid, non-apomictic species that has hybridised with a number of other Sorbus species to form microspecies. The hermaphrodite flowers are primarily insect pollinated. Seed production is reliable only in warm years, especially at the edge of its range, although even then seed viability is low. The fruits are primarily dispersed by carnivorous mammals. Seeds display embryo dormancy but most will germinate the first spring after falling.4.This tree is very tolerant of short droughts but only moderately tolerant of frost, hence its southerly and lowland distribution. It faces no particular individual threats although the small size of most populations makes it susceptible to habitat loss and fragmentation, particularly through the loss of open coppiced areas. As a consequence it appears to be declining throughout Britain and Europe despite its wide range of historical uses and the high value of its timber. The extent to which these losses will be offset by increases due to climate change is unknown.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

The role of advanced producer service firms in the development of urban diversity in Doha

Qatar's capital city Doha has undergone rapid transformation processes socio-economically as well as spatially since the end of the 20th century. Large-scale public investments in local developments that were intended to establish Doha as a regional and international service hub ushered in a new evolutionary phase in the city's urbanism. Subsequently, an increasing number of international "Advanced Producer Service" (APS) firms set up offices in Doha, particularly attracted by emerging local real-estate markets. This paper attempts to clarify the distinct roles of APS firms and their employees in the development of urban complexity and diversity in Doha. It therefore explores currently existing APS networks in Doha as well as the morphological consequences for urban fabrics due to the recent economic diversification process. The applied methodologies include a network analysis of 98 APS firms in order to investigate the current characteristics of advanced producer services sectors in Doha. The dynamics in recent urban developments are investigated using a comparative assessment of GIS data of the city in 2003 and 2013 as well as a Space Syntax analysis, which is used to investigate the spatial integration of office locations in Doha. Furthermore, 350 questionnaires of employees engaged in APS firms were evaluated in order to examine the locations of their weekly activities. These empirical investigations of various parameters within contemporary urbanism provides insights into how the transition into a service hub based on emerging knowledge economies and their networks is currently interdependent on increasing urban qualities

When the Oryx takes off : Doha a new rising knowledge hub in the Gulf-region?

With accelerating pace in the past years, Qatar has strategically pushed forward its economic diversification. According to Qatar's long-term development vision, the knowledge-economy is taking a key role within this economic diversification process and the transformation of its capital into a regional as well as global service hub. This paper aims at identifying emerging knowledge-based patterns that drive the Qatari space economy. We apply a research concept that brings together two different scientific angles: relational economic geography and physical urban development aspects. The results indicate first a subsidiary role for the Qatari knowledge intensive firms within the Gulf region; second their predominant connectivity patterns to Europe and South-East Asia; third as a distinct lack of urban amenities and qualities for knowledge workers

Biomarker in Atemkondensat und Serum bei asbestbedingten Lungenfibrosen

Biological monitoring has a high significance for the detection of impurities and their consequences for human health. Therefore the existence of valid methods to get a certain survey is extraordinary important. The development of biomarkers provides a good and important opportunity to detect first effects developed from former exposures. An appropriate biomarker should be able to evaluate the risk of diseases in sufficient time to give a reasonable contribution for prevention and early diagnoses when measured in preventive medical checkup. To constitute a threshold limit value for persons at risk, first a parameter has to be found which can unequivocally distinguish between diseased and non-diseased persons. The exposure to asbestos can cause a number of different diseases, one of these is lungfibrosis. To achieve the objective target of this thesis, to find a parameter able to differentiate between persons with lungfibrosis (cases) and those without (controls), it was necessary to think about processes starting when fibroses appears. Furthermore some basics of cascades starting after asbestos exposure had to be understood. The existence of oxidative and nitrosative stress occurring because of increased formation of radicals due to asbestos exposure and an expected increased collagen turn-over by reason of a developing fibrosis, provide the possible biomarkers. Because oxidative and nitrosative stress are closely related, nitrotyrosin where choosed, which is often debated in literature to be a marker for nitrosative stress. An increased collagen turn-over dues to augmented release of hydroxyproline. Hydroxyproline only occurs in collagen, being made there by hydroxylation of proline after its incorporation. Therefore hydroxyproline seemed to be an appropriate marker, especially it is also used referred to other diseases causing an increased collagen-turnover. Measurement of hydroxyproline and nitrotyrosine should not be done without a standardisation parameter. Proline and tyrosine, both non-essential amino acids and precursors of hydroxyproline and nitrotyrosine, are very suitable for standardisation. The simultaneous detection of these four substances was an additional aim of the thesis. Because all the four substances were of high polarity, the development of a simultaneous, highly sensitive, accurate and specific LC/MS/MS-method with acceptable retention times were challenging and couldn’t be achieved by the use of reversed phase technique. With the exception of nitrotyrosine, none of the other substances showed good retention times. The application of “classic” normal phase technique would have required a lot of organic eluent, which would have complicated the method and gave adverse effect to the HPLC pump seal. As an alternative the hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) was chosen. This technique is similar to normal phase technique, because its stationary phase is silica-gel modified and therefore also polar. Mobile phases being used for HPLC consist of an aqueous and an organic eluent, whereas the aqueous is the strongest one. Using this technique the simultaneous separation was very successful. Measurements were taken in exhaled breath condensate and serum. In exhaled breath condensate there is a high dilution effect which has to be compensated by relation to the standardisation parameters. The sample volume of 1 ml was still sufficient. In serum proline and tyrosine are high concentrated so a high dilution factor is required. The concentrations of hydroxyproline, but especially the one of nitrotyrosine are much lower, which results in non-detectable amounts of nitrotyrosine in serum due to the high dilution factor. The subjects were grouped by means of their smoking status and their classification into a fibrosis category depending on international CT-classification, into different categories. The smoking status was validated by anamnestic data as well as by determination of cotinine, which is a marker for acute, not older than 3-4 day smoke exposure. The ratio of hydroxyproline to proline and the ratio of nitrotyrosine and tyrosine in exhaled breath condensate and serum respectively were in the ranges known from literature. When fibrosis exist and smoke exposure is also present a tendency can be seen, that the ratio of hydroxyproline to proline is increased, both in exhaled breath condensate and in serum. Lowest concentrations of hydroxyproline based on proline concentration could be found at non-smoking subjects without fibrosis. Anyhow, no direct correlation could be found between ratios of hydroxyproline to proline in exhaled breath condensate and serum. In consideration of all factors, the ratio of hydroxyproline to proline seems to be a promising approach to differentiate smokers into controls and cases. The ratio of nitrotyrosine to tyrosine showed an unambiguous tendency to non-smoking subjects without fibrosis having the highest and smoking subjects with fibrosis having the lowest ratios. The interrelation between oxidative and nitrosative stress including the influence of iron containing asbestos fibres and smoking exposure on the formation of free radicals is very extensive. In the literature it is described that in presents of nitrosative stress the formation of nitrotyrosine will be increased. In this case, it can be speculated that under asbestos exposure there will be cascades starting, leading not to an increased, but to a decreased ratio of nitrotyrosine to tyrosine. The validation of this hypothesis would be a promising approach for the potential use of nitrotyrosine as a biomarker for the detection of asbestos induced lung fibrosis. This theses offers basic ideas and approaches to make hydroxyproline and nitrotyrosine, and their ratio to their precursors proline and tyrosine respectively, suitable as biomarkers for the detection of asbestos induced lung fibrosis. The implementation of the HILIC technique enabled the development of a valid, high sensitive and specific method for the simultaneous detection of proline, hydroxyproline, tyrosine und nitrotyrosine. The developed hypotheses must be proofed within futher systematical investigations. Therefore the “Asbestfrüherkennungsprogramm Aachen” delivers ideal premises