The European peripherality index

Article 2 of the Maastricht Treaty states as the goals of the European Union the promotion of harmonious and balanced economic development, convergence of economic performance, improvement of the quality of life and economic and social coherence between the member states. A prominent role for the achievement of these goals play the envisaged Trans-European Transport Networks (TETN). They are to link landlocked and peripheral areas with the central areas of the Community. The identification of those peripheral regions, whose accessibility and transport infrastructure systems are to be improved, is becoming of great political importance. This is underlined by the European Commission's first Cohesion Report (1997) which emphasises that "regions should ensure that policy success is measurable, that results are regularly monitored, and that the public and political authorities are regularly informed of progress." This paper presents the results of a study on peripherality undertaken for the European Commission. The purpose was to undertake, for the fifteen EU states and twelve candidate countries, the calculation of an index of peripherality of the 'potential' type. The economic potential of a region is the total of destinations in all regions weighted by a function of distance from the origin region. It is assumed that the potential for economic activity at any location is a function both of its proximity or 'travel tim' to other economic centres and of its economic size or 'mass'. The influence of each economic centre on any other centre is assumed to be proportional to its volume of economic activity and inversely proportional to a function of the distance between them. The economic potential of a given location is found by summing the influence on it of all other centres. Based on theoretical considerations, an integrated European Peripherality Index software system was developed to facilitate peripherality indices calculatio scenarios comparison, data updating and results demonstration. It is designed in a way to evaluate the impacts of transport infrastructure projects as well as impacts of general transport policies with respect to peripherality and could be seen as a first attempt for a wider regional monitoring system. In this, it should contribute to answer the debated question whether infrastructure improvements rather lead to cohesion effects or whether they increase disparities between the regions. The paper starts with theoretical considerations on cohesion effects of transport infrastructure improvements and concepts of accessibility and peripherality. Then the methodology used and the software system developed will be addressed briefly. Eventually the results of the indicator calculations will be presented, before the paper concludes with political implications and findings.

Towards a spatial decision support system for route alignment planning in Egypt

Route alignment planning for a new highway or railway on the regional level constitutes a complicated planning process which involves the consideration of various data sets and the analysis of such data. It also involves the development of alternative corridors for the potential road and the evaluation of socioeconomic and environmental impacts of such alternatives. The comparison of produced alternatives is another complicated task. In Egypt, and particularly in the General Authority for Roads, Bridges and Land Transport (GARBLT), those tasks are implemented traditionally using manual systems. The choice of a feasible corridor for a new high way is based solely on the topography of the land. The lack of cooperation between the different local authorities and ministries involved complicates the process of data acquisition, integration and analysis. Subsequently, historical, economical and geological data are not accurately considered. Environmental and social impacts are often neglected. To overcome such deficiency, the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is mandatory to manage the variety of data sets coming from different sources. But before the introduction and application of GIS would be of any benefit to the GARBLT, some institutional changes are required to allow the data collection and exchange among the different authorities and ministries. The main objective of the present Ph.D. study is to demonstrate to the decision makers and transport planners in GARBLT the capabilities and functions of GIS in the field of route alignment planning and the benefits they will gain if they adopt a certain strategy for data acquisition and maintenance, in the hope that they will move towards a more scientific and up-to-date work methodology. The study will attempt to explore and demonstrate the potentials of the use of GIS in the route alignment planning process. It will also identify the information needs of the route alignment planning process and how it can be integrated and structured in a unified data model. The institutional measures needed for data exchange policies will also be recommended. As a means of achieving these objectives a spatial decision support system (SDSS) for the route alignment planning process will be designed and developed using GIS techniques and capabilities. Such a system should allow multi-criteria analysis and evaluation so that transport planner can come up with some alternative road corridors and evaluate the environmental, social, traffic and economic impacts of each corridor. The incorporation of such factors in the route alignment process is one of the additions to the current system which takes place in GARBLT. Another new aspect is the development of a system that can be reapplied several times as it is intended during the present study rather than aiming at finding the optimum route for a certain project as it is the case in most of the case studies in the literature. This paper explains the need for such a system in Egypt, describes the research plan and the methodology to be followed during this study and demonstrates the results obtained so far from the achieved stages namely the state-of-the-art and the analysis of the current system of route alignment planning in GARBLT

Towards a European Peripherality Index

Accessibility and peripherality indicators are used to measure the location performance of cities and regions. In particular after the improvements of the pan-European transport networks it becomes an important political issue to measure the success and effectiveness of these projects to identify those regions, whose accessibility is still low and who still need additional political assistance. The first part of the final report gives a short problem statement (Chapter 1) and general introduction into the theoretical concepts of accessibility and peripherality indicators (Chapter 2). Secondly, the concept of this study will be described. After that, the database established, the output indicators as such (Chapter 3) and selected relevant results of the study will be discussed (Chapter 4). Selected results were also incorporated into the recently published cohesion report of the European Commission and can be downloaded from the Inforegio Home page of the European Commission

The European peripherality index

Article 2 of the Maastricht Treaty states as the goals of the European Union the promotion of harmonious and balanced economic development, convergence of economic performance, improvement of the quality of life and economic and social coherence between the member states. A prominent role for the achievement of these goals play the envisaged Trans-European Transport Networks (TETN). They are to link landlocked and peripheral areas with the central areas of the Community. The identification of those peripheral regions, whose accessibility and transport infrastructure systems are to be improved, is becoming of great political importance. This is underlined by the European Commission's first Cohesion Report (1997) which emphasises that "regions should ensure that policy success is measurable, that results are regularly monitored, and that the public and political authorities are regularly informed of progress." This paper presents the results of a study on peripherality undertaken for the European Commission. The purpose was to undertake, for the fifteen EU states and twelve candidate countries, the calculation of an index of peripherality of the 'potential' type. The economic potential of a region is the total of destinations in all regions weighted by a function of distance from the origin region. It is assumed that the potential for economic activity at any location is a function both of its proximity or 'travel tim' to other economic centres and of its economic size or 'mass'. The influence of each economic centre on any other centre is assumed to be proportional to its volume of economic activity and inversely proportional to a function of the distance between them. The economic potential of a given location is found by summing the influence on it of all other centres. Based on theoretical considerations, an integrated European Peripherality Index software system was developed to facilitate peripherality indices calculatio scenarios comparison, data updating and results demonstration. It is designed in a way to evaluate the impacts of transport infrastructure projects as well as impacts of general transport policies with respect to peripherality and could be seen as a first attempt for a wider regional monitoring system. In this, it should contribute to answer the debated question whether infrastructure improvements rather lead to cohesion effects or whether they increase disparities between the regions. The paper starts with theoretical considerations on cohesion effects of transport infrastructure improvements and concepts of accessibility and peripherality. Then the methodology used and the software system developed will be addressed briefly. Eventually the results of the indicator calculations will be presented, before the paper concludes with political implications and findings

Towards a European Peripherality Index

Accessibility and peripherality indicators are used to measure the location performance of cities and regions. In particular after the improvements of the pan-European transport networks it becomes an important political issue to measure the success and effectiveness of these projects to identify those regions, whose accessibility is still low and who still need additional political assistance. The user manual describes the software system developed for the calculation of the indices in detail, describes the installation procedures and the usage of the software. Moreover, the database compiled will also be explained as well as cababilities for user adjustments and trouble shootings

Removal of lead from industrial wastewater using a low cost waste material

Several industries utilize heavy metals in their industrial processes, eventually discharging them in their wastewater. Water contamination by heavy metals is a major environmental problem due to their acute toxicity and their accumulation in food chains. Therefore, intensive research work has been carried out lately on the feasibility of various low cost materials for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater. The main objective of the current research was to examine the potential of a low cost material for the removal of Pb2+ from a synthetic lead solution. The research work was divided into three core phases. Phase I was a preliminary comparative study among various agricultural wastes; sugarcane bagasse, rice straw and rice husk, two industrial wastes, namely cement kiln dust (CKD) and marble powder, and a natural material; lime. In Phase II the research was taken to a deeper level as the feasibility of utilizing rice straw for biosorption of Pb2+ was profoundly investigated using batch equilibrium experiments. The effect of several operating parameters on the uptake of Pb2+ was tested, which are the pH of the solution, contact time, rice straw dose, particle size, initial Pb2+ concentration and pre-treatment of rice straw. The percent removal of Pb2+ increased with increasing the pH, contact time, and rice straw dose up to the point of equilibrium; however, it decreased with the increase in the particle size. The pre-treatment of rice straw did not yield a considerable increase in the percent uptake of Pb2+. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used for the evaluation of the equilibrium experimental data; the correlation coefficients were 0.989 and 0.959, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity of raw rice straw was calculated using Langmuir isotherm; 42.55 mg/g, which is higher than several adsorption capacities of rice straw reported in the literature. Phase III was conducting fixed-bed column experiments using rice straw. The service time of the columns and the treated volume of wastewater to breakthrough (Ce= 1mg/l) and to exhaustion (Ce≈ 95% C0) increased with the increase in the bed depth of the packed rice straw; however, they decreased with the increase in the initial Pb2+ concentration and the flow rate of the solution. Physical and chemical characterization of rice straw was carried out in order to define the BET surface area, pore volume, average pore size, surface functional groups, shape of the cell wall and chemical composition. Biosorption of Pb2+ using rice straw was inferred to be due to a complex of physical and chemical mechanisms

The potential impact data of Tylosin and Enrofloxacin veterinary antibiotics on germination and accumulation in barley seed as a forage crop and good dietary sources using LC/MS-MS

In this study, the phytotoxic effects caused by the exposure to five different concentrations of two veterinary antibiotics (Tylosin, and Enrofloxacin) that are commonly used for the treatment of farm animals as antibacterial agents were considered. The impact of antibiotic residues was evaluated on the germination percentage, accumulation, and seedling elongation of the barley seeds using Petri dishes under controlled environmental conditions. The treatments were distributed randomly using Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The germination percentage was significantly inhibited with the increasing Enrofloxacin dose concentrations, while, it was to some extent on the contrary in the case of Tylosin, where seed germination was enhanced as a result of increasing Tylosin concentrations.Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry LC/MS-MS was used to detect and quantify the uptake dosage after drying and extracting the antibiotic compounds from the seedling

Praćenje akcesornih spolnih žlijezda i testisa u ovnova pasmine barki pomoću Dopplera i ultrazvuka u B modu tijekom rasplodne sezone

The aim of this study was to perform ultrasonographic imaging of the testes and accessory sex glands in adult Barki rams during the breeding season. The impact of testosterone on the Doppler indices of accessory sex glands was also investigated. Scrotal contents, pelvic urethra and accessory sex glands of twelve mature Barki rams were scanned with multiple imaging of B-mode and colour Doppler ultrasonography. Serum concentrations of testosterone, FSH and LH were determined. The results revealed that the breeding season changed the echogenicity of testicular parenchyma, spermatic cord, epididymal tail, glans penis and echotexture of accessory sex glands. Serum testosterone was 7.27±0.37 ng/mL, FSH was 6.46±0.2 and LH was 5.6±0.28 m IU/mL. The pulsatility index (PI) for the supra-testicular artery (STA), marginal artery (MA) of the testes and epididymal tail was 1.01±0.07, 0.58±0.04 and 0.5±0.04. The resistive index (RI) for the same structures was 0.6±0.04, 0.33±0.04 and 0.3±0.03, respectively. Importantly, testosterone downregulated PI and RI of the ampulla, vesicular gland, prostate gland and bulbourethral gland. In conclusion, the breeding season changed the echogenicity of reproductive organs and accessory genital glands of rams, and testosterone regulated the hemodynamic parameters of the accessory sex glands.Ovo je istraživanje provedeno radi uspostavljanja normalnog ultrazvučnog (UZV) snimanja testisa i akcesornih spolnih žlijezda u odraslih ovnova pasmine barki tijekom rasplodne sezone. Osim toga, istraživan je i utjecaj testosterona na akcesorne spolne žlijezde temeljem uporabe Dopplera. Višestrukim snimanjem u B-modu i ultrazvučnim kolor Dopplerom pretraživan je sadržaj skrotuma, zdječna uretra te akcesorne spolne žlijezde u 12 odraslih ovnova pasmine barki. Određivane su serumske koncentracije testosterona, FSH i LH. Dobiveni su rezultati pokazali da u rasplodnoj sezoni dolazi do promjena u ehogenosti parenhima testisa, sjemenskog užeta, repa epididimisa, glansa penisa i ehoteksture akcesornih spolnih žlijezda. Razina serumskog testosterona iznosila je 7,27±0,37 ng/mL, FSH 6,46±0,2, a LH 5,6±0,28 m IU/mL. Pulzirajući indeksi (PI) supra arterije testisa (SAT), periferne arterije (PA) testisa i repa epididimisa bili su 1,01±0,07, 0,58±0,04, odnosno 0,5±0,04. Istovremeno, indeksi rezistentnosti (RI) gornjih kriterija su bili 0,6±0,04, 0,33±0,04, odnosno 0,3±0,03. Važno je spomenuti da je testosteron snižavao PI i RI ampule (a), vezikularne žlijezde, prostate i bulbouretralne žlijezde. Zaključno, rasplodna je sezona utjecala na promjene ehogenosti reproduktivnih organa i akcesornih spolnih žlijezda u ovnova. Nadalje, testosteron je regulirao hemodinamične pokazatelje akcesornih spolnih žlijezda tijekom rasplodne sezone u ovnova