Industrial and intellectual capital clusters in the Baltic states

Various recent developments, eg the 'new economic geography' as exemplified by say, Krugman, P. (1991) or work originating in the business literature (Porter 1998), point to industrial and intellectual capital clusters as key factors associated with economic development. Indeed recent evidence suggests that multiple clustering leads to higher regional economic development. This leads to the idea that clusters should be encouraged as for example in the Latvian context in Phare (2001), an idea that is explicitly supported by theoretical argument in Norman and Venables (2001). In this paper we explore and describe the geographic concentration of production and human resources in the three Baltic States and attempt to identify its determinants. In particular, we address the issues of industrial and human resource base restructuring in the Baltic States. For the investigation of the regions or districts of the Baltic countries and their industries a variety of statistical methods and measures are used, including cluster analysis and the location quotient method, which may be used to measure the concentration and importance of an economic activity in cluster regions relative to other selected territories. Work is in progress but the aim is to reveal the pattern and dynamics of industrial and intellectual clusters in the Baltic states since independence. Casual evidence suggests that economic activity is less concentrated in Lithuania than in either Latvia or Estonia. The paper seeks to establish more formally whether there are indeed significant differences between the three Baltic countries with respect to i) the extent of cluster formation in general, ii) differences in the extent to which clusters have emerged in particular industries, and iii) how these have changed over time. The territorial units of analysis employed in the research are counties in Lithuania and Estonia (10 and 15 respectively) and in Latvia districts (26 of them). The descriptive part of the paper develops the work of Francis (2000) and Rivza and Stokmane (2000). Having calculated the descriptive statistics the paper combines several theoretical approaches to measure and evaluate clusters. In particular we modify Davis and Weinstein (1998) model to apply it to the case of the Baltic States. Davis, D.R. and D.E. Weinstein (1998) "Market Access, Economic Geography, and Comparative Advantage: An Empirical Assessment"; NBER Working Paper W6787 Francis, I.(2000),"Basic Analysis of Riga's Economy"; 6th Nordic-Baltic Conference in Regional Science. Riga, Latvia, October 4-7 2000. Reports, pp.111-115 Krugman, P. (1991a) Geography and Trade; Cambridge: MIT Press Norman, V.D. and A.J. Venables (2001) "Industrial Clusters: Equilibrium, Welfare, and Policy"; mimeo, London School of Economics Phare project (2001) Support to Industrial Cluster Restructuring; News Letters, Riga, Latvia Porter, M.E. (1998) "Clusters and the New Economics of Competition"; Harvard Business Review, 76:6 Rivza, B. and I. Stokmane (2000), "Economic and Social Analysis of the Baltic Countries"; 6th Nordic-Baltic conference in Regional Science. Riga, Latvia, October 4-7 2000. Reports, pp.293-296

Industrial and intellectual capital clusters in the Baltic states

Various recent developments, eg the 'new economic geography' as exemplified by say, Krugman, P. (1991) or work originating in the business literature (Porter 1998), point to industrial and intellectual capital clusters as key factors associated with economic development. Indeed recent evidence suggests that multiple clustering leads to higher regional economic development. This leads to the idea that clusters should be encouraged as for example in the Latvian context in Phare (2001), an idea that is explicitly supported by theoretical argument in Norman and Venables (2001). In this paper we explore and describe the geographic concentration of production and human resources in the three Baltic States and attempt to identify its determinants. In particular, we address the issues of industrial and human resource base restructuring in the Baltic States. For the investigation of the regions or districts of the Baltic countries and their industries a variety of statistical methods and measures are used, including cluster analysis and the location quotient method, which may be used to measure the concentration and importance of an economic activity in cluster regions relative to other selected territories. Work is in progress but the aim is to reveal the pattern and dynamics of industrial and intellectual clusters in the Baltic states since independence. Casual evidence suggests that economic activity is less concentrated in Lithuania than in either Latvia or Estonia. The paper seeks to establish more formally whether there are indeed significant differences between the three Baltic countries with respect to i) the extent of cluster formation in general, ii) differences in the extent to which clusters have emerged in particular industries, and iii) how these have changed over time. The territorial units of analysis employed in the research are counties in Lithuania and Estonia (10 and 15 respectively) and in Latvia districts (26 of them). The descriptive part of the paper develops the work of Francis (2000) and Rivza and Stokmane (2000). Having calculated the descriptive statistics the paper combines several theoretical approaches to measure and evaluate clusters. In particular we modify Davis and Weinstein (1998) model to apply it to the case of the Baltic States. Davis, D.R. and D.E. Weinstein (1998) "Market Access, Economic Geography, and Comparative Advantage: An Empirical Assessment"; NBER Working Paper W6787 Francis, I.(2000),"Basic Analysis of Riga's Economy"; 6th Nordic-Baltic Conference in Regional Science. Riga, Latvia, October 4-7 2000. Reports, pp.111-115 Krugman, P. (1991a) Geography and Trade; Cambridge: MIT Press Norman, V.D. and A.J. Venables (2001) "Industrial Clusters: Equilibrium, Welfare, and Policy"; mimeo, London School of Economics Phare project (2001) Support to Industrial Cluster Restructuring; News Letters, Riga, Latvia Porter, M.E. (1998) "Clusters and the New Economics of Competition"; Harvard Business Review, 76:6 Rivza, B. and I. Stokmane (2000), "Economic and Social Analysis of the Baltic Countries"; 6th Nordic-Baltic conference in Regional Science. Riga, Latvia, October 4-7 2000. Reports, pp.293-29

Reconstituted high-density lipoproteins promote wound repair and blood flow recovery in response to ischemia in aged mice

Background: The average population age is increasing and the incidence of age-related vascular complications is rising in parallel. Impaired wound healing and disordered ischemia-mediated angiogenesis are key contributors to age-impaired vascular complications that can lead to amputation. High-density lipoproteins (HDL) have vasculo-protective properties and augment ischemia-driven angiogenesis in young animals. We aimed to determine the effect of reconstituted HDL (rHDL) on aged mice in a murine wound healing model and the hindlimb ischemia (HLI) model. Methods: Murine wound healing model—24-month-old aged mice received topical application of rHDL (50 μg/wound/ day) or PBS (vehicle control) for 10 days following wounding. Murine HLI model—Femoral artery ligation was performed on 24-month-old mice. Mice received rHDL (40 mg/kg) or PBS, intravenously, on alternate days, 1 week pre-surgery and up to 21 days post ligation. For both models, blood flow perfusion was determined using laser Doppler perfusion imaging. Mice were sacrificed at 10 (wound healing) or 21 (HLI) days post-surgery and tissues were collected for histological and gene analyses. Results: Daily topical application of rHDL increased the rate of wound closure by Day 7 post-wounding (25 %, p < 0.05). Wound blood perfusion, a marker of angiogenesis, was elevated in rHDL treated wounds (Days 4–10 by 22–25 %, p < 0. 05). In addition, rHDL increased wound capillary density by 52.6 %. In the HLI model, rHDL infusions augmented blood flow recovery in ischemic limbs (Day 18 by 50 % and Day 21 by 88 %, p < 0.05) and prevented tissue necrosis and toe loss. Assessment of capillary density in ischemic hindlimb sections found a 90 % increase in rHDL infused animals. In vitro studies in fibroblasts isolated from aged mice found that incubation with rHDL was able to significantly increase the key pro-angiogenic mediator vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein (25 %, p < 0.05). Conclusion: rHDL can promote wound healing and wound angiogenesis, and blood flow recovery in response to ischemia in aged mice. Mechanistically, this is likely to be via an increase in VEGF. This highlights a potential role for HDL in the therapeutic modulation of age-impaired vascular complications

Model Predictive Feeding Rate Control in Conventional and Single-use Lab-scale Bioreactors: A Study on Practical Application

A developed solution for fed-batch process modeling and model predictive control (MPC), facilitating good manufacturing practice (GMP) based on process elaboration, control, and validation, is presented in the paper. The step-by-step evolution of the so-called “golden batch” optimal biomass growth profile and its control during the process is demonstrated. The case study of an advanced fed-batch control was performed on the recombinant E. coli BL21 lab-scale (5.4 L) biomass production process using the conventional stirred tank glass reactor. Additionally, a test experiment for control reproducibility and applicability assessment of the proposed approach was carried out in a single-use stirred tank reactor (5.7 L). Four sequentially performed experiments are demonstrated as an example for desirable feeding profile evolution for E. coli BL21 biomass production in a glucose-limited fed-batch process. Under different initial biomass and glucose conditions, as well as for different reference feeding profiles selected in the explorative experiments, good tracking quality of preset reference trajectories by the MPC system has been demonstrated. Estimated and experimentally measured biomass mean deviations from the preset reference value at the end of the processes were 4.6 and 3.8 %, respectively. Biomass concentration of 93.6 g L–1 (at 24 h) was reached in the most productive run. Better process controllability and safer process run, in terms of avoiding culture overfeeding but still maintaining a sufficiently high growth rate, was suggested for the process with biomass yield of 79.8 g L–1 (at 24 h). Practical recommendations on the approach application and adaptation for fed-batch cultures of interest are provided

Heat shock protein 10 inhibits lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory mediator production

Heat shock protein 10 (Hsp10) and heat shock protein 160 (Hsp60) were originally described as essential mitochondrial proteins involved in protein folding. How,ever, both proteins have also been shown to have a number of extracellular immunomodulatory activities. Here we show that purified recombinant human Hsp10 incubated with cells in vitro reduced lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nuclear factor-kappaB activation and secretion of several inflammatory mediators from RAW264.7 cells, murine macrophages, and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Induction of tolerance by contaminating LPS was formally excluded as being responsible for Hsp10 activity. Treatment of mice with Hsp10 before,endotoxin challenge resulted in the reduction of serum tumor necrosis factor-a and RANTES (regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted) levels and an elevation of serum interleukin-10 levels. Hsp10 treatment also delayed mortality in a murine graft-ver-sus-host disease model, where gut-derived LPS contributes to pathology. We were unable to confirm previous reports that Hsp10 has tumor growth factor properties and suggest that Hsp10 exerts anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting Toll-like receptor signaling possibly by interacting with extracellular Hsp60

Evaluation of synthetic vascular grafts in a mouse carotid grafting model

Current animal models for the evaluation of synthetic grafts are lacking many of the molecular tools and transgenic studies available to other branches of biology. A mouse model of vascular grafting would allow for the study of molecular mechanisms of graft failure, including in the context of clinically relevant disease states. In this study, we comprehensively characterise a sutureless grafting model which facilitates the evaluation of synthetic grafts in the mouse carotid artery. Using conduits electrospun from polycaprolactone (PCL) we show the gradual development of a significant neointima within 28 days, found to be greatest at the anastomoses. Histological analysis showed temporal increases in smooth muscle cell and collagen content within the neointima, demonstrating its maturation. Endothelialisation of the PCL grafts, assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis and CD31 staining, was near complete within 28 days, together replicating two critical aspects of graft performance. To further demonstrate the potential of this mouse model, we used longitudinal non-invasive tracking of bone-marrow mononuclear cells from a transgenic mouse strain with a dual reporter construct encoding both luciferase and green fluorescent protein (GFP). This enabled characterisation of mononuclear cell homing and engraftment to PCL using bioluminescence imaging and histological staining over time (7, 14 and 28 days). We observed peak luminescence at 7 days post-graft implantation that persisted until sacrifice at 28 days. Collectively, we have established and characterised a high-throughput model of grafting that allows for the evaluation of key clinical drivers of graft performance.Alex H.P. Chan, Richard P. Tan, Praveesuda L. Michael, Bob S.L. Lee, Laura Z. Vanags, Martin K.C. Ng, Christina A. Bursill, Steven G. Wis

No gaspažas līdz kundzei: pagodinoši sievietes apzīmējumi latviešu valodā 16.–19. gadsimtā

This article focuses on those modern and historical Latvian words that, in addition to the main component of the meaning ‘adult woman’, also include the components of respect and/or social status, namely, gaspaža, madama, dāma, and kundze. The article discusses the emergence and change of use of these lexemes in the 16th–19th century with a special focus on the processes of the middle and second half of the 19th century. In less than a century, the semantic field of the honorific female designations in the Latvian language has undergone significant changes. From one word gaspaža to four in the 1870s, but the most significant changes took place in the last twenty years of the century. In formal and neutral use, kundze and dāma were strengthened, each occupying a different part of the semantic field, competing synonymously only in the general sense of ‘honorable woman’, as well as in the function of address. However, even in this case, kundze is more often used in the context of the singular and dāma in the plural. In turn, lexemes gaspaža and madama have become characteristic of colloquial language and fiction; they often have an ironic or negative connotation.Rakstā analizētas mūsdienu un vēsturiskās latviešu valodas lietvārdu leksēmas, kas līdzās nozīmes pamatkomponentam ‘pieaugusi sieviete’ ietver arī cieņas izteikšanas un (vai) sociālā stāvokļa raksturojuma komponentus, – gaspaža, madāma, dāma un kundze. Aplūkota minēto leksēmu parādīšanās un lietojuma maiņa 16.–19. gs. laikā, īpašu uzmanību pievēršot procesiem 19. gs. vidū un otrajā pusē. 16.–18. gs. materiāls iegūts galvenokārt no latviešu seno tekstu korpusa SENIE, kā arī leksikogrāfiskiem avotiem. 19. gs. materiāls pētījumam atlasīts, izmantojot Latvijas Nacionālās bibliotēkas digitālo periodikas krājumu un tā meklēšanas iespējas

The regulation of miRNAs by reconstituted high-density lipoproteins in diabetes-impaired angiogenesis

Diabetic vascular complications are associated with impaired ischaemia-driven angiogenesis. We recently found that reconstituted high-density lipoproteins (rHDL) rescue diabetes-impaired angiogenesis. microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate angiogenesis and are transported within HDL to sites of injury/repair. The role of miRNAs in the rescue of diabetes-impaired angiogenesis by rHDL is unknown. Using a miRNA array, we found that rHDL inhibits hsa-miR-181c-5p expression in vitro and using a hsa-miR-181c-5p mimic and antimiR identify a novel anti-angiogenic role for miR-181c-5p. miRNA expression was tracked over time post-hindlimb ischaemic induction in diabetic mice. Early post-ischaemia when angiogenesis is important, rHDL suppressed hindlimb mmu-miR-181c-5p. mmu-miR-181c-5p was not detected in the plasma or within HDL, suggesting rHDL specifically targets mmu-miR-181c-5p at the ischaemic site. Three known angiogenic miRNAs (mmu-miR-223-3p, mmu-miR-27b-3p, mmu-miR-92a-3p) were elevated in the HDL fraction of diabetic rHDL-infused mice early post-ischaemia. This was accompanied by a decrease in plasma levels. Only mmu-miR-223-3p levels were elevated in the hindlimb 3 days post-ischaemia, indicating that rHDL regulates mmu-miR-223-3p in a time-dependent and site-specific manner. The early regulation of miRNAs, particularly miR-181c-5p, may underpin the rescue of diabetes-impaired angiogenesis by rHDL and has implications for the treatment of diabetes-related vascular complications