Building Global Knowledge Pipelines The Role of Temporary Clusters

Business people and professionals come together regularly at trade fairs, exhibitions, conventions, congresses, and conferences. Here, their latest and most advanced findings, inventions and products are on display to be evaluated by customers and suppliers, as well as by peers and competitors. Participation in events like these helps firms to identify the current market frontier, take stock of relative competitive positions and form future plans. Such events exhibit many of the characteristics ascribed to permanent spatial clusters, albeit in a temporary and intensified form. These short-lived hotspots of intense knowledge exchange, network building and idea generation can thus be seen as temporary clusters. The present paper compares temporary clusters with permanent clusters and other types of inter-firm interactions. If regular participation in temporary clusters can satisfy a firm’s need to learn through interaction with suppliers, customers, peers and rivals, why is the phenomenon of permanent spatial clustering of similar and related economic activity so pervasive? The answer, it is claimed, lies in the restrictions imposed upon economic activity when knowledge and ideas are transformed into valuable products and services. The paper sheds new light on how interaction among firms in current clusters coincides with knowledge-intensive pipelines between firms in different regions or clusters. In doing so, it offers a novel way of understanding how interfirm knowledge relationships are organized spatially and temporally.Economic geography, knowledge, clusters, temporary clusters, trade fairs, conventions, pipelines

Controlling role in the crisis management

This article explores the role of labour mobility as a potential cluster advantage. We review the theoretical arguments as for how and why labour mobility could enhance the dynamism and performance of clusters of similar and related firms. A combination of quantitative and qualitative data from two information and communication technology (ICT) clusters is used to answer two research questions: (1) What is the role of mobility enhancing (or restricting) institutions in clusters? and (2) In what ways does labour mobility contribute to knowledge transfer within clusters? The two ICT clusters studied in the article generally seem to have higher levels of mobility, compared to the labour market at large. Although it is regarded as beneficial in theory, most cluster firms try to restrict mobility of workers since they fear the risk and costs of losing staff. Labour mobility is also rarely viewed as a viable way to increase the knowledge bases or contact networks of firms. However, when firms need to recruit the clustered labour markets seem to benefit them by facilitating the use of informal recruitment processes. By way of conclusion it is suggested that cluster firms might be under-investing in mobility and that innovative institutional solutions could help realize clusters mobility potential.This is the authors’ version of the following article:Dzamila Bienkowska, Mats Lundmark and Anders Malmberg, Brain circulation and flexible adjustment: Labour mobility as a cluster advantage, 2011, Geografiska Annaler. Series B. Human Geography, (93), 1, 21-39.which has been published in final form at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0467.2011.00359.xCopyright: Blackwell Publishershttp://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Brand/id-35.htm

Degarelix versus Goserelin plus Bicalutamide in the short-term relief of lower urinary tract symptoms in prostate cancer patients: results of a pooled analysis

Objective In patients with prostate cancer (PCa), prostate enlargement may give rise to lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS); many patients suffer from moderate-to-severe symptoms. We compare the efficacy of degarelix and goserelin plus bicalutamide in improving LUTS in PCa patients. Methods Data were pooled from three Phase 3, randomized clinical trials of once-monthly treatment for 12 weeks with degarelix (240/80 mg; n = 289) or goserelin (3.6 mg) plus bicalutamide (50 mg; n = 174) for initial flare protection. LUTS at weeks 4, 8, and 12 were compared to baseline. Clinically relevant LUTS relief was a ≥3-point International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) decrease. Adverse events were assessed throughout the trials. Results Patients receiving degarelix had significantly greater decreases in IPSS vs. goserelin at week 12 (adjusted difference: −1.24; 95% CI −2.33 to −0.14, P = 0.03). Clinically relevant LUTS relief with degarelix was especially pronounced in patients with moderate-to-severe LUTS (baseline IPSS ≥13) (odds ratio; OR 2.31; 95% CI 1.19–4.47, P = 0.01) and advanced PCa (OR 2.36; 95% CI 1.10–5.04, P = 0.03). A twofold higher OR for early (week 4) LUTS relief was seen with degarelix vs. goserelin (OR 2.03; 95% CI 1.14–3.60, P = 0.02). No difference in total prostate volume or urinary tract infection-related adverse events (2%) was seen between treatment groups. Conclusion An early, significant and clinically more pronounced improvement of LUTS, especially in patients with moderate-to-severe LUTS or advanced PCa, was seen with degarelix vs. goserelin plus bicalutamide

Interpolating fields of carbon monoxide data using a hybrid statistical-physical model

Atmospheric Carbon Monoxide (CO) provides a window on the chemistry of the atmosphere since it is one of few chemical constituents that can be remotely sensed, and it can be used to determine budgets of other greenhouse gases such as ozone and OH radicals. Remote sensing platforms in geostationary Earth orbit will soon provide regional observations of CO at several vertical layers with high spatial and temporal resolution. However, cloudy locations cannot be observed and estimates of the complete CO concentration fields have to be estimated based on the cloud-free observations. The current state-of-the-art solution of this interpolation problem is to combine cloud-free observations with prior information, computed by a deterministic physical model, which might introduce uncertainties that do not derive from data. While sharing features with the physical model, this paper suggests a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate the complete CO concentration fields. The paper also provides a direct comparison to state-of-the-art methods. To our knowledge, such a model and comparison have not been considered before.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/08-AOAS168 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Localized Learning Revisited

The concept of localized learning outlines how local conditions and spatial proximity between actors enable the formation of distinctive cognitive repertoires and influence the generation and selection of skills, processes and products within a field of knowledge or activity. The localized learning argument consists of two distinct yet related elements. One has to do with localized capabilities that enhance learning while the other concerns the possible benefits that firms with similar or related activities may accrue by locating in spatial proximity of one another. In this essay, we disentangle these two inherent elements of the concept, review some of the critique that has been raised against it, and sort out some misunderstandings that we think are attached to its present use

The Effects of International Trade Fairs, Conventions and Other Professional Gatherings

Business people and professionals regularly come together at conventions, congresses, conferences, trade fairs and exhibitions. Here, their latest and most advanced findings, inventions and products are revealed and evaluated by peers and competitors, as well as by customers and suppliers. Organising or participating in such events are means to identify the current market frontier, take stock of relative competitive positions and form future plans. These events exhibit many of the characteristics ascribed to permanent clusters, albeit in a temporary, periodic and intensified form. The temporary clusters are hotspots of intense knowledge exchange, network building and idea generation. In investigating the extent and nature of these phenomena, the present paper explores a number of issues. First, it shows that international trade fairs and other professional gatherings are events which enable firms to compare their own products with others which are available to the world market. Comparisons to and interactions with other firms stimulate processes of knowledge creation. Second, it demonstrates how trade fairs are important for firms when selecting partners with whom to develop global pipelines, enabling access to distant markets and technologies. Third, it compares such temporary clusters with permanent territorial hubs within their respective sector or industry. If regular participation in temporary clusters could satisfy a firm’s need to learn through interaction with suppliers, customers, peers and rivals, why is the phenomenon of permanent clustering so pervasive? The answer, it is claimed, lies in the restrictions imposed on economic activity when knowledge and ideas are transformed into valuable products and services. The paper sheds new light on how interaction among firms in current clusters coincides with the configuration of knowledge-intensive pipelines out of the cluster. It examines the procedures selected by firms in developing ideas or gaining access to new knowledge and compares these organisational forms to those chosen when using knowledge for commercial purposes. Keywords: economic geography, knowledge creation, clusters, temporary clusters, trade fairs, conventions, pipelines JEL-codes: D83, L22, O17, O18, R1

The Role of Temporary Clusters

Business people and professionals come together regularly at trade fairs, exhibitions, conventions, congresses, and conferences. Here, their latest and most advanced findings, inventions and products are on display to be evaluated by customers and suppliers, as well as by peers and competitors. Participation in events like these helps firms to identify the current market frontier, take stock of relative competitive positions and form future plans. Such events exhibit many of the characteristics ascribed to permanent spatial clusters, albeit in a temporary and intensified form. These short-lived hotspots of intense knowledge exchange, network building and idea generation can thus be seen as temporary clusters. The present paper compares temporary clusters with permanent clusters and other types of inter-firm interactions. If regular participation in temporary clusters can satisfy a firm’s need to learn through interaction with suppliers, customers, peers and rivals, why is the phenomenon of permanent spatial clustering of similar and related economic activity so pervasive? The answer, it is claimed, lies in the restrictions imposed upon economic activity when knowledge and ideas are transformed into valuable products and services. The paper sheds new light on how interaction among firms in current clusters coincides with knowledge-intensive pipelines between firms in different regions or clusters. In doing so, it offers a novel way of understanding how interfirm knowledge relationships are organized spatially and temporally

Treading carefully : the environment and political participation in science education

Politics and science are inextricably connected, particularly in relation to the climate emergency and other environmental crises, yet science education is an often overlooked site for engaging with the political dimensions of environmental issues. This study examines how science teachers in England experience politics - specifically political participation - in relation to the environment in school science, against a background of increased obstruction in civic space. The study draws on an analysis of theoretically informed in-depth interviews with eleven science teachers about their experiences of political participation in relation to environmental issues. We find that politics enters the science classroom primarily through informal conversations initiated by students rather than planned by teachers. When planned for, the emphasis is on individual, latent-political (civic) engagement rather than manifest political participation. We argue that this is a symptom of the post-political condition and call for a more enabling environment for discussing the strengths and limitations of different forms of political participation in school science