UK life science company formation: patterns of growth in UK regions and the role of biotechnology incubators

This study examines the regional distribution of new life science company formation and highlights 'hotspots' of where new activity is relatively intense. The analysis indicates that there are generally two types of region, the first type contains life science clusters that were established during the early 2000s and the second type displayed little or no significant life science activity during this period. This study analyses survey data (n=580) and evidences new patterns of life science company activity within peripheral UK regions. The study shows that new life science activity is occurring away from the traditional 'Golden Triangle' of London, Cambridge and Oxford. New life science company activity can be found in peripheral regions such as the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside, the North West and in Scotland. The evidence contained in this study suggests that new UK life science company activity is supported by the presence of UK biotechnology incubators. During the early 2000s there were only a handful of biotechnology incubators in the UK, by 2012 there over twenty-five. This study provides evidence to suggest that UK biotechnology incubators play an important role in supporting new life science companies. Since the early 2000s, biotechnology incubators have appeared in the same regions that display significant levels of new life science company activity. Furthermore, significant proportions of new life science companies are located in biotechnology incubators within regions that displayed little or no significant life science activity during the early 2000s. This study demonstrates that biotechnology incubators have an important role to play in supporting regional innovation systems, especially within peripheral regions in the UK

Development of design allowable data for Celion 6000/LARC-160, graphite/polyimide composite laminates

A design allowables test program was conducted on Celion 6000/LARC-160 graphite polyimide composite to establish material performance over a 116 K (-250 F) to 589 K (600 F) temperature range. Tension, compression, in-plane shear and short beam shear properties were determined for uniaxial, quasi-isotropic and + or - 45 deg laminates. Effects of thermal aging and moisture saturation on mechanical properties were also evaluated. Celion 6000/LARC-160 graphite/polyimide can be considered an acceptable material system for structural applications to 589 K (600 F)

Observation of coasting beam at the HERA Proton--Ring

We present data collected with the HERA-B wire target which prove the existence of coasting beam at the HERA proton storage ring. The coasting beam is inherently produced by the proton machine operation and is not dominated by target effects.Comment: 17 pages (Latex), 12 figures (Enc. Postscript

Developing adaptive capability: the case of Nottingham’s nascent biotechnology sector

A region’s adaptive capability describes its ability to respond positively to changes and shocks that affect the regional economy over time and take advantage of new and emerging market opportunities from wherever they arise. Central to this idea is the manner in which historic economic strengths or capabilities can be turned to new purposes. This paper provides a case study that uses the concept of adaptive capability as a lens through which to explore the emergence of a notable bioscience based industrial cluster in a city region of the UK and the part that it played in helping to restructure the economic base of the city. The local economy of Nottingham faced major structural changes in the late 1990s. These changes saw not only the demise of what had at one time been a key industrial sector, but also the departure of two of the city’s three principal employers, and the closure of a major research facility owned by a third. The case explores the manner in which capabilities linked to this constellation of firms were redeployed in order to take advantage of new market opportunities. The case places particular emphasis on the contribution of firms, the restructuring of industry sectors and institutional changes that occurred at this time, to the city’s adaptive capability. In the process the case study reveals a notable example of adaptation as the local economy moved away from a previous path of regional and sectoral development, towards a new and yet related trajectory. Central to this process was the purposive re-tasking of physical assets and the mobilization of knowledge assets that were the legacy of one of the city’s historic industrial strengths. The paper concludes with a brief consideration of the wider relevance and applicability of this model of bioscience based regional development

Enhanced relativistic-electron beam collimation using two consecutive laser pulses

The double laser pulse approach to relativistic electron beam (REB) collimation has been investigated at the LULI-ELFIE facility. In this scheme, the magnetic field generated by the first laser-driven REB is used to guide a second delayed REB. We show how electron beam collimation can be controlled by properly adjusting laser parameters. By changing the ratio of focus size and the delay time between the two pulses we found a maximum of electron beam collimation clearly dependent on the focal spot size ratio of the two laser pulses and related to the magnetic field dynamics. Cu-K alpha and CTR imaging diagnostics were implemented to evaluate the collimation effects on the respectively low energy ( MeV) components of the REB

MSSM predictions of the neutral Higgs boson masses and LEP II production cross sections

Within the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) the Higgs masses and LEP II production cross sections are calculated for a wide range of the parameter space. In addition, the parameter space restricted by unification, electroweak symmetry breaking and other low energy constraints is considered in detail, in which case the masses of all SUSY partners can be estimated, so that their contributions to the radiative corrections can be calculated. Explicit analytical formulae for these contribution are derived. The radiative corrections from the Yukawa couplings of the third generation are found to dominate over the contributions from charginos and neutralinos. Large Higgs mass uncertainties are due to the top mass uncertainty and the unknown sign of the Higgs mixing parameter. For the low tanb scenario the mass of the lightest Higgs is found to be below 103 GeV for a top mass below 190 GeV. The cross section at a LEP energy of 192 GeV is sufficient to find or exclude this low tanb scenario for a top mass below 180 GeV. For the high tanb scenario only a small fraction of the parameter space can be covered, since the Higgs mass is predicted between 105 and 125 GeV in most cases. At the theoretically possible LEP II energy of 205 GeV part of the parameter space for the large tanb scenario would be accessible