Constructing a logistics space: perspectives form the Gulf Cooperation Council

Development plans across the Gulf Cooperation Council emphasise logistical infrastructure as a driver of economic diversification. Investments in maritime ports, roads, rail, airports and logistics cities are transforming the economic geography of the region. This study aims to make visible this neglected aspect of the physical transformation of the Gulf Cooperation Council with a focus on the understudied maritime container ports in Oman and Qatar. Shifting the analysis to emergent maritime logistical infrastructure at a regional level gives insight into the uneven developments within the Gulf Cooperation Council’s integration project. Three key features emerge: (a) a large degree of duplication in maritime port infrastructure across Gulf Cooperation Council states; (b) a regional hierarchy among Gulf Cooperation Council states that are resource rich and those dependent on public–private partnerships and (c) increasing competition among internationally dominant port operators looking to gain access to the Gulf Cooperation Council maritime port market. These features both reflect and reinforce competitive tensions within the regional integration project

Star Architecture as Socio-Material Assemblage

Taking inspiration from new materialism and assemblage, the chapter deals with star architects and iconic buildings as socio-material network effects that do not pre-exist action, but are enacted in practice, in the materiality of design crafting and city building. Star architects are here conceptualized as part of broader assemblages of actors and practices ‘making star architecture’ a reality, and the buildings they design are considered not just as unique and iconic objects, but dis-articulated as complex crafts mobilizing skills, technologies, materials, and forms of knowledge not necessarily ascribable to architecture. Overcoming narrow criticism focusing on the symbolic order of icons as unique creations and alienated repetitions of capitalist development, the chapter’s main aim is to widen the scope of critique by bridging culture and economy, symbolism and practicality, making star architecture available to a broad, fragmented arena of (potential) critics, unevenly equipped with critical tools and differentiated experiences

Collagen extract obtained from Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) skin accelerates wound healing in rat model via up regulating VEGF, bFGF, and α-SMA genes expression

Background Collagen is the most abundant structural protein in the mammalian connective tissue and represents approximately 30% of animal protein. The current study evaluated the potential capacity of collagen extract derived from Nile tilapia skin in improving the cutaneous wound healing in rats and investigated the underlying possible mechanisms. A rat model was used, and the experimental design included a control group (CG) and the tilapia collagen treated group (TCG). Full-thickness wounds were conducted on the back of all the rats under general anesthesia, then the tilapia collagen extract was applied topically on the wound area of TCG. Wound areas of the two experimental groups were measured on days 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 post-wounding. The stages of the wound granulation tissues were detected by histopathologic examination and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and transforming growth factor (TGF-ß1) were investigated using immunohistochemistry. Moreover, relative gene expression analysis of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-ß1), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) were quantified by real-time qPCR. Results The histopathological assessment showed noticeable signs of skin healing in TCG compared to CG. Immunohistochemistry results revealed remarkable enhancement in the expression levels of VEGF and TGF-β1 in TCG. Furthermore, TCG exhibited marked upregulation in the VEGF, bFGF, and α-SMA genes expression. These findings suggested that the topical application of Nile tilapia collagen extract can promote the cutaneous wound healing process in rats, which could be attributed to its stimulating effect on recruiting and activating macrophages to produce chemotactic growth factors, fibroblast proliferation, and angiogenesis. Conclusions The collagen extract could, therefore, be a potential biomaterial for cutaneous wound healing therapeutics. Backgroun

Circulating power: humanitarian logistics, militarism and the United Arab Emirates

While critical authors have interrogated the roots of business logistics, this paper extends the analysis and contributes to a larger critique of the cohering field of Humanitarian Logistics (HL), noting the overlap in the logistical cartographies of militarism and humanitarianism. The focus is on the UAE’s expanding logistics space into the Horn of Africa and the production of specialised HL zones like Dubai International Humanitarian City (DIHC). The article makes three core arguments. First, a logistics lens enables us to expand the study of aid beyond immediate conflict zones, into more distant spaces often constructed as ‘stable’. Second, the placement of logistics at the core of aid delivery has been a key mechanism for inserting market imperatives into humanitarian activities. Third, this gives countries outside the advanced core, such as the UAE, power to leverage and expand their logistics space for multiple purposes, in war making, aid, and commercial activities

Conviviality by design : the socio-spatial qualities of spaces of intercultural urban encounters

This paper presents findings from a mixed-method research project which explored use of outdoor spaces and social connections in Bradford, a post-industrial city in the north of England with a highly ethnically diverse population. Data was collected through micro-scale behavioural mapping of public spaces (analysed using GIS) and both on-site and in-depth interviews. The integration of these methods allows a focus on intersectional identities and social values for everyday conviviality situated in different typologies of public open spaces (parks, squares, streets) in city centre and suburban neighbourhoods. The analysis offers nuanced insights into the socio-spatial aspects of conviviality: patterns of activity by diverse users, situations in which encounters are prompted, and the implications of negotiating differences in relation to perceptions of self, others, and the environment. We discuss the relevance of the urban public realm for shared understandings of diversity, qualities of visibility, lingering and playfulness, and the importance of threshold spaces. We explore racialised and excluding experiences and how these relate to mobility and territorial patterns of use, specifically with relation to gender. The paper highlights connections between intercultural encounters and urban design practice, with implications for well-being and integration in ethnically diverse urban areas